Miscellaneous Discussions on Buddhism (Part One)
Chapter 10: On Practice
1. Practice Regimen for Your Reference
Sit quietly for at least half an hour each morning and evening. While sitting, you may recite the Śūraṅgama Mantra or the Heart Sutra, reciting slowly and with the mind gathered in.
Perform one good deed every day; if that is not possible, one good deed per week will do. Try to cultivate merit every day; ideally, make offerings to the Buddha daily. Other practices should be cultivated according to conditions and according to one's capacity. Each day, examine your own observance of precepts and your mental conduct; examine your arising thoughts and intentions, and frequently contemplate your own mind. Read the Āgama sutras, understand the concepts and contents of the five aggregates and the eighteen realms, and each day engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and reflection on a small segment of the content. Recite and memorize the Heart Sutra or the Diamond Sutra; even being able to reflect on a single sentence is worthwhile. While walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, keep the mind focused on one dharma—whether reciting the Śūraṅgama Mantra, the Heart Sutra, or engaging in recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti). Whenever you have time, contemplate and investigate the functional nature of the seven consciousnesses, and then contemplate the functional nature of the eighth consciousness.
Each person's practice differs in content and level. You should arrange your practice according to your actual circumstances, and not let a single day pass in vain. Each day, turn the light around and shine it back inward, examine your mind, and see whether your afflictions have become a bit lighter; whether your mental state is calm, without waves; whether your pursuit of and attachment to worldly matters have decreased; whether you have become less fond of enjoyments; whether you have gradually developed some sense of renunciation; whether your mind has become more honest and sincere; whether worldly wisdom and the wisdom of the Buddha-dharma have increased; whether your confidence in your own practice has grown; whether your mental proliferation and seeking after external things have lessened each day; whether your mind has become clear and joyful; whether you handle matters more thoroughly... and so on.
2. Knowledge Is Not the Same as Realization
Modern people are rich in knowledge, but because they lack merit and meditative concentration (samādhi), they cannot attain realization, and thus have no genuine benefit; the problem of birth and death cannot be solved. In the past, it was truly difficult for people to hear the sutras and the Dharma, yet realization was easy for them; once they encountered the true Buddha-dharma, the dharma of seeing the mind and realizing one's nature, they had the capacity to investigate, and realization came quickly. Many people had genuine realization and the true benefit of the Buddha-dharma. The stages of a bodhisattva's practice are determined by actual realization, not by the amount of knowledge one has. If a given contemplative practice has not been done well, then even if one is vastly learned, one still does not hold the corresponding bodhisattva stage, because there is no realization, no actual attainment.
Conversely, even if someone has little education or learning and has not studied much of the Buddha-dharma, yet upon encountering the true Buddha-dharma can contemplate and investigate it, and on that basis can further contemplate and realize even more of the Buddha-dharma, then their realization is truly remarkable—higher than that of the vastly learned—and they can receive the benefit of the Buddha-dharma life after life. Nowadays many people claim to have attained the fruits of the path, claim to have seen the mind. Is it really so, or is it merely theoretical knowledge without actual realization? You should examine yourself carefully and thoroughly; the great matter of birth and death cannot be treated carelessly.
3. Lip-Service Chan Will Lead to the Demise of Buddhism
In the Dharma-ending age, most sentient beings practice lip-service Chan: of the dharma they study, much is mere intellectual understanding and little is actual realization. Without sufficient meditative concentration, realization is very difficult; eloquent talk is useless, for that is not one's own realization. If the contents that one cannot cultivate oneself, and the practices that sentient beings are unwilling to cultivate, are all rejected; if several of the six perfections of the bodhisattva are quietly removed; if the Buddha-dharma is beheaded and truncated—then the true dharma of Buddhism will perish all the faster, and sentient beings will remain long in the fiery pit of birth and death, unable to extricate themselves. Some people do not consider the Buddha's teachings, do not consider the future development of the Buddhist enterprise, but only willfully follow their own incorrect views, or cater to the psychology of sentient beings to please them, failing to guide beings along the current of conditions toward genuine cultivation and realization. In that case, the demon king rejoices.
At present, lip-service Chan can still run rampant; after developing for a while longer, even lip-service Chan will be gone, and Buddhism will have completely declined. There are still eight or nine thousand years before the Buddha-dharma perishes entirely; to remove two of the threefold training of precepts, concentration, and wisdom so early, to reduce the six perfections to four—truly it makes one's hair stand on end. Let us look back at the history of Buddhism's development: what was it like in times of flourishing, and why did it flourish; what was it like in times of decline, and why did it decline. People of wisdom should be able to see that in eras that accord with the World-Honored One's teachings, eras that fully and completely observed his teachings, the Buddha-dharma inevitably flourished. Conversely, when the Buddha's teachings were violated, when passages were taken out of context, when teachings were inconsistent with the Buddha-dharma or even opposed to it, Buddhism inevitably declined.
