The Path of Letting Go

Recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe.

During the second session of the Thrice Yearning Ceremony held on the 8th of December, 2024, Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju provided the following essential guidance on the practice of letting go.

The Art of Letting Go

To truly let go of all worldly attachments is a practice that encompasses both your heart and your actions. It is not something reserved for special occasions or formal ceremonies; rather, it is a discipline you must cultivate in your daily life. To walk the path of the Buddha, you must learn to release the heavy burdens that weigh down your spirit:

• Release your personality and habits: Do not be bound by the rigid patterns of your ego.
• Release your worries and feelings: Do not let fleeting emotions dictate your state of mind.
• Release your attachments and subjective views: See the world as it is, not through the lens of your own preferences.
• Release the concepts of self and others, right and wrong: Transcend the dualistic thinking that creates conflict.
• Release the past and the present: Live fully in the moment of recitation.

Only when you are in the present moment of chanting Namo Amituofo can compassion, wisdom, and the act of letting go walk hand in hand.

The Single-Minded Path of Recitation

If you wish to reach the state of meditative concentration, you must first let go of all worldly entanglements. When you chant, you must chant Namo Amituofo all the way. Your heart should be empty of all other concerns, leaving space for nothing but the sacred name of the Buddha. As you chant with your mouth and listen with your ears, let each recitation follow the last in an unbroken stream. When you reach the point where you are free from the sense of self and free from selfishness, every thought will naturally become Namo Amituofo.

Service as a Sacred Offering

Even when you are performing duties or tasks, remember that you are serving every single Buddha. To the practitioners working in the kitchen, I ask you to let go of all attachments as you work:

• Chant Namo Amituofo while you are cutting vegetables.
• Chant Namo Amituofo while you are stir-frying.
• Chant Namo Amituofo while you are cooking rice.

Every movement you make should be an act of Buddha-recitation. The meals, desserts, and pastries you prepare are not merely food; they are offerings to every Buddha. The food offered during the Thrice Yearning Ceremony is an even greater offering, intended for all those attending the ceremony and for the immeasurable and boundless sentient beings throughout the vastness of the Dharma Realm.

The Path to Buddhahood

Every being is inherently a Buddha, yet because of delusion, discrimination, and attachment, you cannot realise it. As long as you have the heart to make an offering to the Buddha, the laws of karma and cause and effect are established. In Mahayana Buddhism, every thought and intention you have creates karma. If you hold good thoughts, you create good causes and will reap good fruit; if you hold evil thoughts, you create negative causes and will reap negative consequences. Both good and bad results are part of the cycle of rebirth.

However, if you cultivate pure karma, then chanting Namo Amituofo becomes the cause, and becoming a Buddha becomes the fruit. Therefore, if every thought is of the Buddha, you will surely attain the fruit of Buddhahood. This result is truly magnificent. It is only through the Buddha's blessings of Namo Amituofo that one can access such immeasurable merit and power, which supports all beings in attaining the supreme fruit of Buddhahood. Letting go of all attachments and focusing your heart on chanting is the most important step in gaining meditative concentration and achieving Buddhahood. It is also the essential condition for your rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss at the end of your life.

Namo Amituofo.