Today, I want to talk to you about ignorance-based afflictions. These afflictions can be categorised into several types. One type is simply a lack of understanding—this is what we call ignorance. Another type is feeling troubled for no apparent reason, which is also a form of ignorance. Sudden bursts of anger are another example. There’s also the failure to understand the principles behind certain situations—when you can’t make sense of something, that too is an ignorance-based affliction.
So, how do we extinguish and eliminate these afflictions? In simple terms, to “extinguish” means to bring something to an end. When someone is troubled, how do they extinguish their afflictions? It can be done—like when you lose your temper, you might calm down after a while and feel that the affliction has been resolved. But can you truly eradicate it?
Imagine a bushfire by the roadside. You can put out the flames in one area, but if the fire isn’t completely extinguished, a gust of wind could reignite it. In the same way, afflictions keep arising because we can only suppress them temporarily, not fully eliminate them. You might resolve one affliction today, but another will come along tomorrow. This cycle is much like the cycle of rebirth. Do you understand? Let’s say you had a particular trouble, and you solved it—finally, it’s done! You feel happy and forget all about it. But next week, another issue comes up. Why does this happen? It’s because you haven’t addressed the root cause of ignorance-based afflictions. Without understanding their source and learning how to uproot them, you can’t truly get rid of them. To completely eliminate them, you must extinguish and eradicate them fully.
Think about the troubles you’ve faced today, then reflect on those you experienced in your youth. One by one, you’ve moved past them. Yet, why do you still have troubles now? This shows that the root hasn’t been cleansed, which is why problems keep arising. Your six sense bases aren’t pure, and this is why you continue to create troubles and face difficulties. For example, your speech might cause issues. Today, you may have spoken ill of someone. In the past, you might not have realised the harm, but now that you’re learning Buddhism, you understand the importance of repentance and apology. You say, “I’m sorry, I spoke out of turn. Please don’t be upset.” The other person might reply, “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” That resolves the matter temporarily—it’s extinguished for the moment. But have you truly changed your speech habits? Probably not. The next time you meet someone, you might speak out of turn again, creating another issue. This time, they might take legal action against you or argue with you, and you find yourself troubled all over again. This happens because you haven’t eradicated the root cause. Do you understand?
Now, I want to talk to you about the concept of “no old age and death.” This means there is no true end to old age or death. When a person grows old and dies, it’s simply part of an ongoing cycle. They pass away, are reborn, and begin a new life—this is the continuous cycle of birth and death. That’s what “no end to old age and death” signifies. Take the cycle of rebirth in the six realms of existence as an example: someone dies today and is reborn tomorrow. It’s like the cycle of day and night—can there ever be a day without night or a night without day? That’s the essence of the cycle of rebirth. Do you understand? Even when you shave your beard today, it grows back tomorrow—that’s a cycle too. Sometimes, when you’re in pain, you might think, “I’ll never do this again.” In that moment, you’ve extinguished the affliction—but it’s not a true extinguishment, only a temporary cessation. For instance, a smoker might quit today but pick up the habit again tomorrow. Can they truly stop for good? Many gamblers, after hitting rock bottom, swear off gambling—some even go so far as cutting off their fingers, saying, “I hate myself. I’ll never gamble again!” But once their spouse forgives them, they often fall back into the habit. The same goes for drug addiction—people might hate themselves, punish themselves, yet find it nearly impossible to stop entirely. This endless cycle of addiction and suffering mirrors the concept of “no end to old age and death.” Similarly, there is “no end to suffering, no end to the cause of suffering, no end to the cessation of suffering, and no end to the path to end suffering.” Suffering, too, is endless
Think about it: has there ever been a time when you’ve said, “I’ve suffered enough, I’m done with it”? Even when life ends, suffering continues in the lower realms. In this world, can anyone truly say, “I’ve finally reached a state of peace and happiness”? You might feel that life is good, especially if you moved to Australia for a more comfortable life. But do you truly have no worries? You still fret over your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Can you honestly say you’ve let go of all that? Letting go is incredibly difficult. Today, you might feel enlightened, but tomorrow you’ll be confused again. The day after tomorrow, you might regain clarity, only to lose it once more the following day. This is the cycle—round and round, life and death, over and over. What can we truly understand if we’re stuck in this loop? To break free, even old age and death must be extinguished. Breaking free means transcending birth and death altogether.
You might ask me, “OK, it’s said that there is no birth nor death. But isn’t it a fact that I was physically born? Isn’t it a fact that I will physically die?” That’s true, but it’s just the surface—an illusion. Can you say that everything you did as a child or in your youth still holds weight now? Most of it has faded away. But if you can’t let go of those old memories or scattered thoughts, especially the painful ones, you’ll always carry that burden with you. Do you understand? You need to let go.
What does “eradication” mean? It means resolving something completely—never dwelling on it again. It’s the state where there’s no more birth, and therefore no more death. When you decide, “I don’t want to be reborn as a human again,” you’ve also decided not to die as a human. Isn’t that the essence of “no end to old age and death”? By eradicating both birth and death, and letting go of all material attachments in this world, you achieve liberation. For example, if you used to be greedy but now you’ve completely let go of greed, you’ve eradicated it. You’ll never fall into greed again. If smoking has damaged your lungs and you decide from this moment on, “I’ll never smoke again,” then you’ve eradicated that bad habit. Once you’ve eradicated it, your lungs can begin to heal—you’ve effectively eradicated the harm caused by smoking. When there’s no birth, there’s no death. Ultimately, nothing in this world can be taken with you when you go, which is why the sutras say, “There is nothing to attain.”