The Buddha-dharma today is not strong. If the Buddha's teachings are violated further, and only four of the six perfections are cultivated, then in the future even four perfections will not be cultivated; of the threefold training of precepts, concentration, and wisdom, if only one training remains, in the future there may be none at all. Consider for yourselves: do you want to add bricks and tiles to Buddhism, or to pry bricks off it? A restless age has produced restless sentient beings, and the restlessness of sentient beings makes the age even more restless. Yet some people insist on pushing sentient beings' restlessness further—what, in the end, is their purpose?
The Buddha-dharma of China (Zhendan) perishes precisely in "wild Chan": people fancy that they speak with perfect logic, in dazzling profusion, yet there is no substance within, nothing that can actually be cultivated and realized, and thus not a shred of the merit and benefit of liberation; in terms of wisdom, there is only wild wisdom and dry wisdom. But sentient beings do not understand—most are laymen who only watch the spectacle, believing that whoever speaks most dazzlingly has the Way. No matter how long they follow such a person in study, they forever remain at the same little stock of views, making no progress. If after three or five years, or eight or ten years of study, you are still marking time in place, it shows that the Buddha-dharma you are studying has problems. Buddha-dharma without problems yields daily progress when studied, and advancement comes quickly.
Before the Sixth Patriarch, students still valued sitting meditation; after the Sixth Patriarch, students hold the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch in their hands and pour forth eloquence daily, no longer sitting in meditation or actually cultivating, no longer investigating the Buddha-dharma, as if they had delivered the Platform Sutra themselves, as if they had already realized it all, as if they had nothing left to cultivate—just showing off their tongues everywhere, thinking this is the Way. And the result? The Chan school thus declined until it vanished without a trace. This is history—learn the lesson! Remember one thing: no matter how much Buddha-dharma you have studied or how many books you have read, none of it is your own; it cannot serve as your conversational capital to show off everywhere. This is drier than dry wisdom; it can not only ruin your own future but also ruin the future of Buddhism.
As long as you have not actually realized something, do not consider yourself to have the Way. With arrogance blazing, debating everywhere—what is the point? You should weigh clearly how much genuine wisdom you actually have, how great a genuine benefit you can obtain, and to what degree of liberation you can attain. To weigh yourself accurately is itself wisdom, and it is also the process of subduing the self and subduing arrogance. Do not go about weighing others; weighing yourself well is what matters most. If everyone bends themselves to flatter the flaws and weaknesses of sentient beings, the Buddha-dharma will be torn to pieces; the result of snapping off branches and stripping leaves will hasten the demise of the true Buddha-dharma, leaving it without substance. The future of Buddhism is also held in each of our hands; do not think it has nothing to do with you and disregard it, persisting in reckless conduct.
4. Studying Buddhism Should Not Mean Clinging to Names and Labels and Doing Research
For certain terms and concepts, we need not expend much mental effort on research or cling to names and labels, wasting energy and precious time. It suffices to clarify the true meaning of the terms; then, relying on the meaning and not on the words, think the principle and the phenomena through thoroughly and explain them clearly. The surface, superficial meanings of those terms and phrases need not be dwelt upon; grasp the meaning and let go of the words, take their fundamental meaning, and do not endlessly entangle yourself in words and phrases. Deeply understanding the ultimate meaning and true meaning of the Buddha-dharma is what matters most. Entangling oneself in those terms and phrases is akin to doing research, and the Buddha-dharma most abhors research. The practitioner who has realized keeps their head down and cultivates, pruning away the extraneous branches and leaves of language as much as possible, paying them no heed; only then can the train of thought in practice become clear, and one can enter the Path swiftly.
"The dragon holds the pearl of the sea in its mouth, paying no heed to the darting fish." Grasp the essential, principal dharma and do not let your attention scatter to anything else. Once the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) is eradicated, you will know what those later matters are; why over-research things that are of no use to you at present? The clever should first enter the gate and then talk; studying the affairs inside the gate from outside the gate wastes a great deal of time. Many people are willing to pull at those tangled vines of language, endlessly binding themselves up, unable to escape—truly without wisdom.
