“As the sky is subject to unforeseen winds and clouds, so too are people’s fortunes and misfortunes prone to swift and unexpected changes.” In this world, hardships are ever-present in our lives. Yet, those who truly propagate the Buddha-dharma and awaken sentient beings do not merely dress themselves as Bodhisattvas but are real beings of both flesh and spirit. If one’s soul cannot overcome the physical body, they remain human. If their soul is pure and triumphs over the body, they become divine. This is because they are not controlled by bodily desires but can master them. However, it is achievable only at a certain level of spiritual cultivation. If you’re controlled by your own desires, then you cannot control your body. For example, can you resist eating seafood when hungry, knowing you follow a vegetarian diet? Or, if you know certain foods are harmful to your health, can you abstain from eating them? The principle is the same.
Learning Buddhism is crucial, as it focuses on both the mind and spirit. Cultivating the mind involves changing bad habits, overcoming greed, anger, and ignorance, and learning to let go of past actions. Letting go is the best approach. This process is akin to deleting viruses and unwanted files from a computer. If you can genuinely forget all of your past actions, you’ve truly succeeded. The problem with people is their inability to forget unkindness from others, while they often fail to remember times when they have been treated well. Those who don’t understand how to cultivate their minds and be good people essentially live a life mechanically, dictated by fate. A person who doesn’t cultivate the mind lack depth and understanding.
Today, let’s talk about the concept of awakening. Awakening refers to one’s inherent nature, the innate Buddha-nature present in all sentient beings. It’s about recognising this inherent, enlightened nature within ourselves and others.
Let’s also discuss “Fundamental Wisdom”, which is the inherent wisdom of a person, the wisdom of a Bodhisattva. Fundamental Wisdom requires “no-thought”; without thoughts, one can achieve true peace. True peace is not just sitting quietly. Can your mind be settled while chanting sutras? If not, it’s not true peace. True peace involves sitting without thoughts, a state known as no-thought, the foundation of Nirvana. Nirvana is a state of neither birth nor death, amounting to realising an enlightened mind and seeing your true nature. Nirvana is a Sanskrit word, signifies extinction, the cessation of afflictions and the cycle of birth and death. Only by escaping afflictions and transcending life and death can one attain true tranquility. The cessation of all suffering; there is neither birth nor death, nothing to extinguish for good, thus achieving Buddhahood.
Why engage in a reclusive retreat? A reclusive retreat is for those who spread the Dharma to find peace and avoid the disturbances of the secular world. Only those dedicated to guiding and awakening all sentient beings truly embody the role of a Bodhisattva. A true Bodhisattva, characterised by great compassion and mercy, is unafraid of suffering in their mission to alleviate the suffering of others and bring universal salvation. One who only knows protecting themselves and is unwilling to help others can never truly become a Bodhisattva.
To attain true inner peace, one must relinquish all restless thoughts. A truly peaceful person casts aside all such unsettled thoughts. Restlessness of the mind is like being unable to settle at work, or worrying whether your child will be admitted to a good school – these are signs of a restless mind. Thus, to achieve genuine tranquility, all these restless thoughts must be discarded. Restlessness stems from a lack of wisdom, from not realising that you are learning from Guan Yin Bodhisattva, practising Buddhism. Practising Buddhism can transform every aspect of yourself, as firm faith prevents a restless mind. To calm your mind, true belief is essential. Only by truly believing that Guan Yin Bodhisattva will save you, can you control your restless mind.
Nirvana is the embodiment of true reality. When a person achieves Nirvana, they attain a state of profound peace. Nirvana is a state where the mind is completely empty, representing the essence of true tranquillity. To reach this true tranquillity, one must let go of all restless thoughts and shed pride and arrogance from the body and mind. This also involves eliminating the sense of superiority and discriminatory thoughts. Superiority is feeling esteemed above others, and discrimination arises when one looks down on others as lesser, for instance, despising those less wealthy or envying those more affluent. One must not harbour any discriminatory or envious thoughts. Envy is a poison, inherently present from birth, a product of the cycle of rebirth in the Six Realms of Existence. It is envy that perpetuates this cycle. However, once you reach the Bodhisattva realm and break free from the cycle of rebirth, envy no longer binds you. Likewise, the spirit of contention must also be eradicated.
