The Heart Lamp: Illuminating the Path to True Nature

This is a record of an interview with Venerable Master Chin Kung, who sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Dharma-Nature Land. This account reflects upon his teachings on the Heart Lamp. Recorded by the chief writer, Venerable HaiZe, on November 2, 2022.

Venerable Master Chin Kung speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. Today, the topic Namo Amituofo has given me to discuss is the 'Heart Lamp.' When I reflect upon this subject, I am truly filled with admiration for the wisdom of Namo Amituofo—it is truly a Great Wisdom, a boundless and profound insight. The Heart Lamp is something that every single sentient being requires. In truth, every being already possesses this lamp within them; it is simply that it has been obscured and covered over. Because of this, we find ourselves in the position of needing to seek an external 'Heart Lamp' to guide our steps forward.

Originally, the Heart Lamp is luminous and transparent, capable of illuminating the boundless and infinite Dharma Realm of emptiness. Yet, it has been covered by layer upon layer of pollution, becoming dimmer and darker with each passing age, until eventually, it is buried beneath thick, heavy layers of dust and grime. It is not that the Heart Lamp has ceased to shine—it remains there, its brightness undiminished—but the owner of the lamp, the sentient being, can no longer benefit from its light. They live their lives in darkness. Is this not a tragedy? Think about it—when you are in total darkness, unable to see, how can you walk? How can you clothe or feed yourself? It leaves the heart in a state of constant anxiety. Because of this, one is forced to seek light from the outside, hoping to find a glimmer of illumination so that one might see, act, and survive.

The Endless Cycle of Seeking

These things we seek externally are meant to be basic necessities—enough to suffice is all that is required. Yet, human desire is boundless. When the Heart Lamp is covered and we lack its guidance, we lose our direction in this frantic pursuit of external things. Those who are fortunate may encounter a true spiritual friend to guide them, allowing them to remain on the righteous path, preventing them from going astray, falling into crooked ways, or creating negative karma that leads to suffering. Those who lack such noble people, or who are simply not as fortunate, are left to fumble in the dark on their own. If they have good roots, they might manage to live a life without creating significant evil, though they also fail to accumulate merit. However, if their blessings are insufficient and they encounter negative causal conditions, they will inevitably veer off course, falling into evil paths. In that moment, they may not even realise they have gone astray, or even if they do, they lack the strength to turn back. They continue on, creating more and more karma! And the result of creating such karma is, inevitably, suffering for oneself.

Amidst all this, there are those who possess sufficient Buddhist affinity. When the Dharma affinity manifests, they have the opportunity to study and practise the Buddha’s teachings. Those who have a connection with Namo Amituofo have the chance to study the Pure Land Dharma Gate. Namo Amituofo can assist them, for the Pure Land is a dual-power path; if the practitioner exerts their own effort, Namo Amituofo can also bestow his blessings upon them.

The Role of the Guide

Everyone originally possesses a bright lamp within their heart—this is their true nature. When this true nature is covered, one requires a guide to take on the role of the Heart Lamp. This guide is Namo Amituofo, or the Three Jewels—the Buddha, the Teachings, and the Sangha Community. Monastics and teachers serve as the Sangha Jewel, or one may find a true spiritual friend within the Pure Land tradition. They play an incredibly important role. They become the Heart Lamp for sentient beings, effectively replacing the function and role of the original Heart Lamp of the true nature. They lead those who study the Pure Land path along the bright Buddha-path, helping them to end the cycle of birth and death, transcend the three realms, and head toward the ultimate destination of the heart—the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Therefore, in the practice of the Pure Land, any method—whether it be prostrations, chanting Namo Amituofo, reciting the Sutras, cultivating both blessings and wisdom, accumulating merit and virtue, or serving the masses—is all intended to help everyone recover their Heart Lamp. It is to help you find the true nature you originally possessed, to recover the brilliance, clarity, and transparency that is inherently yours, and to reclaim the root-nature and innate abilities of your six roots. These things can only be fully accomplished while one is in the human world. As long as your lifespan is sufficient and the Dharma affinity manifests, it is possible. Even if the Dharma affinity is present, if you depart from this world before finding your true nature, you will have missed the opportunity—you will have to wait for the next life! Therefore, one must practise diligently and early. Do not procrastinate. Do not think that you are still young or that you have plenty of time. That is not necessarily true; impermanence can arrive at any moment. If you have transformed your karma, then impermanence cannot restrict you. But before you have transformed your karma, you must be extremely cautious and careful. You must grasp every second; do not let a single moment slip by.

