【Description】

All matters result from the feelings and perspectives triggered at the moment of arising thoughts. The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment mentions that the initial practice of the Buddha originated from his heart; the heart is where the original wisdom and purity are unlocked to help us see through to the truth and achieve ultimate enlightenment. In order to unlock purity and wisdom, one must pay close attention to the arising of thoughts.

When faced with complicated family matters, such as disobedient children and a spouse who doesn’t understand us, how can we control our arising thoughts? What can we do to unlock our wisdom and purity? When afflictions relating to ignorance arise, how should we respond? How can we control our emotions?

Please follow Grandmaster JinBodhi’s guidance on observing the mind’s state, seeing through emotions and worries, controlling our arising thoughts, and finding the secret shortcut to a happy family, a wonderful life, and a successful journey of self-cultivation.

【You will learn】

  • The importance of observing our arising thoughts
  • How to control emotions
  • How to be a good parent and a good spouse
  • Ways to gain wisdom and enlightenment

【Featured aphorisms】

  • People who achieve emotional mastery are wise.
  • To be free of troubles induced by selfishness, be a compassionate and tolerant person with a heart as vast as the ocean.
  • If you want to achieve emotional mastery, get rid of greed.
  • Blindly laughing is ignorance; blindly crying is ignorance. Only when you are calm, or close to being calm, can you be at ease.
  • Only by banishing greed can we remain calm and pure; only by being calm and pure can we awaken our wisdom.
  • Nonattachment can only be cultivated when one is calm.
  • Calmness leads to longevity.
  • Manage your life and family with compassion, and your future will be bright.
  • A wife has the responsibility of educating and guiding her husband.
  • If you wonder why there are so many sufferings and disasters in your life, think about whether you’ve done what you should do – and whether you’ve done it well.
  • All thoughts should come from a heart of compassion.
  • A buddha is an enlightened, wise person who transformed from an ordinary person after experiencing and overcoming countless disasters and obstacles.
  • An enlightened person is the Buddha.
  • People become beautiful through developing their abilities, and even more beautiful through developing their compassion.
  • To realize enlightenment, one must start with controlling their arising thoughts.
  • Keep love in your heart, and methods will naturally arise.
  • Buddhist disciples think only about giving, without expecting anything in return.

【Content】

Hello, everyone. (Hello, Master.) Thank you, all. Please be seated. (Thank you, Master.) How do you feel? (Good.) Because there is no more practicing after this? Or because practice helps? (Practice helps.) It looks like your trip here wasn’t wasted. (No.) You may thank your merits and virtues for this. (Got it.)

The Buddha said: Though Buddhadharma is amazing, to enlighten those who have no foundation is hard. If you are able to learn advanced dharma of wisdom and enlightenment, you have a foundation of merits and virtues. If no merits and virtues were accumulated since your ancestors’ time, you would just walk away even if Buddhadharma is taught. You had come up with excuses to refuse to learn it. If you don’t have these merits and virtues as a foundation, you will lose your way and never return to the right path. Being able to come here, whatever the reasons, shows you have merits. This is what I think.

It doesn’t matter if you are sick, jobless or have marriage issues. Or worse, you could have cancer. These are nothing but circumstances to bring you here. Liberation awaits once you have the chance to learn the ultimate truth. You are liberated from your afflictions and troubles. Honestly speaking, whether you benefit or not from chanting won’t affect my life. However, I always hope those who learn from me benefit. Even if you practice chanting hard enough without learning truths, you will still benefit.

You will become happier and healthier, without understanding truths. You may continue wrongdoing after you are healed. Now, after learning the truths from me, you will know why you got ill. After listening to my explanation, you will know good from evil to avoid repeating mistakes.

In our 3 kinds of illuminations, there is “consciousness illumination”. Not only does it help us view matters from a wider perspective, but also observe our inner world thoroughly. We will be able to judge our thoughts at the moment they arise, whether they are good or bad. Good or bad can be quite subjective, but we can judge them appropriate or not. How? We can judge whether our thoughts are compassionate or harmful. Compassion or harm lies in one thought. We always justify harming others. Harming others isn’t necessarily violence, abuse, guns or drugs. A wrong decision could harm others.

