The Essence of Diligent Practice

The Purest Form of Diligence

When you engage in diligent practice, your only task is to devote your heart entirely to the effort. You must cast aside all extraneous thoughts, especially delusions and messy thoughts. You should let your mind become so pure that nothing remains but the Buddha-name and a heart dedicated to purification. Allow the energy of the Buddha-name to permeate your entire being. In that moment of purification, your body, mind, and spirit will reach a state of perfect balance. You will experience a profound elevation of your state of being, resulting in inconceivable benefits.

Every ounce of effort you put into your practice benefits you directly. When you exert yourself with a pure, selfless heart, you are providing the best possible nourishment for your spirit. This energy of purification will allow you to feel tangible changes throughout your body. During this process, you may find that your physical functions improve, or that any illnesses residing within you begin to shift. Diligent practice is truly the most beneficial gift you can give to yourself.

The Obstacles Within

If you find that you cannot summon a heart of diligence, or if you struggle to practise with sincerity, it may be due to the weight of your own habits or a tendency toward laziness. Perhaps your personality is still too scattered and unfocused. If you cannot dedicate your efforts to both yourself and all beings, and if you think only of your own interests throughout the day, you will likely experience much suffering in this life. Such individuals often lack a clear goal, drifting through their days without purpose. When time passes, they may find they have achieved nothing. They lack the drive for both daily life and spiritual practice, and often, they find they cannot even be the master of their own lives.

There are many reasons why one might fail to be diligent, but the root cause always lies within oneself. It is entirely of your own making. If not for your own internal barriers, your difficult temperament, and your rigid personality, you would not be hindered from engaging in diligent behaviour. It is precisely because you indulge your own personality that you cannot sustain your efforts. If you cannot be diligent, you cannot achieve success. This is a great tragedy.

The Trap of False Diligence

Many people appear to be diligent, yet in truth, they are not. Most of the time, they do not even realise this, because their temperament masks the true meaning of diligence. Using incorrect methods of practice is not true diligence; instead, it merely leads one into a state of futile labour. Such individuals are prone to sudden, drastic changes, such as abruptly giving up or losing control, because their goals and their results do not align. This kind of diligence is goal-oriented; it is done for a specific purpose. Although the effort is real, the heart behind it is still attached to outcomes. It is tainted by subtle, messy thoughts that prevent true achievement. This, too, is caused by one's own temperament.

Cultivating a Natural Heart

Your personality, habits, and emotions are the first issues that require adjustment. Furthermore, you should not have specific plans or cravings regarding your practice. Everything should be allowed to unfold naturally. Practise without a grasping heart. There should not be too many external elements involved. For instance, if you are practising solely to seek achievement, that is an external desire, not a sincere heart. When the mind is filled with delusions, nothing is natural, and everything becomes a mere facade. This is a profound influence that affects many people, and I hope you can all understand and grasp the significance of this.

The Path of Continuous Refinement

Spiritual practice requires diligence, but that diligence must be pure and natural. Consider your prostrations today. When you perform three thousand prostrations, is your heart hurried? Is it attached to a goal? Are you worried, restless, or perhaps feeling lazy? Such diligence cannot be considered complete. These states of mind affect the purity of your prostrations. Ultimately, you will not gain true achievement, but only a fleeting, momentary benefit. However, this is all part of the process of practice. As long as you can maintain awareness and discover the problems within yourself, you will have the opportunity to change. By refining your habits and temperament as they manifest, you will have the chance to attain achievement in the future.

Spiritual practice is a process of constant refinement. You must believe that there are many aspects of yourself that need to be changed, but every change helps you move closer to true achievement. This pure achievement is not like the pursuits of the secular world; the importance of having a selfless heart is paramount. This is something that requires both great effort and the willingness to correct oneself.

Through sharing this experience, I, Ashvaghosha, hope to see more diverse expressions of diligence. May you all walk the path of purity and dignity, and may the Dharma hall be filled with solemnity. Namo Amituofo.

Ashvaghosha

This message was recorded by the Buddha's disciple, Shi Faxi.