Awakening of the Spirit (34)
Is cultivation a road of no return? Or does it mean that once you embark on the path of cultivation, there is no turning back? Or perhaps if you do not continue on this path, life will be fraught with calamities? When life is in adversity, the most common advice you hear is that you must cultivate. However, what to cultivate is often a matter of much debate. This often leaves those who are just awakening feeling confused and anxious. What, then, is the purpose of cultivation? What is its goal? It is simply to become a better person. To perfect one’s own life. That’s all there is to it. If the purpose and goals set are unrealistic and detached from daily life, discussing profound concepts becomes akin to being lost in a foggy mountain where one cannot find direction—deeply trapped in layers of mystery without escape.
Every day we absorb various knowledge and information, learning different things. This constitutes study and cultivation. Meanwhile, dealing with different people and situations every day represents our practice in life. The study and practice are everyone’s daily work. Why emphasize cultivation then? Because this study and practice have no end; there are always areas for improvement in our actions. When one approaches life primarily from a self-centered perspective—constantly driven by personal desires for gain or jealousy—this practice becomes problematic; reasoning fails and matters do not progress as they should. Thus, for many people, obstacles arise in their cultivation; troubles emerge with every movement.
Fortune and misfortune have no doors; they are self-invited by individuals. Misfortune relies on fortune; fortune hides within misfortune. Why is this so? Each person acts out of self-interest, navigating between good and evil actions. Fortune and misfortune intertwine within this spectrum of good and evil. Zen masters say: “With a single pure thought, where does sin arise? Where does fortune come from?” Therefore, the first step in cultivation lies in developing the power of awareness—awareness of how the mind operates between good and evil, where troubles originate from. It involves recognizing how awareness functions between selfishness and selflessness—the birth and death of the four aspects: “self,” “others,” “life,” “existence.” As long as one is human, thoughts cannot be absent. Without the power of awareness to understand how one’s mind interacts with principles and matters—between selfishness and selflessness—the awakening of one’s true nature lies within the depth of this awareness power.
The awakening of one’s true nature simultaneously inspires inherent wisdom (prajna). This wisdom remains hidden; when afflictions proliferate endlessly without respite, individuals cannot act fully according to their capacities. The scriptures say: “Not recognizing your true mind renders learning Dharma useless.” If you recognize your true mind, only then can you navigate principles without obstruction. At this moment begins your journey into practice—the start of genuine cultivation.
by – Master Liu Hongming