Hi I'm creating this thread for Winnie because I think it'll be
better to start a thread and leave Metta Lounge for pure
chatting... for his original posts see http://buddhism.sgforums.com/?action=thread_display&thread_id=196831&page=17
He asked
but how do we know our true nature?
i am blur liao... it's ok... actually i wan to learn how to be a
better person first... all these teachings u mentioned is too tough
for me to understand...
i do read books about all these and i dun understd at all...
among other things like rebirth and karma which you can see in
the previous thread...
As I wrote previously in another thread:
What "circle" or "cycle of life and death" means in Buddhism, is
that sentient beings are constantly being reborn in Samsara - the
world of sufferings. They are always reborn again in the 6 realms
of existence in samsara, according to their karma. Samsara is full
of pain and sufferings, even in the Human Existence we have to go
through Birth, Ageing, Sickness and Death, and the eight
distresses. But even if you are born in a royal family, or even in
the celestial/heaven realms, samsaric pleasures are still
disatisfactory because of its transiency/impermanence... and by
attaching to these transient pleasures thinking they are real and
truly existent, permanent, we create even more sufferings. We
suffer as we do not know that all compounded phenomena are empty of
inherent, permanent, separate existence... and that all arises out
of conditions and are always transient. Therefore the Buddha taught
that suffering and disatisfactoriness is a fundamental truth in
life (i.e first noble truth), however he also teaches the cause of
suffering and the solution (second, third, fourth noble truth), the
path leading to the liberation from these sufferings.
Ultimately, through dharma practise one will realise and
experience/get in touch with one's primordial state of pure
awareness, or one's Buddha Nature, which is like a clear bright
mirror reflecting everything we experience in the world. This is
just an analogy (and not a very good one since ultimately even the
mirror is not a separate entity from its reflection, but rather it
is a form of moment-to-moment 'participatory' awareness). It is
also an all pervading presence of 'yourself' connected with the
universe, so in this state of pure awareness there is actually no
seperation between you and me or the universe, and everything is
just spontaneous arising of this pure awareness, and we and all
Buddhas are all one in a sense. Sentient beings cannot become
liberated from samsara because they are tied down by the bondage of
their ignorance and karmic propensities... due to an illusion of
duality (means subject-object separation) or a false sense of self,
sentient beings are constantly grasping on things and craving for
samsaric pleasures and existence, thus undergoing never ending
suffering. The 'self' is merely an illusion, based on
identification with the 5 skhandas, which is why the Buddha taught
about no self. If we were to investigate, we will not find 'self'
in the 5 skhandas (five aggregates), or our sensory experiences, or
even in our thoughts, and therefore it would be meaningless to
grasp on this fictitious idea, which is the root of all ignorance,
afflictive emotions and sufferings. Through dharma practise one can
also transcend this attachment through insights and awakening. Not
only are we being reborn lifetime are lifetime, we are constantly
reborn moment after moment even in this very life. This is because
of our illusion and attachment to our 'self' and our sentient
thoughts (our identification and attachment to thoughts and things
caused by ignorance), and the process of identification with a
'self' is continued without an ending until we attain insights and
enlightenment. To gain these insights we have to practise the
eightfold path in our lives.
So therefore in Buddhism, Buddha showed us the path leading to the
complete ending of all sufferings, finding the abiding purity and
bliss of Nirvana, to become liberated from the cycle of rebirth in
Samsara. Buddha taught that the Buddhas of past and future all
teach Buddhism as "avoid all evil, doing all good, and purifying
the mind". Most religions only teach "avoid all evil and doing all
good", but only Buddhism teaches about liberation and the
purification of the mind. The problem with just "avoiding all evil
and doing all good" is that as a result we accumulate a lot of good
karma and avoid creating bad karma, meaning we can be reborn in the
higher realms or even the celestial realms like the heavens,
however we still cannot attain nirvana, we cannot be liberated from
the cycle of samsara.. and our enjoyment in these higher realms are
also limited and transient. Similarly as described just now even if
our lives are very good, there is still bound to be
unsatisfactoriness and sufferings.. if we cannot be liberated
moment to moment. Therefore when we practise Buddhism, also we
practise purification of the mind... through mindfulness we become
aware of and disidentify from all our sentient thoughts, our
habitual tendencies of the mind, the afflictive emotions or the
three poisons of Greed, Hatred, Ignorance and so on due to
identification with a false sense of self, and the identification
is also known as the false 'ego'. Our Buddha Nature is like
a clear mirror, our pure awareness, which unfortunately is obscured
from us because of a layer of dust, or mental defilements. Through
Buddhism we clean the mirror of its defilements to reveal the clear
bright mirror underneath. Therefore through practising Buddhism we
gain insights into the nature of reality, the nature of our minds,
our Buddha Nature, and through awakening from our delusions we find
the nirvanic bliss of clarity and liberation from all sufferings in
our lives.
Awakening is to directly realise our primordially pure Buddha
Nature... or pristine awareness. As _wanderer_ nicely wrote
regarding anger..
...(3) Know that your true nature
has never ever been stained by such temporary defilements.
Therefore such defilements are removable.
You have to recognize that at that moment you are angry, but you
are NOT anger.
Knowing that you are NOT anger is important, because then anger is
removable.
Just like when there is a stain on your window, you know that the
stain is not part of your window, that is why you will clean away
the stain. If you don't believe that the stain is removable, if you
thought that the stain were part of the window, then you wouldn't
even attempt to clean it away.
Likewise, when your anger arises, recognize the fact that you want
to and you can actually remove anger is because it was never part
of your true nature. Know that the stain is clean-able. The anger
and all other defilements are removable. Your original nature
(often referred to as Buddha Nature, or Tathagatha-garbha, or kham)
is primordially pure and unstained...
...(6) Aspire that one day you will be able to enjoy
defilements.
Right now we're still trying to clean the window. Therefore we have
methods such as "letting go of the anger", "generating compassion"
etc - these are all the practice of "cleaning the stains away".
When we practice long enough, we will gradually see the "appearance
of a clean window" - i.e. our minds become kinder, softer,
etc...
But actually there is no such thing as the "appearance of a clean
window", because the window has never been dirtied before.
Remember? The stain was never part of the window. Therefore, while
clearing away the stain allows the "clean" window to appear, after
your cleaning, the window is not any cleaner, nor is it any less
dirty.
Therefore, the stains (defilements) were never a problem at all.
Our primordially pure Buddha nature had never been stained, and has
never been moved. Thus the Heart Sutra says "no arising, no
cessation; no increase, no decrease".
At that time, defilements are not an issue anymore....
For now, it's pretty much beyond us. So the best is just to aspire
that one day we will 'realize' that. 
Though we arent enlightened, the point is that it isnt beyond us,
many ordinary practitioners became enlightened too.. including some
in this forum.
