Recorded and transcribed by ’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe.
During the third session of the held on May 31, 2025, Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju offered these compassionate words to all practitioners.
The Illusion of the Chasing Child
My child, have you ever found yourself, whether in a dream or in the midst of your daily life, riding a swift horse and galloping headlong into the wind? Have you ever felt the urge to be that child who chases the wind?
The wind represents your dreams and desires. You ride your horse forward, racing with all your might, hoping to catch the wind. You believe that if you can only grasp it, your dreams will be realised, and you will finally be able to wear a smile of true satisfaction.
But let us pause and reflect: have such dreams ever truly been fulfilled? Or is it perhaps that the child who chases the wind can never truly catch it? The wind continues to blow forward, indifferent to your pursuit. Eventually, the speed of your galloping horse begins to wane. The energy fades until both the child and the horse are forced to come to a weary, silent halt. In that moment of stillness, there is nothing left but the sound of the wind blowing past you.
The Reality of Karmic Forces
Do you truly wish to continue this endless pursuit of dreams that are bound by no constraints? At that moment, is the dream achieved? Or does the dream remain merely a dream, while the reality of your life remains unchanged?
My child, you must learn to recognise the truth of the facts. The wind you chase, the horse you ride, and even the child who is doing the chasing—all of these are merely parts of your . Whether you perceive these things as a dream or as reality, they are all manifestations of karmic forces. Whether your dreams come true or your reality shifts, it is all part of the same karmic process.
When viewed from this perspective, you are simply acting according to your karma. It is the result of causes you have sown in the past, manifesting now because the conditions have matured. If the causes you have created have reached their end, then the child who chases the wind will become a mere memory, a part of the past that will never return. However, if the has not yet ceased, the heart of the child will continue to chase after freedom and unconstrained desires.
Looking Inward to Find the Truth
Perhaps in the next life, you will continue to be that child chasing the wind. When will this cycle ever end? Perhaps in your next life, you will even become the very horse that is being chased. This is how the direction of your spirit is determined by the thoughts you hold in your heart.
My child, I ask you to please withdraw your heart from chasing after external things. All people, matters, and objects in the external world are manifestations of karma and impermanence. If the thoughts and behaviours you hold in this life are not brought to a stop, they will simply continue into your next life. The causes you create today will become the fruits you reap tomorrow; the fruits you experience today are the results of the causes you created in the past.
My child, do you truly wish to continue this cycle of being reincarnated indefinitely? Please, turn your heart inward and recognise the truth. All of these experiences are merely illusions within the cycle of rebirth. They are the phenomena of arising and ceasing that occur within the laws of karma and cause and effect. This applies to your emotions, and it applies to every person, matter, and environment you encounter during your practice. Therefore, you must understand that everything perceived through the interaction of the Six Roots and the is illusory.
Whether it is birth, aging, sickness, and death, or , anger, sorrow, and happiness, or the pain of separation and the joy of reunion—all are phenomena of arising and ceasing. They exist only within the process of causal conditions. Although they may feel incredibly real in the present moment, where is that moment now? It has passed, and it can never return.
Clearing the Path to
My child, during your practice, do you often find yourself becoming drowsy or drifting into other spaces? One of the primary reasons for this is that you have not yet let go of the bits and pieces of your past. These memories still linger in the corners of your heart. Perhaps you do not think much of them, or perhaps you are still deeply attached to them.
These unfinished dreams and the people, matters, and environments you are attached to are precisely what you enter when you become drowsy. This is why your practice has not been able to make progress. Therefore, you must learn to see through and let go of the past. Clear your heart of the past so that you are no longer trapped by the that pulls you into these illusory spaces.
You must be diligent in your practice to rediscover your true self, which we call your self-nature. Your self-nature is eternally stable and is never confused or made to suffer by any karmic force or external environment. This is the truth of the facts, and you must realise it clearly. Namo Amituofo
