Recorded and transcribed by ’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe.
My dear children,
Everything in this world is like an illusion; it is not true reality. It is like the reflection of the moon in water or a fleeting scene in a dream. You cannot hold onto it, and once it has passed, you cannot call it back. Do not mistake these illusions for reality. To treat an illusion as if it were real is the very source of your suffering.
The Fleeting Nature of All Phenomena
What exactly is meant by "like an illusion"? You must understand that all phenomena born from Causal Conditions are subject to arising and ceasing. They are all illusory. Specifically, the following are all illusions: delusion, discrimination, and attachment, as well as your afflictions. Do not grasp at these things tightly. To grasp at an illusion is, in itself, an illusion.
If your heart becomes agitated by these illusions and you find it difficult to stop, you are being pulled into the manifestation of your . When illusions and karma continue to follow one another in an endless cycle, they become tangled and difficult to resolve. This is what forms the cycle of rebirth, life after life, with the six realms of rebirth intertwined within it.
The Entanglement of
Your consciousness and thoughts are also illusions. When your Six Roots interact with , they enter your consciousness and become karma. Once the causes are created, you must wait for the conditions to mature, and then the results will manifest. This is the manifestation of karma. Whether it is good karma or negative karma, they are all intertwined. Your heart moves according to this karma, manifesting and sorrow, happiness and suffering.
The six realms of rebirth are like an illusion. They are created by your own consciousness, and the environments you experience within them are also illusory. Yet, beings of the six paths within these realms take them to be real. Consequently, they suffer the pains of birth, old age, sickness, and death; the pain of being separated from those they love; the pain of being with those they resent; the pain of not obtaining what they seek; and the intense suffering of the Five Aggregates (form, feeling, perception, impulse, consciousness).
from the Dream of Self
The Five Aggregates (form, feeling, perception, impulse, consciousness) are all illusory. Consider how they manifest in your life: your physical body is like an illusion; your sensory are like an illusion; your thoughts and are like an illusion; your actions and behaviours are like an illusion; and your very consciousness is like an illusion. All your various feelings, emotions, comparisons, subjective views, joys, and resentment exist entirely within this illusion.
Most beings of the six paths spend their entire lives caught in the cycle of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, or union and separation, all within this illusion. This is especially true of the physical body. Because your feelings, perceptions, , and consciousness are all bound to the physical body, everything that manifests is also like an illusion.
The Path to Eternal Clarity
Do not be deceived by these illusory environments. You must learn to let go of all illusions; only then can you leave suffering behind. The practice of chanting Namo Amituofo is the most effective way to break through your delusion, discrimination, and attachment.
A wise person will grasp the Buddha-name tightly 24/7. They chant until they reach the state of chanting while not chanting, and not chanting while chanting. In this state, one can clearly distinguish between illusions and reality, between the false and the true. Because they are no longer deceived by illusory environments, they are able to maintain Discipline, attain meditative concentration, and manifest wisdom.
All conditioned phenomena, if performed with a mind of attachment, are like illusions and are not true. However, the unconditioned is performed with a mind of no-attachment. When the mind is free from attachment, it is not an illusion; it is the truth. Those who have realised their true nature can clearly distinguish between the illusory and the real. They are no longer confused or deluded. Therefore, they can be the masters of their own destiny, as their practice flows naturally with the Dharma, and they attain a state of cool, refreshing liberation.
