The Foundation of Growth: Teachings from Venerable Yongning
An Interview with Venerable Yongning
Reflections on Harmony and Self-Cultivation
On April 8, 2019, Venerable Yongning shared these reflections at the Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre. Addressing the challenges of communal life and the necessity of maintaining a compassionate heart, the Venerable offers guidance on how to transform interpersonal friction into a foundation for spiritual growth.
Venerable Yongning speaks:
"Namo Amituofo. As more and more people come to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre for group cultivation, friction is perhaps inevitable. We may find ourselves differing in our perspectives, our opinions, and our ways of thinking. However, we must approach one another with a heart of tolerance. The very purpose of establishing this temple is to save more beings, and every being possesses a different capacity and root. As long as our intentions are rooted in Goodness, we should allow everyone who comes to the temple to fully utilise their unique strengths.
Everyone who arrives at the temple takes on a different role. We should never underestimate our own abilities, nor should we perceive our interactions as a hierarchy of status. We are all here to practise, and we are all here to help all beings become a Buddha. It is entirely unnecessary to harbour critical thoughts or personal judgments toward anyone else. We are all in the process of changing our personality traits, and each person’s level of is different. You must never use the standards of your own vision to measure the personality of another, let alone judge their level of practice.
The Compassionate Perspective
To view others with a heart of is to wait for them with patience. If you treat someone else's minor mistake as if it were a grave transgression, your own heart will rise and fall in turmoil, mirroring the fluctuations of everyone around you. The habit of constantly scrutinising others is, in fact, the greatest error in one's own practice. The Buddha saves people without seeing the faults of the world; if they did not have faults, why would they have fallen into this worldly realm in the first place? If you see the faults of others, use it as an opportunity to reflect upon yourself. With a different state of mind, you might even feel gratitude—gratitude for the many circumstances around you that serve as tests. Maintaining a peaceful heart is the most important matter in our practice.
Practice is meant to help us transcend the complexities of the world; why then would we bring those complexities back into our own bodies, clouding our clarity? To not see, to not hear, and to not be touched by these external distractions is the power of moving forward. Practice is both extremely deep and extremely shallow. To grasp that which you cannot normally control within your own temperament is what we call 'subduing '.
The Path to the Other Shore
Be satisfied and filled with gratitude for the present moment. When there is nothing to do in the present, that is a good thing; everywhere is a place for practice, and in that, one attains purity. Non-action, non-striving, no 'other', and . Place this 'nothingness' within your heart, and you will find that 'Permanence, Bliss, True Self, and Purity' is the highest state of practice. Subduing the various roots of human nature is the finest form of cultivation. In practice, look forward, not backward; look far, not near. The further you move forward, the closer you reach the bright Other Shore. The stumbling blocks encountered along the way are merely the foundation stones of your growth.
The practice at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is the most blessed practice of all. With the teachings of the Buddha and the guidance of Practitioner Su, cherish and grasp every present moment. Cherish the opportunity to find your true self again. Namo Amituofo."
Message recorded by the chief writer, Buddhist disciple Shi Faxin.
More from Master Yongning
The Path to a Pure Heart
Venerable Yongning discusses the profound necessity of purifying the heart, explaining how the depth of one's practice is determined by the degree to which one can relinquish the self and worldly attachments.
The Transformation from Demon to Practitioner
Venerable Yongning shares his profound journey from a powerful demon to a dedicated practitioner, reflecting on the transformative power of the Dharma and the moment he was subdued by Practitioner Su.
The Prison of a Stubborn Heart
Venerable Yongning explores the destructive nature of stubbornness, revealing how a rigid heart traps spirits in cycles of suffering and how letting go is the only path to liberation.
Transcending the Cycle of Suffering
Venerable Yongning reflects on the root causes of human suffering, the profound regret of spirits trapped in the cycle of rebirth, and the path to liberation through repentance and chanting Namo Amituofo.
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About the Author
Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre
Contributed to Pure Land Buddhism knowledge library