Throughout your life, you’re seeking outside of your mind, but can’t find anything—just like dreaming, you’re toiling in vain. After waking up from a dream, you’ll know that you were toiling for nothing. Whether happiness or fear, whatever is in the dream turns out to be false after you wake up. You were striving in vain.
Enlightenment is just like waking up. After your mind wakes up and becomes aware of the truth, you’ll realize that your previous life was all in vain. Start over and cherish every moment, because life is fleeting, and the method to find the true nature back is rare to encounter. It’s rare to have this opportunity in your life. Empress Wu Zetian once said: “Rare to encounter throughout millions of kalpas.” This is not an exaggeration. Look at animals—for example, an ant. When will it ever encounter the Dharma, the method to rediscover its true nature? You’ll never know how many roots of virtue it needs to accumulate, how many thousands of kalpas it must wait, to be born as a human. After becoming human, it might fall again, and still you’ll never know when it will encounter the Dharma. Many people are seeking truth, but few actually find it. Nowadays, there are countless misguided paths—not only outside but even within Buddhism—where practices have become mere formalities. As you know, many Buddhists seek the Dharma outside their minds—burning incense, making prostrations, chanting, performing life release. What can they gain? They are still dreaming, not yet awakened. The Buddha taught enlightenment. “Buddha” literally means “the awakened one”—awakening the mind. This awakening means introspecting, realizing, and waking up—like waking from sleep. We need to wake up. We know how much more reasonable and wise we are than those who are dreaming. Through meditation and study, when you gain a moment of realization, you will see how your past was almost like a dream. Suddenly, you break through—like waking up from a dream—and you feel joy. I think everyone would be joyful upon awakening. When your wisdom opens, you’ll discover how ignorant and confused you used to be—how meaningful this realization is! We should learn the Dharma in this way. We should build an entirely new concept of learning Dharma—this is crucial. For those without religious belief or beginners hearing this, I hope this opens a door for you and inspires you to find your true nature.