Practising Buddhism isn’t easy—it requires making your mind harmonious. This means living in a way that aligns with your conscience, staying true to your sense of morality. That is harmony. You need both tolerance and harmony in your heart, always keeping sentient beings in mind and considering what they are experiencing. This is called “taking the thoughts of all sentient beings as your own.” For instance, if someone is terrified, fearing they might have cancer, you put yourself in their place, thinking, “I will share their burden.” That is genuine Buddhist practice. You must also “take the entire Dharma Realm as your measure.” Within this Dharma Realm—this world—your spiritual state holds power. The higher your state, the greater your strength. Why? Because those with a high spiritual state are not afraid of challenges—they can rise above them. But those with a low state are crushed by difficulties. If a doctor says, “You may have cancer,” a devoted Buddhist practitioner with a high state of mind might say, “Guan Yin Bodhisattva is compassionate. I haven’t done wrong, so I will not get cancer.” But someone who doesn’t believe or doesn’t practise Buddhism would be terrified by such news, worsening their condition unnecessarily. The higher your spiritual state, the more difficulties you can overcome.
You must understand that the Dharma Realm is infinite, and so are sentient beings—all embraced within the heart of the Bodhisattva. This endless Dharma Realm means the Human Realm itself is without end—an unceasing cycle of rebirth. A true Bodhisattva carries all beings in their heart, placing their welfare above everything else. This is selfless dedication, thinking only of others, holding all sentient beings in your heart. That is the essence of Buddhist practice and the awakening of sentient beings. You know that through my energy, together with the energy of Guan Yin Bodhisattva, we hope to slow the destruction of the Earth and lessen disasters by helping and guiding sentient beings. But reflect on this: every material thing is made of molecular structures. Without molecules, how could any physical object exist? Take a strand of hair—under a microscope, it is made up of countless molecules. Skin and flesh are mostly water. Analyse them down to the end, and it is all water—nothing solid. You are water, you are matter, and it is this union of matter that forms the world. It is like a home: it exists because of its furniture, but when the furniture decays, breaks, and is discarded, the home is gone. The Earth is the same. If everyone continues doing harmful things, how can this home endure? With people being selfish—setting off nuclear tests, cutting down trees, destroying the ecological balance—how long do you think the Earth can survive? This is why you must elevate your spiritual state.
We must take on the sufferings of all sentient beings in this world and fill them with kindness and compassion, like clouds filling a gate. In other words, your compassion should be as pervasive as the clouds, completely filling this gate of compassion. That is why it is said: “Kindness spreads like clouds at the gate, and the sea of compassion surges with waves.” This means that compassion within the heart should be ceaseless, rolling like the tides of a vast ocean—always rising and falling. And whenever you sense suffering, you should respond instantly. This means when you feel it, you act—straight away. It shouldn’t be, “Oh, when I’m in trouble, I’d better quickly recite sutras,” while dismissing others’ suffering as unimportant. Is that true cultivation? Think about the Bodhisattvas. They live in bliss in the heavens, so why would they descend to endure hardships in the Human Realm? Because they act instantly when they feel the call—they respond immediately to save beings. “Instantly” means without delay; “act” means to go forth and help. That is the essence of being a Bodhisattva. But responding in this way depends on karmic connection. Without that connection, little can be done. That’s why vow-power is so important. Without a vow, nothing can come to fruition.
You must also understand that Bodhisattvas have “no heart.” Does that mean they are heartless? Not at all. Bodhisattvas both have and do not have a heart. How so? If you say they have no heart, where does their compassion and mercy come from? Compassion and mercy arise from their heart. Yet at the same time, they are “without heart” because they see all worldly phenomena as empty. In emptiness, the reflection within the Bodhisattva’s heart is also empty. When you cease clinging to something, your heart becomes empty too. A Bodhisattva takes the hearts of all beings as their own. Whatever sentient beings think or feel, the Bodhisattva shares it. When beings suffer, the Bodhisattva suffers; when beings grieve, the Bodhisattva grieves. That is what it means to take the hearts of sentient beings as one’s own.