Usually, we make decisions after giving it some thought. Sometimes, thinking doesn’t prevent us from acting recklessly. Are you going to make your old enemy pay you back? Not if you are calm; otherwise, you will. Recalling how your mom suffered, you had resentment and vowed to seek revenge, to seek the enemy. “You will pay for this.” That is what you said. There, you are going to cause harm. You can be rational, but once you get emotional, you become unwise.

When we are happy or sad, it is obvious. However, when we are neither, just a little down, it is hard to spot. Humans are emotionally fragile. We are prone to emotional upheavals all the time. Our emotions are like demons, always seeking to control us. Doctors say people who often lose control of emotions are psychotic or depressed. TCM doctors believe short-tempered people have excessive heat in the liver, assessing their physiology based on the yin-yang theory. They are so fiery that no cooling food can cool them down. There is nothing that can be done.

Yin and yang have nothing to do with gender. Some men are too soft and aren’t hot-tempered at all. In fact, their movement and body language lacks yang fire. Some women have more “fire” than men. There is fire in yin. They burn daily. Their husband and family are badly burned. Children want to leave home, escaping their moms by going to college.

After our last lesson, remember: Always observe your thoughts and keep your emotions in check. Like pulling the reins when you feel the horse of your emotions running wild, slowing it down and not acting recklessly.

Calm yourself down, take a cold shower, and tell yourself, “Tomorrow will be better.”

We are all controlled by this demon. Not some, but all of us. Hands up if you have never acted emotionally. I will be honest, me too. The difference is, when anger gets the better of most, it doesn’t get to me. When I am loud, it is because I am happy not angry. Sometimes, I am only faking my anger. I show anger when I need to. If not, my disciples will think I am not normal. I can control my anger well. When I feel I am about to explode, or I am feeling down, I turn to chanting. What if chanting doesn’t work? Then I will go look for something funny online to balance my emotions. Anything is fine, as long as it is funny. It is to restore joy that has been overtaken by anger. We need to learn to adjust. I can adjust my emotions and observe my issues.

Many become blind when they are angry. Only when they are back to normal do they realize they are wrong and hurt an innocent person. Words would have worked, but they used violence instead. They overreacted. Anger can destroy the merits one has accumulated. When angry, they surely overreact in behavior and language. How does a judge keep law and order? By sentencing accordingly, based on the crime committed. Judges don’t get emotional because they don’t know the wrongdoers. Wrongdoers are sentenced based on their crime.

But for us, it is hard not to be emotional. Emotions tend to get to us. How? We get angry when we feel our interests are at stake. Such anger is unreasonable. Those who control their emotions have wisdom. When our intelligence functions normally, consistent emotional control without medication is the result of wisdom. Such people have elevated, expansive, and space-time transcendent worldviews that save them from major emotional upheavals.

There are families in which 3 or 4 generations live together. The elders seldom get angry. The younger ones do. The elders think fights stop when people get tired of fighting. This is their advice when they are asked to stop fights: “Let them be, they will stop when they are tired.” Are they wise? Not necessarily. It is just that at their age, they have seen enough. Humans are

petty and constantly get into conflicts. Conversations are useless because others don’t listen. “Let them fight. When they are old like me, they will stop fighting.” They speak from experience.

Wiser people don’t need to be old to see that nothing is worth being angry about. Wise people may not have experienced a lot, but they employ rational thinking. This wisdom is depicted in an ancient classic military novel, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Before leaving his village, the resourceful, wise Zhuge Liang had already foreseen the turbulent country being split into 3 kingdoms in 15 years. He predicted it all: what should be done, distribution of work, and timings of battles to unite them. He wasn’t a god, just an ordinary human. It was his superb intelligence and clarity of mind that helped him analyze the situation in order to make predictions. Everything turned out just as he predicted.

Observing arising thoughts and controlling emotions is a manifestation of wisdom.

Thus, in this last teaching, I stress the importance of observing every arising thought and controlling emotions. Should we lose our temper or not? Life is real, it’s not a play. In life, we often show our anger toward our family more than our enemies. Family relationships deteriorate, for most of us take things for granted. We aren’t careful about our words and manners in interactions. That is how cracks appear in a perfectly fine family. Imagine breaking a perfect ceramic dish. You can use whatever technology to restore it. Whatever you do, it doesn’t hide the cracks. It is just beauty with cracks. It is less attractive or useful than a perfect one.

