The Path to Liberation: Namo Amituofo's Discourse on Worldly Attachments

The Restless Heart of the Worldly

As you live in this world, you inevitably face the affairs of the world. You must walk the path of worldly life, navigating through its many complexities and demands. Because of your habits, you are constantly calculating, weighing the gains and losses, and measuring the value of everything you encounter. You compare your quality of life with others, you judge the value of objects, and you assess the status of your education or family background. Caught in these endless discriminations, you find no moment of true peace. Why is this so? It is because your heart is not at rest.

You often look to external objects to provide a sense of security. You chase the latest trends, wear designer labels, and use these things to display your status. Your heart follows these external conditions, rising and falling with them. When will you ever be unmoved? You are constantly in motion, never finding a moment of stillness. Only those who have realised their true nature can remain truly unmoved. As long as your heart is even slightly stirred, you are not yet in a state of stillness. Any movement of the heart gives rise to afflictions, which accumulate layer upon layer, blocking your heart and making it difficult to remain pure.

The Illusion of Material Security

When the mind is greatly disturbed, it is like a turbulent ocean; when it is slightly disturbed, it is like ripples on the water. Sometimes, when you have not yet encountered a major challenge, you may mistakenly believe that you are not being disturbed. However, when you face a real-life situation, you often revert to your old habits, and that is when your difficulties begin. Facing these challenges requires great courage. You are often afraid of losing what you have, so you hold back, trying to keep a reserve to ensure you are not left with nothing when the time comes.

In truth, all things are originally empty. It is only when you encounter this emptiness that you can truly understand what existence is. Both emptiness and existence are created by the heart. Because of your habitual patterns, you believe that only what you can see is real. You trust the numbers on a page, the black and white of a contract, or the balance in your bank passbook. You perform your mental calculations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and your heart rises and falls with these figures. If you can constantly add to your wealth, you feel secure enough to eat, drink, and live comfortably. But if you are constantly subtracting, you fear the day you will hit rock bottom. You worry about how you will survive, how you will pay your debts, and you constantly calculate how much you have left.

The Invisible Wealth of Merit

How long is a human life? Who can truly know? When the time comes to depart, what can you take with you? You cannot take a single thing. Only your merit and virtue can follow you, yet these are invisible. They do not appear as numbers, they cannot be measured, the physical eyes cannot see them, and you cannot touch them. Whether you have a little more or a little less, whether it is enough—you can only calculate this based on your feelings. The Buddha’s teachings and worldly methods are entirely different. If you wish to be liberated from suffering, you must taste the flavour of the Dharma and learn to let go of your body, mind, and spirit.

If you can truly realise that all things are empty, that is true liberation. To act in this way requires immense courage. If you do not have true faith in the Buddha, it is very difficult to let go and act decisively. If you are still worried about one or two things, it means you have not yet attained clarity. The Buddha’s teachings are not worldly methods. Only when you reach the bottom can you see the truth. Your true nature is hidden deep within your heart. If you do not peel away these layers, you cannot see your true heart. Your true heart and true nature are without any sense of attachment or pollution; only then is it truly pure. Wisdom will resolve all matters, and blessings will manifest in all forms. When your auspicious characteristics and all conditions arise naturally, why would you worry about having no money? Everything will exist in its natural state.

Finding Peace in the Dharma

If you can achieve this in this life, why would you worry that the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is far away? To see through and let go—is this easy or difficult? It can be as heavy as ten thousand pounds, or it can pass as lightly as a gentle breeze. If you find it difficult to face, it is because the time has not yet come, and your afflictions and delusions are still arising, which is another source of suffering. Practising the Buddha’s teachings can resolve this suffering. Suffering is an external object; it is not inherent in your true self. Therefore, it can be let go of. Whether you are truly willing to let go is the ultimate test.

When you break through, you will see the clear sky. If you remain entangled in your heart, you will continue to suffer. When can you resolve these difficulties? If you spend every day in difficulty, that is also a choice. It is a pity, for you have encountered the Buddha-land. The merit you can gain here is hard to calculate; it can be as vast as Mount Sumeru or as small as a grain of rice. It all depends on your heart. Advance and retreat together with the Buddha-land until you have realised your true nature. Then, you will see everything clearly, and you will be able to distinguish all things. Nothing will be able to disturb your heart.

Your heart will be unmoved, and every day will be a good day, every moment a good moment. How can you be at ease in all situations? There will be no more confusion. All phenomena exist within a single thought, and every thought is within the Dharma. It is the heart that creates these phenomena, and every phenomenon is in sync with the heart. If you weigh worldly methods and the Buddha’s teachings on a scale, you will find that both sides are losing; it is difficult to balance them. All disciples of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, it is better to let go of one side so that at least the other side is complete. If you do this, your life will be without regrets.