The Stillness Within the Heart
Words of Namo Amituofo
Recorded by Venerable HaiZe on 26 April 2024
Words of Namo Amituofo:
Recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe.
On the twenty-sixth of April, 2024, during the first session, Namo Amituofo offered these profound teachings on the nature of the heart and the path to true peace.
The Foundation of Inner Peace
The stillness within your heart does not arise from external silence or the absence of activity. Rather, it is born from a clear and profound understanding of the facts of reality. This truth varies in breadth and depth depending on the environment, society, and family education one experiences.
The facts of reality refer to the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. Within the boundless universe, there are guidelines that all must follow, such as the laws of and cause and effect, goodness and evil, and purity and impurity. Regardless of the situations you face, you can never depart from the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way.
Transcending Worldly Dualities
The Buddha’s teachings are vast because they shatter worldly relative perspectives and language—such as big and small, black and white, you and me, right and wrong, poverty and wealth, and broad and narrow. Big can be even bigger; small can be even smaller. Black and white are not merely colours; they also represent the conditions of the space one inhabits. You, me, and him are not merely individuals; we are one.
Right and wrong, correct and incorrect—what we see in this life is as it is, but if we look back to past lives, is the "right" of this life still right? Is the "wrong" of this life still wrong? Poverty and wealth refer not only to material possessions but also to the lack or satisfaction within the heart. Broad can be even broader; narrow can be even narrower.
The Necessity of Letting Go
When learning the facts of reality, people are often limited by words and trapped by conventional cognition. Therefore, to study the Buddha’s teachings, one must break through language, text, and names to realise the true meaning they intend to express. We use language, text, and names as a bridge to enter the Buddha’s gate, but once inside, we must let go of them.
The facts of reality often transcend what language, text, and names can express. Once you have entered and realised this, you will naturally see the meaning behind them clear at a glance. Once you see clearly and the frames of the heart are removed, you will realise the infinite breadth and vastness of the Buddha’s teachings, and inner stillness and will arise naturally.
The Vastness of
This is why those who have reached Awakening can naturally understand and explain various sutras, seeing through the text to the meaning within. When you reach this level of clarity, you are no longer bound by the smallness of the world or tossed about by the waves of relative judgment. You find yourself resting in the vast, tranquil ocean of the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. This is the peace that Namo Amituofo wishes for all beings—a peace that is not shaken by the changing conditions of the world, but is rooted in the eternal nature of the true self.
Namo Amituofo
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Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre
Contributed to Pure Land Buddhism knowledge library