How many of you can control and see through things? Many made promises at their wedding, such as that their love will last until seas run dry and rocks crumble, and then break them 3 or 4 years later. After 10 more years? “Huh? What promise?” Does your partner ever show the “are you crazy?” look when praised? Have you tried complimenting them in these last 2 days, calling them handsome or sweet? Did you get anything positive in return? (Yes.) Good.

The relationship of husband and wife is like a game of chess. The border in the middle separates the sides; both sides try to make the other’s life miserable. Yet, they miss each other if one isn’t around. They stay married in order to fight with each other. That is what a normal family is like. A truly harmonious family is extremely rare. Most families engage in fighting with each other. What do they lack? They lack compassion, and are not short of selfishness.

For example, some women are jealous when their husband gives more money to his blood family. Money is a root cause, with selfishness being the main problem. Few wives say, “Go on, help your family more.” How many could say that? It is possible, when a couple is separated from their family. After being married for 3 years, the wife can’t wait to go back to her own family. There are wives who secretly take things from their families to give to their husbands’ families, but not many. Family issues occur mostly due to selfishness. It is not easy for men and women in a marriage. It is probably the hardest thing in the world.

Do you know Napoléon Bonaparte? He had a stunningly beautiful wife. He was once asked to choose between ruling a country and a beautiful woman. He chose ruling a country. Why? “Women are too difficult to deal with,” he said. A marriage is hard to manage. Even a great man handling an army, or even a country, could fail in managing his own marriage. It is even harder if your wife is selfish and inconsiderate. Imagine that a man’s quest to conquer the world is disrupted by his wife’s pettiness in thinking only of her own family. Most afflictions are caused by selfishness.

Most family issues can be solved by tolerance. I have also heard female practitioners praising their husbands’ tolerance and taking good care of their in-laws. These are good men. That is why their partner stays loyal to them. When you take good care of your in-laws in all possible aspects, you will win your wife’s heart and her appreciation for who you are. Though wives might not speak nicely, they appreciate you in their heart.

What have we learned so far? Observe every arising thought. Stay away from afflictions due to selfishness, be a compassionate and broadminded person. In my first teaching, I discussed: Be a person with a mind like an ocean, containing all. Such people see through the world regardless of gender. They are remarkable. With such broadmindedness, you can solve anything. Family issues? Husbands or wives? You can handle them all. If you can contain Heaven, there is nothing you can’t solve. With patience, you gradually teach others.

Your mind needs to be as big as the ocean or the sky. That is not enough. You still need to observe arising thoughts when facing all things positive or negative. When faced with joy, our mind isn’t calm. You want to create more joy. By doing that, sorrow awaits. When you are sad, continuing to dwell on it will ruin you. First-level practice is to end suffering. The next level is to gain happiness. The third and highest level is to stay calm and composed. How? Have no selfishness or greed, and be free from mood swings. That is how you do it.

Look at the Buddha statues. Buddha looks like he is smiling, but it doesn’t look like just a smile. A boy told me his family worships Buddha. He saw the Buddha statue’s smile. He asked me if it’s because Buddhists will go to the Pure Land. If so, why smile? It should be a big laugh. The boy’s words really inspired me. Is liberation so celebrated that we must burst into laughter? Extreme joy begets sorrow. Laughing and crying blindly are foolish and ignorant. Absolute calmness and composure is the way to peace.

Let’s recap. What is the name of the woods the bodhisattvas live in? Guanyin Bodhisattva lives in the Purple Bamboo Woods, cooling, calm. Her mind is cool and calm. The wise Manjushri Bodhisattva lives in the Cool and Calm Realm. In fact, it is called the “Cool and Calm State.” These are deep meditative states we will enter during our cultivation. No sorrow, joy, life, death, decay or purity. It’s neither clean nor dirty, death nor birth, good nor bad, rise nor fall. Another elevated mental state is that there’s neither male nor female. The moment we differentiate is when emotions overtake us.

Males and females attract each other because of gender differences. When you are neither, your emotion reacts for no one. If your salary and position don’t rise or fall, you aren’t affected. You are peaceful if you aren’t the CEO or a subordinate in a company. Many without positions are called consultants. They will have no conflicts due to profit or loss. If you are a shareholder, you are affected by the company’s performance. If you are not, you are free to leave anytime. Only without male/female, good/bad, high/low, left/right, up/down, rise/fall can you be at absolute peace.

