It’s important to understand that thinking “I have merit and virtue” actually means you don’t. When you perform good deeds, in reality, you may not have any merit and virtue. It’s when you believe you lack merit and virtue, that’s when you truly possess it. Being a good person is about not intending to harm others. When you aim to help others, do so without boasting about your merit and virtue. Genuine help will surely be rewarded, even if immediate gratitude is not received. Expecting gratitude for your good deeds diminishes their true worth. Help others, and they will eventually appreciate it, which is where true merit and virtue lie. Merit and virtue function paradoxically: if you don’t think about having it, you actually gain it; but if you fixate on having it, you won’t. Don’t dwell on your good deeds or feel self-important, fearing others won’t notice. True action is marked by effortlessness; it is the absence of action that signifies the true action. Those who truly act do not seek recognition, whereas those who talk about their deeds often don’t act. The corresponding merit and virtue diminish if you boast about your actions. Can you grasp this concept?
Albert Einstein recognised Buddhism’s unique capacity to foster open-mindedness in the future world and universe, underscoring the profound depth of the Buddha-dharma. The Buddhist teachings I explain can greatly benefit you all. If you are truly kind to other people, they will hold gratitude in their hearts, even without expressing it. This is the essence of effortless action. What you do may seem effortless, but it is indeed acted upon. On the other hand, where you might think you have done something, but in reality, it’s non-doing. It’s easy for many people to have the initial determination to do good, but difficult to persistently follow through.
Our thoughts, seemingly present one moment and absent the next, actually exist in a state of emptiness. This is why we say thoughts are essentially non-existent. But if we say thoughts are non-existent, do they exist? Yes, they do. A million thoughts, ten million thoughts may swirl through your mind, but once they stop and settle, they’re gone. Therefore, you should concentrate all these thoughts into one single focus – “all thoughts become one.” Furthermore, in reaching a higher spiritual state through Buddhist practice and cultivation of the mind, you ultimately need to forget this single thought and realise that “I have no thoughts.”
It’s crucial to truly understand oneself. We must realise that life is but a dream. It’s only after enlightenment that one will be in position to make the statement that “life is a dream.” If you lack this insight, not realising that life is just a dream, then your time in this Human Realm is spent in vain. True Buddhist practice involves sacrificing everything for the benefit of others and completely cutting off personal desires. Always remember the phrase I often share with you: “Without desire, your mind will be as calm as water.” Do not harbour desires, for they only lead to disappointment. The more you desire, the greater your disappointments, and from these disappointments, afflictions follow, wounding your heart.
When it comes to worldly desires, be ruthless in cutting them off. I liken human desires to an arrow, always aiming to achieve its target. But the greatest human desire shoots towards the sky, which is boundless and unachievable. Like an arrow shot into the sky, how high can it really go? Eventually, it will fall back down, amounting to nothing but a futile effort. In the end, we attain nothing. Desires lead you to achieve nothing. Even if you do obtain something, it’s only temporary; eventually, you lose it and are left with nothing. Do you understand? In this world, there is no right or wrong, only cause and effect; everything is just a dream.
“No-thought” is the “perfect enlightenment and the treasure of the Buddha”. It means not having any thoughts, which signifies you are practising Buddhism correctly. This is what we call “perfect enlightenment and the treasure of the Buddha,” or perfect enlightenment and right mindfulness. When you are perfectly enlightened and have the right mindset, you are approaching the state of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Let’s continue with what it means to have “no-thought”. When you have no-thought, you have no afflictions. I’ll now teach you a method to converge all thoughts into one, to have no thoughts at all. If this seems unattainable, then start with focusing on a single thought. Take watching TV as an example. When watching TV, you forget everything else; your mind is absorbed in the show. If it’s a war scene, you’re engrossed in that battle, with no other thoughts. But slowly, you should shift this focus to faith in Buddhism. Let this one thought become one with the Buddha. As you transition your focus to faith in Buddhism, gradually move towards having no thoughts – not even the thought of believing in the Buddha. In reality, when you reach this state of “no-thought”, you are truly believing in and worshipping the Buddha.
Let me explain the concept of “no-thought” to you. When you kneel down to pray to the Buddha, do you have thoughts in your mind? Your body and heart are engaging in praying to the Buddha, aren’t you? When your heart is in the act of worship, do you feel as if you are actively doing it? And when your actions and intentions are involved, do you have thoughts? Actually, there are no thoughts in this, but how can you worship the Buddha without thoughts? This is the paradox. The intention of worshipping lets you focus solely on that act, thereby eliminating other thoughts. It’s like when a person becomes so accustomed to an action, they aren’t even aware of doing it – that’s “no-thought”. In reciting the Buddha’s name, you should recite to the point of being mindful of each recitation, followed by being mindless of each recitation. Initially, you’re aware, as if you are full of thoughts, but eventually, you reach a point where thoughts fade away. Isn’t that how it is when you recite scriptures? Initially, you’re conscious of each word, but as you continue, you recite faster and eventually lose track of what you’re reciting – that’s practising Buddhism with “no-thought”. In the end, you should recite without any thoughts. When the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas encourage us to worship without thoughts, it is true mindfulness. When you completely surrender your heart to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, focusing all your thoughts on them – that is true mindfulness. Do you understand?