The Reality of the Human Condition

The vast majority of sentient beings are in a state where they have not yet realised their true nature. Only a very small number of beings have realised it. Among these, some are 'returners'—Buddhas or Bodhisattvas who have returned to the world out of great compassion, seeing the suffering of beings, and have descended into the human world to save those with whom they have karmic affinity. Others are beings in the cycle of rebirth whose vows are firm and whose conditions have matured; they have come in this lifetime to recover their true nature and attain Buddhahood. The first group comes out of the power of their vows. The second group consists of beings of karma, but they possess a strong vow; as long as they transform their karma, it is possible for them to end the cycle of birth and death, transcend the three realms, and be reborn in the Western Pure Land.

The other group, which accounts for the vast majority, consists of those who have no opportunity to study the Buddha’s teachings, and even less opportunity to know that they originally possessed a Heart Lamp—their true nature. They remain busy and frantic, pursuing external things, living lives consumed by the five desires and the six dusts, and continuing to walk the path of samsara. Even if some beings have a degree of awareness, if their Dharma affinity is insufficient, they still cannot study the Buddha’s teachings. Or, even if they do study, they cannot truly practise with diligence, or they may practise diligently but their lives end before they have recovered their true nature. This is the situation for the vast majority of beings in the human world.

The Preciousness of the Human Body

Sentient beings in the other five realms of existence have no opportunity to recover their true nature. Why? Because they lack the human body, which allows one to use this 'temporary' body to find the 'eternal' truth. You must understand how precious a human body is! In this lifetime, you must ensure that the dust and filth accumulated over countless lifetimes do not manifest. Even if they do manifest, you must wash them away. Only in a state of absolute purity and goodness, without a single trace of pollution, is it possible to find the Heart Lamp and recover your true nature. This requires a tremendous amount of effort—and not just ordinary effort. It is not something you do only when you feel like it, while doing whatever you want at other times. This is not a joke, nor is it a leisure activity. It requires extreme caution and sincerity. It requires you to 'see through' and 'let go' of everything. It requires you to raise a courageous heart and a diligent spirit. Only by being unremitting and not lazy in this lifetime, by grasping every single second to practise diligently, and by becoming purely good and pure, is it possible to recover your Heart Lamp.

It is no wonder that Bodhisattva Samantabhadra left a warning verse for the masses: 'This day has passed, and life is reduced accordingly. Like a fish in a dwindling pool, what joy is there in this? The masses should practise diligently, as if saving their own heads from fire. Only be mindful of impermanence, and be careful not to be lax.' The meaning is to remind everyone to practise with fierce diligence, just as if your hair were already on fire—would you not rush to put it out? If you do not put out the fire, there is only the path of death! Every word and every sentence is the truth; everyone must take this to heart.

The Limitations of the Spiritual Realms

Only a small fraction of sentient beings have the capacity to practise, because only in the human world, with a human body, is it possible to realise one's true nature and attain Buddhahood. You might ask, 'But what about the other six realms, the Four Sacred Realms, or even the vast Dharma Realm? Are there not many spiritual beings who practise?' Yes, there are! But they lack a physical body. No matter how much they practise, they can only maintain their spirit in a state of meditative concentration. If their spirit were truly pure and good, they would have become a Buddha, but without a body, their spirit can only be maintained in that state. They cannot elevate further. To break through, one must have a body. Only after breaking through can one elevate the spirit, and only when it reaches a state of absolute purity and goodness can one attain Buddhahood.

