Fearlessness in the Face of Impermanence

The Inevitable Tide of Impermanence

My dear children, have you ever found yourselves confronted by the overwhelming suffering of aging, sickness, and death, feeling as though you possess no power to resist them? Have you ever felt trapped, forced to endure the physical agony of a failing body while losing all sense of control over your own life, drifting through your days with a heart that has no place to rest? If you have experienced such moments, you have likely been struck by the sudden, terrifying realisation of impermanence. You may have felt a profound sense of fear, arising from the awareness that you are completely defenceless against the changing tides of life.

Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the central dramas of the cycle of being reincarnated. Within these experiences, countless karmic conditions and the causes and effects of repaying debts, settling grievances, and returning kindnesses are constantly at play. We are perpetually creating new causes or tasting the fruits of past actions, and this process continues without pause. If one does not engage in diligent practice to transform karma, they will remain trapped within these laws of karma and cause and effect. This applies to all beings, and it extends throughout the entire universe, the Dharma Realm, and the vast expanse of space. It encompasses everything we see before us: the tangible material world, the intangible world of spirits, and even the six realms of existence and the four categories of sages.

The Universal Law of Cause and Effect

Among the four categories of sages, whether they are Sravakas, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, or even Buddhas, their attainment of such a high level of realisation is not accidental. They have reached their respective stages because they have cultivated the specific causes required to attain them. Through diligent practice, they have sown the seeds that naturally ripen into the fruit of their holy status. In the Great Vehicle, the path of the Bodhisattva and the Buddha is likewise the result of causes sown through persistent and diligent practice, leading ultimately to the fruit of being able to realise one's true nature and attain Buddhahood.

The laws of karma and cause and effect are the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. Everything we experience is something we have created ourselves and must now bear. As the saying goes: "Even after a hundred or a thousand eons, the karma one has created does not vanish. When the karmic conditions meet, the fruit of that karma will manifest, and one must bear the consequences oneself." Those who truly understand this truth will not dare to complain when they suffer. They will not dare to harbour anger, they will not dare to violate the rules, and they will not dare to break the Precepts, because they know that by creating such causes, they will inevitably reap the fruit of suffering.

The Wisdom of Accepting Responsibility

The suffering you experience at this moment is the result of karmic seeds sown in the past, perhaps even hundreds or thousands of eons ago. If you respond to this suffering with resentment, anger, dissatisfaction, or by breaking the Precepts, you are merely creating new negative causes, which will lead to further suffering in the future. Therefore, you must face your situation directly and take full responsibility. You must openly repent and change your ways.

If you have created causes that bring fear to yourself or others, you will inevitably reap the fruits of that fear, which may manifest as deep-seated anxiety and emotional pain, a sense of helplessness and powerlessness, a tendency to shrink away from life, or the inability to master one's own mind, leading to thoughts of self-destruction.

Transforming Fear into Devotion

I urge you to replace your fear with the act of chanting Namo Amituofo. Use the Buddha's blessings to resolve the conflict and dissolve your fears. If you have created negative causes and are now reaping the fruits of suffering, your first priority must be to feel shame and engage in repenting. If you suffer the consequences of negative karma but lack the heart to repent, change your ways, and truly chant Namo Amituofo, your chanting will not be in sync with the Buddha-heart. Consequently, the Buddha's blessings you receive will be limited, and the fruit of your suffering will remain difficult to resolve.

Therefore, those who chant Namo Amituofo must also commit to changing their personality traits and habits, correcting their erroneous views and behaviours, and refining their thoughts to align with the Truth. You must enter into the path of Right View, Right Action, and Right Mindfulness, and commit to Faith, Vows, and Practice. By simultaneously engaging in diligent practice and chanting, you will receive the full measure of the Buddha's blessings. The depth of the blessings you receive will naturally depend on how deeply you are in sync with the Buddha-heart and the Buddha-vow. Those who are deeply in sync will naturally feel the Buddha's blessings clearly, while those whose connection is shallow will feel that the blessings are limited.

The Path to Awakening

My dear children, remain in a state of sincere repenting and humility. By generating Bodhi and focusing your mind entirely on chanting Namo Amituofo, you will be able to follow the path of Faith, Vows, and Practice. Do not fear the tests of demons, the tests of the Buddha, or the tests of other beings. Within the embrace of the Buddha's blessings, continue your fiercely diligent practice and purification. Only then will you reach the moment of Awakening and realise your true nature. Namo Amituofo.