Do Not Be Controlled: Teachings on Self-Mastery

Teachings from Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju, recorded by the chief writer, Venerable HaiZe.

October 29, 2022.

The Importance of Unwavering Stillness

Regardless of how the people, events, and things in your internal or external environment may shift and change, you must maintain your meditative concentration. You must ensure that your heart does not rise and fall with these external conditions. Even when you are listening to the sutras and hearing the Dharma, or when you are receiving kind words and advice from others, you must remain steady.

Even when someone points out your shortcomings or identifies your mistakes, you must guard your mind. Once you allow your mind to fluctuate, you create ripples in your consciousness. Whether these are positive thoughts or negative thoughts, they all cause disturbance. This includes fluctuations in your mental notes, your speech, your physical actions, your facial expressions, and your emotions. Even if you remain silent and do not speak a word, the mere fluctuation of your thoughts can be enough to stir the karmic creditors who were previously dormant or asleep within you.

The Danger of Spiritual Attachment

When you allow these mental ripples to occur, you risk waking these karmic creditors, causing them to manifest before you. Furthermore, these fluctuations create an opening for attached spirits to enter your body. Over time, this accumulation creates a heavy, unbearable burden on your physical form, which eventually leads to the manifestation of illness and the signs of ageing.

When your true self is influenced by these beings, it becomes difficult to maintain control or act with autonomy. At this stage, your body may even begin to change in appearance. The words you speak and the actions you take are no longer the intentions of your true self; they are the intentions of these other beings. These karmic creditors, attached spirits, or demon crowds are using your body to live out their own lives according to their own desires.

Reclaiming Your True Nature

Therefore, my children, do not be controlled. You must be vigilant and firm in your resolve:

• Do not be controlled by your karmic creditors.
• Do not be controlled by attached spirits.
• Do not be controlled by demon crowds.
• Do not even be controlled by your own negative thoughts.

You must truly repent, change your ways, and engage in diligent practice and purification. Move straight ahead with unwavering focus until you reach Awakening. Only then will your true self be the master of your life. By achieving this state of self-mastery, you will be able to save yourself and save other beings, living a life that is autonomous, free, and filled with the coolness of the Dharma. Namo Amituofo.