The Metaphor of Water: Teachings from Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju

The Clarity of Life’s Essence

Water is an indispensable substance for the maintenance of life and the preservation of health. In its raw state, water contains various impurities that must be removed through rigorous filtration before it becomes suitable for human consumption. Once this process of purification is complete, the water becomes clear, life-sustaining, and ready to serve its purpose.

This simple, everyday necessity serves as a profound metaphor for our own spiritual journey. Just as raw water must undergo a transformation to become drinkable, we too must undergo a process of purification to realise our true nature. The raw water represents the ordinary person, while the powerful filtration process represents the dedicated practice of the Buddha-Dharma.

The Alchemy of Spiritual Filtration

In our daily lives, we are often clouded by the impurities of the world. These impurities are the various forms of pollution that accumulate within our Body-Mind-Spirit. To become a vessel of the Dharma, we must engage in the following practices:

• Facing Challenges: We must confront the obstacles and karmic conditions that arise in our lives with courage and clarity.
• Breaking Through Boundaries: We must transcend the limitations of our ego and the attachments that bind us to the cycle of rebirth.
• Layered Purification: Through the consistent practice of Precepts, Concentration, and Wisdom, we wash away the stains of greed, anger, ignorance, arrogance, and doubt.

As we continue this process of layered filtration, we gradually remove the pollutions that have long obscured our original nature. This diligent practice eventually leads us to the state of Awakening, where our true nature is revealed in its pristine, original form.

The Compassionate Flow of Dharma

Once the water is purified, it can be served at various temperatures—boiling hot, warm, cool, or even iced—depending on the specific needs of the person who is to drink it. Similarly, after a practitioner has reached Awakening, they must learn to observe the capacity, the timing, and the nature of the beings they encounter. This is the art of using skillful means to deliver sentient beings.

The various Dharma Jewels and teachings we provide are all designed to counteract the suffering of beings. They serve as medicine for the spirit, specifically intended to:

• Alleviate Suffering: Help beings leave suffering behind and find true, lasting happiness.
• Heal the Heart and Spirit: Provide comfort to those whose minds are restless, anxious, or weary from the burdens of old age, sickness, and uncertainty.
• Restore Vitality: Guide beings toward a state of inner peace, physical health, and spiritual stability.
• Transcend Mortality: Offer the ultimate method to realise a state where the spirit is no longer subject to the decay of age, the pain of sickness, or the finality of death.

A Vow to Guide Beings Home

The fourfold assembly of disciples at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre should all aspire to this noble goal. We must strive to become beings of the Western Pure Land and awakened beings who are capable of resolving the suffering of others and healing their bodies and minds.

Our ultimate mission is to guide all beings back to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, where they may find eternal refuge. Let us hold fast to our practice, purify our own Body-Mind-Spirit, and dedicate our lives to the work of delivering sentient beings from the cycle of rebirth. Recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe.

Namo Amituofo