March 30, 1988
To live with our feelings
To think that we can live outside of our feelings is only a chimera. To presume that we live outside of our feelings means we might not understand ourselves yet, either deceiving or suppressing ourselves.
To live naturally means to live in the knowing. Knowing the six senses, six sense-objects and living with them does not mean we are enticed by them. To presume living outside the six senses, six sense-objects means living in blindness and ignorance, thinking that we understand ourselves but actually do not. As we are still living in this world and bearing this human body, we are just living with the six senses, six sense-objects. Knowing them, living with them, not being enticed by them, this is living in the Righteous Way. Knowing them, living with them, being enticed and manipulated by them, this is living in the false path. Knowing them clearly, seeing their vileness and malevolence, we can be closer to the Awakening, and farther from the chimera, to be in harmony with the world, to be humbler. Those who claim themselves as ethical, pure, noble, isolated from the world, are in fact living in chimera, separated from the Way.
The thorough knowing of six senses, six sense-objects will help us make decisions about the cases we need to act accordingly, and in other cases we should not. Nonetheless, we must always live with them, since without them, our Knowing would be lost. Without them, we would lose all connections with human beings and the universe. Similarly, the handicapped who have lost a part of their body tend to develop other parts to complement it.
Religious practitioners are those who live with their feelings, not outside of their feelings. Living with the feelings enables us to live our life fully. Living with our feelings, we can live completely, as we do not suppress our feelings. Once the feelings generate completely, we get back to emptiness. To suppress our feelings, we cannot know them completely; and since we do not know them, we do not know ourselves. Therefore, many people talk but do not know what they are talking about, act but do not know what they are acting. This is because they do not understand thoroughly the six awareness, and then cannot seek for their source. We should know six awareness to recognize them when they arise, master them and bring them back to emptiness.
Knowing all the above , we will no longer belittle six awareness, and recognize the six senses, six sense-objects as gifts given by God to us, while we have the choice of how to use them to step into the light.
Many people have done bad and wrong things, but once they recognize the bad and the wrong, they shall find out the pure and the beautiful, to get back to the cycle of emptiness. Thus, knowing is erasing (purifying), we should know ourselves to purge our sins and our karmic causes and effects. If we practice the Way but do not know ourselves so that we can purge and deliver ourselves, even if we have been practicing in a thousand existences, we would be unable to purge our karma, and must follow the samsãric law to repay the karmic deeds.
To overcome feelings
When we can reach a higher level in religious practice, we will have the ability of overcoming feelings.
At the lower level, we know that our feelings are caused by the six senses, six sense-objects, if we do not restrain them, they will arise through the cycles, then get back to the state of emptiness. This is the phase of the knowing: know how to receive, how to react, and know how to follow then get back to the state of emptiness. This is only the phase of knowing how to establish the order of each small cycle. When we still live in the phases of the small cycle, we are still staying in every period of this small cycle; this means we are still living in the Transformation. We should step into the phase of the Great Absorption which means living in the wholeness of this cycle, or stepping into the Awakening of the non-similarity non-transformation. We have to live in the movement of this non-similarity non-transformation.
When we step into the phase of Omniscience and Omnipotence, such Knowing is Full Enlightenment. We are no longer in the reactions of the six senses. If we still have reactions, this means we still have wrong actions as in the phase of small cycles. When we reach the state of Full Enlightenment, we will no longer live in the reactions of six senses, six sense-objects, but in the Natural Logic. The Natural Logic is different from the reasoning of right and wrong caused by individual or racial prejudices, or the sentiments of joy or sadness. Living in the Great Absorption, we will always embrace true and natural love. We will love each other naturally, and love everyone, everything, since that is the Great Compassion of Buddha. That is the Superior Era of Divine Ethics. This had been said in this message: “All Sentient Beings Will Be Blessed By Buddha To Realize The Buddhist Way.”
Cause and Effect
How can we recognize that our actual sufferings are caused by our previous existences, and those who cause sufferings for us are in fact our benefactors?
To deep-rooted religious practitioners, all difficulties and sufferings are actually the magnetic needle that shows us the right path towards deliverance. Knowing this fact, all awakeners would be able to neutralize all karmic sufferings to come to deliverance. The more difficulties and sufferings we can endure, the more stable will be our advancing steps. All sufferings will become gentle and placid, since they only help us to wake up and realize, to escape the darkness of ignorance. All difficulties will become the ladders or the bridges that help us to advance and overcome.
People around us and ourselves, we all have mutual karma in previous existences. Everyone has his own causes and effects, caused by himself and released by himself. Deep-rooted religious practitioners know how to release their karma accumulated through many previous existences, therefore, their karma has been gradually lessened. The ones who cause sufferings to us are actually neither our benefactors, nor our enemies, they only create karma or release karma for themselves. All sentient beings are in this law, nobody can escape it. Men can forgive each other, but the natural law, so-called divine law, never forgives anyone.