How do we achieve this? By having no greed. Remind yourself: Only without greed can you be calm. Then wisdom arises. Things that don’t occur in reality but in dreams can also afflict us. If you have a nightmare, you will be afflicted when you wake up. But if you wake up and don’t remember your dream, it could be a blessing in disguise that your memory is poor. People who remember everything wake up angry. Why? “In my dream I had lots of money, where did it go?” That is not really a good thing. Those who remember laugh at those who don’t. Actually, those who don’t remember are more liberated. Without greed, we would have few emotional upheavals. In other words, learn to control your emotions. To establish control, you must have no greed. People get emotional at anytime.

After meeting me, do you feel happy or unhappy? (Happy.) Is this considered an emotion? (Yes.) Not good, then. You must remain calm. Your expression should be neutral and cool, and your eyes stable. Moods create biases. Liking something can make you give too much. True love sometimes makes you give too much. For example, parents sacrifice for their children all their lives. See? Not everything is as good as you think. Some things require you to sacrifice a lot. Hatred is also not a good thing. It causes you to harm, cheat, frame and defame. What if someone neither loves nor hates? That’s the state of “zero.”

Water freezes at “zero”; most substances do. The surface of a large body of water starts to freeze, but the water below doesn’t. Many substances freeze at temps below zero. The point of zero is where liquid transforms to solid. In spring, it can be below zero at night. The frozen water then melts at noon. Such transformation appears at the dividing point of form and emptiness.

Not being attached to love and affection is like a rising temperature which melts ice and makes it become water or steam. Slowly, form becomes empty or formless. When you are in love, your mind doesn’t think normally. Why get married? Because you are confused. Married people should listen to “If Clouds Know.” Affection is like a cloud, nothing but illusion. When you are calm and composed, you won’t have attachments.

Without love, hatred, greed or fear of loss, one can be truly calm and composed. You live longer that way. Neither greed nor hate is good as you are more likely to make mistakes. This is a bit deep. That being said, you should know how to observe yourself.

Having a mind as broad as an ocean can resolve afflictions. Having no greed allows us to enter the cool and calm state of emptiness.

Have you observed your emotions recently? You have. Some feel wonderful here, like being enlightened, but end up facing hell at home later. You give a compliment and get a response of “Mom, are you sick?” Just get used to such replies and you will be fine. People need time to get used to your compliments. They will begin to like it after the 10th compliment. Be brave and think you are doing the right thing. Convince yourself first, and others will buy into it. Otherwise, it goes nowhere. It shows you haven’t understood the reason behind doing so.

Living your life and dealing with your family with compassion ensures a better future. If you want well-behaved children with great achievements, then treat them gently, especially mothers. Be like a bodhisattva and act compassionately and gently. That is how they will behave well. Tell your children that you are chanting for their protection. They will feel moved even if they are not a believer. They will love to come home early after school, to do homework or help with chores. If you warn them they had better be home early, they will reject you and may totally rebel. They will run away from home once they turn 18. They will start planning when they are 12.

Women play many roles in a family, wife, mother to her husband, spiritual mentor, cook, housekeeper, connoisseur of leftovers. These are the roles they play. That is the way to become a compassionate woman. When your husband is confused, show him the right path. That is your responsibility. You never thought you could be that powerful? It is your responsibility to guide your husband. Do you agree? (Yes.)

Imagine yourself elegant, generous and compassionate while your husband behaves like a monkey. Are you not embarrassed? When going out with your husband, you look calm, but your body language secretly instructs him. 3 fingers means greet others, 2, say goodbye, and one, hungry. Some husbands forget what 3 fingers means. Such are good wives. They train their husbands! If your puppy doesn’t behave, what do you do? It is your responsibility, right? Same goes for your husband! Pet him! You are responsible for getting him to behave in public. Hearing this, you feel proud, right? I won’t teach husbands how to behave.

Be a tolerant, generous man. Most importantly, be a man who shoulders responsibility. Your wife and children are your responsibility. I hear many children describe their dad. “My dad is great! He is like a mountain!” A mountain that supports the sky. That struck me. That’s a great father. It is about management. A woman’s job is to manage her husband and children well. That is one important job. To ensure your children and husband behave well is a big responsibility.