I am delving into the Heart Sutra now. Many of you can recite it fluently, but understanding its meaning is just as important. Why is the mantra and sutra of Guan Yin Bodhisattva so powerful? Why does the Heart Sutra have the ability to unlock wisdom? For many people with heart problems, the issue often stems from excessive stress. Even if a heart condition is hereditary, it can still be linked to an inability to let go or maintain a broad mindset. On top of karmic influences from past lives, if in this life you consume too many rich, oily foods, it’s like adding fuel to the fire—it exacerbates heart problems. Do you understand? Of course, this isn’t always the case, but it’s an important factor.
So, what sutra is best for those with heart problems? The Heart Sutra. The Heart Sutra helps dissolve the knots and worries in your heart. It helps you understand the truths of the human world and cultivates your wisdom. When you develop wisdom, you free yourself from worries and sorrow. Once you extinguish all the negative things in your heart, what reason is left to feel troubled? For instance, if you’re no longer afraid of being born into this world—understanding that you’ve arrived here somewhat unknowingly—and you decide you don’t want to be reborn again because your goal is to transcend the cycle of rebirth in the six realms of existence, then where does death hold power over you?
Let’s take relationships as an example. Say someone has been through a painful marriage and decides they don’t want to marry again—they’re done with the emotional pain. If you cut off the attachment to relationships, you won’t suffer emotionally again. Marriages are all about karmic connections—whether good or bad. The problem is, if you don’t break free from that way of thinking, you’ll keep seeking another relationship, which will bring more troubles and karmic obstacles. You’ll end up repeating the same cycle of arguments and conflicts.
I’ll share an example. One listener of my radio program had a difficult relationship with her husband, who eventually left her. This should have been a relief—a source of happiness, as this karmic conflict had finally ended. But instead, she insisted on reciting sutras to bring him back. And when he indeed returned, the cycle of arguments and troubles started all over again. Isn’t this the cycle of rebirth in action? Do you understand?
All of you, listen carefully. What I’m talking about applies to every one of you. In life, some things are over and done with, but you keep bringing them up again, creating fresh troubles for yourself. Only someone unwell in the mind would drag past issues into the present, revisiting them repeatedly. Do you understand? Dwelling on the past like this is a clear sign of emotional instability. Practising Buddhism helps us awaken. It teaches us to extinguish the negative things within ourselves and eliminate them completely. But how do we do that? Many older people develop illnesses because they dwell on unhappy memories from the past. When they let those memories resurface, they harm themselves.
All ignorance and old age-death are phenomena of the cycle of rebirth. In reality, if you don’t understand something, it’s only a temporary lack of understanding. Think about it—when you encourage someone to believe in Buddhism and recite sutras, and they refuse, that’s temporary ignorance. But when they’re on their deathbed, and ghosts come for them, they suddenly realise that ghosts really do exist. At that moment, as they’re being taken away, they regretfully think, “If only I had believed earlier!” This is a classic example of temporary ignorance and temporary affliction.
All human troubles are temporary. Everything in life is temporary. Even the physical body is temporary—so why be consumed by worry? You may feel troubled today, but by tomorrow, it’s gone. Think back to your younger days—how many things seemed impossible to overcome back then? Maybe you made a mistake at work and got fired. At the time, it felt like the end of the world, like life was unbearable. But looking back now, didn’t you get through it? Or maybe you were investigated for something and thought it was a huge disaster. Yet a few days later, the matter was resolved. Right? You must realise that all of this is an illusion—a phenomenon of the cycle of rebirth. What does this mean? It’s the cycle of existence where things come and go, over and over. Today, you have a boyfriend, which means one day you may lose him. If you don’t have a boyfriend now, it means one day you might have one. When you’re full from eating, it means hunger will return. And when you’re hungry, it means you’ll eventually eat and feel full again. Isn’t this the essence of the cycle of rebirth?
Everything is interconnected by conditions. What are conditions? They’re the arising and ceasing of circumstances. Today, something exists because the right conditions are present. Tomorrow, it may no longer exist because those conditions have naturally disappeared. For instance, today you have food to eat—that’s the condition you have now. Tomorrow, if you don’t have food, it’s simply because the condition no longer exists. The entire cycle of rebirth operates on conditions. Even being born as a human is a condition. Dying tomorrow is also a condition. Getting into trouble or being caught the next day is yet another condition. When you feel stuck and can’t let go, that too is a condition. Many people create their own troubles—this is what it means to invite conditions upon yourself. But the key question is: are you creating wholesome conditions or unwholesome ones?
Why don’t monks and nuns get married? Why do they choose to let go of those conditions? Because they’ve awakened—they’ve studied Buddhism and understand the deeper truths of life. They have no attachments to these conditions. They see relationships between people as simply conditions, either wholesome or unwholesome. When the conditions end, the relationship naturally ends too. So, they think, “If it’s going to end anyway, why bother attaching to it in the first place?” Why are they able to gain such clarity about the truth of life? Because they understand the true essence of this world: with arising, there is ceasing.