ABIDING NOWHERE GIVES RISE TO THE MIND
Master Jun Hong Lu: The most treasured supreme Bodhi Mind is the ability to be awakened to the truth of the inherent emptiness of all phenomena. Why is it that Buddhist practitioners always say, “It’s important to attain a supreme Bodhi Mind?”
‘Abiding nowhere, the awakened mind arises’. This verse is cited in the Diamond Sutra and it refers to a state of mind that is equivalent to the Bodhi Mind.
This is when you are not concerned about your self-interests in all of your undertakings and when you have neither thoughts nor any motives. You act purely out of compassion ─ the unconditional great compassion towards all sentient beings.
The ‘non-abiding’ state of mind coupled with compassion is known as the Bodhi Mind. In fact, the state of ‘unsurpassed and supreme enlightenment’ advocated in the Diamond Sutra is referring to the cultivation of a Bodhi Mind.
If you are able to attain the ‘non-abiding’ spiritual state, but you lack a compassionate heart, you are most likely practising the ways of a Pratyeka-Buddha in Theravada Buddhism. Conversely, if you have a compassionate heart but unable to attain the ‘non-abiding’ spiritual state, what you are practising is the ‘mundane conditioned dharma’.
As Buddhist practitioners, you must understand that when you pray or do something with a motive, you are inching further away from your compassion.
This underlines the importance of having a ‘non-abiding’ spiritual state, practising the unconditional great compassion towards all sentient beings. For the sake of sentient beings, you are willing to dedicate your precious time and all that you have. Only this can be considered as true compassion, the quality that helps bring about the Bodhi Mind within you.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Buddhism In Plain Terms Episode 27, 8 March 2020