Don’t forget all your roles in a family. What are they? The first is wife; the second is mother to her husband, which is embarrassing. You need to parent him. The third is spiritual mentor; fourth, cook; fifth, housekeeper who sweats from her chores; lastly, connoisseur of leftovers, eating all the leftovers. One more thing, she is the purchaser of household items and groceries.

Most women never thought they would play the role of mothering their husband. You are not literally his mother, but you guide him like one. I have an example. In the palace movies, a concubine could kill an officer she hates without dirtying her hands. She could make up some rumors and tell them to the king. For example, a certain general is handsome, and all the concubines like him. At first, the king would probably just nod. The concubine repeats it again and again. Finally, the general is executed. Why? His good looks. Maybe he didn’t look good, it was just a rumor made up by the vengeful concubine.

If a concubine can influence the king to such an extent, can you influence your husband to behave better? He may be stubborn at first, so you will need some patience. Give it some time and he will listen. Use encouragement and take initiative. If your husband doesn’t feel like chanting, then do it for him. Let him know you are chanting so that he is blessed with great wealth. Will he stop you from doing it? No. He will ask you to do it more often. Your effort will push him to achieve greater things. When he succeeds, he will have a sense of achievement. He likes it when you say he will be blessed with great wealth. You are helping him as a spiritual mentor.

It is important to be an understanding, sensible man. “Women have less authority at home because men feed the family.” Such a mentality is wrong. Though you are a housewife, you manage the family funds. You lose confidence because you forgot your roles. The money still goes to you. What you need is a sense of ownership. It is your responsibility to guarantee your husband and children behave well. That responsibility is huge. Nobody can do this for you, so don’t bother looking for anybody. You can’t ask your sisters to take care of your husband, right? That is wrong and dangerous; it is your responsibility. Just like eating, nobody eats for you, you need to do it on your own.

You can get married when you become an adult, but do you know how to be a good wife, mother, husband or father? It is not easy. You can be 30, 40, 60 or 70 years old but still have no idea how. You will after today. It doesn’t matter if you are a man or a woman, your responsibility is huge. Your children’s behavior is your responsibility or your partner’s. Or a wife’s mistakes are caused by their husbands. If your children rebel against you, you yourself have caused it. You have no right to complain if you aren’t playing your part well. We don’t live just for ourselves.

Life is a building comprised of blocks and we are one of the blocks. One weak block is going to affect the whole building. People are dependent on each other in different ways — up and down, left and right. Above us is how we treat our parents, parents-in-law and ancestors. Below us is how we treat our children, children-in-law and grandchildren. We need to make sure we play our part well to ensure others’ lives run well.

Look at the disasters around you and ask yourself, “Have I done my part well?” I hope all practitioners are mature and compassionate. Give your family and children a compliment tonight. Be sincere, not fake, and do it out of love. A kind person gives without expecting a reward. You need to have such a mentality. Give and offer more, ask or seek less.

Remember, you aren’t entitled to anything and you don’t take anything for granted. Nothing is “rightfully” yours. Just like expecting your kids to treat you well, when you haven’t treated them well. Even if you have, your children aren’t mature and won’t reciprocate. You are not going to force your way to get what you want. Move them with love, and they will offer it to you willingly. You will feel happy to use the money you have received. Move each other with love. You’ll feel happy recalling the touching moments in your communication. Just thinking about your mother makes you happy. Me too.

I am happy when I think of my mom. She loved me so much; she never spanked or scolded me. I think I behaved well growing up. I tried not to offend others’ feelings. “Will I hurt others by saying this?” Even if I do this, I still hurt others when I speak angrily. Not considering others’ feelings is selfish. Harming others might just become a habit. Not only you but those around you will suffer. I hope everyone can learn from me. The essence is to deal with others with compassion. For females, treat your in-laws well. Don’t do it because they are rich, or to win your husband’s heart. Do it sincerely, think of them as your true parents.

If you think like that, you will act appropriately. Your sudden kind treatment will intrigue them. Develop a habit of treating others well. They will notice the changes in you, and they will repay you tenfold. If you care for and respect parents-in-law, it will make your partner love you even more for being a better wife and mother who cares for her family, not just herself. There is no “me”. You sacrifice for others, just like all buddhas and bodhisattvas. Only the low, petty and greedy ones think about getting something in return. One can be a saint but become petty, bad or even sinful.

