The Taste of Spiritual Practice

Venerable Chang Ren is a monastic who resides at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. This interview, recorded on April 4, 2023, explores the challenges of maintaining enthusiasm in one's spiritual practice and the importance of setting clear, long-term goals to avoid the pitfalls of stagnation.

Venerable Chang Ren speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. When spiritual practice begins to feel dull, flavourless, and stagnant, one must ask: what is truly happening within? As human beings age, there is a natural inclination to seek stability. We move away from the pursuit of a life filled with constant change, partly because our physical vitality declines, and partly because a volatile life becomes a source of deep anxiety in our later years. However, young people with abundant energy are quite different. They crave variety, or they seek sparks of excitement within a monotonous routine. They are often still driven by unextinguished desires, hoping for satisfaction. When these desires remain unfulfilled, the heart begins to feel a sense of profound emptiness—a flavourless state. Very quickly, this leads to a state of mental dullness and drowsiness, making it difficult to remain clear and awake.

The Root of Stagnation

How should one address such a situation? One must begin at the root and rediscover the true goal of spiritual practice. Every person encounters the Buddha’s teachings through different Causal Conditions. Regardless of the circumstances that lead one to enter a temple and choose to remain for group cultivation, have you ever truly contemplated what the goal of your practice is?

Life does not offer many decades. At your current age, having entered the temple, try to imagine yourself ten or twenty years from now. What will you look like? What kind of achievements will you have attained in your practice? Regardless of the nature of those achievements, you must exert effort starting right now to reach your ideal goals a decade or two down the line.

Purifying the Mind

In observing the head space of the fourfold assembly, I see that there are still a great many worldly thoughts and ideas lingering there. It is normal to have such thoughts before they are purified. However, through the purification of practice—by listening to the sutras, hearing the Dharma, and internalising these teachings into one's true self—one can gradually elevate the heart, refine one's inner nature, and uplift the spirit. Slowly, you will be able to cast off those mundane thoughts and worldly attachments.

Yet, if practice lacks a clear goal, one naturally fails to find a firm vow. In such a state, practice lacks the necessary momentum to drive the physical body forward with enthusiasm. Consequently, one appears listless and bored, and during the process of practice, it becomes incredibly easy to fall into a state of drowsiness and mental fog.

A Call to Renewed Purpose

Ten years is not a long time, and twenty years passes in the blink of an eye. Are you walking firmly and steadily through every day, every week, and every month, without wasting a single moment? You must strive to find your own goal for practice. From that goal, generate your heart and make your vows. Only when you stop obsessing over your own self can you truly take a step forward.

Looking into the head space of the fourfold assembly, I can see that within each person's unique thinking, there are habitual patterns and rigid routes of thought that keep them trapped, unable to break free. Learn to let go of these various stubborn attachments. Give yourself the opportunity to change, to be thoroughly renewed, and to embrace a new plan for your practice. This will help you cultivate the brilliance of your true self, so that you are no longer lost in a state of aimless delusion, trapped in darkness and unable to awaken.

Namo Amituofo."