Therefore, the sages of the Four Sacred Realms have already transcended the three realms—the 'burning house' of the three realms, where all is suffering. Someone might ask, 'Why? Are the heavenly realms not full of enjoyment? How can there be any suffering there?' Although their enjoyment lasts for a very long time from the perspective of the human world, there is always an end to it, and when that time comes, there is suffering. Their enjoyment does not mean that the karma they created in the past has been wiped clean. That karma still exists, whether it is good or evil. When their blessings in the heavenly realms are exhausted, they must still undergo retribution. When some reach the end of their heavenly lifespan, fear and anger arise, and they fall into the hells to suffer retribution. Others still have karma from the animal realm that has not been repaid, and they must go to the animal realm to suffer retribution! It is not the case that once you reach the heavenly realms, the evil karma you created in the past is wiped clean. That is incorrect. They are still sentient beings within the six realms, still caught in the cycle of karmic retribution. So, is it suffering? Yes, it is still suffering; it is not the ultimate state.

The Unique Path of Hsiang Kuang

Even in the Four Sacred Realms, they have ended the cycle of birth and death and transcended the three realms, no longer bound by the karma of the six realms. They dwell in meditative concentration, enjoying that state of cessation, but they have not yet achieved the ultimate goal. They have not yet realised their true nature; they are not true Buddhas. Even in the Buddha-realm of the Four Sacred Realms, they are only 'name-only' Buddhas—they look very much like Buddhas, but they have not realised their true nature. If Arhats, Pratyekabuddhas, or Bodhisattvas wish to elevate their spirit further, they still need a human body. They must break through using the human body, elevate their spirit, and return to the Four Sacred Realms, until they reach the Buddha-realm, which is the highest point. Once there, they are stuck in that state, and it is difficult to achieve liberation. It is hard!

Therefore, is the human body precious? One can look at the human body from many angles, and from every angle, it is precious. One must use this 'temporary' body to find the 'eternal' truth in order to realise one's true nature and attain Buddhahood. In this regard, is it not precious? However, the human body carries karma. If you follow your karma, this human body is merely performing a play before it departs, and you return to the six realms. This is the case for most sentient beings. In the world we inhabit, everything the physical eye can see, apart from humans, consists of other sentient beings, all of whom possess a spirit. The spirit is a sentient being, and every sentient being, every spirit, possesses a true nature and a Heart Lamp, but it cannot function. Because their Heart Lamp is also covered by thick, heavy layers of pollution, they have even less opportunity to recover their true nature, even less opportunity to let this Heart Lamp manifest. They must rely on the human world to save them. Whether they are beings of the six realms, the Four Sacred Realms, or the vast Dharma Realm, they must rely on those in the human world who practise and realise their true nature to attain Buddhahood, so that they can be saved from suffering and gain happiness, and return to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. The 'happiness' here refers to ultimate happiness, not fleeting pleasure; it is the happiness of recovering one's true nature and attaining Buddhahood.

The Compassion of Namo Amituofo

The Buddha-lands of the Dharma Realm are immeasurable and boundless, and in every Buddha-land, there is a Buddha. Every Buddha is the same; when they were practising on the causal ground, they all had to make vows. Without vows, one cannot attain Buddhahood. Each Buddha’s vows are different. They must practise diligently, and when their vows are fulfilled, their Buddha-land is established. Afterwards, sentient beings who have karmic affinity with them can follow their vows to practise and reach their Buddha-land, where their spirits can find ultimate placement and liberation, and then go on to save other beings with whom they have affinity.

