Strengthening Dharma Pursuit through Reciting the Heart Mantra of Buddha Shakyamuni

As disciples who have taken refuge in Buddhism, we should begin our practice with the recitation of the Heart Mantra of Buddha Shakyamuni. Reciting this mantra can purify our inner being and dispel afflictions, bringing about a sense of renewal refreshment akin to being reborn. Therefore, we encourage everyone to engage in mantra recitation diligently—completing one million recitations of the Heart Mantra of Buddha Shakyamuni over the course of a year. This serves as the first step in our journey of learning the Dharma, allowing us to receive the blessings of the Buddha and directly experience the transformative power of the teachings.

Many of our deluded conceptions can be eliminated through mantra recitation. When we are negligent in our recitation, deluded conceptions readily arise; but when we engage in mantra practice with diligence, the mind becomes remarkably pure. Once the mental strength developed through recitation surpasses the force of our deluded conceptions, we are able to subdue the mind’s habitual agitation and restlessness. Thus, when our practice reaches the point where not even a single stray thought arises, the recitation of the mantra itself becomes a means of attaining meditative absorption.

Buddha Shakyamuni, after aspiring to the five hundred great vows, emerged in this Saha World to perform enlightened activities. The Saha World, Buddha Shakyamuni’s pure land, is a realm pervaded by suffering. Within it, sentient beings undergo myriads of suffering, for only through such experience can one truly appreciate and internalize the Buddha’s teachings. The Buddhadharma liberates all beings by revealing the truth about suffering—enabling them to awaken and transcend suffering, and ultimately realize the path to enlightenment. This is the defining characteristic of the Saha World.

Although the Saha World is characterized by suffering, the Buddha skillfully employs a variety of skillful means to guide beings. Through these expedient methods, all sentient beings have the opportunity to awaken. Accordingly, every place within Buddha Shakyamuni’s pure land serves as a field for spiritual cultivation and transformation, offering sentient beings the conditions to awaken amid affliction. The Buddha teaches us to recognize that afflictions are illusory and unestablished, and to realize that all phenomena we perceive in the world are but illusions. Through encountering the Buddha’s teachings, and gradually turning inward amidst these illusions, we begin to uncover the awakened realm.

The lamp within our heart is ever radiant—it is merely that we have not yet awakened to it. Therefore, we must not continue to be confused by illusions, but should instead awaken from them and be free from the dreamlike existence. This is precisely why we recite the Heart Mantra of Buddha Shakyamuni: to ground ourselves in the foundational practices of the Buddhist path. In doing so, we come to experience a profound inner purity and reinforce our faith in the Dharma.

It is my hope that all of you may study and practice the Dharma with continual improvement. To follow the Buddhist path is to allow the mind to relax and find joy—to return to its original nature, and to experience happiness wherever the mind may dwell.