"There should be no abode but a mind." This classic saying comes from the Diamond Sutra. Back then, when the Fifth Patriarch Hong Ren explained the Diamond Sutra to the Sixth Patriarch Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch Huineng suddenly became enlightened after hearing this verse.
"The mind should be born without any abode", which means that no matter what situation it is in, the mind can arise naturally without any attachment. In other words, the previous thoughts will not arise, and the subsequent thoughts will never die. It can also be understood in a popular way as: Don't reject what comes, don't ask for what goes; if you can take it, you can put it down; if you can go up, you can come down. A more poetic expression is like what Hong Yingming of the Ming Dynasty wrote in "Cai Gen Tan": "I am not surprised by favors or disgrace, I just watch the flowers blooming and falling in front of the court; I have no intention of leaving or leaving, I just follow the clouds rolling in the sky." Because of personal favor and disgrace. There is no attachment to going or staying, so you can leisurely watch the flowers blooming and falling in the courtyard and the clouds gathering and dispersing in the sky. Why does Buddhism warn everyone to have no attachments? Because "all conditioned phenomena are like bubbles in a dream, like dew or lightning, and should be viewed as such." In other words, all substances and phenomena in the world are illusory and unreal, such as dreams and illusions, bubbles and shadows, dew and electricity, and the reality is non-existent. Therefore, we should give up attachment and attachment to the real world in order to protect the purity and tranquility of the soul. And when the mind is calm, the universe is vast, and with less desire, there is more wisdom. It can be seen that the purpose of Buddhism's emphasis on giving up delusion is to increase wisdom, and it is by no means pessimistic or negative as some people think. In fact, the entire Diamond Sutra discusses the wisdom of emptiness.
As the saying goes, fame and fortune are of paramount importance, and how many people in ancient and modern times can throw them away. But think about it seriously, are the positions, power, titles, reputation, material benefits, etc. that are valued by mortals really difficult to abandon? Seneca, the ancient Roman court minister, gave us a very powerful answer: "I put everything that the goddess of fate has given me - money, official position, power - in one place, so that she can take it back at any time without disturbing me. I Keep a wide distance from them, so that she only takes them away instead of forcibly stripping them away from me." From this point of view, it is not that we cannot give up all external things, but some people are unwilling to give them up. That’s all.
The green mountains are originally ageless, but are white-headed by snow; the green water is originally worry-free, but is wrinkled by the wind. If a person knows how to sweep away the snow and avoid the wind, he will always be able to present a life scenery like green mountains and green waters. Hui Kai of the Song Dynasty put it wonderfully: "There are hundreds of flowers in spring and a moon in autumn, and there is a cool breeze in summer and snow in winter. If there are no other things to worry about, it is a good time in the world." This is a wise life.