Self-Salvation and Buddha-Salvation
Teachings from Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju
The Synergy of Two Powers
The path is a gateway of two powers: our own effort and the power of the Buddha. These two must be held in perfect balance. When we practise with this understanding, our purity becomes more luminous, and our impurities gradually fade away. Eventually, these impurities are eradicated entirely. This is the manifestation of the two powers working in harmony.
The Trap of the Five Turbidities
We currently reside in the Five Turbidities and Evil World. It is not easy to remove our inner impurities, primarily because we are deeply accustomed to letting our Six Roots reach outward to grasp at external phenomena. We spend our lives looking outward, observing the world, and judging others. In doing so, we forget that everything arises from the heart. We must learn to look inward at our own hearts first, rather than focusing on the faults of others, blaming them, or speaking of their perceived shortcomings.
If you have developed the habit of criticising others, you must change it immediately. If you do not, you will inevitably suffer the suffering of . When you see the faults of others but fail to reflect upon yourself, your heart will rise and fall in accordance with their actions. You become disturbed and influenced by external conditions, allowing the environment to turn you, rather than you turning the environment.
Transforming Your
When you are easily swayed by external circumstances, your primary karmic state is being controlled by your environment. You have not yet transformed your karma. To truly transform your karma, you must reach a state where your inner self can influence the environment, rather than being a slave to it. Only when you have achieved this transformation do you have the opportunity to realise your true self and reach the state of an awakened being.
The Path of Self-Salvation
To save yourself, you must turn your attention inward. You must cultivate a life of goodness in every aspect of your existence: see goodness, do goodness, say goodness, and think goodness. By keeping yourself in this state of pure and virtuous heart and actions, you are engaging in the essential work of self-salvation. Within this process of self-salvation, you must never forget to chant Namo Amituofo. As you chant, and as you continue to see, do, say, and think only what is good, you will naturally attract the Buddha's .
the Buddha Within
For those who have faith, the act of believing and following these teachings allows one to receive the Buddha's blessings. Because you are maintaining a heart and actions that are good and pure, your self-salvation invites the Buddha's salvation. You will continue this practice until you are fully in sync with your true self. In that moment, you will awaken your true self and call forth the that resides within your own nature.
Namo Amituofo
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Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre
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