Remember to completely eliminate your afflictions. If you don’t, they will keep accumulating, and the more you have, the more your face becomes a reflection of these troubles. So, as much as afflictions come, that much you should remove. If you keep adding past afflictions to current ones, your mind won’t be able to bear it – you could end up with a mental breakdown. If your body can’t sustain it, you’ll collapse, and eventually, you’ll be finished. Remember, the longer you hold onto afflictions, the more they accumulate, and over time, you’ll be entirely entangled in them, like being bound by a rope. Since afflictions are part of the human realm, you’ll be entangled in these human afflictions, getting more and more entwined until you can’t escape the cycle of rebirth, trapped in the human world, unable to break free from the Six Realms. Therefore, in reciting the Buddha’s name, even the thought of becoming a Buddha should be absent. When reciting scriptures, if you let go of the thought of becoming a Buddha, you can achieve a state of partial enlightenment. It’s like when you help someone without expecting anything in return, they naturally feel compelled to reciprocate. But if you help with the expectation of a reward, you will not receive one.
Here’s a method for emptying your mind of all its burdens, transforming it into a state of emptiness: If you can’t sleep at night, write down all the worries in your heart and keep the notes by your bed. By doing this, you empty out everything, and you’ll be able to sleep. But remember, this is a worldly method. I want to teach you to use the practice of reciting scriptures to dissolve and remove all your worries. Without these worries, you’ll be able to sleep.
Each time I teach, my goal is to help you eliminate these worries. Of course, the best way is for you to remove them yourself, which is far better than relying on me to do it for you. For example, a good student who stays quiet during class without me saying “Be quiet!” is much better than one who only silences themselves when they are told so. Now, you all have karmic obstacles and flaws. If I have to constantly point out what’s wrong with you, don’t you think it’s exhausting? Self-cultivation, doing it on your own initiative, is far better than me having to tell you to do it. This is what awakening is about. If you’re not awakened, you’ll have things on your mind, adding to your worries and making you even more troubled. But if you let go of personal matters, forget about them, and focus on the concerns of others, that’s when you’ll find happiness. When you focus on the well-being of everyone, you gain much more joy than just focusing on yourself. True happiness comes from caring about others.
So, to eliminate worries, get rid of them entirely. When you have nothing troubling you, you won’t have sleepless nights, nor will you overthink things. This will lead you to greater happiness. But if you lose sleep and keep thinking about your worries, you’ll end up with even more troubles and worries. Therefore, you should cut off all afflictions. “Afflictions are Bodhi” – once you eliminate these afflictions, you gain wisdom, which is Bodhi. Without afflictions, you lack wisdom. A wise person, even when confronted with worries, can resolve them themselves. In doing so, you’ll be able to see your own mind – “ah, so the Buddha-nature is right here, within me, within my heart.” It’s only without afflictions that you can see your own mind. Those with worries cannot see their mind and tend to think they are always right in any situation.
Nowadays, some people start to get a bit full of themselves just because they’ve learned a bit of Buddhist teachings or read a few Buddhist scriptures. I want to share a principle with everyone: it’s better to be friends with a straightforward, upright person, even one who is illiterate, than with someone who’s read thousands of books but is morally crooked. Thinking you know everything and using Buddhist scriptures to attack others is essentially a crime. Misapplying theories from different eras of Buddhist teachings to criticise contemporary Dharma Doors, unique to this Age of Dharma Decline, is problematic. It’s akin to accusing modern mathematicians of not understanding math, based on the standards of ancient mathematicians. Such acts are essentially disrespectful to the Buddhist scriptures and foolish. So, I say it’s better to befriend an illiterate but upright person than to associate with a learned but wicked individual.
Life is inherently bitter, and we should steer clear of the bitterness that sin brings. Life involves experiencing a variety of tastes, and we should consciously avoid the bitterness associated with sin. When you sense even a hint of wrongdoing, leave. “Oh, they’re up to no good, I should distance myself.” When you notice someone’s thoughts are skewed, it’s time to step away, to stay clear of the scent of sin. Understand the flavour of tranquillity, which is a person’s ability to remain calm and composed. This tranquillity, the flavour of the Dharma’s joy, is filled with the joy of the Dharma. Those who experience this flavour won’t know fear; they have gone beyond fear. By distancing yourself from sin and fear, you become virtuous. When people engage with sin, they immediately become unhappy. For example, if someone messes up with you, and you immediately become upset and think of revenge, you’re drawing close to fear because your method is retaliation. And then you become fearful of retribution. Only by staying away from fear can you truly be free of it.
Focus on seeking what is genuinely true, rather than settling for things that merely appear similar. Always look for authenticity, not just for things that seem similar. Authenticity fosters wisdom, whereas falsehood only breeds ignorance.