2021 Spring Term Monastic Retreat– Chan Practice to the Pure Land of Peace

The original face is notionless, free from any conditions and notions. It is the primordial state of oneself. All the people and sentient beings in this universe possess this primordial spirituality. This nature is unfabricated and innate. It is also the essence that connects one with all beings. In that sense, all lives are interconnected. Such spirituality is the condition of interdependency. 

Our living environment is in great crisis. The globe is getting warmer and chaotic with the increase in disasters. Mankind destroys, depletes each other and the environment. As a result, conflicts and confrontations are created. The collective karmic memory of mankind is too damaging that our planet home is endangered. 

Please keep in mind that the planet is a shared habitat for all beings. Through the united efforts of all religions, we can call for awareness on environmental protection to halt Earth's destruction. This is a shared mission and duty of all religions – to promote world peace and its wellness. We must strive to work for the sustainability of the environment. 

Through Chan practice , we can uncover the source, the spirituality, the original face. By the time that we’ve uncovered our spirituality, we’d realize that all beings have the same nature and that we are an entity of interdependence. Such nature is free from strifes, aggression, and plundering. Instead, we share. 

Chan practice can lead us to peace. For the world and the environment to be at peace, we must start by working for the peace of mind. The Chan practice of the mind is to uncover the spiritual entity of interdependence. That's how we can restore world peace and its wellbeing. Spirituality is the environment and vice versa. So, we must respect the ecosystem, every animal, and every plant. Give them the space to grow and thrive that they deserve. After we've realized the shared spirituality, we'd know that not a single being is independent from the rest. Be respectful to every life and the entity of interdependence. 

Once we've come to the spiritual state, no more aggression would take effect in plundering. In the pure realm of spirituality, the space is boundless. It is vast beyond the concept of space. As well, space can be as small as a particle that we humans cannot fathom. This space of spiritual realization is ever-stable and unchanging.