【The Origin of Suffering】-  If you didn’t grasp the characteristic of cultivation, it will become the plight of three lifetimes

Therefore, I remember, I think it was a past master of the Pure Land, master Shěng Ān, he wrote a letter to advice Mr. Máo Jìng Yuàn Gōng. This person was really incredible! He would mend bridges and repair roads. He would do all kinds of good deeds. Ah! Whenever there is a good deed, he would have a share of it. Consequently, what did the great past master say to him? "I am sorry! The good things that you busy yourself with will still put you in cyclic existence. It is useless if these become the plight over three lifetimes!" It was just this one sentence. Therefore the same thing applies to us who are cultivating now. When you cultivate, you must truly grasp the characteristics of cultivation. If you cannot grasp the characteristic of it, no matter what good deeds you do, whether you are reciting the Buddha's name, prostrating to the Buddha, lighting incense, or becoming ordained, sorry, these will still be useless! Hence for the true heart of the matter, we must be able to grasp it. One must understand that all the wonders of cyclic existence are all mistaken. You must first recognize it.

SOURCE 来源 :

75A 04’40” Vol 10 of Master Jih-Chang’s Discourse P75 L7
English Lamrim Vol 1 P306

日常师父法语📡75A 04’40”手抄稿第10册P75 L7

希求解脱 : 没把握修行特质，总归三世怨

所以我记得好像净土的哪一位祖师，省庵大师，有一封信就劝那个茅静远公，那个先生是好了不起哦！修桥、补路什么的好事都做，哎呀！凡是好事总归他有份。结果那一位大祖师怎么说？“对不起！你忙这个东西好事，还在生死轮回当中，这个三世怨没有用啊！”一句话。所以我们现在修行也是如此。你修行啊，你要真正把握得住修行的特质，如果你把握不住这个特质的话，固然是不管你做什么好事，哪怕你念佛、磕头、烧香、出家，对不起，还是没有用啊！那么它真正的中心在哪里，我们必定要把握住，要了解这个生死当中一切生死的好事，这个都是错误的，这第一点认识它。