The Web of Emotion and the Path to Liberation
Teachings from Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju
Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju offers this profound teaching on the nature of our attachments. Recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe, on the eighth of September, 2023.
The Heavy Burden of Emotion
It is said that if emotion is not heavy, one is not born into this Saha world. Every person you encounter in this life is not a coincidence; it is the result of causes and conditions from the past. When these conditions mature, you are brought together.
The Web of Past and Present
When you gather, your relationships are complex and varied. Together, they form a vast, intricate web, woven with the threads of emotion from both your past and present lives. You stand at the very centre of this web. Every single thread of emotion extends outward from you. When your life ends and you leave this centre, the web loses its anchor. Without you, the surrounding threads lose their support and begin to fall away or snap.
The Tragedy of Attachment
Who truly understands the plight of the one who once stood at the centre of this web? In a desperate attempt to maintain the integrity of this web, to keep it from breaking, the spirit clings to it with profound attachment. Now, amidst the storms of life, this web is like a crumbling wall, swaying precariously in the wind and rain. Where does the spirit of the one who stood in the centre go? No one knows.
The Moth and the Broken Web
In reality, the spirit remains trapped by its own attachment to this web. It becomes like a moth, flying back and forth, returning to the centre of this shattered, broken web, unwilling to let go. Yet, the web has long since lost its form. Eventually, the moth becomes entangled in a single, lingering thread of the web, and its life in this world comes to an end.
The Light of Liberation
An awakened practitioner, witnessing this scene, uses the immense power of the six-character name, Namo Amituofo, to intervene. Through the merit of this name, the spirit is freed from the form of the moth and restored to its true self. The spirit is then guided to a peaceful place to chant Namo Amituofo, eventually achieving rebirth in the of Ultimate Bliss. This spirit is finally saved, never again to be caught in the web of emotion and the cycle of rebirth.
Namo Amituofo
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