What is essence of understanding our mind and seeing our true nature?

Understanding our mind is to discover our true mind, and be very clear about our mind and its every single thought. Seeing our true nature is to realize our original nature, and to manifest our “original face”, wherein is our innate potentiality and innate moral knowledge.

Patriarch Wang Huang Mei said: "One who sees his true nature, should see directly at any moment". In ancient Japan, there was a well-known Zen Master Tao Yuan, who went to China to cultivate for 10 over years. When he went back to Japan, his first wordings are: "I have finally truly realized the true meaning of ‘my eyes are horizontal and my nose is vertical’. I can therefore come back empty handed."

As an old teaching said: "If you can realize your original face, the grass, trees and forests can even light up." Since ancient time there are many great cultivators who, once they are enlightened, are not only able to get rid of greed, hatred and ignorance, but are also able to alleviate themselves to a state filled with brightness and happiness. At this state, even the grass, trees, forests and stones can feel and share this state of happiness, thus enabling them to grow and blossom.

Since ancient time till now, many great enlightened cultivators also depended on this state of thinking, constantly striving and never giving up, to free themselves, discover their original face, see their true nature and become Buddha.

When Ji-Gong Living Buddha was 16, one day the elder monk Xing-Kong of Ling-Yin temple was teaching him on the Buddha nature, and said: "Dao-Ji, Dao-Ji, (Ji-Gong's Dharma name as a student), don't be puzzle-headed any longer. Just break the calabash to understand how things come and go." When Dao-Ji was listening attentively, the elder monk suddenly slapped him on the face, making him turn somersaults. Dao-Ji then stood up and scratched his head, at that moment he suddenly attained enlightenment. The elder monk has opened his ‘Heavenly Door’, enabling him to instantly wake up from ignorance.  He then recalled that he was the incarnation of the Dragon-Taming Arhat in his past life, and was later sent to the sentient world under the holy order of the Buddha, to undertake the holy mission of propagating the Buddha dharma and enlighten human beings.