Why The Older The More Afflictions?

One lay buddhist said, his son told him that he cannot say anything like what he said when he was young, because he already learnt how to express himself in a formal way. He cannot find his original intention anymore.​​

The lay buddhist asked a Chan master, is that true that the process people growing up is from original intention to darkness?

Chan master said, to some extent it’s correct. Maybe it’s dark at the beginning, and become darker and darker, increasingly darker, which is saying the older the more muddled. 

​​Think about this, before we realized the truth of life, the life degraded, isn’t it pitiful?
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​The older is Chan master the clearer he is. In a temple, if there is a Chan master who is at his 80s, 90 or even 100s, he is the treasure of the temple.

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