Unshackling Perception: The Path to Enlightenment 23/07/2025

This Buddhist lecture, delivered by Venerable Master Bennie and translated by Chơn Ngộ (Grace Spirit), centers on the fundamental human tendency to create suffering through deeply ingrained conceptual frameworks. The core argument highlights how repeated understanding, confirmation, and definition lead to stubborn and unyielding views, much like arbitrarily labeling certain foods as inedible without true understanding. The dialogue between the Master and a disciple further explores the idea that all phenomena are inherently tranquil, but humans introduce turmoil through desire and attachment, forming “defilements” that prevent clear perception and spiritual enlightenment. The Master provocatively suggests that humans, due to their self-imposed suffering and attachment, are inferior to animals, birds, fish, and even insects who demonstrate natural equanimity and selfless behavior. Ultimately, the path to liberation lies in disentangling oneself from these self-created perceptions and emotional defilements, allowing one’s “Dharma eye” to become clear and achieve supreme enlightenment.