Just as Namo Amituofo, while practising on the causal ground, made the Forty-eight Great Vows and spent five kalpas to bring them to fruition, thereby building the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. Afterwards, if sentient beings follow his Forty-eight Great Vows to practise, they can chant his name and be led by Namo Amituofo into his Buddha-land—the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. The most magnificent aspect of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss is that one can be reborn there while 'carrying karma.' This vow is not found in the lands of other Buddhas, which is why all Buddhas praise him. The beings of the Saha world are burdened with heavy karma; without this vow of Namo Amituofo, how could they ever leave suffering and be reborn in the West? They could not. Therefore, in this age of the Dharma’s decline, the majority of beings who chant the Buddha’s name and are reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss are 'carrying karma' to be reborn, entering the Land where Ordinary and Holy Beings Dwell Together. This is also good, because the spirit has found a destination; it will no longer reincarnate, no longer be a lonely wandering spirit drifting without a home, no longer be an earthly creature. In the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, there is Infinite Life and Infinite Light for you to practise. Whether you practise fast or slow is up to you; no one will urge you. It is free and at ease—it is the Land of Ultimate Bliss, after all. In the West, all the superior beings gather in one place. Many, seeing their own karmic creditors or beings with whom they have affinity suffering, will automatically make vows to return and save them. Those with sufficient skills will return to the West after saving them; those with insufficient skills will become lost in this sea of karma, lost in the five desires and six dusts.

A Sanctuary for the Lost

Fortunately, the Buddha has given instructions: great Bodhisattvas must look after the smaller Bodhisattvas. Therefore, many great Bodhisattvas in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, seeing the smaller Bodhisattvas with whom they have affinity lost in the sea of karma, make vows out of great compassion to descend and save them. In my view, many of the fourfold assembly of disciples who have come to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre to practise are also those who descended from the West but became lost in the sea of karma. Practitioner Su is not only a great Bodhisattva but has long since attained Buddhahood in the West, and has descended quickly to save these great and small Bodhisattvas. Among the fourfold assembly at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, there are both great and small Bodhisattvas; once the great Bodhisattvas achieve success, they can save the smaller ones. Therefore, this is a Buddha-land! A Buddha-land not only has Buddhas and Bodhisattvas present, but it also has Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in human form. This is extraordinary! If this is not a Buddha-land, then what is?

I have already mentioned the preciousness of the human body, because one must use this 'temporary' body to find the 'eternal' truth, using human practice to recover one's true nature and the original Heart Lamp. At the same time, another precious aspect of the human body is that these Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who have recovered their Heart Lamp must use this human body to save sentient beings. These beings include those in the spiritual realms and the six realms. Among them, those in the human world are the most difficult to save. Why? Because of this body, the spirit contained within it is not just one's own; it also includes many karmic creditors, attached spirits, and demons from one's own karma. Therefore, for this body to enter into practice and recover the Heart Lamp of the true nature is no easy task! Many of these spiritual beings have karmic relationships with you—they have come to collect debts, seek revenge, or settle grievances. You must have the ability and the capacity to resolve these conflicts with them. In reality, before changing one's personality traits and habits, it is truly difficult for sentient beings to resolve these conflicts on their own. They need to invite Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su to help resolve them, to help perform Chao Du, and to send them to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, or to be reborn in the heavenly or human realms. This is what the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is doing.

Alternatively, these beings within the body can listen to the Sutras and hear the Dharma, accept Buddhist education, and let them 'see through' and 'let go.' They can also be purified, reaching a state of absolute purity and goodness, just like you, allowing them to also attain Buddhahood. Only then is it possible for you to recover your own Heart Lamp of the true nature. If they remain in the space where they were originally harmed, still coming to collect debts, how can you have the peace of mind to seek the path, to seek it without obstacles? How could you possibly recover your true nature? If you change your personality traits and habits, the beings will not be able to find you, or they will see that you have changed and be moved by it, willing to resolve the conflict. Coupled with the Buddha-light here at the temple, they can naturally be transformed. With the constant Dharma Assemblies for Chao Du, they also wish to save themselves, and thus they accept the deliverance. In this way, the grievance between you and them is resolved. This is also part of what must be done in practice.