Bodhisattvas are also “without a fixed spiritual state of their own.” This means their state is not confined. The Bodhisattva’s state is the state of sentient beings. When beings suffer, the Bodhisattva descends into the Human Realm to rescue them. When beings are joyful, the Bodhisattva also rejoices. When there are earthquakes, tsunamis, or disasters, the Bodhisattva feels sorrow just as you do.
So you must understand: “When there is a response, there is connection.” In other words, once your heart responds, you are connected. When your mind resonates with the hearts of sentient beings, you are connected. When beings suffer and you can feel their pain, at that very moment you are already a Bodhisattva. When you feel the agony of an impending disaster for others, that is the Buddha’s heart manifesting within you. Yet some people take pleasure in the misfortunes of others—laughing at their mistakes, gloating when they stumble, or even feeling joy when calamity strikes. Firstly, such people have extremely poor spiritual understanding. Secondly, their minds are polluted, lacking proper thought—they are not Bodhisattvas. They treat the suffering of others as entertainment or as a form of revenge. Truly, such people are no better than animals. A dog, for instance, when kicked, will bite back. If someone does wrong and you repay it with wrong, aren’t you acting just like an animal?
As Buddhist practitioners, you must understand one principle: every debt has its creditor, every karmic retribution has its cause. All the karmic obstacles and negative tendencies you carry today were created by you in past lives. The causes you planted then have ripened into the suffering you face now. Yet instead of awakening, many remain trapped in this great tide of negative karma, tossed about in its relentless waves, unable to break free.
Young people today often fail to think of others, never putting themselves in another’s shoes. This is why conscience is fading in the world, why people are straying further from the Bodhisattva path. A Bodhisattva always thinks of others—taking their hearts as their own, their experiences as their own, their afflictions as their own. That is how Bodhisattvas think. But do most young people think of you this way? Of course not—they are not Bodhisattvas. They have not studied Buddhism. So their conduct remains within the Human Realm. If they fall lower, they resemble animals within the Human Realm. Worse still, they may act like ghosts in the Human Realm. And if they fall further still, they become demons in the Human Realm, destined for Hell. The Bodhisattva’s heart resonates with the hearts of sentient beings without calculation or effort. This “unspoken alignment” means their thoughts and actions naturally match yours, with no need for planning.
We often speak of conscience, but do you know where conscience comes from? Conscience arises from the true essence of sentient beings. A person with conscience embodies this essence—an innate spirituality that all beings originally possess. The essence of sentient beings must be closely aligned with the heart of the Bodhisattvas. This means that a person with genuine conscience will speak, act, and even think in ways that reflect the mind of the Bodhisattvas. Such a person can avoid disasters because their heart is connected to the heart of the Bodhisattvas. When your heart is in harmony with the Buddha’s heart, even the moment a thought arises—what we call a “movement of thought”—you immediately receive a spiritual response. As an ancient saying puts it, “the response comes instantly.” In other words, the very moment your thought arises, the Bodhisattvas are present.
It’s often said: “Man acts, Heaven watches.” So, what are you doing with your life? You are still entangled in worldly affairs. You haven’t truly practised Buddhism, you haven’t elevated your spiritual state—you’re still wandering in the human world. When disaster comes, what will you do? You put your own matters first, treating them as if they are the most important of all. But I remind you: no matter how urgent your personal concerns may seem, they are still small matters. Even the smallest task in spreading the Dharma is a great matter. Human beings are driven by self-interest. The difficulties you face today are the results of not doing things properly. It’s like planting seeds in poor soil—bad seeds yield bad fruit. When you see those bad results, you become angry and anxious, expecting others to solve the problems for you. But by then it’s too late. As the saying goes, “The one who tied the bell must untie it.” You created your own consequences; how can you expect others to fix them for you?
If your heart is closely connected to a Bodhisattva’s, you will receive their guidance and inspiration the moment disaster looms. This is called “manifesting the Buddha-body instantly”—revealing your inner Bodhisattva, which means you have attained liberation. When you can avoid calamities, you stand out as different—you are like a Bodhisattva, because Bodhisattvas do not suffer from disasters. And how do you become a Bodhisattva? By living like one every day.