Pandemic Prevention through Contemplation

As another wave of pandemic rages, Taiwan is in crisis. Even though we did well on the defense against the Covid-19, new variants of Coronavirus are even more threatening than ever. On a personal level, we need to wash our hands frequently, wear a mask, keep a social distance from others, and most importantly for practitioners, we need to recite mantras, sutras and engage in Dharma practices. 
I hope that we could cherish our role as monastics. Think, we haven’t had the chance to propagate Dharma nor have we cultivated our practice properly. I hope that you could be mindful at all times. Do not slack off with your practice as it is a decent form of protection against the pandemic. 

The primary duty of a monastic besides Dharma practice is to serve and liberate sentient beings. Before we realize the primordial state of our mind, we must be vigilant and be watchful of this mind. We need to explore this mind and know what it is exactly. Don't let the time pass by so absent-mindedly. Time gets by so quickly that we can hardly take notice of our primordial awareness unless we have trained to be observant, aware, and vigilant with the working of the mind. 

We’ve carried forward too many burdens from countless past lives. Yet, as we have taken on monasticism now, we are cutting from many of the old attachments to cultivate notionlessness. Hence, I’d encourage you to make up your mind to cut off from the entanglements of afflictions. Instead, we should exert in the contemplation on living, dying, and the discovery of the truth. 

Be determined on our path of Dharma practice. As well, we must stay strong while combating the pandemic. We shouldn't be too careless and negligent with all the challenges that are in front of us. We’ve worked so hard to stay away from the attachments to family. Now, we are working through our own afflictions of greed, aversion, and ignorance. These mental poisons have influenced our living patterns and thinking process for far too long. It's time to be apart from them. We need to apply the mean of notionlessness to be free from these entanglements. Once we cut through these things, we’d experience how vast, comfortable, stainless, and pure that state of realization is. 

When we are free from notions, our minds are in a cloudless space. When we are awakened, we are in a space-like state that is spacious without a single piece of cloud. When we've come to recognize the nature of the mind, the boundless experience is beyond all phenomena, time, and space.