Never Losing the First Mind
One who does not forget the first mind — such a one is called awake.
The mind I held when I first began this — where is it now?
📝Reflection
Whatever we begin, the mind at the start is clear and upright. There is fear, but also a flutter of excitement; intention runs ahead of greed. As time passes, that first mind grows clouded under habit and calculation. Doing the very same thing, we forget why we began. Huayan prizes most the one who keeps that first mind to the end — valuing not the one who went far, but the one who went far without losing the first mind. Sometimes we must stop and ask: why did I begin this? That one question rinses the clouded mind clear again.
🌱Apply It Today
For one long-running task, write again in a single sentence "why I first began this." The clouded mind is rinsed clear in that one line.
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