5. The Buddha-dharma Is Not for Research
Many people who fancy themselves wise are helpless before the Chan koans. There are also some who fancy they have the Way and expound on Chan koans, but all of it falls into worldly dharma; laypeople quite enjoy reading it, not knowing what flavor is actually in it.
Some people study the Buddha-dharma by burrowing into the shell of words, dismembering the text, words and phrases, researching back and forth; seeming to understand a bit of the surface meaning, they think they have the Way, then paste their views everywhere, with arrogance greatly aroused. In fact, studying and practicing Buddhism is not burrowing into the shell of words; the real kung fu lies beyond the poem. Apply effort in cultivating the six perfections of the bodhisattva, subduing afflictions, improving one's character and self-cultivation, developing merit, and strengthening meditative concentration; cultivating diligently in these areas, one can continuously perfect the qualifications of a bodhisattva. It is not about burying oneself all day in piles of words, researching those texts. If studying Buddhism were merely a matter of verbal skill, then all graduate students and doctoral candidates could become Mahāyāna bodhisattvas who see the mind and realize their nature—but in fact this is not so.
Others emphasize that one need not take the threefold refuge, need not receive the five precepts—that as long as one diligently investigates the words, one can see the mind and realize one's nature. Then the non-Buddhists, being clever and quick-witted people, need not believe in the Buddha; merely researching the Buddha-dharma, they could comprehend it intellectually. Yet they can never become bodhisattvas of Mahāyāna true meaning; even if they know some answers, they are not Mahāyāna bodhisattvas, because wisdom has not arisen and they lack the bodhisattva's disposition. Clever, quick-witted people are everywhere; after a stint of studying the Buddha-dharma, they can understand some surface content. Yet because they lack the bodhisattva's disposition, they can never become true bodhisattvas, will not receive the blessing and protection of the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and dharma-protecting good deities, and therefore cannot truly awaken.
6. In Practice, First Understand the Principle
Theory is also part of actual practice, indeed the most important part; one must not regard studying the principles as not being actual practice. Studying the principles is the main avenue for acquiring correct views. Only with the guidance of correct views can one adopt correct methods and head in the right direction. Liberation from birth and death depends on correct views and correct wisdom; the attainment of buddhahood depends on correct wisdom. When the World-Honored One was in the world, he only expounded and transmitted the Dharma to his disciples, occasionally teaching some meditative concentration, and did not lead the disciples in the specifics of how to practice. After hearing the Dharma, the disciples would each find a quiet place and contemplate and reflect on the principles the World-Honored One had taught. When their reflection penetrated through, they would attain the pure dharma eye and realize the fruit. Many people realized the fruit at the very moment the World-Honored One was teaching—that is, they reflected while listening. Therefore, before expounding the Dharma, the World-Honored One always said: "Listen well and listen well, reflect on it skillfully; I shall explain and analyze it for you."
7. The General Content of Studying the Buddha-dharma
Mahāyāna Buddhism divides into the Prajñā system and the Yogācāra (Consciousness-Only) system. The Prajñā portion consists of the six hundred scrolls of Prajñāpāramitā sutras, along with certain other sutras; it is the foundation of the Mahāyāna dharma, and by the time one reaches the stage of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva, one basically need not study it further. The deepest content of the Mahāyāna dharma is Yogācāra; when Yogācāra has been studied completely and realized completely, one becomes a Buddha. The deeper Buddhist sutras on Yogācāra all involve the seed-wisdom (sarvākārajñatā) of Yogācāra and are the content cultivated by bhūmi-abiding bodhisattvas. The Saṃdhinirmocana Sutra and the Deep Liberation Sutra are relatively deep classics; deeper classics than these may no longer exist in the Sahā world, though they certainly exist in other worlds.
To study Yogācāra systematically, one must clarify the natures of the eight consciousnesses, then realize them one by one; after realization, observe these consciousness-minds in the midst of conditions and circumstances, observing how they operate in harmonious interrelation—then wisdom can quickly manifest. The Āgama sutras explain the relationship among faculties, objects, and consciousnesses very clearly. Once that relationship is clarified, and one further understands that all three are generated by the eighth consciousness, then one has a certain foundation in the Buddha-dharma. In studying Mahāyāna, one must not slight the Hīnayāna; especially the contemplative methods, the methods of cultivating meditative concentration, and the methods of cultivating the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment within the Hīnayāna are of tremendous help to our practice of the Mahāyāna dharma. Once mastered, entering Mahāyāna seeing-of-the-path can also come quickly.
