True Practice

Master: Good evening, how is your practice today?

Student: Master, I have a very nice practice today.  I felt that I connect to the rest of practitioners and it was a very nice feeling and sensation.  I am wondering if it is because this group now is integrated and why this happens.”

Master: Your mind is integrated, not the group.  Everything is based on your own mind.  Your own mind manifests your own phenomena.  Your phenomena include everything.  Every single person’s mind in every single moment can manifest nothing but his own kind.  It is because your practice is getting better.  You release or let go of some of your karma.  You are expanding your mind capacity.  This is a good sign of practicing.  You will be able to experience of something related to emptiness.

Mind has no form.  The formless mind implies emptiness is there.  Letting go of attachment in mind, you would be able to manifest the true quality of pure function of the mind.  Know first, self-awareness and second, emptiness.

People misunderstand the awareness as the knowing.  What do I mean by this?  If you let go of your self-attachment, you penetrate and put down the ego.  In this case, the true awareness of your pure mind will appear.  This is what I mean to know self-awareness.  It is not that I understand something.  This is totally   different.

You can see this mouse and realize that this is the mouse, but this is everyday person’s knowing.  The knowing is not the true awareness. The knowing is based on the consciousness.  This consciousness is coming from the ego.  No matter if it is the consciousness or sub-consciousness, it is all based on the ego.

The purpose of practicing meditation or Zen is to manifest the purity and function of your pure mind.

Thoughts come and go.  The physical body is changing; this life time, past life time and future life time are changing.  What left?  Your intrinsic ability of the mind is always there.  What do I mean this?  Someone is practicing meditation very well.  He will experience the feeling related to emptiness and sometime he will experience the idea of seeing brightness of light.  But lights come and go, feelings come and go, and thoughts come and go.  You can meditate for four hours.  If you don’t practice, you can meditate for one hour and later only for 15 minutes.  Everything comes and goes.  The intrinsic ability of your mind is always there.

Think about this.  What can you manifest?  What can you create?  Thoughts appear and disappear.  Your physical body is changing and the relationship is changing.  The whole environment is changing.  What can you manifest?  All the phenomena are manifested by the mind, but they come and go.  Can your mind manifest a castle forever?  No.  Can your mind manifest one single thought forever?  No.  Can your mind manifest a physical body always there?  No.  Can your mind always manifest a good relationship?  No.  Can your mind manifest a beautiful view forever?  No.  It is because no matter what you experienced from the past is already past.  All the phenomena manifested by the mind can only temperately exist.  In Chinese, we have a saying, “A phenomenon is like the moon in the water.”  You cannot say the moon is not real and you cannot say the moon is real either.

There is one thing very important.  Every single person possesses a mind.  And every person’s mind possesses the same function and ability.  Based on your mind, you create your phenomena and your own life no matter who you are.  Mind is more important than phenomena because phenomena are created.  There is only one truth.  Mind is there and its function is there.  Based on the function of your mind, you create everything including your karma no matter what type of karma.  Karma and phenomena come and go.  Life comes and goes; thoughts come and go; feelings come and go; emotions come and go.  The Mind and its function are always there.  When realizing your mind, you are free from all attachments and phenomena which are created by the mind.  There is one true thing you are practicing—-manifest your own mind or manifest the function of your own mind.  This is the only purpose of the practice.

A practice is nothing to do with that you’re creating, a good feeling, a good thought, a good emotion, a good mood, or creating emptiness, brightness.  It is nothing to do with those.  Practicing serves only one purpose which is to manifest the function of your mind and purify your mind so that you are free from what you are creating right now.

This is why we should let go of everything when we are practicing, meditating or learning.  Let go of illusions.  You can only manifest the purity of your mind.  Nothing is real but the mind.

If you have the pure mind, you have the whole world.  But, if you have the whole world, it is nothing to do with that you realize the mind.  It is your mind that can create and manifest the whole world and universe.  This concept helps us to let go.  We possess the ability of our mind already.  Now, it is the right time for us to manifest the function of the ability of our mind.  This is the true meaning of our practice.

[Quoted from one of the classes with Mexico practitioners]