Why repent? Because repentance can dissolve karmic obstacles. For those cultivating their minds, avoiding arguing what is right or wrong is actually winning the argument. On the contrary, if you think you have a strong argument, you have actually lost it – this is the essence of dialectical thinking. Those who often admit their mistakes are unlikely to err; in contrast, those who always insist on being right are often in the wrong. It’s human to err, and that’s okay. However, the key is recognising the need for repentance, offering apologies, and making amends. This leads to self-improvement and elevation of one’s spiritual state. People often refuse to acknowledge their faults, constantly finding excuses to cover up their mistakes. Wrongdoings arise from a failure to properly cultivate the mind. Now that you have embarked on the journey of practising Buddhism and cultivating the mind, it’s crucial to make amends. Let the past remain in the past; avoid holding onto it stubbornly, and don’t justify your actions by insisting, “It’s not my fault because I did such and such.” Failing to acknowledge your own mistakes leads to constantly bearing these negative burdens, and this, in turn, results in ongoing failure.
There was an elderly person who carried the weight of her past with her, filled with resentment. This hatred brought about a host of illnesses. How did these illnesses arise? 80% of them were due to her child, a disrespectful one. Thinking of this child filled her with immense anger, sorrow, and hatred, eventually leading to her myriad of ailments. However, 80% of these ailments were self-inflicted, borne from her refusal to let go. Had she dropped this burden earlier, would her health condition be the same? It is essential to understand that anger harms not just the body but the very essence of life. Never let anger prevail; everything has its roots in cause and effect. If you have a karmic debt to your child from a past life, now is the time to joyfully and unconditionally settle it. Free yourself by letting go of your burdens.
Thus, discard all minds of joy, sorrow, greed, contention, jealousy, discrimination, superiority, and arrogance. Abandon all these troublesome thoughts and let them fall away. There’s a Buddha called the Reclining Buddha. Do you know each Buddha pose has many meanings? This Buddha has cast aside all these minds. When all the minds are present, Nirvana is unattainable. The Reclining Buddha’s pose signifies achieving Nirvana of Right Concentration, enlightenment, awakening, reaching the Concentration of Sublime Enlightenment. “Sublime” here means the ultimate state of enlightenment.
There are four types of enlightenment: the Actualised Enlightenment, which is the initial stage of awakening; the Apparent Enlightenment, seemingly enlightened; the Approximate Enlightenment, slowly awakening with conditions; and the Ultimate Enlightenment, finally understanding and enlightenment.
These four types of enlightenment also signify the four stages of transformation:
1. Actualised Enlightenment: The initial awakening, akin to the innocence of childhood when the thought of our parents’ mortality never crosses our minds. It’s only upon the passing of a parent that we come to realise their mortality. This is what constitutes the Actualised Enlightenment.
2. Apparent Enlightenment: This refers to awakening through shared experiences of suffering and fortune, gradually leading to enlightenment through emotional bonding, as when one feels, “There is a karmic connection between us.” The Apparent Enlightenment is related to past karmic connections.
3. Approximate Enlightenment: This type of awakening unfolds gradually with the deepening of karmic connections. This is known as gradual enlightenment. You start getting enlightened as you encounter your Master. While this enlightenment is gradual, one should actively seek and embrace it, rather than passively awaiting its arrival.
4. Ultimate Enlightenment: This is the final, profound understanding, transcending age and experience. Whether young or old, enlightenment is not bound by age. It’s about grasping the truths of life and the universe. When a young person experiences a sudden awakening, they attain the state of a Bodhisattva. Why is being ordained as a Buddhist monk described as “a sudden entry into the door of emptiness”? It’s because it symbolises a sudden understanding and entrance into this realm of emptiness. The door of emptiness represents the inherent emptiness of the phenomenal world.
