Everyone Is Seeking Life’s Destination

You should know, we often talk about the Lotus Sutra; every day we say that we are the Tathāgata. But when we put it that way, people cling to an appearance of the Tathāgata. It is better to express it through emptiness.

That Tathāgata is emptiness: no-self, no-Buddha; without the appearance of self or Buddha, the formless, markless Tathāgata. Understand it this way, and only then will you know that there is such a Tathāgata here.

Start by thinking this way. In your imagination, you keep thinking this Tathāgata is formless and markless; there is such a Tathāgata. Then everything I do is its wondrous existence; whenever I stir a thought, I use it. That’s how it is.

But gradually, you will know that appearance is also it; without it, there is no appearance. Because it is in the human realm, it appears as a human form; because it is in the realm of heavenly beings, it appears as a heavenly form. Appearance is also it; it is also wondrous existence and its wondrous function.

If there were a Buddha in this world, he could not manifest as formless and markless; he would certainly manifest as a person. That is what best accords with the laws of the human realm. He must transform according to the Way, so a human appearance is also the Tathāgata. But when you cling to appearances, you must first let this appearance go, because you cling to the appearance of Buddha and the appearance of ordinary beings.

Because you still cannot tell the difference, you think: How could evil be the Tathāgata? You keep saying, “How could evil be the Tathāgata’s wondrous function?” Because you cling to the appearance of evil, evil is not empty for you. As for evil, form and emptiness are not two.

Why is evil not empty for you? Because you are inside evil. At first, when a person gives rise to evil, there must be hatred. Once there is an object, why does evil manifest? Because he hates this matter or this person; his heart has been wounded, murderous intent has arisen, or he wants to satisfy his selfish desires. Hatred, jealousy—everything arises.

Because all these appearances have emerged, his evil contains something; it is no longer empty. So this evil is never the Tathāgata in his heart. He thinks the Tathāgata is very pure, never the wondrous function of emptiness. When he clings to appearances, this is not it; you cannot say…

But it is hard to see emptiness through hatred, jealousy, and evil, because that force is too strong. Humanity as a whole is on the tabletop, in the sunlight. We grew up in the sunlight; we are not animals that live in darkness, not cockroaches.

We grew up in the sunlight, so everything is open and aboveboard, and can be discussed on the tabletop. Everything that cannot be said or is unclear is under the table, in darkness; it belongs to another level of things.

As for the things you cannot put on the tabletop, the things you think cannot see the sunlight, and so on—that is your privacy. Or, inside things of that private kind, there must be things of self and selfishness. Those things, it is hard for you to see your Buddha-nature in things that are very self-oriented and selfish, in things that dare not see the sunlight, because self and selfishness have penetrated too deeply.

Things that can be put on the tabletop and openly discussed and spoken about are generally more selfless. There is generally less self and selfishness in them, so it is easier to see your Buddha-nature through wholesome Dharma.

No matter who we are, no matter which realm of sentient beings we belong to, realizing Buddhahood is always returning to our source. Realizing Buddhahood is returning to the source of life, simple as that. Your source is right there; you are returning to it. This return is faster than light: you suddenly awaken, and you are back.

He will still be tempted out. At first, if his awakening has not yet reached complete enlightenment, he will be drawn out by temptation, and so on. You may catch a glimpse of it, then come back out, or see it once from far away. It is simply like this: perhaps you gaze at it from far away; perhaps you reach the source and are drawn back out. You are not yet completely enlightened and cannot remain at the source. That is life’s destination; otherwise our hearts could not be at peace.

Everyone is seeking the destination of their life. Where is your destination? You leave home and stay in a monastery—is your heart at peace? As a layperson, you marry and have children, and simply lose yourself little by little among people, lost in the sea of sentient beings. But has your heart really found a sense of belonging, found its destination? Where is your destination? You rush through life, and a lifetime is gone. Many people live this way, because our lifespan is simply too short: before you have understood things in a hundred years, you are already old and dead.

Every life is seeking, longing to return, longing to return to the source, longing for a destination; every life is like this. Only when it returns to the source, returns to its ultimate destination, can it be at peace, can it settle into peace; from then on, poverty and things like that do not affect it. It is at peace.

