Doing Your Best: Teachings from Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju

The Fleeting Nature of Existence

How long is the span of this current life? We must pause to reflect: how much of our allotted time has already been spent, and how much remains for us to use? For those who are still reincarnated, the duration of their existence is already recorded in the ledger of life and death. If one has not yet learned to transform karma, every event in their life will unfold exactly as fate has determined. However, the life of a practitioner is different. It depends entirely on whether one is willing to transform karma through sincere effort.

You must engage in diligent practice and always do your very best. When you succeed in transforming karma, your life is no longer bound by the rigid constraints of fate. If you reach the state of an awakened being, you will find a level of freedom that is truly profound and beyond measure.

Serving the Collective with a Pure Heart

To the fourfold assembly of disciples, I offer this guidance: everything that the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre undertakes is done for the sake of all beings. Therefore, when the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre entrusts you with a responsibility, you must perform it with your utmost effort and sincerity. Every action taken by the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is designed to benefit the collective. Consequently, when the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre assigns a task to your body, you must treat it as a sacred duty and do your very best to fulfil it.

The Art of Letting Go

To truly progress, you must learn to let go of the many layers of the ego that cloud your original nature. You must release your attachment to the concept of the self, the physical body and its comforts, your own personal views and opinions, your subjective feelings and emotional reactions, and your personal perceptions of the world. When you finally let go of these attachments, your entire being will be transformed. You will find that you are no longer the same person you once were. By taking on the suffering of all beings, you will find that the spirits of the world will respect and protect you. In this work of saving others, you must always do your very best.

A Life Dedicated to the Buddha-Name

To grow roots of goodness and achieve the fruit of Bodhi, you must cultivate the right habits in your daily life: think good thoughts, see the good in others, speak kind words, and perform good deeds. You must change your personality traits that hinder your progress, and remove your ego-attachment and narrow views. Chant Namo Amituofo continuously, maintaining the Buddha-name in your heart 24/7. Diligently practise the Precepts, Concentration and Wisdom, and protect the stability of your Body-Mind-Spirit. In every aspect of your practice, you must do your very best. This is the path to leaving suffering behind and finding true happiness. Namo Amituofo.