7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly eye-opening, amazing accounts for the "why's" of life, August 19, 2002
This review is from: Living This Moment of Purity: Sexual Misconduct and its Cosmic Consequences (Paperback)
This book is truly eye-opening. It answers many questions about life: why do some people seem to have their ways? yet, some others seem to hit the walls, in their careers, relationships, family life, etc.? Is it because of the difference in race, intelligence, talents, skills? Is it pure luck? Or is there some other intangible entity playing part?
Wow! I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting. I feel relieved from the pressures of life... All those why's fluttered away and nothing seems to bother me any longer. From time to time, I pick it up again, whenever I feel pressured, or just to perk me up.
This book is a must read. It will open your mind and enrich your life.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Work of Purity, December 3, 2002
This review is from: Living This Moment of Purity: Sexual Misconduct and its Cosmic Consequences (Paperback)
Living this Moment in Purity is a book that benefits all: including vajrayana practitioners and those engaged in high cultivations of mind and body, as well as everyday people with spiritual inclinations who seek a lamp of clarity in a time of anxiety.
While on secluded retreat, Master Sheng-yen Lu has continued to give profound Buddhist teachings through his prolific writings. These works have touched the hearts of many. Living this Moment in Purity is the 145th book written by His Holiness. For those English readers especially who anticipate each translation of Master Sheng-yen Lu`s work, this book is a precious gem.
Indeed, the faultless elegance, style and simplicity of Janny Chow`s translation make it seem as if there was no translation at all! While reading the book, I felt an intimate joy that I was receiving a direct transmission of Master Sheng-yen Lu`s words, without any sense of language barrier. These vast and profound teachings are given their proper homage and respect of clarity and power in the translation.
Each of the thirteen chapters of the book recounts a true encounter by Master Sheng-yen Lu, from his many years of giving spiritual consultations, with students who are faced with grave circumstances and dilemmas that are all found to be rooted in karmic causes and conditions. Master Sheng-yen Lu poignantly elucidates how we truly create our own realities. Yet as much as we create our own prison of sufferings, we also have the potential and opportunity to create a more positive reality and, ultimately, to reach perfect enlightenment. Indeed, it is precisely because of the infallible law of cause and effect that we have an opportunity to turn the light around! Karma is what is so real and immediate in our daily lives: it is what we have to work with.
Why do we need to cultivate morality? As any spiritual adept can testify, true morality is true bliss. In the preface of Living this Moment in Purity, Master Sheng-yen Lu writes: `With a deep understanding of the Buddha`s supreme wisdom, I live totally in the moment, "the moment of purity and liberation."
Janny Chow`s translation is inspired and pure. Only a cultivator, from years of patient and devotional practice, who has truly experienced the benefits of such an extraordinary teacher, could make such a work directly accessible to the hearts and minds of beings with varying tendencies and intellects.
Master Sheng-yen Lu is renowned for his ability to fuse teachings and bring people together who come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and to give teachings and inspiration to everyone appropriately. These are qualities that are only possessed by perfectly enlightened beings. With more than five million students, he continues, while on secluded retreat, to benefit beings ceaselessly through his prolific writings. His many books, reaching 160, include such varied topics as Feng Shui, Vajrayana Buddhism, Taoism, compassionate living, and spiritual philosophy in general. Only a dozen or so of these books have been translated into English.
We are lucky to receive this present translation from Janny Chow. As in all her classic translations, the radiance of Master Sheng-yen Lu`s wisdom, compassion and power truly shine through!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read Book, January 17, 2003
This review is from: Living This Moment of Purity: Sexual Misconduct and its Cosmic Consequences (Paperback)
Sentient beings, in their constant transmigration throughout the realms of Samsara accumulate much more unwholesome karma than they can ever imagine. Humans are no exception to this, as some would like to believe. Negative karma is primarily created through breaking any of the Five Precepts and Ten Wholesome Deeds. However, the most difficult precept to uphold is the precept of refraining from sexual misconduct.
In his 145th book, Living this Moment in Purity, Living Buddha Lian-sheng recounted the hardships endured by humans in controlling their desires. Humans are born of sexual desire and as a result will perish from it. The Living Buddha cautions readers, "Amid the endless seas of karmic transgressions, hindrances of sexual desire are among the hardest to remove." The Living Buddha expressed his wish that everyone will maintain their purity, cherish their bodies and souls and seek the path of spiritual cultivation. To immerse oneself in cultivation is the only way to eradicate karmic hindrances that ultimately lead one to the suffering of transmigration.
Translated from Chinese, this amazing book has been made possible by the talents of Janny Chow and the publisher, Purple Lotus Society. The uncanny ability of Janny Chow to accurately translate even the personality of Living Buddha Lian-sheng makes this book very worthwhile to read. Thanks to the Purple Lotus Society in disseminating the universal compassion of the Buddha, such life-altering literature has been made available to all, regardless of race, creed or color. This book is a must for all.
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