Tibetan Pilgrimage Tour - (Photo and Essay Collection - Treasured Edition)

Author: Wang Yunfeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: A spiritual pilgrimage record of an inland Han Chinese who practices Tibetan Buddhism, featuring firsthand experiences and observations, detailed and accurate historical materials, miraculous and legendary anecdotes, and over 700 selected color illustrations, all coming together to create a book that deeply moves the soul. The essence of all Buddhist scriptures boils down to the two characters "cultivating the mind." The Dharma is the method of the mind. All stages of practice are indicators of the level of mind cultivation. All phenomena arise from the mind and return to the mind. Life's joys and sorrows are borne by the mind. The mind is a contradictory thing: it is both great and small; it is bright and dark; it feels joy and sweetness; it experiences suffering and bitterness; it is selfish and selfless; it is good and evil. All adjectives in language and text are used to describe the mind's feelings, serving as labels for the mind.
Buddhism reveals to people the fact that all living beings possess a luminous mind called Buddha-nature. However, this originally bright and radiant "mind" is obscured and defiled by unrestrained desires (greed), lingering resentments (hatred), and ignorance (delusion), leaving it dim and dark. This makes life feel exhausting and painful. Learning and practicing Buddhism, following the teachings of the Buddha, can transform the ever-changing cycle of suffering and joy into an eternal state of joy and freedom. The mind that acts out of self-awareness and voluntary choice is what we call the "Buddha's mind" or "Buddha-nature." It is the mind that acts without being reminded, without being urged, without any conditions attached. Even if no one sees it, it is entirely the result of one's own awakening—a boundless "compassion," a "love," and an innate moral awareness that inspires one to abandon evil and promote goodness, to sacrifice oneself for others. Many of the advanced figures in today's society who dedicate themselves selflessly without seeking fame or fortune are like this. They may not necessarily be Buddhist practitioners, but they are indeed the embodiment of Bodhisattvas.