Hello, in this programme we will seek the answer to the question ‘What exactly is the self?’ Sakyamuni Buddha told us that ‘The body is not the self.’ Would you admit it? From the morning to the evening, we cannot forget that the body is the self. How many of us can let go of the wrong view that the body is the self? How many of us know that the body is not the self? How many of us are no longer mentally attached to the body? So what exactly is the body?

Listen to my teacher’s original lecture: What exactly is the self?

Listen to the podcast in English, please click here.

The body is what I have, but it is not the self. Just like clothes. Clothes are what I have. The house is what I have. The body is also what I have. Why is it? Because the true self has no beginning or end, but the body has a beginning and an end. So how could the body possibly be the self? This, is the first delusion that we must get rid of. Get rid of the wrong view that the body is the self.

Out of the five wrong views that we commonly hold, the wrong view on the body is the strongest. So to free us from afflictions, worries, and all sorts of bad habits and wrong views, we must tackle the strongest one first,  and no longer be attached to the wrong view that the body is the self.  

So what exactly is the self? Some of us might say, ‘Well, since the body isn’t the self, the soul must be the self then.’ Why do they think like that? Well, they know that the soul of a person reincarnates after they die, or to be more precise, after their body dies. So the body has a beginning and an end, but the soul has no beginning and no end. Some people saw their souls after they died. Their souls were younger than their physical self when they were alive. Although they were old physically, their souls looked very young after leaving their old bodies.

So, you might want to ask, ‘Is the soul the self?’ Well, the answer is, ‘Yes and no.’ Why is it? Because the soul is not in charge.  Sakyamuni Buddha taught us that the self has two important meanings. The first one is to be in charge and the second is to be at ease. You see, the soul is not in charge. This is because it has to experience reincarnation.

If the soul were really in charge, it surely would have been reincarnated to good places and enjoy good fortune all the time. However, it is sometimes reincarnated into poor families, and has to experience sufferings. So how could it possibly be in charge? Sometimes, it is even reincarnated into the three evil realms, that is, the animal realm, the ghost realm and the hell realm. And in these realms the soul has to experience even more sufferings. Why does the soul go to those evil realms? Because it is not in charge.

In Buddhism the soul is called the deluded self, but not the awakened or enlightened self. It can be easily tempted. The soul is tempted by wealth, by someone good-looking, by fame, by profit, by food, by sleep, etc. Our souls are tempted by what we see, by what we hear, by what we smell, by what we taste, by what we touch and by what we think. When the soul is greed for one of those temptations, it goes with it. And then, it is reincarnated into different forms in different realms, depending on the temptation that the soul is greed for when we draw our last breath.

So, it’s clear that the soul has no control over itself. After it is reincarnated into a certain form, the soul realises that it is not right, but it is too late to regret. The soul has to live in that form for a whole life. In the cycle of the Six Realms, births and deaths are inconstant, truly changeable.  This observation is true.

So what exactly is the self? In Buddhism the self is called self-nature or Dharma-nature. This is the true self. In Zen Buddhism, a school of Buddhism that thrived in China and was later disseminated to the rest of Asia, there is an expression describing self-nature which is ‘the original state before birth 父母未生前本來面目’. That state is the true self, the self-nature, or the dharma-nature.

Has the true self a body? No, it has not. But the soul has a body and a form. That is why it shows forms. In Buddhist sutras this type of form of the soul is called ‘a form that is not manifested 無表色’. Those who have reached a high level of undisturbed state of mind can see it, but ordinary people like us cannot see it. It is transparent.

When the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism, the Venerable Master Huineng, attained full enlightenment or awakening, he found the true self. He used five sentences to describe the origins, manifestations and functions of the true self.

He said, ‘Little did I expect that the self-nature is actually pure 何期自性本自清淨!’ It means that the self-nature or the true self has never been contaminated.

Then he gave the second description of the true self, ‘Little did I expect that the self-nature has no beginning and no end at all 何期自性本不生滅!’

