【Description】

Have you ever experienced the state of prasrabhi during your meditation practices? If not, what is stopping you from tuning into this state?

Listen to Grandmaster JinBodhi’s explanation to find out more about prasrabhi. Practice according to his guidance to experience purity and ease in body and mind. Enter a state of zero restraint, as if you have become the floating clouds or Guanyin Bodhisattva sitting on a lotus altar.

【You will learn】

  • l The state of serene peace
  • l How greed is shown externally
  • l How to tell the meditation state of a person by their scent, footstep, etc.
  • l The benefits of having no desire

【Featured aphorism】

  • l You can only be without worries when you have no desires.
  • l One more thing to be greedy for is one more burden on your shoulder.
  • l The more greed and attachments you have, the more stained and burdened you are spiritually.
  • l Having more desires means having more sufferings, regardless of whether your desires get fulfilled or not.
  • l A state of serene peace is having no desires and being pure.
  • l A person without greed and desire is like a cloud, light and at ease wherever they end up; such a state is called serene peace.

【Content】

(Excerpted From “The Ultimate Q&A on Cultivation”)

There is also “light,” or “ease.” It is a state we feel when meditating. It is a state of no desires or worries. There is no attachment to wealth, lust, fame or other personal interests. No desire for them. You shouldn’t fixate on enlightenment either. It happens in your subconscious mind. The thought of enlightenment should not show. It should be something you pursue deep inside. Only without desires can we be free from stress and worry. You would feel free.

Say, someone has karmic debts. Karma is a form of substance. Your burden increases with every object you show greed for. This is also called “contamination.” More specifically, the person’s mind is contaminated. With what? Forms. Forms have weight, as does all matter. Every object you show greed for equals contamination. The more greed, the more weight.

The greedier a person is, the bigger their belly. Their eyes are always searching. That is a symbol of strong greed. There is no end to it. Their voice, breathing and skin become coarse. Their steps become heavy. When they walk, it is rough and heavy like a tractor. That is strong greed. To see how well a practitioner practices, look at how they walk and breathe. If their steps make no sound, that means they have fewer desires.

Of course, demons are good at hiding. Some demons are light as a feather and don’t breathe heavily. They can hide their breathing, but not their smell. When you have too much desire, whether or not you obtain what you want, it still hurts you. Deep inside, you start to rot. Medical tests don’t reveal anything, but the stench of rot can’t be hidden. The body smells unpleasant. Nothing can conceal it.

A content person walks without sound, and their body has no bad odor. They may even smell good. You may hide your heavy steps, but you can’t hide the stench of greed. When you show no desire, you are light and at ease. Those who are at ease can sit lightly on a delicate lotus flower. Why is there a Buddhist metaphor that goes “Good cultivators can sit on a lotus seat”? Because without desires, you become light. You don’t become strong, but light.

Without desires or greed, you will do no wrong. So, your wrongdoings won’t be caught because you become powerful. Not powerful due to your might, but your light and ease. You become so light and pure that you have no problem sitting on a lotus. In Buddhist practice, we should be desireless, even in our daily lives. Then, you can be light in your body and mind. The “light” here is about weight and purity. Some can reach a state of light and ease. It is a great state. Not many people achieve this state. It is desireless and free.

There are carvings of bodhisattvas, and depending on their materials and colors, they may appear “light” or “heavy.” Sculptors wanted to make Bodhisattva look like a plant flowing in the wind, weightless and without desire. They feel at ease, light as a cloud. In meditation practice, there can be many feelings and sensations. Being desireless allows us to practice better.

No desire. No wish. No contamination. No pollution. Serene heart-mind. Serene body. Serene consciousness. Serene energy. Purity begets serene peace.