Song Baiyan listened to the abbot's Zen words, merely offering a light smile in response. Buddhism advocates a mind free of distractions, where all four elements are empty; truly reaching this state is tantamount to taking refuge in Buddhism.
Buddha said: All life is suffering, all forms are fundamentally void.
From birth, humans must endure suffering, struggle in the mortal world, experience joy and sorrow, separation and reunion, anger and delight, love and hate, folly and craving, only to realize in the end that everything is but an illusion.
And in the cycles of reincarnation, sentient beings seek to escape the situation of "delusive false thinking," their answer seemingly within reach.
——Nirvana.
That is exactly what Buddha wants people to strive for.
