Transforming the Heart: A Path to Awakening

Recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe

September 8, 2024, Noon Offering

Teachings from Teacher Practitioner Xia Lianju:

The Foundation of Our Reality

If you are a practitioner, you must understand that the ability to regulate and transform your heart is the very moment you begin to transform your karma. The heart is the dwelling place of our consciousness and our thoughts. For ordinary people, the heart is filled with the eight consciousnesses and the fifty-one mental factors. However, those who have realised their true nature are able to transform this consciousness into Wisdom.

Your heart has the power to construct the six realms of existence and the ten Dharma realms. The state of your heart during your lifetime determines your destination after death. The level of purification you achieve while you are alive will naturally guide your spirit to the corresponding realm once the physical body passes away.

The Inevitable Law of Karma

If your heart is filled with Goodness, your spirit will naturally gravitate towards the three higher realms. Conversely, if your heart is filled with evil, your spirit will naturally descend into the three evil realms. Everything is mind-only. All things are governed by karma, and not a single detail is left to chance. Therefore, while you are still in this world, you must diligently manage and cultivate your heart. This is the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, and it is a path that never deviates.

The Great Transformation of the Heart

To transform the heart is to undergo a fundamental shift in your being. You must actively work to change your internal state:

• Transform an evil heart into a heart of Goodness.
• Transform the heart of an ordinary person into the heart of a sage.
• Transform a selfish heart into one that is selfless.
• Transform a heart of a demon into a Buddha-heart.
• Transform an impure heart into a pure heart.
• Transform a heart of greed into a heart of Generosity.
• Transform a heart of anger into a heart of compassion.
• Transform ignorance into Wisdom.
• Transform a heart of arrogance into one that is humble and modest.
• Transform a heart of doubt into a heart of Faith.

Before this transformation, all these states are merely deluded thoughts arising from delusion, discrimination, and attachment. After the transformation, you reveal the original face that has always existed within your true self.

Returning to Our Original Nature

This original face, which is inherently perfect, was subsequently obscured by pollution, leading to the rise of delusion, discrimination, and attachment, as well as various afflictions. Once this pollution has occurred, we must go through the process of purification through practice to rediscover our original nature. You may ask, how does one transform the heart, and what should it be transformed into?

The Path of Diligent Practice

You must draw close to a true spiritual friend and adjust your heart amidst the compassionate and wise guidance of those who are skilled in this practice. This is the essential process of realising your true nature:

• Engage in diligent practice.
• Listen to sutras and hear the Dharma.
• Change your personality traits.
• Dissolve your karma and remove obstacles.
• Resolve the conflict with your karmic creditors.
• Invite spirits to receive Chao Du.

By following these steps, you will gradually return to the purity of your original nature and find your way home. Namo Amituofo.