OM MANI PADME HUM
Deep in the heart of many you will find that they are pure in nature. This is the Buddha Nature which has lost its purity over the past lifetimes of living and accumulating defilement. The heart is clouded. The mind is clouded. The heart is the mind. The mind is the heart, and not the brain in the heart. The mind is formless, it cannot be seen other than by the quality of one’s actions of body, speech and mind.
Karmic accumulations are within the mind. Millions of lifetimes of such accumulations are stored within the mind which await time and conditions to bring forth the effects of these seeds of causes. That is why things happen each moment of time to every person which cannot be expected. That is why life is so unsure, so impermanent - must be changing constantly. That is why whenever a terrible event happens to anyone’s life, it must be expected, so that the situation can be accepted calmly since it is but the effect of a past cause. That is why the Law of Karma must be contemplated upon and understood well so as to wake up the self to be on the path of merit seeking so that disastrous Karma can be avoided in the future. Knowledge is indeed important for it is the signposts to living. Having gained knowledge, go about living in the right way and seek to suppress the hindrances to proper cultivation. Recognise the truth and go forth to seek it. Recognise your very own deficiencies and seek to improve yourself by disciplining the heart, the mind. Each effort you make is not lost. It becomes a single seed being planted. The more effort you make, the faster will this seed begin to grow. But life is a constant conflict; always a struggle. The seed must be given impetus to fight its way up the soil to break through the ground in order to sprout, to grow into a plant, a tree. So too is the difficulty of cultivation. Easy methods are not easily available unless past causes have brought about the good effect so that in this life time all things seem to be made for you.
And with all the advantages in life coupled with inborn wisdom, great strength and perseverance, cultivation becomes a simple task for a rare few. But this is not to be expected to be the karma of many, so the conflicts of life must surround almost all beings which are within the six paths. To be born too is a big struggle both for mother and infant. Pain is there. Suffering must ever be present to remind the mind that this is the root problem of life so that the wiser ones will move away from it by seeking the paths that lead to liberation. Knowing pain and suffering will cause the mind to stir, to awaken, to adopt a kind of living which will ensure that future lifetimes shall not be ones which are miserable. This will also open up one’s compassionate nature because suffering is realised, the cause of suffering is realised, the extinction of suffering will then become the aim of living, and the purification of the mind by living within the Precept begins.
Reach out to help others too. Just as you do not wish to experience pains and sufferings, so too the rest of the beings of existence. But they are ignorant of the way out of this pain circle of birth and death and rebirth; they cling on to wrong teachings, wrong causes, wrong methods, for they fail to see through the clouded mind. These are the beings that are destined to be in samsaric existence for a long time. When one is aware of their plight, one cannot become impatient with them, cannot be angry with them, for they have a mind that is filled with delusions or defilements. Give them the help that they need. Show them the way by your right manner of living, show morality and compassion to awaken them too.
To worship Me is simple. Just remove hatred, ill-will, lust, greed, and wrong views in your actions of body, speech and mind. Practise to reach within the deep recess of your mind daily and watch who you are and what you can be when thoughts that arise are left unchecked and when they are subject to your control. Understand the meaning of existence with clear insight. Be ever calm and filled with compassion for all beings under any circumstances. Be kind and gentle and truthful. Be ready to be struck hard by unkind words and actions of others so that the meaning of forgiveness and understanding are realised. Live your life fruitfully by planting good seeds both in your own mind and in the mind of others. Refrain from acts that cause harm to other beings and always be ready to be the brother, father and mother to anyone who come to you for help. By this method of living, prayers need not be chanted. Actions which are righteous are prayers in action. Kuan Shih Yin is powerless, is meaningless, is ridiculous to the minds which are defiled. But to those who are devout and practise good acts of body, speech and mind, Kuan Shih Yin is real and meaningful, is alive and can be seen in all forms of life. To see Me, there is only need for one to remove all defilements from the heart!
Wednesday, 16th February 1983 (1st Moon 4th Day)