People often talk about “receiving blessings”; the buddhas certainly have the power to confer blessings, which are not without benefit. Sakyamuni Buddha once said, “We are our own protector.” That is to say we are our own savior. If we don’t help ourselves, and expect others to come to our rescue, liberation is not possible. Some say the buddhas are compassionate and will lift us out of cyclic existence. This is wishful thinking!

In the Sutra of the Wise and the Foolish, there is this story of a monk who was responsible for logistics in the monastic community where he lived. Once, a benefactor handed him a gem as an offering to the monastics in the community, but he kept it for himself. Later when the monastics found out about it, they told the monk to either sell the gem and buy food for everyone or return it to them, but he refused. With every cause, there is a corresponding result. Due to this transgression, the monk had to endure immense and prolonged suffering in hell and in the animal realm. During the lifetime of Sakyamuni Buddha, the monk took rebirth as a fish with four legs and lived in a pond. One day, the Buddha took his disciples to the edge of the pond to tell them the causes and conditions that led to the monk’s rebirth as a fish; moreover, he said the three buddhas before him had also taken their disciples to the edge of the pond to tell them this story; the Buddha then said the buddhas after him will also bring their disciples to this place and recount the same story. Nonetheless, the thousand buddhas of the Fortunate Aeon will not be able to save the fish. This is all due to the monk’s own karma.

We can protect ourselves only by aspiring to attain liberation and practicing the right way, no one else can help us.

In Buddhism, dependent arising is a fundamental concept. All things, whether mind or phenomena, come into being as a result of causes and conditions. We have been trapped in the cycle of existence lifetime after lifetime also because of causes and conditions. If causes and conditions are not necessary, would the Buddha also transmigrate in samsara? Clearly, there is no result without a cause, no arising without a condition; everything is produced this way. The cause of cyclic existence is primarily ignorance and desire. Ignorance is not the absence of knowledge; if so, a wall or stone is also ignorant. Ignorance is not knowing the true nature of reality, which causes attachment to the wrong view – self-attachment; with attachment to the self comes desire for worldly things; the result is endless existence in samsara.

This is how the world is: the external environment and our mind exist as long as we do not examine their true nature; when we examine it, we are left with nothing. This is the natural order or essence of phenomena, not something the Buddha thought up and wanted us to contemplate on. If it is just a rule, we have no reason to accept it. If we accept the rule, it is dogma. The truth is based on evidence; it can undergo analysis and cannot be changed by anyone at will.

Therefore, we must fully comprehend “no-self” in order to escape the cycle of life and death; it is like having wisdom eyes that can clearly see the path to liberation. The next step is to practice. Actually, it is not difficult to practice “no-self.” With practice, everyone can be liberated; unfortunately, so many people know this but few actually practice.

All of us firmly believe in our own opinions and civility. But how civilized are we? We cannot even distinguish between what is essential and what is not. In our short lifespan, we perceive the most important thing to be mere trifle and discard it, but embrace worthless things and end up in samsara. This is ignorance, a perverted perception. We should know our most important goal in life is to seek liberation. However, certain activities such as releasing living creatures or reciting mantras are seen as a form of recreation to be taken up after tea or mealtime. Some people, after practicing a few days in the mountain, return home because they cannot survive without a bath. Which is more important, liberation or the bath? Clearly, it is not anything outside but we ourselves who are the obstacle to our liberation! If we only make empty promises but do nothing, liberation can never be attained.

All of us arrive into this world with a view that is inherent at birth; this view is not reliant on external circumstances or guidance from others; in Buddhism, it is called “innate self-attachment.” It is “innate” because it is not conferred by our parents or teachers, but inherent at birth. It is “self-attachment” because it clings from moment to moment to our own self-existence. Our lives revolve around the existence of this “self’; if this “self” does not exist, we would not have to do any of the things we now do for ourselves.

People often talk about “receiving blessings”; the buddhas certainly have the power to confer blessings, which are not without benefit. Sakyamuni Buddha once said, “We are our own protector.” That is to say we are our own savior. If we don’t help ourselves, and expect others to come to our rescue, liberation is not possible. Some say the buddhas are compassionate and will lift us out of cyclic existence. This is wishful thinking!

As ordinary people, everything we have done since beginningless time is perverted. We normally do not undertake virtuous deeds; even when we recognize the need to practice virtue, we only do so superficially. Perhaps we practice giving just to gain fame and profit in this world. Some people burn incense and prostrate to the buddhas to secure a successful career, gain wealth and be promoted, ensure their children go to college and bring honor to their ancestors. But these have nothing to do with liberation. To attain liberation, we must not allow these activities to preoccupy us and waste our precious human birth.

With an understanding of emptiness, we are only able to sow the seeds of virtue. But realizing emptiness is not an idle phrase, it has to be experienced. The process of realizing emptiness is the process of weakening the attachment to oneself. With practice, “self-attachment” will gradually diminish, but the wisdom of “no-self” will slowly increase. This is the way to liberation. We would be fooling ourselves if we think burning incense and prostrating to the buddhas will get us there. If we seek liberation, we should be like a person who is walking; our eyes should watch the road, our two legs should be moving. If we see but do not take a step, liberation is far away in the distant future; if we don’t see, we cannot move a single step. To see is to establish the view of emptiness; to move is practice emptiness accordingly. Our practice should not be arbitrary, like flipping through a book on the Middle Way when we have nothing to do, getting a quick read on the concept of emptiness, indulging in idle talk on “no-self in phenomena” and so forth. However much we may know, we cannot attain liberation without direct experience and realization.

As ordinary people, everything we have done since beginningless time is perverted. We normally do not undertake virtuous deeds; even when we recognize the need to practice virtue, we only do so superficially. Perhaps we practice giving just to gain fame and profit in this world. Some people burn incense and prostrate to the buddhas to secure a successful career, gain wealth and be promoted, ensure their children go to college and bring honor to their ancestors. But these have nothing to do with liberation. To attain liberation, we must not allow these activities to preoccupy us and waste our precious human birth.