Venerable Yongning, a monastic who has sought deliverance through the Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre, provides insight into the nature of the human mind and the challenges of maintaining focus during the practice of chanting the Buddha-name. This interview was recorded on November 7, 2022.
Venerable Yongning speaks:
". You ask why it is so difficult for the Buddha-name to subdue our constant thinking? Think about it—the human brain is in a state of continuous thinking from the moment we wake up. The second your eyes open, the mind begins to race: 'What shall I have for breakfast?' 'What is the first task I need to tackle at the office?' It is an endless stream of thoughts. If you were to count how many thoughts pass through your head in a single day, the number would be astronomical, far beyond what anyone could ever tally.
The Magnetic Pull of
Why is the human brain so prone to this incessant thinking? The first thing we must address is the nature of karma. I see karma as possessing a powerful 'magnetic pull.' It can draw the human brain into a 'space' of thinking with incredible ease. When you look at different people, you will notice that some think far more than others; this is simply because their karmic burdens differ. If parents are prone to constant thinking and afflictions, their children will inevitably learn to think and worry in the same way. But why are they born into such a family? It is all tied together by the Law of Cause, Condition, and Fruit.
and the Controlled Mind
When an event occurs before us, a head that is already under the interference of karma will naturally and rapidly fall into a cycle of thinking. Within that process, there are often many karmic creditors controlling the brain, forcing it into a state of rapid-fire thought. They drive the brain to habitually dwell on a single matter, over and over again, ruminating endlessly. Even after a person finally makes a decision, the mind continues to churn. This does not just happen with major life choices; when the head is under the control of karmic creditors, everything you see and everything you hear is pulled into the brain to be processed and worried over. Even if the matter has absolutely nothing to do with you, they will still make you think about it. Therefore, the impact of karma on the thinking process of the head is truly immense.
The Vicious Cycle of Spiritual Attachment
When karma interferes with the head, it keeps the mind in a state of continuous thinking. In every moment of that thinking, you are actually attracting external spirits to attach to you, and the number of these spirits can be quite staggering. These external spirits, in turn, further influence your thoughts. Thus, thinking leads to spiritual attachment, and spiritual attachment makes your thinking even more chaotic, complex, and frequent. If you look at a person's head, their face, their eyes, and their overall state, you can immediately tell how much thinking they are doing. A person who thinks too much will never have a pure or clear face.
The Path to Purification
Because there is so much thinking, it becomes difficult for the Buddha-name to subdue the mind. You might chant a few times, only to fall right back into the trap of your own thoughts. Those with a sense of awareness will catch themselves and return to the Buddha-name, but those who lack this awareness may simply let their thoughts lead them away, completely forgetting that they were even chanting just a moment before. Even so, one must continue to learn and practise.
You can follow the guidance of Practitioner Su, who teaches us how to 'select the .' Methods such as reciting sutras can help you purify your head, which is the only way to achieve true clarity and reduce spiritual attachments. In your daily life, you should also perform more prostrations to the Buddha. This helps to resolve the conflicts with your karmic creditors, allowing you to be less controlled by them. Namo Amituofo."
