“The first step on the path of Buddhism is to lessen our desires and be satisfied with what we have. Then our minds will relax and we will begin to gain wisdom. “By Master Cheng Yen
I felt peace, serenity and ease of life when I look at Bodhisatvva statue.
When I say that ‘I am a Buddhist’, I am not shouting that ‘I am good, better than you or even close to being pure’.
Instead I’m shouting that ‘I was lost in the pains, unsatisfactoriness and frustrations of the world, but now I’m walking a path that leads to progressive lessening of my greed and ignorance, lessening my attachments and sufferings day by day.’
When I say ‘I am a Buddhist’, I’m not bragging of success.
Instead I’m admitting I have failed time and again to let go of my Greed, Hatred and Ignorance, and need the Buddha Dhamma to help me develop qualities of Generosity, Loving Kindness and Wisdom.
When I say ‘I am a Buddhist’ I still feel the sting of pain, the aging of my body, illness and I have my share of heartaches and failures in this ceaselessly changing world, But the Dhamma has taught me to see the realities of life, to accept change and to handle it with wisdom. My physical body will inevitably suffer but my Mental pain is optional.
I received this through an email. It was great, I hope this will benefit to you too.
May you be diligent in path of awakening!
lijiun 
I do like it… very cleverly put .. and meaningful…
Thank you, bro. Cheers!
Encouraging for those of us who have a long ways ahead to go.
As long as, we follow the right path, we can attain enlightenment. with metta
A very inspiring message.
Yup, so true! I am a Buddhist!
Beautiful message. Amitabha __()__
Amitabha!
Reblogged this on A Western Buddhist's Travels and commented:
I can’t imagine saying it any better, so will just repost this from Lijiun’s great blog.
Thanks, bro. I received this from an email forwarded by my friend. It was great! with metta
There is a kind of serene peacefulness in your blog… well done!
Thank you! You’ve a great blog too… Nice photos. cheers!