The State Follows the Heart

Ruchun: Facing a bowl of discolored and off-smelling rice tonight, I hesitated for a moment. I didn't know whether to discard it out of habit or to diligently cultivate the path by not clinging to the quality of food—as long as it fills the stomach, it should suffice. I quickly chose the latter, boiled the rice, and ate it. Expecting it to taste bad, I was surprised to find it much more palatable than I had imagined, and I finished it quickly. The moment I put down my chopsticks, a sudden realization dawned on me: food itself truly possesses no fixed flavor. The tastes we usually experience are manifestations projected to us by the Tathāgatagarbha based on our karmic seeds; we are consuming our own karmic seeds and merits. If we encounter unpalatable food, we should still feel fortunate, because karmic seeds can be favorable or unfavorable. By digesting the unfavorable seeds in advance, what remains stored for the future will be the good seeds. Conversely, if we exhaust our seeds of merit prematurely, only seeds of suffering will remain for the future.

When I ate the spoiled rice with a mind oriented toward the path, my mental state was beautiful, and thus the food tasted delicious as well. This experience deepened my understanding that all phenomena are devoid of inherent nature, and I felt myself drawing a little closer to the path. Joy arose within me. Carrying this state into meditation, I felt an exceptionally strong sensation of qi, as if my entire body was inflated—especially my head, which felt tight and swollen, with my temples painfully distended. During the state of concentration, it felt as though someone was peeling off my upper body like removing a garment.

Commentary: What does it mean that food itself possesses no fixed flavor? It is because the eater’s state of mind, perception, and karmic merits differ—this is called "the mind transforms the environment, and the environment follows the mind." Whatever you perceive that food to be, it becomes: if you believe it is poisonous, it becomes poisonous; if you believe it is delicious, it becomes delicious. The mind can change everything, transforming according to one’s merits. Some people harbor a poisonous mind, turning the nectar of the Dharma into poison—that is their own problem. Some possess defiled minds, splashing dirty water upon the Three Jewels, and as a result, the Three Jewels cause them to fall into the Avīci hell—that is their own problem, not the fault of the Three Jewels. The mind is the master of all things. Grasp and master the mind, and hell becomes a heavenly realm; an evil or malicious mind turns heaven into hell, making every place feel like hell. All phenomena lack inherent nature, and the mind also lacks inherent nature. Therefore, the minds of sentient beings can transform into the mind of a Buddha. Ruchun’s practice has passed the obstacle of karmic hindrances and is now advancing by leaps and bounds. Everything is full of promise and exceedingly beautiful!