The Essential Practice of Transforming One's Personality

This is a record of an interview with Venerable Chang Gao, who reflects on the necessity of transforming one's personality for true spiritual practice. This account was recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fajing, on August 22, 2022, at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia.

Venerable Chang Gao speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. Practitioner Su constantly reminds us with great compassion: in spiritual practice, one must change one's personality. Looking back at my own past experiences in practice, I realise that this was a missing piece. No one had ever taught us this so clearly. Consequently, many practitioners only know how to cultivate external meditative concentration, but their internal temperament is not truly reduced to zero. It is merely suppressed, buried deep within, rather than being completely removed.

The Formation of the Self

Every person possesses a personality. Once we obtain a human body, it is only natural that we are shaped by various Causal Conditions, which in turn cultivate our distinct traits. These conditions are multifaceted—they include our family environment, the habits carried over from past lives, the memories of our many existences, our upbringing, and our unique personal characteristics. All these different Causal Conditions aggregate and coalesce within us to form the personality we carry today.

In the secular world, these traits might seem insignificant or perfectly normal, as everyone possesses them. However, when we speak of 'Pure Land practice,' we cannot allow these personality traits to remain within us. They act as a barrier to our purity, preventing our hearts from ever truly reaching the state of the Pure Land.

The Magnet for Karmic Creditors

Beyond the inability to achieve true purity, the presence of these personality traits frequently attracts our karmic creditors, causing them to manifest before us. This is something we hear about often at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. The personality we are born with carries the memories of our past lives. When these traits and habits remain unchanged, they act as a signal that awakens the karmic creditors within our bodies. They begin to seek revenge based on these very habits, and in the end, the one who suffers is inevitably ourselves.

The more difficult a personality trait is to change, the more intense its impact on the physical body. When we look at this through the lens of the cycle of rebirth, we see that this unchangeable personality ensures that we carry the same 'scent' or energy throughout our many lives. This is precisely why we find it so difficult to escape the cycle of reincarnation.

The Root of the Ego

Why is personality so difficult to change? If we return to the very root of the matter, it is because we are tightly grasping onto the 'I'—the ego. We indulge this 'I' by allowing it to have a personality; we give it permission to commit the same mistakes over and over again; we forgive this 'I' for never having truly changed. It is we ourselves who permit this 'I' to remain stagnant, which is why our personality traits continue to entangle us throughout our many lives.

If we truly wish to break free from the cycle of reincarnation, we must make a thorough and firm resolution. We must honestly and strictly demand that we change ourselves. We must be willing to let go of the ego that we have protected for so long.

Namo Amituofo."