During my school days, I unknowingly picked up the bad habit of smoking. After entering the workforce as a designer, the nature of my job required prolonged thinking, which led me to smoke incessantly. Sometimes, I would smoke over 60 cigarettes a day, staining my fingers a light yellow. The smell of tobacco lingered on my hands, and even when I brought them close to my nose, I could still sense the scent. Despite knowing how harmful smoking was to my health, I simply couldn’t quit.
I always felt that smoking was a form of enjoyment. Being frugal, I would smoke cheaper cigarettes when alone and keep a better pack for social occasions. Smoking also came with a significant financial cost. In my early working years, money was tight, and I couldn’t always afford cigarettes. Often, I bought just one or two loose cigarettes. Sometimes, I would smoke a cigarette in multiple sittings—lighting it, taking a couple of puffs, extinguishing it, and repeating the process. When I had no cigarettes, I would secretly pick up discarded cigarette butts to smoke. Occasionally, I even picked up others’ cigarette butts—how miserable it was just to satisfy my smoking habit! Even now, an old classmate of mine still teases me about how, back in the day, I would visit him for a meal when I was broke. After eating, I would crave a cigarette and would blurt out, “A cigarette after a meal is better than being an immortal!” This classmate, who never smoked, still brings up this incident to mock me.
Later on, although I could afford cigarettes, I knew deep down that smoking was not a good thing. The numerous “No Smoking” signs everywhere made it clear that smoking was frowned upon. I couldn’t smoke freely in public and had to step outside no-smoking areas when I couldn’t resist the urge. Even at home, I couldn’t smoke at ease. To avoid annoying my family and exposing them to secondhand smoke, I had to hide away on the balcony to smoke. This furtive way of smoking made me feel like a thief, carrying a constant sense of guilt.
“You’re just taking a puff of smoke into your lungs and then exhaling it—what’s the point?” My wife often said this to me. She was right; there was no real meaning to it. I was spending money to harm my own health. So, I made up my mind to quit smoking!
However, quitting a habit cultivated over twenty years was no easy task. I tried every quitting method I heard of—keeping snacks in my pocket to replace cigarettes, writing a quit-smoking journal, telling people I was quitting so they could hold me accountable, and even just holding a cigarette without lighting it. I experimented with all these strategies. At best, I lasted four or five days; my longest attempt lasted three to four months. But I always ended up relapsing. Every time I finished a cigarette, I immediately regretted it and resolved to quit again. This cycle repeated endlessly—I quit, then smoked again, and then quit again. I both hated and loved smoking. I wanted to quit but just couldn’t. Quitting smoking was truly not easy.
After so many failed attempts, no one believed I could do it anymore. People would just smile knowingly when I mentioned quitting, and even I lost hope in myself. But then, due to an extraordinarily auspicious connection, I encountered the Buddha Dharma as taught by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, who is no different from Shakyamuni Buddha. This profoundly touched my heart. I realized that this bad habit was leading me toward degeneration, so I firmly resolved to quit smoking.
I started using the money I would have spent on cigarettes to buy fruits as offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, increasing my merits. Sometimes, I used it to release captive animals or to show filial respect to my parents. This time, quitting smoking felt surprisingly effortless. My wife was amazed and praised the power of Buddha Dharma, marveling at how I had truly succeeded in quitting.
Once, a Dharma brother was setting up a Buddhist shrine in his factory. A highly virtuous master traveled from afar to lead the ceremony. More than thirty of us gathered to celebrate, and everything was prepared—except that we couldn’t find a lighter to light the lamps. No one in the group smoked, so no one had a lighter. Eventually, someone had to step outside to borrow one. At that moment, I was struck by how remarkable Buddhist disciples were—out of so many people, not a single one smoked. I thought, Surely, many of them, like me, must have quit smoking. When I asked a fellow practitioner if he had a lighter, he just smiled knowingly and shook his head.
After quitting smoking, I no longer coughed or felt nauseous when brushing my teeth in the morning. I felt lighter, both physically and mentally. However, the habit formed over nearly thirty years didn’t just disappear overnight. For a long time—sometimes even one or two years later—after dinner, I would pace back and forth on the balcony, feeling like I was supposed to be doing something but not knowing what. Only after thinking for a while would I realize, Oh! It’s the old smoking habit. This proved just how difficult it is to break ingrained habits. Truly, “A leopard cannot change its spots.”
Yet, after much effort, I finally broke the long-standing smoking habit. I realized that smoking was simply a habit, and not smoking was also a habit. H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III teaches: “All phenomena become natural through habit.” That is why we must be cautious not to develop bad habits, as they can easily become ingrained. Instead, we should cultivate good habits, no matter how small, and continue to practice them.
After I quit smoking, my old friends were impressed: “You have incredible willpower!” “You’re so determined!” Receiving praise naturally felt good—much better than being criticized. I would joyfully reply, “Yes, I quit! I know this was the power of Buddha Dharma.”
Indeed, life is like a puff of smoke—it quickly vanishes into thin air. No matter how enjoyable, it is nothing more than fleeting mist. Only by maintaining good health can we have a future. Now, whenever I hold a cigarette in my hand, I smile at my past ignorance and feel grateful for my present success.
Today, as I embark on a new journey, how could I ever harm myself again? I shall light an eternal lamp in my heart, illuminating the path of my Buddhist practice with the radiant light of wisdom.
Written by: Ming Xun
Edited by: Bodhi Seed & Others
How I Quit Smoking After 20+ Years — Thanks to the Buddha Dharma of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III
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Peace LiLy 