RECLUSIVE RETREATS HELPS CLEAR ONE’S MIND AND GAIN MENTAL STRENGTH
Master Jun Hong Lu: Our minds must always be pure, and in our daily lives, we should frequently undertake brief reclusive retreats. These reclusive retreats help clear and free our mind from all thoughts. By detaching ourselves from worldly matters and dedicating time to recitations throughout the day and night, we can cultivate a profound sense of inner peace.
Even if we only have an hour to spare, we can retreat into a room with the door closed to recite our scriptures. This is what it means to undertake a reclusive retreat and empty our mind.
To retreat into reclusiveness is to cast aside all the distracting thoughts for a minute, five minutes, 10 minutes, 30 minutes and so on. During your recitation, you solely focus your mind on Guan Yin Bodhisattva and nothing else – a state that is known as retreating into reclusiveness. During such periods, you are not supposed to engage in any conversation nor answer any call, and to maintain a state of an empty mind.
Every time after you complete reciting a scripture, make it a point to pause momentarily, emptying yourself before resuming your recitation with an empty mind again.
You have to cultivate such a state of mind. If you are successful in doing so, when a major catastrophe befalls you, the moment you can calmly think of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, your problem will be resolved right away because you are connected with Guan Yin Bodhisattva spiritually.
On the contrary, when your mind is clouded with unwholesome and distracting thoughts, you will lack the energy and mental strength, leaving no room for Guan Yin Bodhisattva in your heart.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Volume 6 Chapter 48
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