8. Why Is the Way the Same for All Buddhas?
Upon hearing a sentence or seeing a thing, ten people hold ten viewpoints, a hundred people hold a hundred opinions. Why is this so? Because each person's consciousness-mind differs, their cognition differs; cognition differing, feelings differ; feelings differing, reactions differ; reactions differing, speech, actions, and deeds differ. Because the consciousness-minds have not reached a uniform cognition—each has their own degree of understanding—consensus on a matter is impossible; without consensus, bringing a matter to development and success is very difficult. Perhaps this is why worldly affairs are so hard to accomplish!
On the other hand, the Way is the same for all Buddhas. Why is the Way the same? Because each Buddha's cultivation has reached perfection; being perfect means being utterly complete, and since all are utterly complete, their degree is certainly identical. Moreover, they are identical in every respect; most importantly, they are identical in wisdom. Thus every Buddha's view of any matter is the same; among the Buddhas there will never be divergence or dispute. That is to say, the higher the wisdom attained by noble ones in cultivation, the less the divergence among them, the more they share in common, and the more they can harmonize and accord, reaching consensus.
Therefore, the goal of our practice is to increase our own wisdom, to transform our views into insight (views attained after realizing the Way are called insight), and to make that insight ever more perfect; then all matters will become harmonious and unobstructed.
9. Only Correct Hearing and Reflection Yield Correct Cultivation and Realization
In the scorching summer, a traveler, parched with thirst, sees a well of water, clear and deep; he searches for a rope and a water jar, but finds none. Helpless, he can only endure his thirst, unable to obtain clear water to moisten himself; though there is well water, it has nothing to do with him. Students of Buddhism are like this: they constantly speak of emptiness, but without a method to verify it, they merely shout slogans and remain within existence. They constantly cry "let go," not knowing what to let go of or how to let go, and so can only keep clinging, simply because they lack skillful methods and means. Understanding the ways and methods of liberation is very important; otherwise one is like standing at the edge of a well with a parched mouth and dry tongue.
The practice of the Buddha-dharma consists of hearing, reflection, cultivation, and realization. First is much hearing—hearing the true Buddha-dharma, what the Buddha taught, consonant with Buddhist principles. If it does not accord with the Buddha's teaching, the more one hears, the more one increases birth and death. Next is reflection—one must reflect correctly, in accordance with reason and the Dharma; deviant thinking and deviant interpretation only increase birth and death further. Next is cultivation—cultivate according to Buddhist principles; if hearing was incorrect and reflection mistaken, cultivation goes astray the moment one begins, off the right path. Finally is realization—only when hearing is correct, reflection thorough, and cultivation accurate, and when the conditions of time and circumstance are complete, can the truth be realized. Only realizing the truth brings genuine benefit. Crying "let go" emptily is like firing a gun blindly without knowing where the target is. Accumulate much merit, strictly hold the precepts, constantly cultivate concentration, skillfully cultivate wisdom—and the great road of liberation is right before your eyes.
10. How to Practice the Dharma of the One Buddha Vehicle
Within the Buddha-dharma there is in fact only the dharma of the One Buddha Vehicle; even the dharma-meaning of the Hīnayāna path of liberation is a dharma for becoming a Buddha, a part of the One Buddha Vehicle, one of the contents that must be cultivated and realized in order to attain buddhahood. Only when the Hīnayāna dharma has been mastered and the Mahāyāna prajñā dharma also mastered can one enter the first bhūmi, enter the Tathāgata's family, and become a bhūmi-abiding bodhisattva. That is to say, sentient beings of the greatest capacity have already eradicated the view of self and realized awakening many times in past lives; they can directly cultivate the Mahāyāna Buddha-dharma, awakening to the profound principles of Yogācāra, and at the same time they can master the dharma-meaning of the Hīnayāna path of liberation, reaching the Hīnayāna stage of beyond training (aśaikṣa) without specially studying the Hīnayāna.
But such capacity is extremely rare. Ordinary sentient beings should first study the dharma-meaning of the Hīnayāna path of liberation, lay a firm foundation in the Hīnayāna path of liberation, and after eradicating the view of self, then seek seeing-the-mind-and-realizing-one's-nature in the Mahāyāna dharma. Only after eradicating the view of self in the Hīnayāna and cultivating to the fourth fruit of liberation-by-wisdom, the arhat, thoroughly realizing the selflessness of persons, can one master the principle of Hīnayāna liberation. After eradicating the view of self, to sever afflictions one must subdue the five hindrances and develop first-dhyāna concentration; only then can greed, hatred, delusion, and arrogance be gradually severed, becoming an arhat liberated in mind and liberated by wisdom. But subduing the five hindrances is no easy matter; many people cannot subdue them in a whole lifetime—even those who have eradicated the view of self and seen the mind and realized their nature have not subdued the five hindrances. Once the five hindrances are subdued, one has the capacity to enter first-dhyāna concentration and sever afflictions, and also the capacity to enter the Tathāgata's family. This is the path of practice to be followed in cultivating the Buddha-dharma.
