Formless and Notionless Awareness: Uncovering the Original Face

On March 10, 2026, we returned to Taiwan from Myanmar. We are grateful to the members and devotees of the Dharmapala Association who came to the airport to greet us. Upon returning to Ling Jiou Mountain, the monastics and retreatants who are currently engaged in meditation retreat also came to receive us. Our stay in Myanmar for the award ceremony was relatively long, and after returning today we will once again join everyone in the Chan practice retreat. As practitioners, we must continue to diligently cultivate Chan practice.

During this visit to Myanmar, we were honored with the “Myanmar National Highest Education Achievement Award.” This is an award of paramount significance of high standard. Amid many challenges, we were able to overcome various difficulties and receive this honor in education. Following the award ceremony, a grand offering to the sangha was held, led by national officials who, together with various government ministries, made aspirations to offer support. Through these offerings, they expressed their sincere reverence and devotion toward the monastic sangha. It was an exceptionally auspicious and grand offering.

Although we have received this distinguished award, as spiritual practitioners our purpose is not to seek such recognition. Rather, the essential question is whether our minds abide in the primordial awareness realized by the Buddha. This awareness is something that every person must discover for themselves. It is omniscient and all-pervasive. This awareness is originally present within us and has never disappeared. It is formless and notionless. The moment one attempts to describe it, one already misses the mark. It is not conditioned or marked by anything; it is simply awareness itself. This is something that must be clearly understood in the practice of Chan practice.

This awareness is the original face that we seek to uncover. Our original nature has always been present, yet no notion can represent it. Wherever there is notion, there is arising and ceasing. Our awareness, however, is without notion, unarising and unceasing, unchanging and innate. Therefore, we should endeavor to discover this original face that has always been within every sentient being.

Chan practice is the process of uncovering oneself and abiding in the state where one returns to oneself, which is the unchanging original face. It is my hope that through Chan meditation everyone will uncover their original face and return to themselves. In our Chan practice, we should continue to concentrate carefully on the Four-step Technique of Peace Meditation. Through practicing these four steps well, we can rediscover the state of abidance—that is, the nature that has always been present.