And his third description of the true self goes, ‘Little did I expect that the self-nature actually has everything 何期自性本自具足!’ It means that the self-nature or the true self has infinite wisdom, infinite abilities, and infinite good appearances. That is why Buddhas’ teachings cannot be sought from without. It has to come from within. All that are outside us are delusions. What is within us is true.

His fourth description of the true self goes, ‘Little did I expect that the self-nature has never changed at all 何期自性本無動搖.’ This describes the eternally unchanged state of the self-nature.

So the true mind or the true self never changes whereas a deluded mind or a deluded self is constantly changing. In modern-day scientific terms, the electromagnetic waves that a deluded mind or self produces is constantly vibrating.

The deluded mind is constantly vibrating, The entire universe is vibrating. In Buddhism this constant vibration is called alaya 阿賴耶識. In another programme we will talk in greater detail about what alaya is.

Speaking of the frequency of alaya, Maitreya Boddhisattva 彌勒菩薩 told us that ‘There are 3.2 trillion thoughts generated in a snap of one’s fingers 一彈指三十二億百千念’. A snap of our fingers is a very short period of time. So what is the frequency of a snap of our fingers? It is 3.2 trillion times.

In modern science we use second as time unit. So in one second, how many times can we snap our fingers? Perhaps many of us can do it five times. Ordinary people can do it five times. So, 3.2 trillion times five, it makes 16 trillion per second. Such a high frequency.

That is why the forms that the vibration of the deluded mind generate indeed appear in front of us. But our human eyes cannot see the vibration in the slightest. It is just like how we are deluded when watching a film projected from an old film reel. Do we notice the advancing of a stack of photos in the reel? Well, most likely we do not. We are totally captivated by what is going on in the film, but do not notice the advancing of the photos in the slightest. We are so much emotionally attached to what is shown in the film. We do not notice at all that what is in front of us is just a wall and a source of light projected onto the wall. At this point in time, how many of us can take a step back and say ‘Hang on a minute, I laugh and cry as the moving photos on the wall laugh and cry. Aren’t I foolish?’

Now, here comes Patriarch Huineng’s fifth and final description of the true self, ‘Little did I know that the self-nature gives rise to everything 何期自性能生萬法’. The word ‘everything’ in this context refers to everything in the Universe. Having said this, some of us might be thinking, ‘So when did the Universe originate?’ Well, the answer is ‘Right now’.

The Universe has neither past nor future. Ordinary people find it really difficult to understand. But it is indeed right now. Why is it? The Universe has no past, no future. It is this one single thought at this moment in time. If this single thought that we have right now is awakened, we become Buddhas. If it is deluded, we are ordinary people.

This single thought is so short in time. And what we are totally unaware of is that, in one second, there are 16 trillion beginnings and ends of thoughts. And each beginning and end of our thoughts is independent to one another. In this state, there is no time, no space. There is no past, no future. So is there present. No, there is no present either. When we speak of present, present has already gone.

The Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra 般若經 says, ‘Everything is not ownable, it is non-existent after all, and is unattainable. 一切法無所有，畢竟空，不可得.’ The word ‘everything’ here includes the entire universe.

The Diamond Sutra 金剛經 also says, ‘All that have an appearance are false and illusory凡所有相，皆是虛妄.’ So how does a fully enlightened or awakened person deal with all of these? For a fully awakened person, when there is anything in front of them, physically or mentally, no thoughts are generated in their minds. Neither do they differentiate, nor are they mentally attached to it. This is the state of full enlightenment and awakening. If a person generates thoughts 妄想, differentiates 分别 and is mentally attached to anything 执着, they are deluded.

What state is the deluded state? The deluded state is the cycle of the Six Realms, or the cycle of birth and death. The enlightened state is the Four-Sage Dharma Realms 四聖法界. Having said this, let us look at a few Buddhist terms before we move on. The first term is the cycle of the Six Realms六道輪迴. The second one is the Four-Sage Dharma Realms, and the third one is the Ten Dharma Realms 十法界, or the ten states of existence.

When the cycle of the Six Realms and the Four-Sage Dharma Realms are combined together, we call them the Ten Dharma Realms. The Six Realms refer to 1) the celestial realm, 2) the realm of celestial asuras, 3) the human realm, 4) the animal realm, 5) the ghost realm, and 6) the hell realm.

