The Illusion of Space and the Path to Awakening

The Hidden Archives of the Mind

When we speak of entering a space, we are describing a phenomenon where the mind becomes entangled in the play of illusory circumstances. Within the vast expanse of space, you will encounter many situations that are entirely beyond your anticipation or imagination. You might suddenly find yourself standing in the middle of a scene from many years ago, or perhaps you are drawn into an accidental encounter from a distant past. Everything you see and experience in these moments is drawn from the archives stored within your Alaya consciousness. As the dimensions of space shift and change, these stored memories can manifest at any moment, pulling you into their influence.

If you are not vigilant for even a single moment, you may find that you have already slipped into such a space. If you are not aware that this has happened, you are like a person lost in a dream. In that dream, you speak words, perform actions, and become moved by various emotions. You may experience a multitude of events within that dream-state, yet when you finally return to your senses, you realise that only a few seconds have passed in the physical world. This is a matter of great seriousness. Have you ever paid attention to how often this occurs in your own life?

The Shadow and the True Self

Whether in the past, the present, or the future, your shadows exist within these spaces. You may not understand these shadows, but the spaces themselves are intimately familiar with them. When a shadow attaches itself to your true self, what does this signify? At first glance, it may not seem different, as it is merely the shadow and the true self becoming one. However, if the shadow and the true self are not in harmony, the discrepancy becomes immediately apparent. These shadows are inextricably linked to you because they are a part of you; it is precisely because they share your nature that they are able to exert such a profound influence.

How significant is this influence? That depends entirely on your level of awareness. Have you ever considered how much you can accomplish in a fleeting moment? You might travel to many places, meet many people, or complete numerous tasks within just a few seconds. If you find that these experiences are clearly presented to you in such a short time, you must ask yourself: are you truly aware that you have traversed different spaces? Most people are completely oblivious to this process. Even when they eventually wake up and realise they have been in a trance, many do not take it seriously. They do not understand the importance of this phenomenon, nor do they grasp the severe consequences that arise from entering these spaces.

The Danger of a Wandering Spirit

Entering these spaces is an experience that almost everyone has had, but one must consider the frequency of these occurrences. Between the moments of occurrence and non-occurrence, what kind of problems are truly taking root? We have rarely explored this, but the root cause is greed. It is because of greed that such things happen. The severity of entering these spaces lies in the loss of one's spirit—it signifies that your soul is ready to depart from your body at any time, or perhaps that it has already departed once more. Once it has left, there is no guarantee that it will be able to return completely. This is the most serious aspect of the matter.

Every person possesses three hun souls and seven po souls. When some of these components leave the body, a void is created. This void can be filled by other entities at any time. When your true spirit wishes to return, it becomes an arduous task. Most of the time, the departed spirit does not remember to return to its own body because it has entered a space and is living a life within that other dimension. It might be a space defined by a single event or a space defined by a specific emotion. These are spaces you have experienced before or are familiar with, which is why you do not stop to question what changes are occurring within them.

Reclaiming Mastery Through Practice

These spaces can be fatal to one's spiritual life, yet everyone has forgotten the reality of these dimensions. If you can still perceive that your space has been different, it means your awareness is still present. This gives you the opportunity to learn how to master yourself once again. However, if you have no feeling at all and allow yourself to be influenced by the changes in space, you will soon cease to be yourself. Because you crave and desire too many things, these spaces will eagerly claim you. This is an unchanging truth: within these spaces, everything is an illusory manifestation. If you look closely, there is truly nothing there, yet when you are trapped within the illusion, it feels as though everything exists. If you do not know how to jump out and return to the truth, you will easily become deeply trapped, unable to see the reality. Eventually, the space will replace you. This is a fate that anyone might encounter.

These spaces contain everything and yet nothing at all. The serious issue is that these spaces are waiting for you. They wait because your worldly attachments have not been let go. The reason they can easily find you is that you have not changed your ways. The reason is clear: your practice has encountered a problem and requires adjustment. Otherwise, these infinitely layered spaces will cause you to fall into delusion, making it difficult to escape. Without a clear mind, how can you accomplish anything? How can you even speak of practice?

The Path to Liberation

You have the power to calm these spaces, but you must be strong enough to do so. To cut the weeds, you must pull them out by the roots; you must be decisive, like using a sharp blade to cut through a tangled mess. Any attachment that should not exist in your practice must be resolved, processed, and abandoned immediately. Do not allow your mind to become a knot that cannot be untied, as this state of mind makes it even harder to escape and makes it easier for a single thought to pull you back into these spaces.

Entering these spaces is never beneficial to you. I, Ashvaghosha, counsel everyone to remain clear and awake. These spaces contain forces that will harm you, because in past time, you shared the same Causal Conditions and ignorantly harmed other beings, leading to a cycle of revenge. Now, only by being clear and awake can you have the opportunity to save yourself and the beings to whom you owe a debt. Do not be pulled along by these beings any longer. You must know how to remain clear and how to be the master of your own life. You are the one who knows your desires best. You must make changes regarding what should be severed, what should be let go, and what should be abandoned. Otherwise, it will be difficult to achieve success, and even more difficult to preserve your true self.

In your practice, you must learn to let go. Act with diligence, be cautious, and walk the path with care. Namo Amituofo.

Recorded by the Buddha's disciple, Shi Faxi