Teaching in Virginia Beach, Ven. Chuc Thanh said “The Dharma is like an herb garden. The gardener must tend the garden to keep the good herbs and pull out those that are poisonous. With the Dharma, we learn to separate what is good from bad.”
This teaching reminds us that we learn the dharma through our day-to-day practice and experience, not just from reading or listening to the teachings. We have to be vigilant like a gardener as we nurture and grow our good thoughts, words and actions while diligently culling out any bad tendencies we may have.
(Venerable Thich Chuc Thanh is the Dharma Master at Dong Hung Temple. These quotations were collected from 2015 through 2018 as he taught in Virginia Beach, VA and Southern Shores, NC. The quotation titles and commentary are by temple member Mark Palamara.)