The Path of Silent Diligence

The Urgency of the Vow

My children, you must ask yourselves: for whom do you practise? For what purpose do you engage in this path? How much have you truly cultivated, and how much have you actually put into action? If you reflect upon these questions and realise that you have not yet fulfilled the initial vow you made when you first entered the Buddha’s gate, then please, wake up immediately. There is no more time to hesitate or linger in doubt. The days, the months, and the very essence of your life are slipping away, drop by drop, like water through cupped hands.

If you have truly entered the Buddha’s gate for the sake of practice, if you truly wish to remove defilements and attain purity, and if you truly desire to rediscover your true self, then you must understand that time is precious and limited. You do not even have the time to engage in idle conversation. You must remain silent and simply focus on the work at hand. Direct your energy entirely toward your practice, for this is the only way to ensure your progress.

The Mirror of Introspection

Practice is, at its core, a process of deep internal reflection. It is the art of examining one's own heart and mind, and then having the courage to change your ways. It is not a skill for chatting about daily trivialities, nor is it a place to observe the faults of others or to engage in gossip. When you are silent, you must keep the Buddha-name constantly circulating within your heart. Let the chanting of Namo Amituofo be the only sound that resonates within you.

By doing this, you will be able to wash away the darkness within your heart and purify the deep-seated pollutions that have accumulated over lifetimes. You must listen carefully to the teachings provided by the masters and by Practitioner Su, and you must not only hear these words but also strictly observe and implement them in your daily life. This is the path to true transformation.

Service as a Vessel for Merit

Regarding the duties and tasks assigned to you, you must serve the community with a sincere heart and without a single word of complaint. This is how you cultivate both merit and wisdom. You must also offer sincere repentance to your karmic creditors, earnestly praying for the resolution of past conflicts and hoping that they will accept your apology. By doing this, you are not only helping them, but you are also accumulating the necessary provisions for your own rebirth in the Western Pure Land.

This service allows you to turn your focus inward. It encourages you to look within, to reflect upon your own shortcomings, to change your ways, and to engage in diligent practice. Within the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, you are provided with the perfect environment and conditions for this growth. The outcome of your journey depends entirely on how you choose to conduct yourself. Even when you encounter states of being drowsy or find your mind wandering into different spaces, you must strive with all your might to overcome and break through these obstacles.

Awakening to Autonomous Practice

Time treats every being with absolute fairness. It offers twenty-four hours to everyone, without conditions and without discrimination. It does not give more time to the healthy or less to the elderly and sick; it does not change its pace based on the heat of the summer or the cold of the winter. However, your own diligence or laxity in practice is often influenced by these very things. You allow your practice to be swayed by the weather, by your physical health, by your daily moods, or by whether you feel drowsy or distracted.

When your practice is controlled by external environments, by the changing seasons, by the pains of aging, or by your own physical and mental states, you are not truly in control. You are being led by your karma and by your karmic creditors. This is not a state of autonomous practice. It is not a practice driven by your own vow, nor is it a practice born from the compassion that arises when you witness the suffering of all beings. It is not the voluntary, self-motivated state of a true practitioner.

My children, do you wish to continue in this way? If you can find a moment of awakening within this, if you are willing to break through your past habits and thoroughly improve, then you are taking responsibility for yourself and for all suffering beings. Practice is your own personal affair. It requires you to look inward and to cultivate from within. Therefore, please remain silent, stop comparing yourselves to others, do not dwell on who is higher or lower, and simply focus on your practice. Just do it, and do it with a sincere heart.

Namo Amituofo