2025 Spring Term Monastic Retreat—Phenomena Arising from Primordial Awareness, Boundless Compassion for All

The mind can be understood on three levels. The first is the tangible, physical heart, made of flesh and blood. Before beginning the study of Dharma, many mistakenly believe that their consciousness or sense of self originates from this physical heart. The second is the clinging mind, which habitually attaches itself to external objects, becoming entangled in waves of conceptualization. Misled by this attachment, one may falsely believe that this mind is the ultimate truth. The third is the true nature of the mind—free from conceptual elaboration and utterly luminous. 

To further explain this third level, it is the "original face" that has always been unchanging, even before our parents brought us into this world. This original state is what we must uncover. A proper understanding of the mind means recognizing that it is not conditioned by any notions, nor can any notion fully represent it. This is evident in the fact that before our birth, we had no physical entity—thus, it is impossible to equate the mind with a physical form. The marvelous mind of Nirvana is intangible and formless.

We have gathered here today with a shared aspiration: to see our original face. By doing so, we find our mind in a natural state of ease. For too long, we have been deceived, caught in illusions—like stepping into a big scam, mistaking one thing or another for the mind. In truth, there is no single entity that can be called “the mind.” Once we realize this, we free ourselves from deception and confusion.

During Chan practice, we observe that the mind is intangible and formless, yet luminous and clear. Luminosity and emptiness are inseparable. By contemplating this and practicing Chan, we will eventually come to the realization of emptiness—an insight into our primordial awareness. Through continuous, long-term practice, we develop meditative stability. As a result, afflictions dissolve, delusions dissipate, and conceptual grasping ceases.

The state of the original face can be understood through the three dimensions of a buddha. The dharmakaya, or "truth body," is all-pervasive within every being. Because it is boundless, each of us is part of the dharmadhatu, the vast expanse of reality. The sambhogakaya is likewise free from delusion and endowed with luminosity. It manifests in pure lands to guide assemblies of bodhisattvas, transcending dualistic limitations and serving as the foundation for the arising of the nirmanakaya. Since every being possesses buddha-nature, we exist within both all-pervasive luminosity and emptiness. Though buddha-nature is unchanging, all phenomena arise through the convergence of causes and conditions. It is essential to recognize that buddha-nature is the essence from which the myriad forms of existence and phenomena emerge. Beneath all phenomena lies spirituality, which is why we and all things are, in essence, one.

Primordial awareness gives rise to all phenomena. Since we all share this awareness, we are fundamentally one. Within the phenomenal world and environment, this can be expressed as "spirituality is ecology, and ecology is spirituality." Because all beings are the same in nature, we can refer to this interconnectedness as spiritual ecology.

From the perspective of compassion, one might ask, “Why should we empathize with one another? Why should we strive to relieve others' suffering?” The answer lies in recognizing that true compassion extends to all beings as one. There should be no exploitation among sentient beings because we are interdependent. In this interdependent diversity, we are all interconnected—this is the essence of ecology. It arises from spirituality and is none other than an expression of primordial awareness.