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English | Let Go of Gain, Loss, Right, and Wrong in a Moment

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Author Jogye On24-12-10 10:31 Views50 Comments0

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The Teaching on the "Faith in Mind" by Venerable Jinwoo 


Sentient beings are those who continue to cycle through the causes and effects of suffering and pleasure, undergoing samsara. The Buddha, however, is beyond the causality of suffering and pleasure so there is nothing left for him to let go.


Why can't sentient beings break free from the cycle of suffering and pleasure? It is because their karma follows a vicious cycle. In seeking pleasure to escape suffering, they create the karmic result of suffering. Gaining leads to loss, and in turn, loss leads to the desire to gain again, creating a cycle of consequences.


When my sense of right collides with another’s, my righteousness becomes their wrong, and their righteousness becomes my wrong. This conflict stems from the desires and attachments on both sides. Right begets wrong, and wrong gives rise to right, perpetuating an endless cycle of judgment where each fuels the other.


Therefore, gain and loss, right and wrong, lead to the causes and effects of suffering and pleasure. Through the discrimination of good and bad, one keeps moving in the same cycle, being unable to break free from the same spot and in the end disappear. No matter what they do, causality of suffering and pleasure remain unbroken, and one remains stuck in the cycle forever.


Thus, the Buddha and the enlightened masters of the past all say to let go of both this and that, to be free from hindrances. When hindrances are removed, the six senses become clear and untainted, so one is not hindered by what is seen, heard, or thought.


When there are no hindrances, the mind becomes free and at ease. Whether this way or that way, everything is acceptable. There is no longer the discrimination between good and bad, or right and wrong. Letting go of the attachment to what is considered good removes the karmic consequences of suffering. Letting go of the discrimination of what is right removes the karmic consequences of what is wrong. When the mind is freed from the discriminating thoughts of peace, the consequences of anxiety vanish.


Will one continue to live in the cycle of samsara with the discriminating mind? Or will one let go of all these dualities of gain and loss, suffering and pleasure, right and wrong, realizing the middle way of non-attachment and enlightenment? It is entirely up to the individual to choose.


Prayer, meditation, generosity, and diligent effort are the essential practices that help one let go of the discriminating mind.


Verse 

Gain leads to loss, and right leads to wrong,

Let go of gain, loss, right, and wrong,

And with no hindrance, you become free,

Nothing will remain as a problem.



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