The Art of Transforming Thoughts

The Vigilance of the Mind

When a thought arises, it is often difficult to stop. Yet, the moment you discover this phenomenon, you must immediately transform your thoughts. By lifting the Buddha-name to subdue wandering thoughts, you prevent them from disturbing your heart. Before one becomes an awakened being, if one does not subdue or cut off these wandering thoughts, then good and evil thoughts will alternate and clash within the mind. Under such conditions, it is difficult for your practice to achieve success.

The Dangers of the Five Poisons and Five Desires

If your thoughts are filled with the Five Poisons or the Five Desires, you must immediately transform your thoughts and recite the Buddha-name. Do not allow these thoughts to continue. Because every thought and intention, if it is not pure or good, creates a negative cause that will eventually lead to evil consequences. The Five Poisons and Five Desires that cloud our clarity include:

• The Five Poisons: Greed, Anger, Ignorance, Arrogance, and Doubt.
• The Five Desires: wealth, lust, fame, food, and sleep.

When these manifest in your mind or through your actions, you must act swiftly to transform them.

Cultivating Awareness and Goodness

The skill of transforming thoughts requires you to raise your awareness. The stronger your awareness, the earlier you will be able to detect the rise of wandering thoughts. Originally, you might see things negatively, think negatively, speak negatively, or act negatively. By transforming these thoughts, you enter a state where you see the good, think of the good, speak of the good, and do the good. This allows you to give rise to all roots of goodness and achieve the fruit of Bodhi. When every thought is good and pure, you are not far from becoming an awakened being.

The Continuous Path of Namo Amituofo

For all thoughts, there is no better method than maintaining the sacred name of Namo Amituofo 24/7. Let this pure thought continue without interruption to subdue wandering thoughts and stop evil. As you transform evil thoughts into good ones, you enter a state of pure thought, and eventually, a state of no-thought. This is the profound state of being mindful while appearing to have no thoughts, and having no thoughts while being truly mindful.

Aligning with the Buddha-Heart

If you have faith in the Buddha, you will be able to maintain the sacred name of Namo Amituofo continuously. Recite until your heart is in sync with the Buddha-heart. Recite until your vows are the same as the Buddha's vow to save all beings. Recite until your actions follow the Buddha's actions in saving all beings. When your heart, your thoughts, and your actions are transformed, and your personality is changed, only then will you have the possibility to transform karma.

Namo Amituofo

Recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe