Lift the Veil and See Original Wisdom

In today's teaching, the awakened one looks upon all beings and regards it as both poignant and wondrous that everyone has the capacity to reveal wisdom, yet may not recognize it. The teaching therefore expresses the resolve to show the path of the sages and help beings become free from delusion and attachment. Rather than presenting scriptural wording made uncertain by automatic transcription as an exact quotation, we will consider its central meaning in the language of practice today.

Here, ignorance does not simply mean having little knowledge or lacking intelligence. It means the mind's clouding that grasps what changes as though it were permanent, treats one part as the whole, and hardens our feelings and thoughts into facts themselves. We readily see only what we want to see and repeat familiar judgments without noticing that they have become a veil.

Delusion magnifies a thought that has not yet been confirmed until it seems like reality. Attachment makes us clutch that thought, feeling, or position as “mine.” Then it becomes difficult to see the other person's circumstances, the many conditions that shaped the situation, or another path still open to us. Original wisdom has not disappeared; layers added by the mind are obscuring our view.

Lifting the veil does not mean forcibly erasing thoughts or hating our emotions. Begin by asking, “What have I actually confirmed, and what have I added as interpretation?” When desire, anger, or fear arises, do not push it away as though it were a sin. Recognize it as a state of mind that has arisen through conditions. The more clearly we see it, the more room we have not to be carried away at once.

To say that an awakened one teaches the path does not mean that someone places finished wisdom into us from outside. By cultivating right speech and action, quieting the mind, and practicing in a way that illuminates causes and consequences, we come to see what we could not see before. A teacher points out the path, but walking it step by step and confirming it is each person's responsibility.

The teaching that all beings have the possibility of awakening also asks us not to look down on anyone. Do not define yourself by saying, “I am simply someone who cannot do this.” Do not harden your view of another person by saying, “That person will never change.” Trust in possibility is neither complacency nor superiority. It should lead to compassion that respects both ourselves and others and supports wholesome change.

Nor should the words “original wisdom” be taken as a declaration that we have already awakened completely. Just as a dusty mirror does not clear itself, recurring delusion and attachment must be examined again and again. This is also why we listen to the same teaching more than once. When we confirm yesterday's understanding anew in today's words and actions, knowledge deepens into practice.

Look for one thing that is veiling your mind today. It may be a judgment held for a long time, a wish for recognition, or a fear that is hard to release. Instead of trying to eliminate it at once, separate fact from interpretation, listen to another person once more, and choose one compassionate action available now. Where one layer is released, wisdom reveals itself as a direction for life.