Clearing the Mind: Teachings on the Things We Hold

On the thirteenth of November, 2022, during the second session of the Thrice Yearning Ceremony, Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju provided essential guidance for all practitioners. This teaching was recorded by the Buddha's disciple, Venerable HaiZe.

The Original Face

Practitioners, you must clearly recognise your original face—the state of being that existed before your parents gave birth to you. In that original, pristine state, there is no heart, and there is absolutely nothing at all. It is a state of pure, unconditioned existence.

The Burden of the Samsaric Mind

If your heart is currently filled with things—if it is crowded with dense, tangled conscious thoughts and the presence of various beings—you are operating with a mind of reincarnation. This is the very heart that keeps you trapped in the cycle of rebirth. When you are engaged in your daily practice, if these conscious thoughts and the images of beings manifest, you must recognise them for what they truly are:

• They are obstacles to your progress.
• They are forms of interference that cloud your clarity.

Because these thoughts hinder your path, you must engage in diligent practice. You must commit yourself to purification, and then more purification.

The Art of Letting Go

When you find that your heart is burdened by these things, you must let go of them. You must let go of them immediately. Do not struggle to hold on, and do not allow them to linger in your consciousness. If you do not let go, you are choosing to keep the very things that prevent your awakening.

The Path to Awakening

For those with sharp faculties, even if their hearts are cluttered, hearing the Dharma can lead to a sudden awakening. In an instant, the things in their hearts are swept away. Even the heart itself becomes empty, allowing them to enter the state of an empty heart. Those who have realised their true nature exist in a state of no-heart and emptiness; what things could possibly remain there?

The Gradual Journey

For those of us with ordinary faculties, the path requires a gradual process. We must wash away layers of pollution, one by one. We must remove the things from our hearts until there is nothing left. To enter the state of an empty heart, a no-heart, and a no-thing state—this is the moment of being an awakened being. Namo Amituofo.