Ordinary People and Awakening: The Teachings of Master Xuanzang

The Rhythms of Our Mortal Journey

Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the four fundamental processes of human life. To the people of this world, these stages are common knowledge, often discussed with ease as if they were merely the natural rhythm of existence. Most people live their entire lives under the assumption that this is simply how things are meant to be.

While this may be true for the ordinary person, the practitioner must understand that the purpose of practice is to resolve the cycle of birth and death and to transcend the three realms of existence. This is not merely a slogan to be recited; it is a profound reality that must be kept in mind every single second. We practise precisely for this reason. Those who follow the Pure Land path must make a firm vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Only if you succeed in this vow can you say that your life of practice has not been in vain.

In reality, how many practitioners can truly break free from the karmic bonds of birth, aging, sickness, and death to be reborn in the Western Pure Land? If one cannot resolve the cycle of birth and death, transcend the three realms, or reach the Western Pure Land, it indicates that there are still many unresolved issues in one's life. Consequently, one cannot act according to one's original vows and continues to drift through life, bound by the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Let us examine these four processes of human life more closely.

The Vow to Transcend the Illusory World

Does one come into this world based on the power of vows or the power of karma? Those who come through the power of vows do so to save sentient beings. From the very moment they make the vow to descend to this world, they enter this illusory realm carrying that vow. Within this illusion, they must remain clear and awake at all times. Regardless of the external circumstances or temptations they encounter, they remain unmoved, finding peace in any situation, whether still or in motion, manifesting meditative concentration that is not swayed by the external world.

Although all who come through vows do so to save beings, each person's vow is different, and the beings they are meant to save vary. Once they encounter sentient beings, they will meet both those with whom they have karmic affinity and those with whom they do not. For those with whom they have past connections, due to the existence of past experiences and consciousness, their sensitive awareness will naturally trigger a stronger response. Guided by right knowledge and right mindfulness, and the abilities awakened in this lifetime, they carry out the work of saving beings.

Therefore, the karmic bonds of good and evil created in past lives, the Dharma affinity between teacher and student, and the emotional entanglements between men and women, parents and children, and friends—if these are encountered again in this life, even if everyone has been transformed and may not necessarily be in human form, the practitioner who maintains sensitive awareness can perceive these past connections. Using their current abilities, they can save the other person within the context of the situation. When the other person obtains deliverance, the practitioner has fulfilled their vow through actual deeds.

Those who truly come through the power of vows will not abandon their mission because of difficulties. However, if the energy of the circumstances they encounter is stronger than their vow, and they lack support, their vow may weaken. As they continue to develop according to past karmic bonds, the vow may lose its effect, allowing karma to take over. The practitioner then becomes lost in the Five Desires and the Six Dusts, their original vow vanishes, and they become an ordinary person driven by karma, drifting with the tide. This is why so many beings from the Western Pure Land descend to this world, yet find it difficult to return.

The Weight of Karma and the Five Aggregates

For the ordinary person driven by karma, the journey of this life begins the moment they leave the mother's womb and become an independent individual, growing under the care of parents and elders. The Five Aggregates of form, feeling, perception, impulse, and consciousness actually begin to function while still in the womb. More broadly, this spiritual being, throughout the cycle of rebirth, regardless of which realm they are in or what form they take—even among the sentient and the insentient—has never ceased the interaction of the Five Aggregates. Added to this are the influences of karmic creditors, fluctuations, thoughts, intentions, and attached spirits, all of which constitute the phenomenon of reincarnation.

My students, reincarnation is governed by the arrangements of karmic destiny. In this lifetime, will you continue to follow the path of karmic reincarnation, or will you break free from this fate through practice and Awakening? Karma and the Five Aggregates have their own inertia, which manifests as personal habits and ego. Therefore, if you wish to change your destiny, you must undergo purification and practice, change your habits, achieve success in the Precepts, Concentration, and Wisdom, and pass through trials and tests to overcome the attraction of karmic reincarnation and rediscover your true self.

