Everything we experience in life comes from the combination of causes and conditions. In other words, everything you think about doing, everything you hear, and everything you take action on is the result of certain conditions.
Why are you here at the Guan Yin Citta Practice Centre in Sydney today? Because you have a connection with the Centre, and because you have a connection with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The Centre itself exists because of its connection with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and that’s why there’s a Guan Yin Hall here. Since you share this connection with the Bodhisattvas, the right conditions are present in harmony and you come here. Right? Why do you get along with certain people? It’s because you are compatible. Connections from past lives, combined with interactions in this life, form what we call continuing conditions. For instance, if in a past life you were in a relationship with someone for three years before breaking up, the connection ended then. In this life, when you meet this person again, you might develop a relationship, but after about three years, you might part ways again because that connection has reached its natural ending. Do you understand?
Something that exists today might not exist tomorrow. If you’ve been wronged or accused unfairly today, perhaps in a few days the truth will come out, and justice will prevail. If people speak poorly of you today, in a few days they might change their opinion and speak well of you. Isn’t that right? Someone might warn you, “Be careful, something bad is going to happen,” but does that mean a disaster is guaranteed to occur tomorrow or for the rest of your life? Not necessarily—conditions can change. Do you understand? For example, if you did something wrong in the past but have since turned over a new leaf, people—including your superiors—may treat you kindly now. It all depends on the conditions. Today, there is a cause that gives rise to a condition; but tomorrow, if that cause disappears, so will the condition.
Today, you like someone, and because of that, you are together. But if tomorrow you no longer like this person, the connection fades, and the relationship ends. This is particularly true for young people. When you fancy someone, you might make an effort to talk to this person more, dress up nicely, and present your best self. But if your interest fades, you stop putting in the effort—you no longer care about how you look, and the connection fades away. This is the nature of conditions: when they’re gone, everything disappears. When they’re present, anything is possible. Your life itself is a condition. Because you have the conditions for life right now, you can continue to live in this world and interact with others. But when your life comes to an end, your conditions with this world also end. You can no longer maintain relationships with others. If you were a Bodhisattva incarnated in the Human Realm, once your connection to the Human Realm ends, you can no longer interact with people as before—you can only exist in their hearts, as a figure to be venerated.
Why do Buddhas and Bodhisattvas remain in people’s hearts forever? Because Guan Yin Bodhisattva and other Bodhisattvas constantly connect with people’s minds. They guide people in dreams or during daily life; they neither arise nor cease. But humans are different. When someone passes away, they’re gone. Think about your mother, for example. When she was alive, she loved you dearly, and when she passed, the grief might have felt unbearable. You might have been consumed by memories of how good she was to you. But over time, as the years go by and she’s no longer present to show you her love, the connection fades. Eventually, you begin to forget, and the condition disappears. The result is that the connection ends, the feelings diminish, and the dharma ceases. The feelings a child has for a mother who has just passed are very different from those they have ten years later. Why? Because during those ten years, there was no ongoing connection—the conditions were severed. And when the connection ends, everything else fades too. Do you understand?
To practise Buddhism and accumulate merit and virtue, you need to continue nurturing your connections. If you stop, those connections fade away. This is also true for relationships between parents and children. If you want to have a good relationship, it needs to be maintained constantly. Only then will it be truly lasting. It’s easy to do something good once, but it’s much harder to keep doing good things throughout your life, right? It’s easy to believe in Buddhism for a day, but believing for a lifetime is another matter. Some people, for example, when their health is poor, will sincerely pray to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, bowing repeatedly, deeply devoted. But once they recover, you won’t see them again. Do you think these people really have a connection with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas?
Many people come to me and ask, “Master, why was I doing so well in the past, but now things have suddenly turned bad?” I tell them it’s because, earlier in this life, they were sincerely practising Buddhism and fully dedicated to it. But after that, for example, after the age of 34, they stopped praying and reciting sutras. From that point on, their condition ended, and they began facing difficulties.
