Adjusting and Refining One's Own Heart

The Foundation of Spiritual Practice

As a practitioner, the work of adjusting and refining your own heart is essential. You must personally initiate the vow and put it into action through your own efforts; only then can the power of the Buddha truly descend to support and bless your practice. Without your own commitment, the Buddha's light cannot find a place to rest within you.

To adjust the heart means to correct and realign the wayward tendencies of your mind. Often, our hearts are like restless wanderers, constantly shifting and changing according to external circumstances. When you successfully adjust your heart, you will find that a sensitive, clear awareness begins to manifest, and your heart will become steady, no longer following the external world blindly or being swayed by the environment.

The Five Virtues of the Heart

To achieve this state of stability, you must cultivate a heart that is gentle, soft, and upright. You should aim to embody the five traditional virtues of our ancestors, which serve as a precious guide for the heart:

• Gentleness: Being soft and yielding, rather than stubborn or rigid.
• Goodness: Being kind and upright, avoiding all harmful actions, listening with an open mind, and maintaining trust in others.
• Respect: Being polite and humble in all your interactions, ensuring that you never act in an offensive or discourteous manner.
• Frugality: Being diligent and thrifty, avoiding waste, and deeply cherishing everything that has come to you through hard work and good fortune.
• Yielding: Choosing to step back rather than competing, and letting go rather than fighting to possess.

While it may seem that yielding is a sign of weakness, it is, in truth, a way of advancing. By choosing to yield, you naturally grow in virtue and wisdom. These five qualities are the treasures of our ancestors, designed to help us return to our original nature.

Aligning with the True Self

These excellent moral qualities and behaviours are not separate from your true self. They are, in fact, an integral part of your original nature. When you practise these virtues, you are bringing your daily life into perfect harmony with your true self.

Those who have realised their true nature naturally embody these qualities in every moment, as they are the very expression of an awakened being. By refining your heart in this way, you move from confusion to awakening, from wrong paths to the right path, and from impurity to purity. May you continue to practise with diligence, keeping your heart steady and your focus clear, until you reach the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Namo Amituofo