Developing Mindfulness

When asked to advice on cultivating mindfulness, our Master replies as such:
“Developing the One Heart is a part of it… The heart is key. If the heart is not calm, how do u achieve mindfulness?

Buddha heart

If you recall, having a one heart suggests you treat every being the same – regardless whether they are your relative, friend, stranger, or enemy. You use the same attitude and mindset towards everyone. The simplest way is to treat everyone with the same heart that you have when paying your respect to the Buddha. Think of the feeling and attitude that you adopt and extend that to others as well.

Why shouldn’t we? After all, the Buddha was once like us. He walked the earth and experienced the same joy, pain, happiness, and sadness just like us. The person you meet could well be a Buddha. In fact everyone can be a Buddha, we all have the Buddha nature within us – our pure essence. This Buddha nature however has been encrusted by layers of karma from eons of past actions, shaping us into who we are today. When we begin to see everyone as just a pure receptacle of Buddha nature, and their present behavior and attitude as merely a resultant of their past karma maturing, our attitude begins to change. We become more understanding of their mistakes and less quick to judge. We begin to treat everyone more equitably. Eventually, we will begin to treat and cherish everyone just like your loved ones, with the same wholeheartedness and tolerance.

Chanting as one voice

You have all been learning new chants over the past few years. In the beginning, everyone struggles to get the pitch and timing right. Everyone shares a similar attitude and intention of wanting to chant in unison, to show our respect of the Buddha and remind ourselves of his teachings. We stop to help others who had difficulty learning the pronunciation, the pitch, the rhythm regardless of who they are. You don’t ostracize or get upset with those that cannot chant properly but made the effort to stop to help one another. As you practice, the chanting improves. You eventually learn that chanting in unison is about listening carefully to one another for pitch and rhythm, and helping one another. The chanting improves when everyone shares not only the same pitch, rhythm but also the same attitude and heart.

Emptiness is the crux

One Heart is like that; it involves you using the same mindset and attitude towards everyone. No difference, no exception. This is how you seek harmony and calmness in your life’s journey. Developing the One Heart takes time, it is not an overnight task. The crux of the One Heart lies the concept that form is emptiness and emptiness is form.
To develop this understanding and internalize the concept of emptiness, training on mindfulness is necessary. Developing this understanding is like chipping away the crust formed from eons of karmic buildup around the heart. To chip this crust away, there are many tools for the job, a hammer, a chisel, a drill. As tools are just tools, they are only means to an end. Mindfulness can be viewed as one of the many tools in helping to unveil and internalize the concept of emptiness through the meditative process.

Mindfully present

Mindfulness is training your mind to be aware of the present moment. It is about now. Being engaged at the present moment and not the future or the past. We all tend to dwell on what happened in the past and consumed by what is about to happen in the future that we often forget about the present moment. I challenge you to embrace the present moment from today on.
With mindfulness, you will become more aware of potential pitfalls and harmful circumstances that could result from your ill intended speech, action and mind. Right mindfulness is about having the correct awareness of the present. You channel the right energy, focus on the virtuous and not the non-virtuous factors.

Practicing Mindfulness

There are many ways of training in mindfulness. You have been taught the basic of meditation. Continue this practice by focusing on emptiness, while remembering to cherish others with a One Heart. This would eventually calm your mind to appreciate that the essence of the One Heart is emptiness as explained in the Heart Sutra. As you embark on your journey on the Way, practice mindfulness, and remember to focus with the right intentions. As you practice, you become increasingly aware of your action, speech, and mind. The Heart is key – a One Heart is calm and mindful.

开启正念之路

当被问及如何能开启正念时，师父如此回答：
“培养“一心” 是修习正念的一部分…。人心是重点。如果心不定，如何能做到正念。”

佛心

培养“一心” 就是对待万物都能一视同仁、不偏不倚。无论是亲戚、 朋友，还是陌生人或敌人，都应该平等对待，以同样的态度和心态去对待每一个人。最简单的方法就是以膜拜佛陀时的诚心来对待所有人。
回忆当时的心境，并以同样的态度对待他人。我们为何不这样做呢？毕竟，佛陀曾经跟我们一样。他和我们一样都曾在这片土地上留下足迹，并如同我们一样体验人生的喜怒哀乐、五味杂陈。你遇到的人很可能是佛陀。其实，每个人都可以成佛。

我们内心深处自然而然就存在着佛性，因为佛性就是我们最纯真的本质。然而层层的业力和过往的行为掩盖了佛性的本质，所以才造就了今天的我们。当我们开始理解众生皆有佛性的真理，而他们现在的行为和态度只不过是过往的业力所造成的因果循环，那我们对待他人的态度也会随之有所改变。我们会更能接受他们所犯的错误，也不会那么轻率地妄加评论。我们开始更加公平地对待每一个人。最终，我们将开始像对待亲人一样，全心全意地包容、对待和珍惜所有人。

和谐之音

你在过去几年都在学习念诵新的经文。刚开始时，掌握音调和节奏对所有人都是难事。每个人都秉持着同样的态度和信念，希望此起彼落的念诵声能够表达自己对佛陀的敬意，也唤起佛陀教义的精髓。当别人在咬字、音调和节奏等遇到困难时，我们都会帮助他们。你不会排斥或对不能把经文念诵好的人感到不悦，而是会尽力互相帮助。随着不断的练习，大家念诵经文时就会越来越顺利。
你最终领悟到念诵经文的诀窍。其实，只需仔细聆听彼此的音调和节奏，并且互相帮助，就能够齐声念诵经文。
不过，就算每个人都以相同的音调和节奏念诵经文，这还是不足够。只有当大家万众一心，都秉持着相同的态度虔诚念诵经文，才能够提高诵经的谐和度。

性空是关键所在

怀有一心就是如此，就是以同样的观念和态度对待每一个人。没有不同待遇，没有例外。这就是你在人生的旅途中寻求和谐与平静的不二法门。培养出一心待人的态度需要漫长的修炼，而不是一朝一夕的事，切记欲速则不达。而怀有一心的关键在于能够理解色即是空，空即是色的道理。要了解和完全体会性空的真谛，培养正念是必须的条件。要开始理解性空的真谛，就如同把内心的层层业力消除一样。我们可以通过如智慧、布施和忏悔等多种渠道消除业力。这些都是殊途同归的手段，能够有效协助我们消除业力。在多种工具中，修习正念是其中一种可以用于揭开性空的真谛。

正念在当下

正念是磨炼你的心境，让你意识到当下的事物及培养当下的觉知。你要活在当下，而不是沉迷于过去或未来的种种。我们往往会被过去发生的事束缚，并被将来可能发生的事困扰，而常常忘记了活在当下的重要性。今天就接受挑战，时刻活在当下吧！ 学习修行正念，你更能意识到恶意的言论、行为和思想如何造成潜在的危险和有损利益的情况。正念就是对当下有正确的认知。你发挥正确的能量，聚精会神、全神贯注把注意力集中在善念之上，而不是损人不利己的恶念上。

修习正念

正念的修行途径非常多。你已经学会了最基本的禅修方法。
继续修习禅修，专注于性空的真谛，同时记得以“一心”珍惜他人。这将最终使你心境平和，有助体会“一心”的本质意义。正如心经中所解释的一样，色即是空，空即是色。当你通过修习正念，从此踏上修行的康庄大道的同时，请记得把精神专注在正确的意图上。随着深入的修习，你会意识到言行举止和心境对人际关系的影响。

一心是关键 — —一心是拥有一颗平静及正念的心。