The Ease and Difficulty of Changing One's Personality

Words of Namo Amituofo, recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe.

March 15, 2026.

The Mirror of the Heart

Namo Amituofo offers us this profound guidance regarding the transformation of personality traits. Many practitioners ask whether it is truly possible to change who they are. The answer lies within your own heart, for the ease or difficulty of this transformation depends entirely on your state of mind.

Why is it easy to change personality traits? It becomes easy when you truly see the facts and the reality of your situation. You come to understand that personality traits are a great affliction, a heavy burden that prevents your practice from progressing. In fact, it often causes your practice to regress. Because you recognise that these personality traits are a significant obstacle to your spiritual journey, you become diligent in your efforts to change them.

The Courage to Let Go

Transformation is possible when you are able to let go of the most important things in your life. For every person, these attachments differ: your family members, parents, and children; your accumulated wealth and material possessions; or your physical body and its comforts. If you can truly let go of your home, your emotion, your wealth, and your physical form, then what else is there that you cannot let go of? Therefore, you are also capable of letting go of personality traits. Those who can successfully change personality traits are the ones who have truly learned to "see through" and "let go". They understand that when personality traits manifest, they become the primary cause for creating new karma, which is a great affliction.

If you wish to reach the state of an awakened being, changing personality traits is an essential task. This is because your true self-nature does not contain any of these rigid personality traits. Instead, your true self-nature is filled with infinite compassion, boundless Wisdom, perfect virtue and ability, and auspicious characteristics. By stripping away the layers of personality that you have built up, you allow your original, pure nature to shine through once more.

The Echoes of Countless Aeons

Why, then, is it so difficult to change personality traits? It is difficult because they have been formed over countless aeons, constructed bit by bit through the accumulation of your karma. These traits are often deeply ingrained and firmly planted within your Alaya consciousness. Because they are so deeply embedded, they become difficult to control. Often, when these traits manifest, they appear so natural that you do not even realise they are happening; they have become an internalised part of who you think you are.

If you speak of changing personality traits, you must ask yourself: do you have the genuine motivation to do so? Do you possess the awareness to detect when personality traits are about to manifest? You must have a strong, unwavering motivation to change your ways. Only when you are willing to change thoroughly do you have the opportunity to transform karma and reach the state of an awakened being.

You must also cultivate the awareness to catch these traits the moment they arise. This awareness provides you with the opportunity to stop them immediately and adjust your behaviour. Whether changing personality traits is easy or difficult is a matter that rests entirely within your own heart. If you can master your heart, you can master your life.

Namo Amituofo