Every Life is Already Buddha - An Exploration

Siddhartha Buddha taught that every life is already Buddha.

In today's philosophy class, Sifu helped us explore what that sentence means.

He posed some questions for us to discuss, and through questions and answers,
he taught there are several zones to help us understand this sentence.

Questions to Consider

• So why are we in reincarnation?
• Why do we have suffering?
• How to connect to Amitabha Buddha?

Zones of Development

First Zone

• Every life has the same pure essence ability
• We can call this Buddha essence. This is the meaning of the word 'Buddha' Siddhartha Buddha is likely referring to.
• But this word does not yet cover the amazing potential of our consciousness to develop Buddha ability.
• Examples:
  • Water gets dirty, but it remains water.
  • Dirty water, once it settles, becomes clear again. Or dirty water can be distilled into steam, condensed back to pure water again and again, water never actually get dirty.
• Summary: From essence every life equal

Second Zone

• Ability to make water dirty.
• Once we enter reincarnation we develop skill to cloud and cover our Buddha essence.
• We blindly create and receive greed, hate, stupidity from inside and outside. We delude ourselves. We make a big mess. And forget we made it for ourselves.
• Summary: The mirror, gets dirty, cannot reflect anymore.

Third Zone

• We develop the ability to clean our hearts.
• Our mirror, once back to shiny and clean, reflects our pure essence again and life is bright. For a moment.
• The start of developing Dharma wisdom.
• Although we can clean it, we cannot stop ourselves from making it dirty.
• Ability has beginner level and advanced level. So we learn from awakened consciousness who have mastered this skill.
• We start to practice convenient wisdom to help others free from suffering that we have been through. Wisdom grows.

Fourth Zone

• Bodhisattva ability. Mirror never gets dirty anymore.
• Wisdom grows exponentially to help uncountable other life's to awaken and be aware of their Buddha essence.
• Bodhisattvas are developing the ability to build a Pure Land universe of Dharma wisdom.

Fifth Zone

• Called complete unlimited perfect awakened Buddha
• Pure Land Universe is complete, the final level of awakened wisdom.

Ideas to Practice Everyday

• Release physical tension
  • Use a massage ball / gym machine to push:
    • Shoulder lock behind shoulder,
    • Jade pillow behind head,
    • Push stomach, free up the hips
• Train martial arts
  • Yi Jin Jing and Yoga to open the ligaments
  • Qigong, Qian Kun and Taiji self-defence to free and express the energy
• Purify listening sense
  • Listen to mantra (Om Mani Padme Hom)
• Purify action
  • Bowing to a Buddha you appreciate
• Purify thinking
  • Read philosophy
• Social and Workplace
• Practice 10 levels of Observing throughout your day (ie Let it be, let it go.)
• Practice observing self being wisdom from the Heart Sutra