The work you’re doing today, the hardships you’re enduring—why are you doing them? It’s all because of this condition. What kind of condition? It’s the condition leading to money, because money allows you to maintain this condition—it enables you to buy things and support your life. You work hard for your children and your family; you must maintain this condition. Right? So, no matter how difficult it is, you accept it. But if you’ve done a lot of meritorious deeds in your past life, earning money in this life might not be so difficult. You might think, “I’ve worked so hard in this lifetime to continue this condition, and I accept it. Because in my past life, I didn’t do enough good deeds, so in this life, I have to suffer. I accept it.” But you must truly practise Buddhism to change this condition. You can transform a condition that causes suffering into one that brings ease. The condition causing you heartbreak can transform into one that heals. This is also what we mean by following conditions.
Many people misunderstand the concept of following conditions. They say, “Master, I’ve been arguing with my husband for a long time. Should I just let it go and get a divorce? Is that following conditions?” But that’s not what following conditions means. It means following wholesome conditions and resolving unwholesome ones—not simply letting unwholesome conditions take their course. For example, if something happens at home and you’re upset, and you immediately put on a sour face for everyone to see, you’re creating a bad condition. If you act like this, don’t be surprised if others stop talking to you and say you’re selfish. Why should people tolerate your bad attitude? If you’re upset, why should others have to share in your negativity? This is creating a negative condition. If someone in your family is upset, and you immediately put on a grumpy face, you’re being selfish.
Remember, causes and conditions are like an iron chain, endlessly binding you through cycles of birth and death. If you are in a relationship with someone in this life, that connection will carry over into the next. If you have a sour relationship with someone, you’ll return in the next life to repay those karmic debts. You cannot escape it—all these ties are locked together. Everyone in your family is part of this chain. Someone who was your spouse in a past life might now be your child. Someone who was your father in a previous life might now be your sister-in-law. It’s all interconnected—a single chain looping endlessly through birth, death, and rebirth. Who among you can break free from this chain? It’s almost impossible. What I’m teaching you now is how to break this chain—how to free yourself from suffering and worry. You need to understand that the cycle of causes and conditions, spanning countless lifetimes, is endless. Ignorance works the same way. As long as you are trapped in this iron chain, you will always carry ignorance and habitual tendencies. Without practising Buddhism, you remain unaware, stuck in this chain, unable to escape. As long as you remain in the Human Realm, ignorance will always exist because you are born without understanding.
Is there any child born fully enlightened? Regardless of whether you were a Bodhisattva in a past life or someone who didn’t do many good deeds, as soon as you are reborn as a human, you lose that clarity. You can’t even walk when you’re born—how could you possibly understand anything? Ignorance follows you the moment you enter the Human Realm. This means you cannot bring your troubles and suffering to an end. Understand? Ignorance is like old age and death—it has no end. You grow old, you die, you are reborn; then you grow old and die again. It’s an endless cycle.
Some leaders express ideas that are deeply philosophical. For example, there’s a well-known Chinese fable called The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains. This Foolish Old Man said, “I can’t finish moving this mountain, so I’ll have my son continue. If my son can’t finish it, then my grandson will. Generation after generation, the task will go on without end.” At its core, this story reflects the concept of cyclic rebirth, doesn’t it? Ignorance follows old age and death, continuing without end. Ignorance means not understanding, and it accompanies old age and death. Because you go through life without truly understanding, you remain in ignorance; because you age and die, ignorance persists, following you into old age and death. Many elderly people live their entire lives without ever understanding anything deeply, and then they pass away. What do they know? Nothing—they leave in ignorance. For them, ignorance and old age-death continue until the very end of life. If they are reborn as a human in their next life, they start the cycle of ignorance all over again. They remain unaware and lack understanding, carrying ignorance into yet another life. This is the endless cycle of rebirth.
