Today I will explain the concept of the “Tathāgata Heart”, and the meaning of “True Suchness Buddha”. The Tathāgata Heart is the true heart and mind of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. It contains profound meaning—the Tathāgata Heart is the “true Suchness heart”, the genuine heart and mind of the Suchness Buddha. The Tathāgata Heart represents truth, authenticity, and fortitude. It is the unwavering faith in one’s own Buddha-nature and Buddha Mind. It encompasses adaptability in accordance with conditions, a pure mind, and the nirvana mindset. To practise Buddhism is to discover one’s true inherent nature and the true Suchness Buddha Mind—the innate Buddha and Bodhisattva mind that is our inherent nature. This is known as the Tathāgata Heart. Everyone should understand that Nirvana means perceiving the transitory nature of this world. Once awakened to the true nature of reality, your heart aligns with the original state, which is the Tathagata Heart.
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas advise against explicit teaching, meaning we shouldn’t expressly share the Dharma with those who aren’t spiritually receptive. Self-awakening is paramount in practising Buddhism and cultivating the mind. Explaining the Buddhist teachings prematurely can even be counterproductive to you if they fail to diligently practise and comprehend them. It is best to awaken yourself first, then skillfully inspire wisdom in others and guide them to personally experience and comprehend the truths. Such comprehension stems from your deep understanding, not from the words of others. For instance, if you comprehend something from personal revelation, such comprehension is profound. On the contrary, comprehension based on others’ words may be superficial. It’s not a thorough understanding. Do you get it? If one isn’t ready to accept what you say, it is because they lack the foundational wisdom to comprehend the Buddhist principles. Only when their wisdom has ripened to comprehend the Buddhist principles will they truly believe your words.
Let me share three key points to guide you in how to awaken yourself:
Firstly, practise the Bodhisattva Path – walk the path that Bodhisattvas are currently treading. As Bodhisattvas are engaged in guiding and saving beings, we too should engage in guiding and saving beings. Bodhisattvas engage in meritorious deeds to free all sentient beings; we too should undertake these deeds for their liberation. Bodhisattvas observe the precepts and cultivate the ten wholesome kinds of action and we should also observe these precepts and cultivate these wholesome kinds of action. This is what it means to practise the Bodhisattva Path.
Secondly, accumulate blessings and “merit and virtue”. Blessings and “merit and virtue” are two distinct concepts. Blessings are about doing good deeds, performing many acts of kindness to improve your karma. However, good deeds do not equate to merit and virtue. Therefore, when guiding others in Buddhism, begin by nurturing blessings. If a person is unwilling even to do basic good deeds, they are unlikely to perform meritorious acts. If someone refuses to do any good at all, can you say they are capable of accruing merit and virtue? Certainly not. It is only when the roots of goodness, wisdom, and concentration are mature that they can form a strong foundation of merit and virtue. A person’s roots of goodness and inherent nature are most crucial, meaning the innate goodness and clear conscience of a person establish the fundamental conditions for cultivating their mind. Build gradually through sustained effort, wisdom will unfold and you will draw nearer to awakening in the Buddha-dharma.
Thirdly, cultivate concentration. Many who study the Bodhisattva way might possess wisdom but lack concentration. Do you know where concentration originates? It’s cultivated. With wisdom, one must also have concentration. Without it, one can’t attain the maturity of Buddha’s teachings. To reach a Buddha’s enlightenment level, one must first mature. This maturity refers to the progression from the First to the Tenth Ground of Bodhisattvahood. If you aspire to perfect the Buddha Path, during your time as a Bodhisattva, you must possess wisdom, concentration, and inherent nature. With these three aspects, one can transition perfectly to the Bodhisattva realm and ultimately attain the Buddha realm. For example, someone who’s intelligent, adept at guiding others, willing to accumulate merit and virtue, wise, and able to remain undistracted amidst temptations—if they continue cultivating in this way, they’ll essentially complete the Bodhisattva path. However, such completion should be understood in the context of ‘concomitant’ or ‘association’.