If you behave badly, you hurt not just yourself, but also those around you.

What I say might offend some of you. Learning Buddhadharma is about ending suffering and gaining happiness. If you have no idea how to do it, you will make both yourselves and others suffer. Most of your suffering in this lifetime is a living hell. Where is hell? It lies in your actions. The reason I ask you all to observe your thoughts is to help you figure out whether you create Heaven or hell. (Heaven.) All your thoughts should be compassionate. Start treating your family with compassion. I will be glad if your family is harmonious. That is the Buddha’s wish. The Medicine Buddha’s 12 great vows make humans live well in all aspects. Those are my vows too.

Achieving buddhahood is when you understand all these truths. It is not reaching Heaven instantly. That is what you might think. The Chinese character “Buddha” resembles someone realizing the ultimate truth after all the twists and turns. The 2 strokes resemble Heaven and Earth. He has learned Universal truths. That is the idea of the Chinese character “Buddha.” I guess the inventor of this character had a hard time figuring it out. So, it is about achieving enlightenment after braving countless disasters. An enlightened person is a buddha.

What is so great about the Buddha? A greedy, selfish person transforms into a compassionate, open-minded, loving, kind person full of positive energy. It is the same person who now lives life differently. It is important to understand the truths I teach rather than just the techniques. Understanding truths is foremost. You may study specific techniques on your own. Rigid studying doesn’t get you anywhere.

It is important to combine dharma and techniques. Chanting is a technique. One still benefits from it even if the dharma behind chanting is unknown. However, without dharma, you will continue making mistakes. That is why I teach these truths. I hope you learn more truths and then understand them while practicing. Then you become one with the dharma and wisdom, and become a wise person who brings others sunshine, joy and hope. True offerings may not be about how much money you donate. A person offering hope without anything else is like a saint.

How do you offer hope? By complimenting. Again, don’t learn everything rigidly. You have to thoroughly understand the truths I teach. Then many ways to do things arise. Like expressing your love to your family; it is not taught, you just pick it up. If you love your family, you will know how. Refer back to the apple-feeding example: Nobody taught the boy how to do it. Because of love, there is a way. Compassion makes everything possible. Don’t even think about getting anything in return. Buddhist disciples only offer, never asking for anything in return.

I have taught many things in this retreat, elevated mental states I haven’t taught in other retreats. I am truly blessed to be karmically connected with you all and to share my understanding of Buddhadharma at this level. I hope you will digest it and let it be one with you spiritually. This is what I truly wish. I hope all of you will become bodhisattvas from today onward. You may have doubt. “Bodhisattva? Me?” Yes, you are. Just imagine you already are. This way you slowly become one, and become more compassionate, more beautiful, and wiser. (Got it.)

Because one has the ability, one will become more beautiful. With compassion, one will become even more beautiful. With compassion, one’s eyes radiate with the colors of the rainbow. That is what attracts people to you. Looks can kill. But compassionate eyes are different. Their charm is unlimited. I hope the beauty of Bodhisattva’s compassion blossoms in your life.

Manage family with compassion. Practice the Bodhisattva Way with selfless dedication. A thorough understanding of the truth lets us reach buddhahood. Having compassion grants us wondrous opportunities to help others.

This morning, I wrote on this fan: From the originally arisen causal stage, penetrate ignorance with wisdom. Sounds deep, I know. I dedicate this to all of you. (Got it.) “From the originally arisen causal stage” — everything has a cause, as I discussed. Everything starts from our perceptions when a thought arises. If your thought is compassionate and contains the 3 “illuminations,”

your wisdom and enlightenment arise. If your arising thoughts are wrong, don’t expect wisdom or enlightenment to follow. Start with each arising thought. “From the originally arisen causal stage, penetrate ignorance with wisdom.”

From a sutra of the Bodhi Meditation Sutra Collection, The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, this sentence should be pondered and understood entirely. It’s also what I have been discussing in the last 2 or 3 days. (Thank you, Master!) Thank you, all. (Thank you for your teachings, Master!) I thank all disciples and practitioners who helped out in this retreat. The merits of serving everyone are enormous, double the merit of each practitioner here. OK, thank you, all.

“From the originally arisen causal stage, penetrate ignorance with wisdom.” –The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment