During a workshop for the Florist Group, all participants were invited to experience hitting the temple bell. The sound of the big bell reverberating in the air — dong! dong! dong！一 took away all the participants' thinking.
One student: Sifu just now you said the sound of the bell will help our lives. I can hear the sound of the bell and its reverberation is so powerful, but how can that help our lives?
Sifu: When someone says nasty things about you, treat these words as the sound of the bell.
The student nods her head with a satisfied smile.
Commentary:
Our evening bell chant says, "Hearing the sound of the bell, all thinking is cut off. Wisdom grows, enlightenment appears, hell is left behind."
Most people are very attached to words and speech. They don't realize that any sound on earth has the nature of appearing and disappearing. When we hold onto these words then we will suffer. If we treat all sounds like the bell sound, and just hearing without any thinking or judgment, then outside situation and inside mind can become one. This is Zen mind. Zen mind is absolute and can take away all kinds of suffering.