Nobody can release the sins or the karma for others, but each person should purify himself, should face challenges for his own release of his sins and karma, or to lead himself to the deliverance. Those who sincerely want to purify themselves and look forward to delivering themselves shall have the pure energy to support them. The High-above divinities are constantly present to help all sentient beings at anytime, they never rest. The greater is our devotion, the stronger will be their assistance. Sincere devotees treading the Way like advancing into the light. The farther they go, the stronger and brighter is the light. This light will affect all people around us and nearby.
When our heart is sincerely devoted to serve the religion and the Dharma, we shall have the assistance of the High-above leading us to realize our mission.
To end the karma
How can we end the karma?
To end the karma, we need to release the karma. To release the karma, we should live completely with our karma. The religious practitioner, who accepts his karma and determines to release it in this mundane existence, is likely walking on an invisible roadmap, with the light as his magnetic needle.
The religious practitioner who wants to end his mundane karma solely for his carefree body and his contented living, this attitude will lure him into an invisible trap, as he has only hidden himself from the karma. Religious practice aims to release his own karma, not to hide from it.
He should accept difficulties and sufferings, likewise, his path will lead him from the darkness to the light; the brighter is the light, the clearer is the deliverance path. On the other hand, the more he hides himself from the karma, the more his karma will chase him in many ways, and he will subsequently meet the dead-end.
The religious practitioner, besides Faith and Will Power, should have Courage to accept and face all difficulties of his own karma.
Running away will not lead to a way out.
Running away will only lead to ignorance.
Once we determine to embrace religious practice, we should determine not to produce more karma. However, we must release our own karma that we have caused in the past. When we borrow, we should repay, in this way or another way. This is the divine law applied to everybody, with no special favor for anyone.
We have the choice
All of us can have our own choice of the path we follow. The High-above does not draw a path and oblige us to follow this path. We should strive hard to seek, study and practice, so that we may reach the illumination and the peace to recognize the righteous path that we need to follow; likewise, we need great will power to follow this path faithfully. Knowing and Seeing are not enough, we need Will Power to overcome all obstacles, to reach the end. Thus, Will Power is the pre-condition helping us to follow the Way through. All thoughts, deeds, and speeches create the karma force. Therefore, we need to forge constantly our will power, so that we can always be wakeful, and terminate our karmic fruits. In this manner, our path would be free of spikes and thorns, and we would be able to avoid confusion and hesitation caused by our fear of falling down.
Do not assume wrongfully that we are bound by a predestined roadmap. Each of us has an invisible roadmap, which has been drawn by our own accumulated merits of spiritual practice. If we have great merits by practice, we are more likely to draw a good roadmap, and our path is easier to follow. If we draw a wrong path, we will fall into traps or holes. The High-above will guide or help us based on our merits, very closely and consistently. We can deceive ourselves, but we can never deceive the High-above. Do not think that we are bound to do this or that; such a notion is completely wrong, since we have our own choice in every phase or turning point of the spiritual transformation. Do not ever think that if we pray or vow, the High-above will give to us, which is completely wrong. We should have the will power to reach the way, then we pray and vow for more help from the High-above. This is the right course to follow.
For that reason, we should draw our life roadmap. We ourselves, should release our karmic fruits. Our karmic force should be terminated by ourselves.
If we have will power to do such task The High-above will help and bless us.
Silence and wakefulness
If we want to draw our life roadmap, to release our karmic fruits, to end our karmic force, we need to be Wakeful all the time. Wakefulness in the Silence. Look at the unpredictability that may happen anytime. This unpredictability can be either misfortune or fortune; we have to live constantly with it in every moment, between Life and Death. The constant observation of ourselves is as necessary as the breathing of our body, for the complete living inside us in every minute. Thus is our own true living, since we can only know who we are and how we are living by such wakefulness. With such wakefulness, we are solely asleep, or else, we are blind.
We are asleep or blind to leave our life drifting away without a clear direction. Thus, in any moment that we are asleep, we abandon our life, we do not direct it. Though a moment may be very short, it may also be very great, it may sometimes be more important than a whole life, since it can break up, destroy a life, crush over an entire attainment, or ruin a life of religious pratice.
When we direct our life, we will know who we are, where we go, thus, we are releasing our karmic living. Since we do not bind ourselves, or create more, but gradually untie the knots until complete self-release. We release our body and soul. Thus, just knowledge itself is not enough, we also need wakefulness to release our karma.
The wakefulness in every second, every minute is as indispensable as the breathing, since the mindlessness can be exterminated immediately by such wakefulness. Wakefulness is cut off immediately when mindlessness slightly arises.
Thus, wakefulness is always residing in us, and this is the complete answer.
Wakefulness is the light, and we should have the will power to keep this light always inside us.
