The Wisdom of Letting Go and Serving

The Body: A Burden or a Vessel?

Recently, the fourfold assembly has faced significant challenges. You have encountered interference from demons, experienced states of deep drowsiness, and felt your consciousness drifting into other dimensions. Furthermore, the physical body has been afflicted by illness, while your karmic creditors have taken this opportunity to exert their influence. Has this physical suffering led you to deeply realise that the body is a great obstacle to your practice? You must learn to let go of your attachment to it. Yet, you must also recognise that this same body is a vital instrument for saving the world and rescuing suffering beings. Therefore, you must learn to use it wisely.

Defining the Path of Selflessness

How can you distinguish between the act of letting go and the act of using? The distinction is simple yet profound:

• Letting go: When you act for the sake of your own comfort, your own desires, or your own ego, you must let go of these attachments.
• Using: When you act for the sake of all beings, you must use your body as a tool for their salvation.

You must not allow your physical sensations, your personal suffering, or the discomfort of the body to influence your commitment to serving others. Even if the pain, the fatigue, and the physical limitations persist, your heart and actions must remain dedicated to the temple and the work of saving beings. This dedication must remain untouched by the fluctuations of your physical state.

The Constant Vigil of the Mind

The fourfold assembly should reflect deeply upon their own minds. Throughout the twenty-four hours of the day, what is it that you are thinking about? Are you focused on:

• Your own personal feelings and comfort?
• The state of your own physical health?
• The interpersonal relationships between yourself and others?
• Or is your mind filled with the continuous, uninterrupted chanting of Namo Amituofo?

You must also examine your actions throughout the day. Are you truly busy with the work of the Buddha and the tasks entrusted to you by Practitioner Su? You must be extremely cautious. If even a single thought arises that is for your own benefit, that tiny fraction of selfishness becomes a negative cause. You will inevitably have to taste the bitter consequences of such actions.

Adhering to the Universal Principles

Why is this standard so strict? It is because this is how the Universal Principles, Truth, and the Right Path operate. The people of this world act primarily for their own private interests, which is why they remain trapped in the cycle of rebirth, turning endlessly through the realms of existence. If you truly wish to transform your karma, you must jump out of this narrow framework of self-interest. This is the very process of your practice—the journey of searching for and returning to your true self. Namo Amituofo.

Recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe