Now, one of the [Supreme Master] TV team members, he doesn’t want people to know what he does, because he is not a big shot. Understand? He thought labor work, like taxi driver or car repairing, are not good things to let people know. So, I wrote a note asking them to tell him that he should be very proud of himself. He earned his living, with his own hands, with his own time. He ought to be very proud of himself. …I am very proud that I can tell the whole world that my disciple is truly good.
Any job we do is good. The most important thing is to be honest, to be a good citizen, to help yourself and society. Understand? Don’t look down on any job. We make a living by our own hands and brains. What’s there to be embarrassed about? Is there? Yes or no? (No.) No. Right. Doesn’t matter what kind of job you are doing; besides earning an honest living, if we do our best – lovingly, cheerfully – that is dignity for human life. Every job we do with perfection, with the best ability, that is dignity for you.
The most difficult thing for us is to leave our family, leave our parents, right? The Sixth Patriarch Huineng had an elderly mother. He used to chop firewood every day. Or collected wood. Not sure if it was chopping or collecting. He took it back and sold it to make a living and to take care of his mother. Even in such a situation, He knew enlightenment is the most important thing. …However, would you think He was not filial? Yes or no? (No.) No. Why? … It was the greatest filial piety, so His mother in her next life would have… (Merits.) Have merits. Lots of merits. Good merits, right? OK. Right. You are sort of enlightened. But I am not encouraging you to leave your mother, and become a monk here. OK? (We know.) To be a renunciate, you must truly have ideals and want to be enlightened. Not to depend on the public for a living.
