Delusion Series, Part 16 –Inner Journey3
Hello, dear friends!Welcome to this episode of the podcast, brought to you by the Australia Buddhas’ Practice Incorporated.
Today, let’s together light the lamp of our hearts and become our own masters!
1. The Illusory Dust and Shadows
What are we chasing every day? Sensations! The six roots—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind—correspond to the six dusts—sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and phenomena—producing countless feelings. These feelings fall into our hearts, becoming shadows of memory, and through subsequent conditioning, they form our cognition. We label them as “good” or “bad,” and thus, “whatever it’s conditioned into, that’s what it becomes.”
But please ask yourselves, friends, are these sensations reliable? We value sensations, crave sensations, and even when there are no sensations, we create them. However, when we give rise to “anger” due to attachment to sensations, the eight sufferings—and countless pains—come one after another. If we judge based on conditioned sensations, it’s only error upon error, concealing on the left, deluding on the right, causing people to be obsessed and lost, all for the sake of greed.
Delusions are the same. They are merely shadows of past dusts, a web woven from memory fragments and greed, anger, arrogance, and doubt. They are not you, yet we mistakenly regard them as our master.
2. The Root of Suffering
Where do all pains come from? Greed! Stinginess, greed, and concealment—these mental schemes, to satisfy greed, lead us to do evil deeds. The actions and thoughts of sentient beings, the moment we speak, it’s wrong; the essence is wrong; the habits are wrong. Why? Because what we chase is an ever-changing, illusory, and unreal realm. No matter how hard you chase, exhausting yourself to death and back, you can never truly obtain it. Just as sand can never be cooked into rice, the illusory realm is never real.
3. The Root of Ignorance
We spend all day “knowing” here, “seeing” there, seeking new conditioning, and once conditioned, we establish it as knowledge—this is called “knowing based on perception,” the very root of ignorance. Sentient beings think they are clear, but it’s actually a false clarity from conditioning. The six roots perceive the six dusts, seeming to understand, yet it’s all illusory.
What’s even sadder is that we use our unborn, undying true nature to do things that make us suffer for ten thousand years. We think of suffering, create suffering; the so-called joy is just bait on a hook, caught in our mouths, and we remain in suffering until the end of life.
4. Conclusion
Friends, what are false views? They are mistaking delusions for the master, mistaking sensations for reality, and mistaking greed for motivation. The true you is the unborn, undying true nature.
May we all break free from false views, awaken to our original heart, and become our own masters! Thank you, everyone! See you next time!
