The Priceless Heart: Keeping the Mind Free from Dust

The Infinite Potential of the Heart

Words of Namo Amituofo, recorded by Venerable HaiZe on the nineteenth of October, 2024.

Your heart is a priceless treasure. It is the source of all your experiences, for it possesses the power to lead your spirit into the depths of the hells to suffer, or to the heavenly realms to enjoy bliss. It can cause a spirit to become a demon, yet it also holds the potential for you to engage in practice, undergo purification, reach Awakening, and attain Buddhahood. Your heart determines whether you remain trapped within the cycle of reincarnation, wandering through the six realms of existence in suffering, or whether you enter the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss to become a Buddha. As you are human today, your future path depends entirely upon the state of your heart.

The Burden of Worldly Dust

You must not allow your heart to be stained by dust. The thicker this layer of dust becomes, the more surely you will drift toward the three evil realms. This is because every single particle of dust that settles upon your heart carries with it the weight of the eight consciousnesses and the fifty-one mental factors. The heavier this accumulation of dust, the more deeply your body and mind become entangled in worldly attachments.

Your spirit and your heart are fundamentally one. If your heart becomes stained, your spirit suffers the same contamination, leaving you with no opportunity to elevate your spiritual nature. If you fail to elevate yourself, both your heart and your spirit will fall together. If, at the moment of your passing, your final thought is one of evil, you will inevitably descend into the three evil realms. Understanding this truth, you must not allow your heart to be stained by dust. You must protect your heart well, purifying it at every moment to keep it clear and bright.

Returning to Your Original Face

In truth, having no heart—being empty and devoid of any object—is your original face. When you rediscover this original face, that is the moment of Awakening. To be free from even a single speck of dust is to return to your true, original nature. You must not look upon evil appearances or engage in evil actions; you must not listen to evil words or malicious speech. If you see or hear such things, do not allow them to enter your consciousness. Once they enter your consciousness, they transform into negative karma. Whether it is what you perceive as Goodness or evil, any attachment is a form of stain.

The Steady Path of Chanting

You must chant Namo Amituofo to attain meditative concentration. When the Buddha-name continues without interruption, unaffected by external circumstances, it signifies that your meditative concentration has reached a level of success. Your heart is then able to rest securely upon the Buddha-name. As the Buddha-name flows continuously, a heart filled with Dharma-joy will naturally manifest. This is the true sign of a heart that has been purified and has left all worldly dust behind.

Namo Amituofo