The Four-Sage Dharma Realms refers to the three vehicles, that is, 1) the voice-hearer 聲聞, 2) the one that is enlightened through reasoning on the riddle of life 緣覺, 3) bodhisattva 菩薩. The Buddhas in the Ten Dharma Realms or the ten states of existence are actually still bodhisattvas. This is because they have not yet attained full enlightenment or awakening and have not yet seen the self-nature. In other words, the Buddhas in the Ten Dharma Realms are not yet freed from the phenomenon of vibration. The phenomenon of vibration is the phenomenon of having beginnings and ends. So these Buddhas have not yet freed themselves from having beginnings and ends. Being freed from birth and death means that there is no longer beginning and end.

Do you remember? One of Patriarch Huineng’s descriptions of the self-nature goes, ‘The self-nature has never changed at all.’ It means that the self-nature has no beginning and no end. But this self-nature gives rise to everything in the Universe. In other words, the self-nature can give rise to the entire universe, it can give rise to everything. Even our bodies. The self-nature gives rise to our bodies. It is able to give rise to everything. When the right conditions are in place, the self-nature can give rise to things.

What the self-nature gives rise to is infinitely different. This infinitely different changes are beyond description. You see, how many changes per second does our single thought go through? Remember, a single thought goes through 16 trillion changes. Out of all these changes, which one is the self? That is why everything is unattainable.

Whenever we generate a thought, it has already gone through goodness knows how many changes. So to practise the Buddha’s teachings, or in other words, to practise Buddhism, a very important thing that we should do is to control our minds, control our thoughts.

But how do we control our minds and thoughts? Where do we start? We can learn how to control our minds by learning how to be good human beings first. And being a good person is the start of becoming a Buddha, a fully enlightened person. And the foundation of being a good person is to respect and love our parents and teachers. The little pocketbook The Guidelines for Being a Good Person gives us some fundamental ideas of how to be a good person. Should you please interested to find out more, please listen to my podcast and click The Guidelines for Being a Good Person. If you would like take a step further, please listen to The Most Revered One’s Treatise on the Law of Cause and Effect.

Well, this is it for today.  Wishing whoever reads this post good mental and physical health, peace, harmony, auspiciousness, happiness, long life and infinite wisdom. Thank you.

DEDICATION

The effort and gains of explaining, transmitting and listening to Buddhas’ teachings are dedicated to:

the entire Universe and all beings of all dimensions and all existences. May they all listen to Buddhas’ teachings, awaken to the truth of the Universe, be mindful of the name ‘Amituofo’ (Amitabha Buddha),

aspire to go to the Pure Land, and become Buddhas. (Read the above three times)

I pray to Buddhas and bodhisattvas for unconditionally solving all man-made and natural disasters around the globe.

For all of those who died in man-made wars and natural disasters across the world,

and for all of those who are related to me in all kinds of ways in this life and previous lives, may they listen to Buddhas’ teachings. May they awaken to the truth of the Universe, aspire to unearth their innate and most sincere, pure, equal and awakened mind, be single-mindedly mindful of Amituofo, aspire to go to the Pure Land so as to see Amituofo and listen to his teachings, removing all their delusions and unveiling their innate wisdom, gaining the real peace and happiness, instantly escaping from the cycle of birth and death, speedily becoming Buddhas, and helping all beings (in the entire Universe) like all other Buddhas.

The effort and gains are dedicated to the leaders of all countries on the Earth. May all countries be prosperous. May all disasters be solved. May the world enjoy eternal peace. I use the effort and gains to return the help from the enlightenment of Buddhas, by the correctness of Buddhas’ teachings, from the purity of sangha, from all beings, from my parents (in this life and previous lives), and from my country(ies). I also use the effort and gains to help alleviate the suffering of those who are already in and will be reborn into the animal realm, the ghost realm and hells as the result of their bad thoughts, speech and deeds. For anyone who sees and hears me chanting or being mindful of Amituofo and doing other good deeds, may they aspire to unearth their most sincere, pure, equal and awakened mind so as to go to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, together with me, at the end of our present lives.