The Difficulty of Believing in the Great Dharma

Venerable Yongning is a monastic who sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. This interview, recorded on August 30, 2022, by the chief writer, Shi Fajing, explores the profound nature of the Great Dharma and the essential role of faith in achieving liberation.

Venerable Yongning speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Yongning. This world, and indeed this entire universe, contains far too many things that remain unknown to humanity. Our knowledge is inherently limited. Even if we possess the most advanced technology or the sharpest intellects, what we truly understand remains but a tiny fraction—perhaps one in ten million—of the vast reality of the universe. There is simply so much that humanity has yet to comprehend.

The Barrier of Limited Perception

Why is the Great Dharma so difficult to believe? It is precisely because human knowledge is so restricted. Within the confines of our limited thinking, it is incredibly difficult to accept truths that transcend our own narrow experiences. Consequently, people either refuse to believe or are simply unwilling to believe; they prefer to cling only to what they already know. They trap themselves within the walls of their own existing perceptions.

At the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, the Dharma being taught is truly the Great Dharma. Many who study Buddhism find it difficult to accept because the teachings here differ from what they have learned elsewhere. However, one should really look closely and contemplate where these differences actually lie. They are not merely academic disagreements; they are fundamental.

The Crucial Difference in Practice

From my perspective as Yongning, the most significant difference lies in the ability to achieve rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. That is the ultimate distinction. When the Buddha teaches the Dharma, his sole purpose is to save sentient beings and help them leave suffering behind. He does not require beings to accumulate vast amounts of intellectual knowledge. He only asks that beings understand the importance of purification, of purifying the heart, and of single-mindedly chanting Namo Amituofo to seek rebirth in the Pure Land. That is more than enough.

In this era of information explosion, we are already drowning in excess knowledge. With a simple swipe of a mobile phone or a click on a computer, information is everywhere, filling the mountains and plains. Why would one need to stuff even more of this into one's brain? Doing so only creates obstacles to one's own purity and clarity of mind. If the Dharma cannot subdue the heart, then it has lost its true purpose of transformation. It becomes nothing more than knowledge stored in the brain—useless, and often harmful. Why, then, should one be so attached to having 'more'?

Deliverance for All Realms

The Buddha’s teachings are meant to enlighten and transform the human heart, and even the beings in the spiritual realms receive the benefits of the Dharma here. I have witnessed immeasurable and boundless numbers of spirits who, after listening to the Dharma talks given by Practitioner Su, were moved to tears, filled with profound regret for their past actions. It is only because Practitioner Su’s Dharma Body is able to reach out and save them that they can finally find liberation, leave suffering behind, and move past their regrets.

I urge everyone: have faith and do not doubt. Even if the Great Dharma is difficult to believe, you must believe it. Only those who have faith can truly attain liberation.

Namo Amituofo."