The Buddha Within the Heart

The Luminous Essence of the Awakened Heart

What is a Buddha? A Buddha is an Awakened One—one who has attained the highest level of enlightenment and profound understanding. To be a Buddha is to be in perfect harmony with all that exists. One becomes one with the mountains, the rivers, and the vast earth; one with the heavens, the spirits, and the deities; one with the six realms of existence and the four holy states; one with the vastness of the Dharma Realm; one with the lands of all Buddhas; and one with all sentient beings. In this state of oneness, both the sentient and the insentient are seen as a single, unified reality. This is because every being possesses the same Buddha-nature as the Buddhas—a nature that is clear, luminous, all-knowing, and all-capable.

The body of a Buddha is entirely transparent and brilliant, without the slightest blemish. Every pore of the Buddha’s body is open, radiating light that illuminates the infinite reaches of space. As it is said, within the light of the Buddha, countless billions of Buddhas manifest, and infinite Bodhisattvas appear. This is truly the reality of the enlightened state. Furthermore, the infinite light and infinite life of Namo Amituofo perfectly express the profound truth of this existence.

Unveiling the Buddha Within the Soul

Where does the Buddha within reside? The Buddha is found within the depths of your compassion and wisdom. The Buddha manifests in the vastness of your mind-capacity, in the state of no-self, in the absence of thought, and in the purity of being selfless. You will find the Buddha in the following aspects of your life:

• Purity and Goodness: In your genuine, innocent, and flawless kindness.
• Daily Conduct: In every move you make, in how you eat, dress, reside, and travel.
• The Path of Practice: In your adherence to the Precepts (Discipline), Concentration and Wisdom, as well as your commitment to Faith, Vows, and Practice.
• The Six Paramitas: In the cultivation of the six perfections that lead to liberation.
• Service to Others: In your words and actions, when you are performing manual labour, when you are teaching the Dharma, and when you are conducting Chao Du for the benefit of suffering spirits.

If you can maintain this state of being—where you are a Buddha in every moment, 24/7, without a single second of interruption—then you have found the right path. That is the moment when the Buddha within reveals itself. It is the moment you reclaim your original nature and achieve Awakening.

The Path Back to Our Original Face

Every sentient being is fundamentally a Buddha. We are only considered sentient beings because we have become lost in confusion and delusion. We become Buddhas once again when we rediscover the Truth, return to our original nature, and see our true face. I am a sentient being, yet sentient beings are Buddhas, and the Buddha is both the sentient being and myself—we are a trinity of one essence. The moment the Buddha within any sentient being manifests and takes control of the life, that is the very moment of becoming a Buddha.

How does one find the Buddha within? Throughout history, those who have sought the Buddha’s teachings have faced great difficulties. Travel was arduous, and the path was often obscured. Practitioners would traverse thousands of mountains and rivers, searching for a true teacher. Even if they were fortunate enough to receive just one word or one verse of teaching, they would cherish it with their entire being. It was that single word or verse that would dissolve their confusion, break through their delusions, and allow them to find the Buddha within.

This is because a true teacher possesses the power of practice. With a single glance, they can discern whether a visitor’s problems stem from physical, mental, or spiritual causes. They are able to prescribe the right medicine, resolving the individual’s doubts and clearing away the dust and fog of the mind. When the original, pristine appearance of the spirit is restored, that is the moment the Buddha within manifests.

The Pristine Realms of Infinite Purity

Once the Buddha within is found, one remains in this world to help other beings who are connected by karmic affinity, just as one was helped during the process of Awakening. When there is one more Buddha in the world, there is that much less suffering, and many more people are saved. Why is the world where a Buddha abides always extremely pure, extremely good, and perfectly beautiful? It is because the Buddha’s entire being is perfectly pure and good.

When a Buddha manifests a physical body and interacts with the world through the Six Roots—the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—the nature of these roots is fully opened. The Six Dusts that the Six Roots encounter—sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and phenomena—are transformed by the Buddha’s power. The Buddha uses the power of the Buddha-body to transform the environment, turning the Six Dusts into the Six Purities: pure sights, pure sounds, pure scents, pure tastes, pure touch, and pure phenomena. Consequently, the world where the Buddha resides—every flower, tree, mountain, river, stream, and bird—is a manifestation of vow-power and purity. There is not the slightest trace of impurity; it is entirely pure, good, and blissful. This is precisely how the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss of Namo Amituofo was created.

The Alchemy of the Six Roots

In contrast, the Saha world is a world of the Five Turbidities and Evil World, composed of karmic cycles, emotions, and the Five Desires. This creates a vast difference between the two worlds. All of this—the difference between delusion and awakening, between being a sentient being and being a Buddha—is caused by the state of the heart. Therefore, the Buddha’s teachings are teachings of the heart. Everything is created by the heart. To transform the heart is to transform karma. By transforming your body, speech, and mind, your habits, your destiny, your karmic retribution, and your ordinary heart into the Buddha-heart, you transform the ordinary into the holy and become a Buddha.

When the Buddha within manifests, each of the Six Roots possesses the ability to purify the Six Dusts. Through this natural power, the following transformations occur:

• The Eye Root: Can transform any material form seen into a pure sight. With the supernatural power of the heavenly eye, one can see clearly through the five types of vision, witnessing the history of a spirit from its inception to the present.
• The Ear Root: Can transform any sound heard into a pure sound. With the supernatural power of divine hearing, one can hear any sound from an infinite distance, from the past to the present.
• The Nose Root: Can transform any scent smelled into a pure fragrance. With the power of discernment, one can distinguish even the most subtle changes in scents, identifying multiple mixed aromas without the slightest error.
• The Tongue Root: Can transform any taste experienced into a pure taste. One can distinguish not only the basic flavours of sweet, sour, bitter, and spicy, but also the most minute variations in taste.
• The Body Root: Can transform any touch experienced into a pure sensation. With the supernatural power of the Divine Foot, the spirit can travel to distant places in an instant, fulfilling any wish.
• The Mind Root: The Buddha has no ordinary thoughts; instead, thoughts are transformed into sensitive awareness. Through this awareness, the Buddha responds to the external world, and all worldly laws are transformed into pure Dharma.

Through these transformations, the powers of reading minds, knowing past lives, and the extinction of outflows are naturally achieved. Everything is a natural manifestation within the state of nature. These abilities are not separate; they are interconnected and applied together, forming the Buddha’s work of saving the world and spreading the Dharma according to the needs of sentient beings.

Awakening the Light Within the World

I have used the familiar relationship between the Six Roots and the Six Dusts to express how the Buddha teaches according to the capacity of the individual, transforming the Six Dusts into the Six Purities. While these terms help you understand the Buddha-heart and Buddha-power, they are merely a glimpse of the Buddha’s infinite capabilities. Words cannot fully describe the depth of these powers. You must enter the state of practice to truly experience and comprehend the wonders of this boundless teaching ability.

It is my sincere hope that all of you will engage in diligent practice and purification, so that you may attain Awakening. May you manifest the Buddha within to this world, allowing the human realm and the Dharma Realm to receive the benefits of the Dharma. May this bring about a new atmosphere, so that the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, which everyone longs for, is no longer distant, but right before your eyes and within your own heart.

Recorded by the Buddha's disciple, Venerable HaiZe.

Namo Amituofo