Aspiration for the future

Besides the two past merits described above, on the journey of practice the practitioner must accumulate another important merit: the aspiration for the future.

The practitioner is always keenly aware that every moment of practice today is only so that he may have enough spiritual power to teach people tomorrow, only so that this world may be transformed into a holy and beautiful place for ever. People are deluded and sunk in temporary pleasures, brief values, civilisations that glitter on the outside, and lavish, showy comforts... Human morality is always threatened by their own attachment to self, by countless depraved cultures and by the pull of the pleasures around them. The battle between good and evil, between bondage and liberation, between craving and renunciation is for ever a fierce and decisive battle. In this battle, the one who has realised the truth will be a brilliant pioneering example drawing people back to perfection. Thinkers and philosophers also contribute a great deal to building good in the world through their sharp and learned reasoning. But reasoning in any case is not as persuasive as genuine spiritual realisation. A person with deep realisation naturally has a powerful pull on everyone, awakening in them faith in liberation.

Recognising this, the practitioner no longer practises only for his own liberation but turns toward a wider aim: the aspiration to teach everyone so that all attain enlightenment together.

Each time he sits in meditation, a practitioner quietly tells himself:

"Every moment of this pure, clear awareness is so that the world may be transformed into a holier place in the future."

Thanks to that aspiration he feels his inner strength increase, and his practice also bears many good results.

Or a Zen master, while still practising, reminded himself:

"The Dharma endures because there are still people who practise and realise it."

Because of that earnest wish to practise and realise so that the Dharma would last for ever, he passed through many difficult stages to accomplish the fruit of the Way.

Thus the motive that drives us to practise is the work of saving everyone, not our own liberation, not the glory of one who has attained the Way, not a wish to be admired by everyone. We need to examine our minds carefully, free from the deceit of the ego, as we put effort into practice. Even while very diligent, our mind may secretly give rise to a daydream about a distant future when we have attained the Way. We dream that many people will praise us, bow to us, make offerings and honour us, that we will preach like clouds and rain and become famous everywhere. It is precisely such hidden selfish dreams that destroy, without our knowing it, the merit of practice built up until now. When merit is used up and wrongdoing is heavy, a form of meditation sickness will appear, commonly called "qi deviation" or "falling into demonic states". Some people are constantly driven to act by a secret voice inside. Some constantly see countless strange illusions before them, such as ghosts and spirits coming to talk with them, and they babble replies, so that everyone says they are mad. Some are naturally stirred up inside in a strange way, always wanting to lose their temper and shout, or to laugh and talk nonstop. There are many complicated kinds of meditation sickness depending on each person's karmic conditions. Here we stress the kind of karmic condition created by selfish dreams. We practise diligently for the glory of the status of a saint rather than for the work of saving everyone. That motive is a selfish one, and its consequence is failure on the path of practice.

Therefore, to prepare for a long process of practice, we must create for ourselves a wholly altruistic motive, never letting the mind give rise to a wish to practise in order to seek our own benefit and glory, always thinking of the suffering spread across the world and earnestly wishing to transform life into something holier by the path of morality. And of course, for our proclamation of morality to be accepted by many people, we must reach a level of deep spiritual realisation. That is why we must work hard and diligently to gather the mind in meditation in every moment today.

To strengthen this aspiration for the future, a practitioner sometimes makes a concrete vow. The practitioner will make a vow each time he crosses his legs in the full lotus posture to sit in meditation, such as:

"I vow to practise diligently so as to have enough spiritual power to save everyone, so that all may be happy and free from suffering, and to transform this world into a holy and moral one; I do not do so for the glory of the status of a saint."

According to their own aspirations, each person makes up various vows of their own, as long as those vows are full of altruism and entirely free of selfish dreams.

The merit of the aspiration for the future is very great and helps the practitioner overcome many obstacles in order to keep advancing for ever.