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Sutra on the White-Clad Disciple 2 - Sutra on Teaching and Transforming the Sick
The White-Clad Layperson Sutra and the Teaching the Sick Sutra point out a simple yet profound path of practice for lay friends, helping them to attain Happiness in the Present Moment—joy and peace right in the here and now, without struggle.
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Two sutras for lay friends:
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The White-Clad Layperson Sutra (Majjhima Agama, Anguttara Nikaya) teaches the practice of two Dharma doors for immediate happiness:
- The Five Precepts: keeping the precepts to avoid the three realms of suffering (hell, hungry ghosts, animals).
- The Four Recollections (strengthening the mind): recollection of the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and the Precepts.
- The Teaching the Sick Sutra (Majjhima Agama, Majjhima Nikaya) offers guidance to comfort and bring peace to those about to pass away, helping them to depart peacefully through understanding of impermanence.
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The White-Clad Layperson Sutra (Majjhima Agama, Anguttara Nikaya) teaches the practice of two Dharma doors for immediate happiness:
Practicing these two Dharma doors not only brings happiness in the present, but also ensures that one does not fall into unfortunate realms, and at the same time opens the possibility of “entering the stream” (stream-enterer)—the first sure step on the path of complete liberation, with rebirth at most seven times in the human and heavenly realms, or even in this very life. This teaching possesses the qualities of Sanditthika (immediate), Akalika (timeless), and Ehipassika (to be experienced by oneself), and is based on the Three Jewels: the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.