Walking Backwards along the Path　Yutang Lin

Walking backwards
Not only trains different muscles
Also helps one learn to think otherwise, in shoes of others
And to look the other way Blindly stepping out is dangerous
Hence one need to turn right and left to look backSeeing scenery face on, it passes quickly
Looking back gradually into distance, insight becomes deeper
　　　　When uphill, the field of one's sight gradually expandsGenerally people are self-centered
Foods and drinks are incessantly sought after for delicacy as well as varieties
Dharma in daily practices walks backwards along such a path
Eat and drink whatever becomes available, without seeking for refinement
Only thinking to use this causal connection to wish for
All beings connected with the production, manufacture, transportation
And provision of these nutrients
May they thus become connected causally with Dharma and Buddha
For their sake we offer foods and drinks first of all to Buddhas
For their salvation we consume these foods and drinks
Upon excretion and urination we visualize hungry ghosts as receiving nectars
Thus through impartial consumption of foods and drinks along the practice path
Dharma connections developed will also gradually grow wider and deeper

Written in Chinese and translated on October 12, 2008
El Cerrito, California

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