Everything else in this world does not affect it. Whether poor or rich, sweeping the streets or being president, living in a villa or being a beggar, living in rags or sleeping on the street—it makes no difference. Otherwise, how could it be at peace? Nothing brings peace: whatever you do, you are not at peace; poor, you are not at peace; rich, you are not at peace. You have not returned, so you have no sense of belonging.

As for your mind, first of all, people cannot find their own inner mind. It shifts from kshana to kshana, and you do not know what you long for. In fact, every sentient being is like this. We all come from the same homeland. Starting from that photon at the instant of the Big Bang, we all came from the same point, so we must all return to that point. The point we return to is the same for us, so our homeland is the same. We are simply traveling together for now. That is all.

We all have to return. After each person goes out, all their unrest comes from leaving the original point, leaving their source and origin. All their pain, loss, emptiness, confusion—everything keeps pounding them, simply so that one day they will remember: they have to return.

The inner longing of life is really just this: returning. It is simply making you remember that you have to return. You keep colliding, colliding, colliding, and one day you will say, “Why do I feel so bad? Why is living so uncomfortable? I really want all my wishes to come true, and so on.” One day you will turn inward and reflect: “Why can’t I attain liberation from suffering?” And so on.

When you want to break free from this desperate situation, you begin to have the potential to return, and you begin to have hope of returning. At that point, if you encounter the Dharma, you have hope of returning. In other words, every life may go through this. But if, at that time, you do not encounter the Dharma or the Buddha’s teachings, that does not mean you cannot return; it only means taking a detour and going around in circles again and again. The Buddha’s teachings offer the fastest, best way to return.

Actually, the instant we burst forth, we had already returned. That is the truth. We are already Buddhas; that is the truth. There is no time and space. But because of that photon at the instant we burst forth, we clung to appearances. These worlds, these three thousand worlds, all exist because we cling to appearances. Link after link, link after link, they are born from cause and effect, cause and effect, cause and effect—the appearances in our eyes.

The truth of the universe is that we have already returned. We think there is a self, so we revolve here in samsara lifetime after lifetime; in fact, there is no self. All your questions come from your self: “Why did I become lost? Why do I want to attain enlightenment? Why do I cultivate? What benefit is there in cultivation? And so on. What state have I attained? What dreams do I have? What is happening to me today? What will happen to me the day after tomorrow? What else is mine… everything is me.” From the very beginning, you have believed that there is a you here.

So it is not about which Dharma door you cultivate; Awakening is extremely important. You are returning. With Awakening at every kshana, with every step, gradually, your Awakening is extremely important. Where will your awareness awaken? Awakening is extremely important: awakened awareness, Awakening.

Otherwise, you may cultivate for thousands of years and still only be cultivating, only doing an act of cultivation. On the path of cultivation, you are just doing an act of cultivation. How is that different from worldly methods? It is only a little more sacred than worldly methods. If your self has not been broken through, you are only doing an act of cultivation: your self is doing something different from what worldly people do, walking a path different from theirs but more or less the same, and reaching death all the same. You are simply doing something different.

If cultivation is only for displaying yourself, making your self stronger, making your self become more this or more that, then it is only a… At the beginning, this desire is acceptable, because everyone has desires. No one says, “I have cultivated and will become worse and worse.” No one wants that. Surely I will become better and better; this desire is acceptable.

But as your cultivation and realization deepen, you will know that breaking through appearances is extremely important. You will gradually awaken to this: you cannot let this self control you, and you cannot be trapped in your sensations, in the sensations of your body and mind. Your body and mind put you through hundreds of sensations every day: either discomfort or happiness; either irritation, suffering, or joy. Do these sensations not tug at you and toss you around all day? You are trapped in these sensations.

Because you cannot let go of even a little sensation, you cannot give up this world either. You cannot give up the many temptations of this world, because you care about your sensations. You like pleasure; you like stimulation. That is why you cannot give it up.

Because you cannot let go of sensations, you cannot let go of all the things in this world, so you wander forever in this world. It looks as if you are cultivating; actually, you are only doing some extra sitting meditation—sitting for four hours, five hours, ten hours. It is only sitting.