The Radiant Clarity of the Awakened Mind

To be completely empty, yet able to be at ease and follow conditions in any situation—this is Awakening. It is the transformation of the Alaya consciousness into the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom. At this moment, everything contained within the Alaya consciousness—all the Five Aggregates from beginningless time to the present—is transformed into emptiness and the true self. This is Awakening; it is the original face you had before your parents were born. Everything is empty, there is not a single thing, yet one is omniscient and omnipotent, encompassing both emptiness and existence without end, fully possessing the various supernatural powers inherent in the Six Roots.

At this stage, all the contents of the past Alaya consciousness are merely a part of emptiness and the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom. This means that once you have realised your true nature, your interactions with the people, events, and family members of this life will be fundamentally different from your previous ways and mindset. Before Awakening, one interacts with others using the deluded emotions and views of an ordinary person driven by karma. After Awakening, one naturally interacts with others, works, and saves beings in the manner of an awakened being. In truth, an awakened being has no mind, no thoughts, and no attachments; how could there be a mindset? How could they not know how to handle problems? How could the old desires and delusions arise? There is no reason to create negative karma again. Therefore, an awakened being can move freely in the world without violating the Truth. Because they know the hearts of others, they can interact and save them using attitudes and methods they can accept—teaching according to their capacity and guiding them according to their potential.

The Inevitable Shadows of Aging, Sickness, and Death

Ordinary people believe that aging is a natural part of life. With the degeneration of bodily functions, the weakening of limbs, the appearance of wrinkles, and the growth of children, they feel that their time is running out. Some know that a Buddhist temple is a place to accumulate merit and virtue, so they volunteer. If they can truly change their personality and temper, they have the opportunity to transform their own karma and lead their entire family to learn the Buddha's teachings. Otherwise, they remain in a body that is merely receiving the consequences of karma. In contrast, for an awakened being, the body's cells are crystal clear; aging naturally stops, vitality is maintained, and they appear youthful, without fatigue or exhaustion.

Ordinary people think that being healthy is best, and that sickness is natural. They do not know that one could be free from sickness, but it is the thoughts and actions that trigger the manifestation of karma that lead to illness. Today, if people fall ill, they trust in medicine but not in the laws of karma. They trust in drugs but not in adjusting the mind and body or in Chao Du to resolve the conflict. They believe that emotional stress can be relieved through various therapies, but they do not believe that listening to the sutras, studying the teachings, chanting the Buddha's name, making prostrations, inviting spirits, and performing Chao Du to send beings to the Western Pure Land are the fundamental methods to calm the emotions, settle the mind, and resolve the grievances of karmic creditors. Because these illnesses and stresses involve karmic causes, karmic creditors, and attached spirits, medical treatment can only address the symptoms, not the root cause.

Death is a taboo subject for ordinary people. But for those who chant the Buddha's name in the Pure Land school, it is a wonderful opportunity to be liberated from the suffering of reincarnation and return to their home in the Western Pure Land. The destruction of the body, the exhaustion of worldly ties, the separation of the four elements, and the departure of the spirit—whether one follows karma into the six realms of rebirth or is reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss through chanting the Buddha's name—are two vastly different destinations. This requires karmic affinity and tremendous blessing to encounter the Buddha's teachings, hear the Dharma, believe in the Buddha, and chant the name with the vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. An awakened being naturally has the ability to know the time of their passing in advance and be reborn in the Western Pure Land with ease.

A Rare Opportunity for Eternal Deliverance

Life is extremely short. From the perspective of the heavenly realms or the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, the time from birth to death is like a flash of lightning—a spark appears and vanishes in an instant. In such a short life, the students of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre have the incredible, inconceivable, and immeasurable opportunity to receive the teachings of Namo Amituofo, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, the ancestral masters, and Practitioner Su, who has realised his true nature. In this Western Pure Land on earth, as long as you give selflessly and without ego, you can step by step move toward the path of Awakening and saving beings. The door to a body without sickness and a spirit that never dies is truly opening here. Awakening is an opportunity available to everyone here. You must truly cherish and grasp this opportunity, practise diligently, and save beings early, widely helping those with karmic affinity to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. Namo Amituofo.

Recorded by the Buddha's disciple, Shi HaiZe.