Master Jun Hong Lu’s
Buddhism In Plain Terms
Volume 10 Chapter 13
(An Excerpt)
A CLEAR MIND IS A PREREQUISITE TO PURE LAND
Master Jun Hong Lu: Next, let me go a little profound here. If a Buddhist practitioner perceives the notion of form, it means he is attached to his perception of form.
What is ‘form’? When you perform a deed, but at the back of your mind, you perceive yourself as someone who is cultivating, someone who recites scriptures and practises Buddhism, and you start to look down on others.
You feel that you are above others in spiritual cultivation, etc. etc. This is how you start to be attached to the perception of form.
Think about it, what is the point of being haughty and arrogant? Even being ‘not attached to the perception of form’ is not considered the Mahayana teaching, let alone if you are attached to the perception of form?
As long as there is clinging, that makes you an ordinary being. But what exactly does ‘clinging to form’ mean?
For example, when you say, “Today I did something virtuous, but all of you are not supposed to talk about it.”
It sounds like a mentality of ‘non-attachment to form’, am I right? But, the truth is, you are still attached to the notion of form. Do you understand? And that makes you an ordinary being, a mortal.
Hence, it is best that one should give rise to a pure and tranquil mind with every virtuous or kind deeds performed. You don’t feel that you have done anything at all. And, of course, you won’t go around telling others, “Don’t mention that I did this virtuous act please”.
Because if you do, you are still attached to the perception of form. Instead, you should be thinking, “This is what I am supposed to do, I will just do it”.
Embrace a pure and tranquil mind to give rise to pure acts. The more peaceful your mind is, the more refined it will be, just like the purity of the Pure Land.
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