I remember someone once told me: when you keep a cat, you have to remember to discipline it. Don’t let it develop bad habits—if it does something bad, you have to hit it. Spoiling it and pampering ...

Last night after finishing a phone call with my mom, combined with some of the wisdom Lukia had shared with me before, I had some insights. I wrote them down during the night and organized them this morning. The master says: Whether you’re chanting Buddha’s name or handling affairs, always use the first thought, not the second thought. The true first thought is not the first idea that pops into your head — that first idea is just the consciousness of human nature’s curiosity. Like how many children’s first thought upon seeing ice cream is “I want to eat it,” but eating it might give them a stomachache. The consequences aren’t necessarily something they can afford. The master explains: “More often than not, it’s greed, it’s delusion. Don’t get it wrong. The so-called first thought is seeing your original nature, it’s the outflow of your true mind, your original face. Thoughts of craving food, craving comfort all belong to the deluded mind, the greedy mind — not the true mind.” There is a big house. In the basement of the house lives a giant dragon. It is the owner of the house, but it has been sleeping all along. The house has many servants and stewards. Under the head steward’s leadership, everyone keeps repairing and expanding the house, living their lives in perfect order. The owner has been asleep the whole time — all matters big and small are handled by the steward. As time passes, the steward mistakes himself for the owner and forgets that the true owner is sleeping. The steward is like our consciousness; the dragon is the original face (or you could say, the soul). Many people practice spiritually precisely to awaken the dragon, to recover true insight — only then can the first thought emerge.

Half asleep, I heard a fly buzzing against the window glass, thumping into it again and again, trying to find a way out. It kept at it, failing and trying again across the wide pane, droning the w...