Master Lu once mentioned, “Your initial intent to leave secular life and attain enlightenment in this lifetime, and the longing to abandon suffering and gain happiness is essentially the heart that seeks the Buddha. In reality, such a heart is a sincere and the eternal heart of the tathagata that is tantamount to your innate heart”.
On the journey of life or the path of Buddhist practice, when we feel disheartened or are at a loss in the face of difficulties or bottleneck in our practice, one thing that can help us overcome our challenges and regain our composure is our beginner’s mind or initial aspiration.
In this first part of the three-part series, let’s delve deeper into this topic and find out:
🪷 The true meaning of initial aspiration
🪷 The power of initial aspiration
< Stay True to Our Initial Aspiration >
Never forget your original aspiration or roots.
To lose the ability to be moved or touched means losing the heart of gratitude.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Words of Wisdom Volume 2
I. What is the Initial Aspiration / Beginner’s Mind (初始心)?
a. It is our innate nature
INITIAL ASPIRATION STEMS FROM OUR INNATE NATURE
Master Jun Hong Lu: What is the initial aspiration? It is, in whatever I do, my aspiration is driven by kindness or goodness. No matter what my undertaking is, I am spurred by a kindhearted nature and conscience (善良的本性和良心) from day one. This is called the initial aspiration.
If a person is not mentally ready to accept certain ideals (理念) or things that are kind, or even distinguish between evil and good, it is not a reason for you to retreat from your Buddhist practice. In fact, you should continue to persevere and move forward in search of kindness and compassion.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Volume 7 Chapter 28
b. It is the state of perfect and supreme enlightenment (正等正觉)
INITIAL ASPIRATION IS THE STATE OF PERFECT AND SUPREME ENLIGHTENMENT
Master Jun Hong Lu: According to Buddhist scripture, a perfect and supreme enlightenment is attained when your initial aspiration is conceived (初发心即成正等正觉). Think about it, your initial aspiration is your innate nature. The moment you embark on your spiritual cultivation journey, the luminous mind of the perfect and supreme enlightenment is awakened (就是成了正等正觉光明心).
These words of the Buddha are meant to tell us that clarity is at its best when the first notion strikes us. At the outset of your spiritual practice, you are able to see through the issue in hand most clearly, and you are crystal clear about the direction and path you are heading towards, which will lay the groundwork for the attainment of Bodhi. With the Buddha in your heart, the Bodhi mind will gradually be in your possession and if you keep cultivating your mind, the path of the Buddha will be within reach.
Your initial intent to leave secular life and attain enlightenment in this lifetime, and the longing to abandon suffering and gain happiness is essentially the heart that seeks the Buddha. Such a heart is a sincere and eternal heart of the tathagata (真诚永恒的如来之心) that is tantamount to your innate heart (原来的心).
c. It is the power of vow
STAYING TRUE TO YOUR RESOLUTIONS
Master Jun Hong Lu: Bodhisattva said that persistence is a remarkable undertaking.
As long as our hearts resonate with that of Bodhisattvas, coupled with our unwavering perseverance and the blessings of the Buddha’s power, we will never regress in our cultivation, regardless of how many difficulties we may encounter in this human realm.
Stay true to your resolutions by always reminding yourselves of the vows you made and repeat them to Bodhisattva every day. By doing so, it will strengthen your resolutions and unleash a kind of positive energy from within, which will motivate you to forge ahead and guide you to success throughout the path of cultivation.
This is what it means by ‘keeping to a beginner’s mind begets success (不忘初心，方得始终)’.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Daily Words of Wisdom, 15 April 2021
II. The Power of Initial Aspiration
a. It is the power of perseverance
KEEPING TO YOUR ORIGINAL ASPIRATION LEADS YOU TO SUCCESS
Master Jun Hong Lu: To avoid failure in life, we have to be cautious and adopt an unyielding attitude. Most people can only sustain brief periods of enthusiasm (三分钟热度). When the initial excitement dies off, they choose to simply muddle along, wasting their life just like that. As the saying goes, ‘Keeping to your original aspiration leads you to success’ (不忘初心, 方得始终) – we have to learn to exercise restraint and to be single-minded as only then our lifetime of cultivation will not be in vain.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s World Buddhist Fellowship Meeting, Los Angeles, USA, 5 October 2018
b. It leads us to the success in cultivation
STARTING OFF WITH THE RIGHT INTENTIONS WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO THE SUCCESS IN CULTIVATION
Master Jun Hong Lu: The most difficult phase throughout your journey of learning the dharma is in reality the beginning. You will start off with the strongest determination, but this feeling will gradually fade away.
