Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju offers these profound teachings to all who seek the path of the Buddha. We often observe that those who study the Buddha’s teachings, even those who are diligent and sincere in their practice, still find themselves subject to the inevitable sufferings of life. This includes the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death. Even within the bodhimanda, where volunteers and even Venerables serve the temple with their entire hearts, dedicating themselves to the work of saving beings, the physical body remains susceptible to these same hardships.
You may ask: why does this occur despite such sincere devotion? The reason is that one’s personality traits and habits have not yet been transformed. Because the underlying remains unchanged, the manifestations of birth, aging, sickness, and death continue to arise. While the intensity of this suffering may be slightly reduced through your practice, it cannot be entirely avoided until the root cause is addressed.
The Trap of Ego and Karma
Even for those who are diligent in chanting and vow to seek rebirth in the , it is difficult to avoid the pain that arises during illness. When this suffering manifests, if you allow yourself to fall into the following states, you only create further obstacles:
Anger:
Resenting the physical pain or the circumstances of your life.Complaints:
Harbouring of bitterness or dissatisfaction.Slander: Doubting the Buddha or the efficacy of the , which creates the most severe negative karma.
By falling into these traps, you create new negative causes, and the resulting negative consequences are impossible to escape. While your daily good deeds and actions, such as Generosity and acts of kindness, continue to accumulate as and merit, they do not erase the past. When the conditions from your past lives mature, the negative consequences of past actions will inevitably manifest. Furthermore, your unrefined personality traits and habits act as a beacon, attracting your , who appear without mercy to seek balance for past grievances.
The Necessity of Transformation
This moment of suffering is the ultimate test of your practice. It reveals whether the teachings you have studied have truly entered your heart. Can you quickly repent and change your ways, or do you continue to suffer without understanding the need for transformation? Personality traits and habits are the greatest obstacles to your practice. Because these traits remain active, your karma continues to manifest. As long as this karma is not transformed, you remain an ordinary person bound to the cycle of samsara. How, then, could you possibly escape the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death?
True practice is not merely about performing rituals; it is fundamentally about changing your personality traits. These traits were not formed in a single day; they are the result of habits accumulated over accumulated lifetimes. If these traits remain unchanged, there is no possibility of . As long as you possess this physical body, your personality traits and habits will find a way to manifest. Therefore, those who truly wish to sacrifice themselves for others must ensure that everything they do is for the sake of all beings, leaving no room for personal ego or selfishness.
The Path to Awakening
In your true self, there are no such things as personality traits or habits. If you truly wish to realise your true self and reach Awakening, you must commit to the total transformation of your character. You must strive until there is not even a trace of these habits left, and not even a single shred of selfishness remains. Those who have reached Awakening exist in a state of . Every action they take and every word they speak is dedicated solely to the work of saving beings. Let us all strive to follow this path, letting go of our ego and chanting Namo Amituofo with a pure and transformed heart.
