Suffering and Illusion: Insights on the Nature of Reality
Teachings from Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju
21 April 2019, Thrice Yearning Ceremony
The Source of True Liberation
Where can one find liberation from suffering? It must be found within your own heart. The eight types of suffering are like sharp blades. When these blades cut into your heart, the pain feels unbearable. However, all of this is merely an illusion. If you can observe your life with this perspective, you will be able to attain true liberation. Human life is like a fleeting illusion, no more substantial than a dream. Why should you cling to it? If you spend your precious life only settling karmic debts, you have wasted your time.
The Nature of False Appearances
What do we mean by false appearances? Everything arises due to Causal Conditions and ceases when those conditions dissipate. Everything that arises and ceases, everything that is born, aging, sickness, and death, is merely a false appearance. Only that which is unborn and undying is truly real. These illusions are the source of suffering. Suffering itself is a false appearance. When conditions manifest and the result arises, your body feels the pain. Dreams are false appearances; entering a dream is like birth, and waking from a dream is like death. The physical body is a false appearance; entering the womb is the beginning of this connection, and death is the cessation of these conditions. Physical pain is a false appearance; when the conditions are present, pain arises, and when the conditions cease, the pain vanishes.
Transcending the Eight Sufferings
The eight sufferings are all false appearances. If you remain lost within them, you will continue to experience suffering and illusion. Consider the following states that bind us to this cycle:
- Birth, aging, sickness, and death:
- The inevitable physical transitions of our existence.Emotions:
- The fluctuating states of , anger, sorrow, and happiness.Resentment and dissatisfaction:
- The lingering bitterness of past grievances.Interpersonal entanglements:
- The complex web of gratitude, resentment, emotion, and hatred.Sensory :
- The way our are constantly stirred by the world.Mental activity:
- The endless cycle of thoughts and contemplations.Karmic debts: The ongoing process of seeking balance with our .
If you are lost in these experiences, you are trapped in suffering and illusion. You must realise the need to transcend these states to end your suffering. To the karmic creditors residing within our bodies who are also suffering: you must quickly leave these bodies, chant the Buddha-name together with us, and journey to the of Ultimate Bliss.
This message was recorded by the Buddha's disciple, Venerable HaiZe, acting as chief writer.
Namo Amituofo
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