All phenomena arise and cease, except the sky, the cosmic space. One must use the non-arising and non-ceasing mind to seek the Buddha’s wisdom and to understand the Buddha’s mind, because the Buddha’s mind is non-arising and non-ceasing.
It is precisely because of the eyes that see, ears that hear, tongue that tastes, body that touches and feels, and the mind that perceives, that we are unable to awaken to the Path.
Without health, what good is sudden wealth? Health is the most important; everything else comes second. But if a person is both poor and sick, that is truly a bitter kind of suffering.
There are five layers of turbidity: kalpa turbidity, view turbidity, affliction turbidity, sentient beings turbidity, and life turbidity. The first is kalpa turbidity, marked by calamities. View turbidity arises from seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing, which enshroud the wondrous luminous true mind.
The third, fourth, and fifth layers of turbidity are afflictions, sentient beings, and life, which no one can escape from. These turbidities cloud the pure and wondrous luminous true mind.
The wondrous luminous true mind is non-arising and non-ceasing, while all worldly phenomena arise and cease—including seeing, hearing, feeling, and knowing. Therefore, buddhanature cannot be realized through worldly dharma. One must instead take the non-arising and non-ceasing mind as the causal ground in order to reach the fruition ground of buddhahood.
Everything in life arises and eventually passes away. Know this, and free yourself from all afflictions.
As a practitioner, there are two primary principles to cultivate buddhahood. The first is to cultivate a non-arising and non-ceasing mind. The second is to generate bodhicitta. Sentient beings are important—without them it is impossible to attain bodhisattvahood and buddhahood.
Find the root of our afflictions; know that they are fundamentally empty. Then they will gradually lessen, and we attain the wondrous luminous true mind.
The direction one is in determines one’s fate; the country where one is born is also part of destiny. These can influence one’s skin color, culture, and livelihood. Sentient beings are the result of the interweaving and multiplication of time and space, and the saha world/realm is where sentient beings live
There have been some disagreements about the number of merits as recorded in various sutras. Measuring or quantifying merit is meaningless. When the senses are pure, they generate merit. Spiritual cultivation that benefits others also generates merit.
The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are indeed the wondrous luminous true mind, and the wondrous luminous true mind is likewise the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. These six sense faculties can be used either for spiritual cultivation or for continuing the cycle of rebirth. The choice is yours!
To attain purity and realization, one must select a sense faculty that best enables the calming of the mind, so that one may enter meditation more easily.
Once one of the roots is free from distractions and delusion, the rest will also become purified.
Although Ananda had cut off many deluded views, he still did not recognize the habitual tendencies accumulated within the six roots throughout countless lifetimes. Such habitual tendencies can only be eradicated through attainment in spiritual cultivation. Therefore, spiritual cultivation is a long arduous journey.
All that one perceives through the senses are merely superficial delusions. Only the buddhanature—the wondrous luminous true mind—is real; everything else is false.
Spiritual cultivation of the eyes is to cut the “flowing and rushing toward form,” and to look inward, observing one’s own thoughts to eventually see the wondrous luminous true mind.
From time to time, close your eyes and look inward. Instead of listening to the external world, listen to our own mind. What are you thinking? What is arising within? Observe your thoughts and you can assess your level of spiritual cultivation.
In Tantric Buddhism, the tongue plays an important role. By placing the tip of the tongue on the upper palate, the brow cakra is connected to the throat cakra, so Qi and Heavenly Water can flow from the brow chakra to the throat chakra, then to the heart chakra, navel chakra, and secret chakra.
We use visualization methods to replace wandering thoughts. By focusing on these visualizations, the mind gradually becomes one-pointed and eventually reaches a a state of no-thought. When no-thought is attained, we naturally become non-leaking. This is very difficult yet essential in spiritual practice.
Why are there so many love songs in this world? It is because people have feelings through bodily contact. It also shows that people’s hearts are attached to the saha world, unable to transcend it. The body must transcend the six roots, six dusts, and six consciousnesses.