Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation

[Master's Teachings]
Within wood, there is fire,
yet this fire comes into being
only if the wood is kindled.
Within sand, there is gold,
yet this gold is found
only by washing the sand.
Within our hearts, there is pure wisdom,
yet we can touch this wisdom
only if we realize it is there
and draw it forth.

In everything around us, there are profound principles; within each and every thing, there is an essence we often are not aware of. Take wood for example. Out in the wilderness, people can kindle a fire just by rubbing sticks of wood together. What gives the wood this potential for fire? It is the oil contained within it. This oil is what is extracted to make tea tree, sandalwood, or camphorwood essential oils. If we light these essential oils, we can produce fire. Normally, when we see a piece of wood, such as our wood table or chair, we rarely think of the oil in the wood or its potential for fire. But, if we are mindful, we can extract this essential oil.

Similarly, within sand, there can be gold. Gold prospectors go to streams to pan the sand for gold, using various tools such as a sieve to gradually filter out the different components. Slowly washing these out, they finally are left with the most valuable mineral in the sand—gold. Without this filtering, the sand would have just remained ordinary sand. Though the gold is there, it remains hidden.

There is something equally precious within our own hearts—our essence, which is pure wisdom. It is known as Buddha-nature. Like the unwashed sand, if we remain unaware of this essence and do not mindfully search for it, it will remain buried, unseen and untouched.

The Buddha offered us many practices that can help us recover this pure wisdom. His teachings show us how we can clean our minds of afflictions and inner impurities. When we uncover more and more of this wisdom and operate out of our pure true nature, we will be able to see the things of this world clearly, as they really are.

Ordinarily, we see the superficial aspects of things and do not penetrate their underlying principle. As a result, our minds get caught up in these outer differences, reacting with greed, hatred, and delusion. Afflictions and inner impurities arise, and they cause our ways of thinking and seeing to become distorted.

If we can return to ourselves, however, and learn to avoid getting caught up in the outer forms, we can gradually "filter out" our afflictions and return to our Buddha-nature. The first step is to become aware that we have this Buddha-nature within.

Everything has its essence. Like the wood and sand, in us there is also an essence. If we can be mindful in "extracting" this essence, we can find our Buddha-nature and touch pure wisdom.

From Dharma Master Cheng Yen's Talks
Compiled into English by the Jing Si Abode English Editorial Team