A Call to Diligence

Therefore, how precious it is to be in this Buddha-land! Everyone must truly cherish it. Being able to enter means that you have seen the teachings of Namo Amituofo, the teachings of Teacher Xia Lianju, and the Dharma talks of Practitioner Su, and that they resonate with your own philosophy or views. It is what you wish to learn, and you naturally want to enter this place, hoping it can help you, lead you to resolve your current illnesses and suffering, or help you resolve and deliver the beings with whom you have affinity. Regardless of the reason you entered the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, being able to become one of the fourfold assembly of disciples requires tremendous blessings and karmic affinity. Even I, Chin Kung, being able to speak freely here and express my thoughts, shows that I am also one who possesses great blessings, and one of the great or small Bodhisattvas I just mentioned, because I have been saved—saved by Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su.

In short, I am now settled in a very good place. It was truly a close call! Because I came to the human world earlier, it is fortunate that Practitioner Su has manifested in the world, so we could connect, because he was able to realise his true nature and recover his Dharma Body. Only after I departed this world could he save me. Therefore, having Buddhas and Bodhisattvas present is a sign of great compassion! They do not abandon anyone; they do not abandon sentient beings. They are ready to act at any moment, and whenever there is an opportunity, they will save sentient beings. They go to save beings at the very first moment, lest they fail to save them and they fall back into the cycle of rebirth to suffer. This is also the magnificent aspect of encountering Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Therefore, once a practitioner has recovered their own Heart Lamp—that is, once they have recovered their true nature and Buddha-nature—they must remember to become the Heart Lamp for other sentient beings, to guide them, lead them, and help them leave suffering behind and recover their own Heart Lamp. Only in this way can sentient beings be saved. Do not let them suffer; save as many as you can, even if it is just one or two.

Therefore, one cannot be selfish. Selfish people only think of themselves, wanting things to go their way, or they hold back when giving because they are attached to 'self.' They cannot give completely, and such giving is not truly sincere. Although it may look like they are doing things, accumulating merit and virtue, and cultivating blessings and wisdom, they can never recover their true nature because they have reservations for their own sake. Such a heart is corrupted. Furthermore, if you have not yet realised your true nature, can you really come out to save sentient beings? With this selfishness, can you really help sentient beings leave suffering and be reborn in the West? Perhaps you can temporarily help them leave suffering and gain liberation; this is possible. Perhaps through your own Dharma talks, the beings may have their hearts opened and their minds enlightened, understanding some truths and realities, and their original suffering may be relieved. But such a heart is still not purely good and pure, and such teaching of sentient beings is not yet thorough. Because you yourself have not yet realised your true nature, there is always some corner, some dark place that cannot be purified—perhaps in the deepest part of your heart. In this situation, the Heart Lamp of your true nature cannot manifest. Under these circumstances, even if you give the best Dharma talks, that dark place still exists, and the beings you teach may also have flaws and filth that cannot be washed away, preventing them from recovering their true nature. In this situation, if a student or disciple surpasses the teacher, follows the teacher’s method to practise, and their spiritual quality is of high caliber, they may become purely good and pure and realise their true nature. In this case, the teacher should feel happy for them and applaud them! Being able to cultivate such a disciple or student is something a teacher should hope for but rarely finds! This is my sincere advice to everyone, so that you do not follow in my footsteps and obstruct those who have realised their true nature from spreading the Dharma, for the retribution for that is the suffering of hell!

The True Standard of Achievement

It may even be the other way around: regardless of age or role, if we look at the quality of their spirit, if they have realised their true nature and you have not, you should even bow to them as your teacher! This has happened in historical anecdotes, and it is naturally so. The physical body is false; the false body has birth and death. When the time comes, this 'stinking skin bag' can no longer be kept and must be discarded, but the spirit is unborn and undying. Therefore, when looking at the realisation of true nature, one should look at the state of the spirit. Use this false body to elevate your spirit, wash away all the pollution that covers the spirit, and reveal its original state of absolute purity and goodness—this is called becoming a Buddha. By this standard, they should be the teacher; their achievement is higher than yours, and you should bow to them as your teacher. It is just that you were born earlier and have this human body, so in the world, they call you 'Master,' which is also appropriate. Because in the beginning, it was the Master who led them through the door, and afterwards, through their own diligent practice, they attained Buddhahood. So, if we speak in terms of sequence, they can call you 'Teacher' or 'Master,' but in terms of the spirit, they are your teacher!

