Padmakurmara - Translating the Teachings of the Great Buddhist Master, Grandmaster Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu Padmakurmara - Translating the Teachings of the Great Buddhist Master, Grandmaster Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu Padmakurmara - Translating the Teachings of the Great Buddhist Master, Grandmaster Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu Padmakurmara - Translating the Teachings of the Great Buddhist Master, Grandmaster Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu Padmakurmara - Translating the Teachings of the Great Buddhist Master, Grandmaster Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu Padmakurmara - Translating the Teachings of the Great Buddhist Master, Grandmaster Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu Padmakurmara - Translating the Teachings of the Great Buddhist Master, Grandmaster Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu
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  • Book 156: Whispers of the Breeze - The Joy of Inner Tranquility
  • Chapter 2: The Hearts of Sentient Beings
  • Written by: Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Sheng-yen Lu
  • Translated by: Wilhall Lee
  • Edited by Luljeta Subasic
  • Proofread by Mimosa

Chapter 2 : The Hearts of Sentient Beings

A disciple once asked me, "In this world, this material world, is there anything that is permanent?"

I answered, "Nothing is permanent."

The disciple probed on, "What about the heart 1 ?"

I replied, "The existence of consciousness is impermanent. Due to their inability to penetrate the truth, common people misconstrue the existence of consciousness as permanent. In order to let sentient beings realize the impermanence of consciousness, Shakyamuni Buddha taught sentient beings to observe the impermanence of the heart."

If we carefully observe the hearts of sentient beings, if we are continuously alert in discerning and analyzing the heart, we will soon understand the "variability of the heart."

For example, love may turn into hate, good may turn into evil, happiness may turn into agony, beauty may turn into ugliness, truthfulness may turn into dishonesty, purity may turn into filth, contentment may turn into hollowness…

The body is not permanent!

Neither is the heart!

Shakyamuni Buddha told us "To know one's own heart is never easy. To know the hearts of sentient beings is even more difficult." Hence the saying "The swirling dusty world, blanketed in boundless dense fog."

I understand that the hearts of sentient beings are like water, and water can carry the raft, as well as submerge the raft.

To my knowledge there were once three great sages, Jiang Bo Luo Rinpoche, Chi Zhu Rinpoche, and Gong Zu Rinpoche. They suffered the fate of tumbling in the ocean of the "hearts of sentient beings," drowned by the sentient beings, burdened by the entanglement of sentient beings.


Hence, Shakyamuni Buddha wanted disciples who had just begun the practice of meditation to first reside

1. In caves
2. Under a tree in the forest
3. Among graves

Only by living in a secluded and solitary place can a practitioner maintain a peaceful heart. By practicing this way, concentration can be achieved and meditative success accomplished. To live in isolation and to go into retreat is a must. This is Shakyamuni Buddha's teaching.

Footnotes:

  1. In Chinese, the usage of the term "heart" refers to the "mind" or the "consciousness".

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