The Bodhisattva tells all sentient beings to skilfully contemplate causes and conditions. You should learn to skilfully observe the causal relationships of others. For example, two people have a poor relationship and feel unhappy. You should first strive to understand their karmic causes and conditions – this is skilful contemplation of causes and conditions. Many fail to see this. For instance, a child might rashly intervene when parents argue and end up being slapped. This shows a lack of skill in observing causality. To guide and spiritually awaken sentient beings, one must contemplate causality. To guide someone, first see if there is karmic affinity enabling you to do so. If the person resents you and refuses to listen, won’t you just be hitting a wall by sharing Dharma with them? If someone dislikes your very presence, how can you guide them? If the karmic conditions are ripe, then you can provide direct teachings. For example, if someone has learned Buddhism, you can directly guide them. My ability to perform Totem readings allows me to give teachings directly, which certainly is more skilfully than you as you cannot observe their karmic relationships. At best, you can only advise them to diligently cultivate, though they may retort, “You’re no better than I am in spiritual practice.” So contemplate causality skilfully. Hence, it is crucial to skilfully contemplate the causes and conditions.
Now I will explain further. if you directly share Dharma with someone without skilfully observing their causes and conditions, you might end up harming this person whose karmic conditions are not yet ripe. For instance, if you try to persuade someone unready to listen, insisting on what they should do, you may harm them despite their outward politeness. Inwardly, they will resent you, creating negative karma. Their resentment and subsequent complaints further generate negative karma. They create negative karma, and so do you. Those unprepared cannot be guided and awakened; it’s just how it is. Even Buddhas and Bodhisattvas cannot liberate all beings, much less us ordinary beings. Similarly, you can only pick the ripe fruits, not the unripe ones. Some remain obstinate despite your utmost efforts to teach and explain to them, and they might even scold you, thus generating more negative karma. Their roots of goodness and blessings are yet to develop, akin to a destitute person concerned only with food, clothing, and shelter. Suggesting to them, ‘Put aside some money for investment,’ would be impractical, as they lack the necessary resources (conditions). This exemplifies the importance of skilfully observing karmic conditions. Only when these conditions are ripe can you effectively guide and awaken them.
Moreover, when someone’s karma is not yet ripe, you cannot directly speak of the ultimate reality of the Dharma realm. For instance, many might be content with their lives, indulging in pleasures such as alcohol, food, singing and dancing, without a care. If you tell them about the perils of such a life and the suffering of falling into the cycle of rebirth, they might rebuff you for spoiling their fun, saying you’re delusional. Since their karmic conditions are not yet ripe, you cannot reveal the ultimate reality of the Dharma realm, the genuine nature of our world. The world is impermanent; nothing can be taken beyond this life – this is the ultimate reality.
As their conditions have not yet ripened, they are unable to cultivate a sense of peace and patience. For example, bosses with some wealth constantly think of risky investments, never at peace. Remember, in everything you do, maintain peace and patience. Peace is a blessing. Never be greedy as greed brings danger. Always maintain a calm and peaceful heart, practising patience and non-attachment. Let everything follow its course.
In practicing the Buddha-dharma, elevate your state of spirituality. Abandon greed, anger, and delusion, and find contentment in any situation. You can only guide and awaken those with karmic affinity (condition). Your own diligence combined with the Master’s blessings brings success. The Master’s blessings alone, no matter how hard the Master has tried, cannot transform your karma without your own practice and chanting. Those who hear the Buddha-dharma but lack sufficient wholesome roots and blessings might slander and oppose you, hindering the Bodhisattva’s efforts to disseminate the Dharma now and in the future. For such immature beings, it is best to wait for the Master to guide them when conditions are optimal. If you share the Dharma with them now and they disbelieve and resent you, it will create obstacles when I try to guide them later. Their disbelief and closed minds mean your conduct in promoting Buddhism has interfered with their karma, forcing faith instead of allowing natural ripening. This causes barriers and thus becomes karmic obstructions. More on this next time.
