Passing Through the Flower Garden Without Getting Stained

The Art of Remaining Untouched

To pass through a field of a hundred flowers without a single petal clinging to one's robes is the hallmark of a practitioner who has achieved true cultivation. Even while walking amidst the beauty and chaos of this world, one's body and mind remain pure, untouched by the dust of worldly attachments. If you can attain this level of purity, meditative concentration, and Wisdom, you will be able to enter into the midst of worldly defilement without ever being tainted by it. This is the fundamental skill required for those who wish to practise, save the world, and guide all beings toward liberation.

What exactly is this worldly pollution that clouds our true nature? It is the entanglements of romantic love and emotional sorrow. It is the dazzling, colourful, and dreamlike illusions of fame and fortune that cause us to lose our way, leaving us unable to free ourselves. It is the constant comparison of gain and loss, the Five Poisons of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt, and the pursuit of the Five Desires: wealth, lust, fame, food, and sleep. These things cause us to forget our original, pure nature, leading us to endure endless suffering.

The Illusory Nature of Our Worldly Attachments

Whether we are children, young adults, or in our twilight years, we all have our needs and desires. In our youth, we are protected by our parents and sustained by the world. As we grow strong, we have a duty to give back to the world. This is a cycle of Goodness that allows humanity to thrive. However, there is another, deeper truth: within this cycle, people experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, all while caught in the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death. We drift through life after life, sometimes as humans, sometimes as animals, sometimes as wandering spirits, or perhaps falling into the hells, or rising as celestial beings or asuras. We are trapped in the six realms of rebirth, suffering without end.

If you have the opportunity to encounter the magnificent Dharma of the Pure Land, you can transcend these sufferings. Through your practice, by developing Faith, Vows, and Practice, and by chanting Namo Amituofo with the sincere wish to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, you can achieve the fruit of liberation. What a joyous prospect this is! However, you must be willing to change the personality traits and habits brought about by your long journey through the cycle of rebirth. You must truly see through and let go of all the obstacles you once thought were natural and necessary.

Shedding the Heavy Cloak of Habit

Imagine you are wearing a heavy, thick coat. You believe it is necessary for warmth, yet you find it is merely a burden. You discover that even without it, you are still warm enough. You realise that your attachment to the coat was born from inner insecurity and the habit of wearing too much. Only when you take it off, layer by layer, do you realise how light and free life can be. People have too many habitual patterns that create obstacles for themselves, often harming others without even realising it. Even when they are aware of their faults, or even when they are punished for them, they find it difficult to change their old ways. This is truly a sorrowful state.

To practise purification is to see the truth of reality clearly and remain unmoved by the external environment. It is like wearing a transparent protective shield; even when you are in a place of change and pollution, you can pass through it with indifference, remaining pure and unstained. Just as those who have realised their true nature face beings with deep-seated attachments and stubborn views, they teach and guide them, helping them remove their faults while remaining unmoved. To remain unmoved while simultaneously performing Chao Du to send one's karmic creditors to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss—this is the mark of true cultivation.

The Protective Shield of Awakening

Realising one's true nature is the ultimate goal for all Buddhist practitioners. You must put in the effort, wholeheartedly changing your ways, to shed your heavy, old coat. By removing your negative personality traits and habits, you help your very cells renew themselves, bringing forth a new life. You learn to transform your environment rather than being transformed by it, allowing your external circumstances to follow the shift in your inner state. Only then will you taste the richness and joy of realising your true nature.

When your meditative concentration is achieved, you enter the state of chanting Namo Amituofo. The Buddha-name enters your heart and ears, clear and distinct, and you are no longer swayed or confused by the beautiful illusions of the world. Being unmoved is the result of successful meditative concentration, a quality that many practitioners currently lack. This is because the temptations of the world are too great, and there is often no wise teacher nearby to guide and correct them. If your heart is not deeply set on seeking the Dharma, realising your true nature, and saving beings, it is difficult to resist these temptations. You may find temporary satisfaction, but you will become lost and create negative karma, unaware that you are walking on a dangerous path.

The Path to True Liberation

The human body is precious. It can be used to save the world and guide beings to the Western Pure Land, or it can be used to fall into the hells and suffer for long ages. Which path will a wise practitioner choose? The Three Learnings of Precepts (Discipline), Concentration and Wisdom are essential. Precepts must be upheld, meditative concentration must be practised, and Wisdom will naturally manifest. No matter where you go or which path you follow, these are the fundamental lessons of the Buddha's teachings. You must never be apart from them, keeping them in mind at every moment.

The Pure Land path is a dual-power method, relying on both your own practice and the power of Namo Amituofo. Even if you are in the mud, you can protect your roots like a lotus, emerging from the filth without being stained. If you have this ability, you can break through the fog of delusion, move forward with courage, and reach the goal of realising your true nature. Compassion, Wisdom, and a vast mind-capacity are the necessary conditions for any Buddhist practitioner. Only with these can you overcome the myriad difficulties on the Buddha's path and achieve success.

It is often the inability to subdue one's own personality traits and habits that causes practice to stagnate. These traits are the primary reason for the operation of karma and the manifestation of karmic creditors. To have a personality is to have a self, and to have a self is to have suffering. To leave a back door open for yourself is to be selfish. If your mind is constantly thinking without the Buddha-name, and your delusions are flying, you are not pure. You must work hard to overcome and break through these barriers so that you do not remain an ordinary person bound by karma, unable to take charge of your own destiny, and unable to emerge from the garden of worldly flowers.

To be selfless, to have no-self, and to have no thoughts other than the single-minded intention to save beings—this is the appearance of those who have realised their true nature. It requires great effort to attain this level of skill. Use your vow to transform your karma. Having encountered the Buddha's teachings and Namo Amituofo, you should actively seize this magnificent Causal Condition. Make a vow to follow the Buddha's vow, see through the illusion of the false body, and do not let yourself be troubled by it. Only by saving the world and guiding beings can you have the opportunity to transform your karma. Truly see through and let go, and you will not be turned by external circumstances. Recognise that emotional attachment is the root of suffering, and do not be deceived by it. Recognise the illusory nature of all things. Do not fall into the trap of temporary pleasure, only to suffer when it inevitably breaks. Understand that your parents, spouse, and children are all beings, and that you, all beings, and your family are one entity. Saving yourself and saving beings is the same as saving your own family. We come into this world alone and we leave alone; we bear our own suffering and happiness, and no one can take our place. Birth, aging, sickness, and death are things no one can replace. You may use worldly titles, property, and possessions, but do not cling to them. When your last breath comes, you cannot take any of it with you. If you truly understand these truths, you can live in this world without being stained by it, and with true Faith, true Practice, and a sincere Vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, you will walk through this life with grace and ease.