The Stillness of No Ripples: Teachings from Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju

On 18 June 2022, during the third session of the Thrice Yearning Ceremony, Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju provided profound guidance on the state of having no ripples within the heart. This teaching was recorded by Venerable HaiZe.

The Mirror of a Still Heart

When you can achieve meditative concentration, your heart becomes pure and still, much like water without a single ripple. When your heart is pure, you should continue your practice with unwavering focus, moving straight ahead on the path.

When your heart is calm and free of ripples, everything in your life will naturally flow with ease. This is what it means to attain a state where nothing disturbs your inner peace, allowing you to move through life with grace and clarity.

The Storms of Inner Turbulence

However, if your heart begins to stir, waves of emotion will immediately follow. Once these waves appear, it becomes difficult for your heart to return to a state of peace. This turbulence can lead to suffering for yourself and those around you.

Why does this agitation occur? It is often because of the karmic creditors residing within you. When you feel this inner unrest, you must realise that they have come to seek balance for past grievances. Furthermore, there are spiritual attachments from outside that may enter your body and obstruct your path. Why would you choose to create such ripples and bring suffering upon yourself? To remain calm and ripple-free is the true expression of compassion.

The Return to the True Self

Maintaining a state of no ripples is both a vital process of your practice and one of its most significant fruits. It is the heart of one who has mastered meditative concentration. Only with these skills can you avoid being turned by external circumstances and instead gain the power to transform them. When you chant Namo Amituofo, you must do so with complete focus, without any other thoughts. As you chant, Buddha-name follows Buddha-name in an unbroken stream. In this state of meditative concentration, there are no ripples. This is the moment when you will finally rediscover your true self.

Namo Amituofo