Remember Your True Nature, Live Like a Saint, Part 5 of 5

“The path of practicing renunciation can of course lead to liberation. I have mentioned this many times. If you observe a vegan diet, the best would be one meal a day. Also, keeping the precepts is important, the 250 precepts must be very clear. Then you will be liberated to the Fourth Realm. You will transcend the three realms. With plenty of temptations in this secular world, it’d be very difficult for a renunciate to practice without an enlightened Master. It is different for the renunciates under Shakyamuni Buddha. Yes, it is not the same to become a renunciate under the Buddha. So you can see it very clearly. Two thousand monks, who were not directly under the Buddha, left His congregation. Perhaps they were too arrogant or ignorant, or both. Therefore, at that time, Buddha’s renunciates were different from other renunciates.” “It is not easy to become a renunciate. You may be able to drop everything, but not the ego. It’s not easy. It’s also because they had renounced everything, so their egos became greater. I am great! I have left home and renounced everything. It doesn’t mean that eating one meal each day will get you liberated. If we eat one meal a day to show people that we are great, then it is even worse. So we should even pay attention to what we wear. There are advantages in wearing a monk’s robe. People respect us. But because we’re respected, we may be spoiled by people. I am afraid that our egos would grow. Be cautious if you want to be a reverend.”