Follow Conditions Without Clinging; Enjoy a Life of Freedom

A Buddhist believer's attitude toward this world, described in the fewest possible words, is "following conditions." When affinity arrives, go along with it; when it leaves, do not force it to stay. When affinity is insufficient, do not cling and reach for it, because clinging and reaching is a heart-wrenching thing. Clinging means we must sacrifice something of ourselves, give up part of our true self, and put on a disguise to please others or win them over.

To truly follow conditions, one must be able to let go—to let go of all kinds of attachment to the outside world. Whether the four elements are all empty need not concern us; whether they are empty or not, we do not care. Then whether they are empty or not means nothing to us. Once you let go, there are no ties and no entanglements; you need not always wonder what mask you must wear to be a person. At any time and place, face anyone with your true self. Such a life is a free life, a life of ease.

We do not need to leave the secular world to transcend it. In fact, wherever we go, the daily life of firewood, rice, oil, and salt must be maintained, and basic dealings with people must be maintained too. As Tao Yuanming said, "If the heart is distant, the place itself grows remote." If within our hearts we have let go of all attachments to this world, even in the busiest market our hearts remain cool.

I do not know whether others were born without troubles; as for me, I learned to liberate myself from troubles within the midst of troubles. I have always lived surrounded by the pursuit, encirclement, and interception of those around me, yet like a wild, bristling porcupine I struggled free. Finally one day the people beside me realized they could not catch this porcupine, and so gave up the chase. I was then able to run free in the wilderness, and troubles left me behind.

Following conditions is not being indifferent to others, but being indifferent to their illusory side. It is right to cherish every person's life and the affinity between yourself and each person. But if, out of too much cherishing, you accept everything about others and allow yourself to be steered and enslaved by them, that is a grave mistake. We have no right to judge the superiority of others' values, much less to change them; but we do have the right not to be kidnapped by them. What "following conditions" follows is a kind of near-or-distant affinity: if our feelings and intentions match, we stay together; if we are outwardly close but inwardly apart, we do not draw near. If you draw near while being outwardly close but inwardly apart, that is not following conditions but clinging and reaching. To move from following conditions to clinging is to lose your freedom. So in the most difficult of human relationships—marriage—there is a classic saying: "To fall in love is easy, to get along is hard."

Deep down, everyone wants to live freely and untrammeled. The reason they cannot is related to their illusory desires. The hardest thing for a person to control is the desire deep in their heart, for this desire is like fermenting dough, forever swelling. Once you resolve your ever-swelling desire, you are liberated from troubles. At all times, keep half-warmth and half-coolness toward people and matters, and let going and staying be as they will; then you will no longer cling to anyone out of forced striving. Only thus can a truly free life be realized.