Understanding the Heart and Mind

The Clarity of the Heart

My child, have you truly come to understand your own heart? To understand the heart is to discern the true from the false, the wise from the foolish, and the illusory from the real. In your daily practice, if your heart is clear and you possess a definite, unwavering goal, and you have the fortune to encounter the great teacher Namo Amituofo and have the protection of the Dharma provided by Practitioner Su, then by listening and accepting these teachings with a sincere heart, you will achieve twice the result with half the effort. This is the path to realising your true self sooner.

The Dangers of a Clouded Mind

However, if your heart is only half-clear and half-obscured, your practice will be fraught with difficulty, and you will find it hard to move forward from your current position. If your heart remains in darkness, you will not only fail to progress but will inevitably regress. If you know that something is false but still treat it as if it were real, you are acting as a foolish person. We must be honest with ourselves about where our attachments lie.

The Path of the Wise

If you know that the truth is rare and difficult to encounter, yet you have been fortunate enough to meet it in this life, you must act with urgency. You must quickly leave the false behind to seek the truth. Once you have found your true self and transformed the false into the real, you are a wise person. This is the transformation that every practitioner seeks.

Breaking Through to Awakening

If you can practise the real within the illusory, not being confused by these illusory states, you will see through the confusion to reach enlightenment. Eventually, you will break through delusion and attain enlightenment, entering the realm of the real and seeing the emptiness of all things. This is what it means to be an awakened being. May we all strive to reach this state of clarity and truth.

This message was recorded by the Buddha's disciple, Venerable HaiZe.