Awakening is extremely important. Whether it is true or false, where are you trapped now? What kind of state and sensations are you trapped in? Perhaps you are not complete, not penetrating enough, but where do you think you are trapped? This is your wisdom at present. What do you think is obstructing your attaining enlightenment? Whatever you think it is at this moment, break through it! This is the power of vows, making a vow.

Many people who practice the Bodhisattva Path, people who cultivate, really see everything outside as like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow; only their own sensations are not empty. Their own sensations are not like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow; all these other things can be seen that way. When something touches the self, everything is there. Sometimes it is still very difficult. You may feel that it does not matter, or something like that, and let it go, but it really remains difficult and takes a long time.

So, the self: let go of this self. At the beginning, as ordinary beings, we still need stability. We need some stability and some skillful Dharma doors. If you do this only through the nature of mind, that means you need many lifetimes of cultivation to reach a certain capacity to endure. Some people do not cultivate stability; perhaps they are naturally more at peace and naturally do not care about many things. That is also a kind of stability.

Being insensitive is also a kind of stability, but that stability is unclear. The person simply does not care, or something like that, yet has many stray thoughts and much deluded thinking, and keeps moving. This kind of stability is very muddy. This naturally occurring stability is a relatively muddy stability. It is like the stability of ordinary beings, and it is hard for this kind of stability to penetrate and understand the essence, to understand true reality. So you might as well sit there and clarify and cleanse your energy channels; this is how you cultivate stability. At the beginning, whether stability or some Dharma door, these are still tools to assist you; otherwise, the journey will be very tiring.

Some Bodhisattvas of the Mahayana Path go directly through worldly life. They go directly through worldly life, gradually breaking through appearances over many lifetimes, gradually becoming less concerned. Gradually, they do not mind when others harm them, and they do not harm others. They keep moving forward like this, little by little, but this way is truly difficult.

But this kind of breaking through is very powerful. Once they are in worldly life, they walk and break through at the same time; as they gradually become complete, there is no such distinction for them as leaving the world or entering the world. For them, there is no distinction between awakening and not awakening. In the end, eating, drinking, urinating, defecating, and sleeping are the Dharma. They directly turn eating, drinking, urinating, defecating, and sleeping into the Dharma, a Dharma door, cultivation and realization.

But this is quite difficult. At every point, he must be aware of whether every arising and movement of thoughts and every sensation is there, whether he is cultivating or being led away by desire and habitual tendencies. This is what cultivating in worldly life is like. So this is actually very difficult. Modern sentient beings, if you do not have some stability, saying that you will not be led away is impossible. This is cultivation in worldly life.

So, when cultivating in worldly life now, it is best to combine it with some meditative concentration: do some sitting meditation, sit quietly, cultivate some stability—even cessation samadhi. Cultivating some stability is still better. Going directly through worldly life like this is rather tiring. Clinging to appearances still means there is a self; the self, the part that is ego-clinging, is still there. Even if it is an empty self, it is still there.

It is like many people who cultivate—many of those who cultivate in worldly life. They are breaking through. Whether it is an empty self, especially an empty self, when you break through this empty self, you do not know that you have a self there; you do not even feel that there is a self. Because you feel it is gone, and feel that nothing affects you, but this is a self biased toward emptiness. It is still there.

But this is accumulating merit; there is no other way out. In the process of creating merit, you will gradually break through this empty appearance, because the appearance of empty space cannot be seen or felt. If you sit in meditation, in meditative concentration, you may feel that you have become empty space and know that you have entered an appearance of empty space. But in worldly life, you may feel that you have entered an empty appearance through one-sided emptiness, without knowing it.

It is hard for you to see, because you lack meditative stability and right concentration, so your water is muddy and you do not know that you have already entered an empty appearance. At this point, practice giving, patience, and upholding the precepts. But nowadays there is hardly any humiliation to endure.

That is, practice the six perfections, cultivate merit, benefit others, make vows, or do not cling to appearances; just keep moving forward. But keep your mind clear and bright, and know what state you have reached. It is fine not to know, as long as you do not feel distressed. If you are not distressed, keep moving forward; not knowing anything does not matter.

But sometimes you do not know yourself. Sometimes, when some sensations arise, you become lost and feel very uncomfortable. Then you cannot use that mental energy on your stage in Dharma practice, and cannot return to your stage in Dharma practice.

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.