You actually do not know which attachment you will attain enlightenment through.
(It is that one, that one that hurts the most. But I think that one has a very big…)
All the children in the world are yours, yet you will never be able to open your heart that wide. You may be unconcerned, but you do not love all the children in the world. All of them are… Only then are you a Buddha. Otherwise, how could you attain enlightenment?
(Now I feel that contemplation is different from before. Before, I thought liking was simply liking, but now…)
You have compassion and a soft heart now. Gradually, you have gained a soft heart. That really is… Keep going. Because you are too smart, you have everything in this world. You must have something missing; you must attain enlightenment. If you had nothing missing, you would be perfect—too smart, too outstanding, grasping too much, having everything. What could you be missing?
If there is nothing missing now, how will you attain enlightenment? How will you let go of such an excellent self? That self of yours—you can let it go only when it hurts, hurts badly. Such a forceful self of yours, such a forceful self—if everything were completely fulfilled, what would you be like? Think about it. How would you reflect?
If each person once vowed to attain enlightenment, then if this life is the final lifetime, there must be one thing you are most attached to. It must strike and collide with you in a way that reaches your very bones; otherwise, you cannot attain enlightenment. It has all been arranged.
So, when they bring those pains into contact with you, you yourself have no resentment and no regret. That is what you yourself wanted. You yourself said you wanted to attain enlightenment, so those obstacles were arranged for you. It is what you yourself wanted; otherwise, how could you attain it? That is Cause and condition.
Do not think that many things happen by accident. For you, some things are simply that way; they are what you wanted, what you yourselves wanted things to be, because you cannot let go. You vowed for things to be this way; it is within the power of your vow.
Do not say, “I do not have it; he does; what a regret, what remorse, what a lack—so much, so much.” It is all of your own doing; you will come through it this way. You yourselves once vowed for it to be this way, to attain enlightenment.
What can collide with you? Nothing can reach the depths of your heart. Unless that deluded mind dies, someone will always deal with you. No, not the teacher—the teacher will not. I will always smile and look at you. You will always meet an opponent, and then they will make you give up.
If one day, after a further period of cultivation and realization, you truly awaken, the rest will be easy. Whether you are a layperson or monastic, no matter how things are in the world, whatever you do in this world, you will truly be at ease, acting in accordance with causes and conditions. It is just a game, and you will resolve things very easily. Marriage, family, getting married, not getting married—these things are too easy. These are matters of the human path, matters of the human world.
If you do not awaken, it seems very hard. Every family has its own difficult story; there is no family that is absolutely perfect and happy. But once you awaken, and look from that height, whether you marry or not, everything is simple, just like that—rather easy.
This is the most basic benefit, in the human realm. You have not yet finished this lifetime. Even if you do not have spiritual powers or Dharma power, at the very least, your state of mind is different now. You can do everything in the human world without being trapped by it. You could say that these things have nothing to do with you, and they do not trouble you. That is how it is. It is very serene. It is not perfection—not that I mean it is pure—it is simply very serene. Perhaps this world is still this way.
Further on comes liberation from samsara, life after life. Further on is when the power of your vow to liberate sentient beings is fulfilled, and your spiritual powers are complete. Once your merit is complete, everything is complete. There is no more helplessness, no more deficiency. You will manifest without deficiency; this requires complete merit.
Note: This text was prepared from a teaching video by Yang Ning. If it differs from the video, the video takes precedence. Watch the video.