Book 303, A Reminder to the Mortal World: Small Words, Many Pieces

Sheng-Yen Lu A Reminder to the Mortal World: Small Words Many Pieces

Author：Sheng-Yen Lu

Publisher：True Buddha Prajna Treasury

Publication Date：2025/01/20

Language：Traditional Chinese

Suitable for ages ：All

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Summary：

Book 303, A Reminder to the Mortal World: Small Words, Many Pieces

A Reminder to the Mortal World (Preface)
That day,
I wanted to come up with the title for my 303rd book.
I thought of a passage from the Avatamsaka Sutra:
"May all beings attain the body of wisdom and non-hindrance in the realm of immortality.
May all beings attain the body of the treasure, benefiting all who see it without exception.
May all beings attain the body of emptiness, uncontaminated by worldly afflictions."

First wish: To have wisdom and attain non-hindrance.
Second wish: To possess the Dharma treasure and attain benefit.
Third wish: To have an empty mind and be free from afflictions.

With these three wishes in mind, I had a direction for this book. Now, I needed a beautiful title for it.
Since sentient beings live in the world of red dust, I first thought of the name "Red Dust."
Then, since the book is intended to teach sentient beings the Dharma, I thought of adding "Prose" to the title. "Prose" sounds elegant.

So how about "Prose of the Red Dust"?
Master Lianqi then reminded me,
"Grandmaster, you once wrote a book titled Departing the Red Dust." [Book 183, Transcending Samsara]
Alright, then let's change "Red Dust" to "Mortal World." It carries the same meaning but uses different words.

Then, Sister Yuting mentioned,
"Grandmaster, one of your early books, Prose in the Dream Garden [Book 2], was very popular."
I replied,
"In that case, let's not use ‘prose.’ How about 'Calling of the Mortal World' instead?"
Master Lianxiang interjected,
"’Calling’ feels a bit loud and awkward. Perhaps 'Reminder' is more fitting."
But then Sister Yuting noted,
"Grandmaster, one of your earlier books was titled Little and Small Reminders [Book 274, Caring Reminders]."
Ah, another repetition!
"Notebook of the Mortal World" feels too common and repetitive as well.
"Warnings of the Mortal World" lacks literary elegance.
"Essays of the Mortal World" is also overused.
Choosing a book title truly is a challenge! In the end, I thought, Forget it!
Let’s just remove "Little and Small" from the Little and Small Reminders.
And so, "A Reminder to the Mortal World" was born! Its subtitle is "Small Words, Many Pieces."
That’s it! The book title is decided!
●
This book will be written in a free-flowing style, capturing thoughts as they come, but with the intention of benefiting sentient beings.
I (Grandmaster Lu) am now 80 years old and have been practicing for over 50 years.
I may have gained a bit more experience than the average person, along with some small insights—minor accomplishments that are not worth boasting about.
This book is my way of sharing these with everyone.

I will use the literary styles I love: short essays and poems.
It will include:
Practical cultivation techniques.
Questions and answers.
Meaningful insights.
May this book enrich your mind.

Living Buddha Lian-sheng
Sheng-Yen Lu
17102 NE 40th Ct.,
REDMOND WA 98052
U.S.A.
July 2024