Master Lianchi of the Ming Dynasty recorded a story in the Record of the Worship of the Monks: Master Guangxiaoan of the Song Dynasty was the abbot of Qingtai Temple. One day, the Zen master saw two monks talking while leaning against a railing. At first, a celestial being was guarding them and listening respectfully, but soon the celestial being left. Then a ghost appeared and mocked them with disdain. After the Zen master came out of meditation, he asked the reason and learned that the two monks were discussing Buddhism at the beginning, so the celestial being guarded and listened, but later they started to chat about family matters and even talked about accepting financial offerings, so the celestial being left. The ghost also felt disgusted with them and mocked them. From then on, Master Guangxiaoan never discussed worldly matters for the rest of his life.
In ancient times, practitioners traveled around for the sake of life and death. Once they met a teacher or friend who was worth learning from, they would eagerly ask for the Buddhist principles of liberation, and had no time to discuss other trivial matters. However, most monks now spend the whole day chatting about useless things and engaging in worldly affairs, without considering that ghosts and gods are always around, what will they do? This situation is really worrying, and practitioners should always be vigilant, as careful as walking on thin ice or facing the abyss.
A sentence of Amitabha #Buddha