What should one do when coming to the human world? Think about it—what is the purpose of this life? If you are still playing with the seven emotions and six desires, it is just re-enacting a drama you have performed many times in the past. What is the point of that? It is just passing time amidst the seven emotions and six desires, joy and anger, sorrow and happiness, separation and reunion, with birth, aging, sickness, and death in between. You have tasted these processes countless times in past lives, but because you drank Meng Po’s soup, you have forgotten it all—forgotten it cleanly. After practising and purifying yourself, you can gradually recover your past lives. Is it good to recover them? It is both good and not good. What is 'good' is that it allows you to see how bad you were in the past, how you committed all kinds of evil, how miserable you were, and how you have been to every one of the six realms and suffered immense pain. Did you never do anything good? You must have, but for the most part, evil always outweighed good. Therefore, you must know how to repent and change your ways, practise diligently to recover your true nature, and quickly save yourself and save sentient beings.

The good part is that seeing your past self should lead to an awakening; you should feel sorrow and not repeat the same mistakes. You must quickly grasp this human body, practise in the Buddha-land, continue to elevate your spirit, and recover your true nature. Once you have realised your true nature, you will live in the light and will never return to the darkness of the past, and you will be fixed in this light. This 'fixation' is different from the meditative concentration of the Four Sacred Realms. With the concentration of one who has realised their true nature, you can manifest in countless ways within that concentration, and you can go to save the sentient beings with whom you have affinity. Your spirit can manifest in countless billions of forms, because you have already realised your true nature. But the Buddha-realm of the Four Sacred Realms has not yet realised their true nature; they do not have the ability of the Dharma Body and the countless billions of manifestations. Their spirit can only dwell in that state of concentration. These two types of concentration are very different; the difference is vast.

A Rare Opportunity

Having said this, one must practise quickly. One should not walk the old path of reincarnation again. If you cannot walk out of it, you will spend many lifetimes in reincarnation. In this lifetime, it is hard-won that you have encountered Namo Amituofo descending into the human world, hard-won that you have encountered Teacher Xia Lianju, and hard-won that you have encountered Practitioner Su, who has attained Buddhahood and manifested in the human world, together with Namo Amituofo at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. These three Buddhas are gathered at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre to teach everyone, to be the Heart Lamp for everyone, and to lead everyone in practice, guiding everyone to recover the Heart Lamp of their own true nature. This is truly an event that is difficult to encounter in millions of years; you must grasp it! Because the Heart Lamp of your true nature is covered, it cannot manifest. You must quickly clear away this pollution, reveal its original brightness, and then go on to guide the sentient beings with whom you have affinity to recover their own Heart Lamps. In this way, it is passed down from generation to generation, allowing the Pure Land Dharma Gate to spread in the world, in the six realms and the Four Sacred Realms, in the Dharma Realm, and in the Milky Way, so that every sentient being has the opportunity to study the Buddha’s teachings, come into contact with the Pure Land, and recover their own true nature—the Heart Lamp. If you do this, you have not lived this life in vain; you have lived a very meaningful life! In this way, you have also repaid the kindness of your parents, the kindness of your country, the kindness of sentient beings, and most importantly, the kindness of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, Namo Amituofo, Teacher Xia Lianju, and Practitioner Su!

Alright, the time is up for today. I, Chin Kung, will stop here.

Namo Amituofo.

Venerable Chin Kung, with folded palms.

At the Western Dharma-Nature Land of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, Australia."