5. The layman's footprints.
Portrait of Lord Supreme Maitreya Buddha strolling down town, wearing Western clothes.When attending social events, He wore a suit and tie.
| The layman, the layman's footprints, In the dharma or in the life, always steadfast, brave, never mind being tired, With the precious dharma inside and the layman outside. |
How wonderful it is! The Blessed One had taught on “The enlightenment of the Buddhist dharma inseparable from the secular world.” This means the Buddhist dharma could not be separated from the secular world in the way of seeking enlightenment. In daily life, the Pure King always recommended that His true disciples practice parallel to the dharma and life, following the footsteps of the layman.
As a layman building inside the true dharma, in the very hard time of the Dharma-Ending Age, He firmly adhered to His vows of rendering thanks to the Blessed One and the Buddhas who always pressed Him to do it.
On the outside he was as a layman, but inside he was teaching the dharma to the world. For a wise man, always seek a solution to all chaotic situations, because they are all dharma that will lead to the liberation from the rebirth cycle. Therefore, as a layman, he always remains fearless and self-satisfied, with great compassion, and is liberated through wisdom.
| The layman is building the foundation of true dharma. Vowing deep thanks for the great favor. He has, therefore, no interest in the fame. Provided that the truths were fully exposed. The layman, the layman's footprints. –T.V.
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For His family, His wife and children have to make their living like other families. He himself appeared sometimes as a husband, a father, an uncle, or a brother, and always carried out His duty and responsibility, blamelessly.
He was always a dutiful child toward His parents. For the disciples following him in the practice of dharma, those who are on a vegetarian diet will continue it as they wish; those who are not on a vegetarian diet will continue to eat normally. His family was not on a vegetarian diet either, but they are forbidden to kill living things.
Lord Supreme Maitreya at 39 with His wife at 37. Taken in Binh Dinh, in 1957.
In this Final Law Period, everything in this world appeared to be at the extreme. It exposed, without deficiency, all extremes of evil. As human beings, we are subjected to material living, with its extreme advancement. They took the property of others for their own, and remained heartless and emotionless, regardless of the weeping and suffering of others. Bad character, haughtiness, and beastly thinking were widespread. He took pity on that and said that if he did not return to the world to teach the dharma and attest for human beings, the mean longevity of 80 years today would decrease to 10 for a lifetime. For that reason, He had recommended that the Four Disciples, representing human beings, take the first step to correct and annihilate their bad character and bad habits to receive the good divine power, and dissolve little by little the bad Maha power. The mind would be tranquil, joyful. The mind not being polluted, the body would be healthy. The longevity reaches 100 years, which is the mean for human life.
He guided the true disciples according to their mental abilities, making use of all the means and wonderful applications determined to bring the precious dharma to true disciples. He actively put all the seeds of morality, enlightenment and posterity into the hands of true disciples, who will succeed one another to be the messengers of the Buddha’s messages and diffuse them to the Four Species.
How wonderful it is! Although human beings are not able to meet the reincarnated Lord Supreme Maitreya, He had wonderfully arranged the opportunity for them to experience happy, joyful, good, and the beautiful things.