REFLECTION 12: BEFORE PRACTICE, WE CLING IN WORLDLY WAYS; AFTER PRACTICE, WE CLING IN SPIRITUAL WAYS

Before we begin to practise, we cling in worldly ways; once we begin to practise, we cling in spiritual ways.
Practice is meant to break clinging-so if we still cling, what are we practising for?

Dogma. Precepts. Rules.
If we are still attached, we are still wading in the current.

To cross the river, you must leave the boat behind;
Once you have held on, you must learn to let go, my friend.

Only by letting go do you see the boundless;
Only by letting go do you see the Way-without mistake.

It may sound strange, but it is profoundly true.

Before practising, people tend to cling to money, status, power, and emotional bonds. When they step onto a spiritual path, many simply replace those attachments with new ones: dogma, precepts, outward forms, and even the "reputation" of being a practitioner. In the end, they are still not free-they have only swapped one set of chains for another.

True practice is for breaking attachment-for understanding more deeply, loving more fully, and carrying a lighter heart. It is not a way to show that we are right and others are wrong. It is not a way to rank who is higher and who is lower on the path. The more we cling to the religion of it, the further we drift from the Way.

Precepts, rules, and teachings were created to guide people-to help us walk in the right direction, to reduce delusion, to keep us from wandering astray. But if we grip them tightly and turn them into a measuring stick to judge other people's hearts, they become a barrier. Then we practise to satisfy appearances, while the inside remains untouched.

Practice is not about becoming different from others. It is about seeing ourselves clearly, understanding others more, and living with greater harmony. The deeper someone understands the teachings, the more humble they become-the kinder, the less judgemental. They know each person is travelling their own journey; no one's path is identical.

If we still cling to right and wrong, high and low, good and evil, we have not yet truly loved anyone. For real love has no conditions and no pisions. It is simply understanding and acceptance-without judging, without forcing.

If we practise and forget to love; if we practise and forget people; if practice leaves us with nothing but verdicts-then that practice has lost its meaning. Life is short. We only pass by one another for a brief stretch of road. If we have met, then let us care for one another with the heart, not with rules.

Practice is to open the heart, not to build more fences. Breaking attachment is the real work. And if love is truly there, there is no need to speak so much about teachings-because love itself is the Way.

Hoàng Nhật Minh
Excerpt from the book: Spiritual Science - A Journey Back To Your True Self

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Part Vi - Realisation (Hoàng Nhật Minh)

Group 1: Social Realisation - Humanity (Hoàng Nhật Minh)

Realisation 01: On Racial Discrimination (Hoàng Nhật Minh)

Realisation 02: On Religious Discrimination (Hoàng Nhật Minh)

Realisation 03: On Gender And The Roles Of Men And Women (Hoàng Nhật Minh)

Realisation 04: On Good And Evil (Hoàng Nhật Minh)