The Four Great Principles The Four Great Principles are right enlightenment and right practice; awareness of grace and requital of grace; practical application of the buddhadharma; and selfless service to the public.
As for right enlightenment and right practice, it is to engage in that consummate practice which is free from bias or reliance, excessiveness or deficiency, whenever we make use of our six sense organs of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, by gaining awakening to the truth of Il-Won, which is the mind-seal rightly transmitted by the buddhas and enlightened masters, and modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on that truth.
As for awareness of grace and requital of grace, it is to put gratitude into practice by deeply feeling and knowing the content of the grace we have received from Heaven and Earth, Parents, Fellow Beings, and Laws, and modeling ourselves wholeheartedly on that Way of indebtedness; at the same time, even if there is a situation in which we might become resentful, it is to respond gratefully by discovering first and foremost that from which all grace derives and giving thanks for that situation.
As for practical application of the buddhadharma, it means we should not as in the past be incapable of handling worldly affairs because of being attached to the buddhadharma, but instead be able to handle worldly affairs even better because of being disciples of the buddha. In other words, our aim is that we should not be useless in the world by being Buddhist disciples, but, through our practical application of the buddhadharma, we become useful people who can help individuals, families, societies, and nations.
As for selfless service to the public, it is to devote ourselves with sincerity and dedication to delivering all sentient beings through an altruistic Mahāyāna practice that forsakes thoughts only of ourselves or our own families and self-indulgent or capricious conduct. http://www.wonbuddhism.org/
|