When you begin to make your great vows, all of your bad habits and weaknesses will be exposed – the worries and resentment that you hold deep within will be revealed naturally. Thereafter, you will be faced with great difficulties that may cause you to give up.
This is similar to a marriage, where an unmarried person longs to tie the knot and have a family, only to have his karmic obstacles reveal themselves shortly after marriage, giving him an endless stream of afflictions and ultimately creating a rift in the marriage because of his selfishness.
Therefore, there is a Buddhist saying, “Starting off with the right intentions will ultimately lead to the success in cultivation.” (初正则终修) We must understand that the initial aspiration in our journey into Buddhism is very important. As long as our initial intentions are pure, our perseverance will ultimately guide us to the success in cultivation along the Buddhist path.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms, Episode 73, 11 June 2020
c. It motivates us to be diligent
THE INITIAL ASPIRATION IS THE CATALYST FOR DILIGENCE IN BUDDHIST PRACTICE
Master Jun Hong Lu: Be diligent, and the basis for diligence is to stay true to your initial aspiration. Anyone who is holding on to his initial aspiration will be diligent. How did you start learning Buddhism? It was when you were experiencing great suffering.
Caller: Yes.
Master Jun Hong Lu: But, things change after you embark on the journey of Buddhist practice, and this explains why your initial aspiration was so crucial at that point. Right?
Caller: Yes. One will only be diligent in times of adversity.
Master Jun Hong Lu: That’s right. It’s as simple as that.
Source: Wenda20200614 03:17, Master Jun Hong Lu’s call-in radio program
ALWAYS KEEP YOUR INITIAL ASPIRATION CLOSE TO YOUR HEART
Question: Master, how do we resolve a mental state that oscillates between being tensed up and relaxed that we experience while performing recitation or mind cultivation? For example, under intense pressure, we can recite up to seven or eight Little Houses a day, but we may slack off the next day and the number will drop to one or two, or worse still, none at all.
Answer: Under such a circumstance, you should tap into your initial aspiration, that is, the mindset that you had at the outset. Recall the catalysts that thrusted you into the gate of dharma.
At that time, you must be feeling really miserable because things were not going right at home with misfortune on your doorstep. In your despair, you might have implored, “Please help me, Guan Yin Bodhisattva”. So incredibly powerful is such an initial motivation and it is termed as an initial aspiration. Do you understand me?
As and when you feel like slacking off in your practice, you should recollect your bitter past and how you prayed to Bodhisattva for blessings. If you can perform frequent contemplation of your initial aspiration, you will surely become more diligent in your practice. Do you understand? Similarly for the many couples whose relationships have turned rocky after marriage, they should oftentimes contemplate how miserable those days were, when they were struggling to find their other half. When you do so, you will think twice before demanding a divorce.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s World Buddhist Fellowship Meeting (Q&A Session), Sabah, Malaysia, 19 January 2015
d. It guides us in helping sentient beings
EMBRACE THE BEGINNER’S MIND WHEN PROPAGATING THE DHARMA
Master Jun Hong Lu: Every Buddhist practitioner must learn to form positive affinities. Propagating the dharma to sentient beings is never easy. Recollect those days when you had yet to find faith in Buddhism, it was equally challenging for others to introduce Buddhism to you, but having stepped foot into the gate of dharma, you are now immersed in dharma bliss. Hence, you must embrace such a beginner’s mind in your quest to save sentient beings. As a matter of fact, I can tell you that the process of forming positive affinities and dharma propagation is also a test of your faith in learning Buddhism.
Though the process comes with trials and tribulations, it is only in such circumstances that you will come to recognise your restlessness and a host of shortcomings such as the lack of patience and compassion. In fact, it is the best opportunity for you to overcome these negative temperaments.
Once you have rectified these shortcomings, and overcome a series of hindrances in your quest to help others to be awakened spiritually, the merits accrued from your Buddhist practice will become increasingly substantial, and your Bodhi mind will become increasingly pure, paving the way for you to ascend to a new level in your dharma propagation drive.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Daily Words of Wisdom, 18 May 2021
< The Awakening of Our Inherent Nature >
< Buddhism in Plain Terms < 白话佛法共修分享