This is why we must cultivate the view of conditioned origination (pratītyasamutpāda). It’s essential to see everything clearly and learn to address the issues within yourself. This begins with understanding conditioned origination. What does this mean? It means observing how all situations arise from conditions. For example: “Oh, this condition has arisen. Oh, this situation has started.” Once you recognise it, you can decide how to act. You might think: “This condition is arising, but it’s a negative one. I must be cautious—it’s a negative condition.” Do you understand how positive or negative conditions (affinities) arise? When a negative condition comes, you can’t always stop it from happening. Similarly, when a positive condition arises, it’s equally unstoppable. That’s why recognising the origination of conditions is so important. “Origination” refers to the arising of conditions—the point at which any condition begins to unfold. Recognising the arising of conditions helps you cultivate wisdom. If you often reflect on the view of conditioned origination, you’ll develop insight. For example, you might think: “This is a situation I shouldn’t engage in. This is a negative condition—I need to be cautious.” With this awareness, you’ll gain the wisdom to resist it. You’ll know to recite sutras, remain vigilant, and improve your relationships with others, such as your boss. Isn’t that right? Similarly, when a good opportunity arises, you’ll feel joy. You’ll recognise that a positive condition has come, and you’ll use your wisdom to nurture it.
We must understand and see through conditioned origination. What does this mean? It’s not just about recognising conditioned origination but also understanding its true nature. What does it mean to “see through” it? When a condition arises, you need to discern its essence—much like seeing through the illusions of worldly attachments—and understand how long the condition will last. For example, the bond with your child is finite; it lasts from the moment they’re born until you leave this world. Once you see this clearly, you won’t cling to it unnecessarily. If you can’t see through it, you might think, “Oh, this child will always stay by my side. In my old age, they’ll take care of me.” But life doesn’t work that way. Let me share an example: an elderly woman prayed to the Bodhisattvas every day, asking for her estranged child to return to her. Out of compassion, the Bodhisattvas granted her wish, and the child came back. But here’s the issue—bringing the child back was like buying a fridge for a rural home without electricity. How can the fridge function? Similarly, although the child returned, the root cause of their conflicts remained unresolved. This only led to more conflicts and greater suffering, turning a positive condition into a negative one. Do you understand?
This is why we must transcend the bindings of the twelve links of conditioned origination (dvādaśāvgapratītyasamutpāda). These links bind us like chains. I’ve explained the twelve links of conditioned origination before, so I won’t go into detail now (the twelve links of conditioned origination are: ignorance, volitional actions, consciousness, name-and-form, the six sense bases, sensory contact, sensation, craving, attachment, becoming, birth, and old age-and-death). What you need to do is treat these conditions with kindness and use them wisely. Recognise the conditioned origination, treat the conditions well, and then see through them.
Firstly, you need to observe both the arising and ceasing of conditions and then see through them. Here’s an example: let’s say someone starts liking you. First, you acknowledge this as a karmic connection, but then you need to see through it—realise that if this connection continues, it might lead to complications. Once you see through it, you stop it. This is the process: first, you follow the condition as it arises, but then you see through it and let it go. Take your children, for instance. When they are born, you might think, “This child is my everything, my life!” But as they grow up, get married, and build their own lives, they no longer need you in the same way. That connection fades. If, from the moment they’re born, you recognise that one day they’ll live their own lives, you’ll be more relaxed and less attached. You won’t have as much heartbreak, worry, or lingering attachment when the time comes. Similarly, if someone treats you well or poorly, it’s all just part of a condition. If you can see through these conditions, you won’t hold onto them. This is why we talk about “seeing through and letting go.” You can only let go once you’ve seen through it.
Here’s a simple analogy: when a helium balloon rises into the air, it seems like an unstoppable force. But if you puncture the balloon and release the gas, it falls to the ground. Isn’t that “seeing through and letting go”? Those who can’t figure things out can’t see through them. But those who can understand will be able to let go. Is that clear?