Review on How to Overcome the first two Obstacles

Translated from a lecture given in Vietnamese by Dharma Master Heng Chang on The Path to the Buddha's Home, a series.

Good morning, everyone,

This is today’s Dharma Espresso. May the warm morning sunlight welcome you to a peaceful new day.

The First Obstacle: Deception and Dualistic Mind

We were speaking of the path home, to the Buddha. And we have talked about overcoming the first obstacle—being dishonest with ourselves and turning away from our True Mind.

This is perhaps one of the greatest obstacles in life, because we cannot live with a Non-dualistic Mind. We are always stuck in dualism, always seeing one side as right and the other as wrong, always seeing the faults of others and the correctness of ourselves. We are trapped in dualism—right versus wrong. That’s why it’s called being dishonest with the True Mind and unable to merge with Non-duality.

When we die—just as our eyes close and the soul leaves the body (as people commonly say)—a powerful light immediately radiates outward. This is the light of the Non-dual True Mind. But because of habits formed over thousands of lifetimes, always seeing right and wrong (which is darkness), that light immediately disappears. We are familiar with the darkness of duality, not the light of Non-duality. This dualistic darkness is shaped by ignorance. Anything dualistic is darkness.

The Method of Overcoming

Overcoming this obstacle requires a long spiritual journey throughout one’s life. When we learn to smile at dualism and stop letting our mind follow it, we can live in the realm of Non-duality.

In the previous talk, I said we must visualize the YA seed syllable and chant the Jewel Chest mantra. Only through this divine power can we abide in the realm of Non-duality.

In daily life (engaging in the world), we should always be honest, sincere, and express a consciousness that transcends right and wrong. If we realize our mistake, we should apologize and move on. We cannot cling to the mindset that we are always right and others are always wrong. Let go, and the mind will become more open, at ease.

The Second Obstacle: Greed and Craving

In the trio of Greed, Hatred, and Ignorance, Greed comes first. This greed is truly terrifying. It arises from a sense of insecurity. 

In the darkness (of duality), we feel unsafe and need movement, action. Because we feel unsafe, we try to resolve it by moving: ignorance conditions action (driving by ignorance, actions are formed - Buddhist Teachings on the 12 links of dependant origination). 

That’s why the most terrifying thing is movement itself. Many of you can’t sit in meditation for long—you get up quickly. Those who have meditated for many years have dealt with this. They can sit for 1 hour, 2 hours, even 8 hours. The ability to sit still is the ability to transcend movement and not enter the dark realm.

But greed makes our minds move outward—it turns us outward (toward action). That’s terrifying, as it perpetuates our darkness.

So it turns out that insecurity isn’t due to the ego. It’s fear of losing darkness, fear of losing the dualistic realm. This is profoundly deep. We are afraid of losing duality.

In daily life, in arguments for example, we fear losing face, losing benefits or money, etc. This fear of loss breeds insecurity.

This fear is deeply rooted because we fear losing duality, losing darkness. If you can realize that this fear is the deepest one, you’ll be able to face the darkness and pass through it to find the light.

Greed is a tendency to fear losing darkness. We think we’re seeking light, but no—we’re creating more darkness. The more we crave, the more darkness we create. The thicker the darkness, the more afraid we become, and yet we keep adding more of it.

Greed is a tendency that thickens darkness in both worldly life and spiritual practice.

In meditation, we try to add more darkness by thinking—our mind refuses to be empty. When meditating, we should focus only on the breath. But no—we want to add an image, a voice, something that’s not mantra or seed syllable.

In life, we want more. More possessions, more of everything. That’s why we’re stuck in greed and fear. Ironically, we fear losing darkness. When in fact, we should be joyful to lose it, but we’re afraid. Because the nature of ego is dualistic. So we crave more darkness, more wealth, more status, more of everything. We go nowhere, just accumulate.

Emotions are visible, but beliefs and attachments are harder to see. We hold onto beliefs endlessly. If you hold a belief about someone, you don’t stop. You keep adding negative thoughts: how bad they are, how to attack them, how to get revenge, etc. The thicker the darkness, the farther from the light.

So in daily life, we must let go, forgive, and expand our mindset. Recognize attachments and let them go—or we stay trapped.

We have many beliefs about others that bind us, though the person may have changed. But we remain tied to that belief, locked in it. The more we dwell on someone’s faults, the harder it is to escape our old belief.

All of this arises from greed that causes us to get trapped in concepts, emotions, darkness, and becomes unable to escape. Terrifying!

The Method of Overcoming

We must begin by practicing the THA seed syllable with its mantra to dissolve greed and the fear of insecurity. We must practice THA and chant the mantra. This practice goes with the Blue Lotus, helping us rise out of the swamp of attachment to darkness, duality, and craving.

Without practicing THA and relying only on our normal human intellect, it is very difficult to escape the attachments of an ordinary person. We must rely on the sacred power of THA to rise out of darkness, out of the trap of greed and insecurity, out of duality.

If we don’t break free, we’ll be forever stuck. When we die, the darkness of greed will keep us in endless craving. That darkness becomes so strong that no light can penetrate it.

That’s why we must practice THA—to radiate the light.

In the Bardo Thödol (Tibetan Book of the Dead), it describes a Buddha appearing to emit light and guide us. But that’s based on the belief in an external Buddha.

The Avataṃsaka (Hoa Nghiêm) perspective is different—not that there is a Buddha outside, but that the Buddha is within. It is the light of ourBuddha Nature, the storehouse of our True Nature, radiating to help us break free. How wonderful!

If you study deeply, you’ll see the Avataṃsaka practice is extraordinary. We don’t wait for an external Buddha to appear in the intermediate state—we awaken our own Buddha nature, the non-greedy nature of the THA syllable. All the Buddhas of the ten directions have infused their energy into this THA syllable and the mantra of the Blue Lotus to help us awaken. Truly amazing!

Summary

To overcome the second obstacle:

During meditation (spiritual life)

• Visualize the THA seed syllable and chant the Blue Lotus mantra.

  
  

In worldly life:

• With material things: give generously—don’t cling to possessions. We can’t take anything with us when we die, so why not give?

• With emotions: open your heart and forgive.

• With beliefs: let go of rigid concepts about people—broaden your view. Think of your mind as the vast sky, where everyone is okay.

• With spiritual life: always stay open, optimistic, and expansive. Don’t base your security on titles, past achievements, or complaints about age or health. Those are signs of insecurity.

  
  

  Think: “I am the sky. No matter the pollution, the sky remains vast.”

  
  

Don’t let anyone take away your infinite spaciousness. That’s how you transcend the second obstacle.

Thank you all for listening. Wishing you a peaceful day.

Let’s continue with the third obstacle tomorrow.