11. Only by Understanding the Principle Can One Let Go
The devas of the formless realm have no physical bodies and are constantly in concentration, never emerging from it; their consciousness-mind activity is extremely weak, without the power of reflection and thought, much less the consciousness-mind activity of investigating the Buddha-dharma. Their minds have no emotions, no imagination or fantasy, no recollection, no plans, no afflictions, no suffering, no joy—in short, all such mental activities are entirely absent. In that case, for them to want to eradicate the view of self or to see the mind—there is truly no way in. Some people imitate the concentration-powers of the form-realm and formless-realm devas, always wanting to enter concentration; studying and studying, they merely transmigrate within ignorance, unable to eradicate their nature of delusion, and the karma of the three evil destinies cannot be avoided. Having a physical body provides great convenience for cultivating and realizing the Buddha-dharma: with a body there can be bodily, verbal, and mental actions, and one can cultivate and realize the Buddha-dharma. Having a body yet not using it well to contemplate and investigate the Buddha-dharma, to investigate Chan and awaken to the Way, but instead crying all day to "let go of the body"—the result is that at death one places oneself into the three evil destinies. What a "letting go"—truly let down into what lies below!
Many people hold the Tripitaka and the twelve divisions of scriptures in their hands, hold the Mahāyāna classics, yet give rise to all kinds of deviant interpretations and misunderstandings. Reading the sutras is for understanding the sutras; only after understanding them can one realize them. Wrong views should be corrected promptly; only do not stubbornly insist that your own interpretation must be correct. The fear is that one's wisdom is insufficient, yet one clings death-grip to one's own theory, unwilling to step out of the error, and even leads others into it. But in reality, such people are extremely numerous; they cannot be beaten back, and when you try to counsel them, some even turn around and bite back. Judging from all manner of signs, the ignorance in the minds of sentient beings of the Sahā world is truly heavy upon heavy; many can only be tamed after their ignorance has lightened somewhat.
12. Practice Is the Process of Making the Unfamiliar Familiar and the Familiar Unfamiliar
Through countless kalpas we have been extremely familiar with worldly dharma; thought after thought is the worldly five desires and six sense objects, while our cultivation of transcendental dharma has been sparse—we are strangers to it. Through practice, let our minds gradually detach from worldly dharma, reduce the mental effort devoted to worldly affairs, and slowly shift the center of gravity to transcendental dharma. While engaged in worldly affairs, do not forget the Buddha-dharma, do not depart from the Buddha-dharma; at every moment match yourself against the Buddha-dharma, knowing cause and reaching effect. Fuse worldly dharma and the Buddha-dharma together into one piece. In the end, one can achieve thought after thought of Buddha-dharma, thought after thought of bodhi, contemplating everything with an awakened mind, then dissolving even awakening and contemplation, reaching supreme awakening, perfect and complete awakening, and fulfilling the fruit of bodhi.
13. Only with the Dharma-Selecting Eye Can One Correctly Judge the Dharma and the Teacher
The second of the seven factors of enlightenment is the enlightenment factor of dharma investigation. When one has cultivated to this point, one has the dharma-selecting eye and can know whether the dharma one encounters is correct and whether the dharma master one encounters has the Way; only then can one make correct choices and not go astray. This is the awakened faculty one should possess before realizing the fruit and attaining enlightenment; otherwise one cannot realize the fruit, cannot attain enlightenment, cannot attain the Way.
When one has not yet cultivated to the enlightenment factor of dharma investigation and has not obtained the dharma-selecting eye, one's practice is still ineffective; merit, concentration, and wisdom are all lacking. One does not know whether the teacher has wisdom or what that wisdom is like; one does not know whether the dharma is right or wrong, true or deviant; one's mind is muddled and unenlightened—encountering the true dharma, one does not know to study it; encountering deviant dharma, one does not know to avoid it—so that one cannot acquire correct views. For some people without the dharma-selecting eye, the hindrance of doubt is not removed; they doubt the dharma and doubt the teacher, unable to settle either, and thus their study and practice will not progress or succeed. Heavy doubt is not a wholesome dharma; it arises from a deficiency of merit. Only when one has the ability to discriminate can doubt be removed and one's progress on the Path advance.
14. Only with a Solid Foundation Can Yogācāra Be Cultivated Well
Only after truly mastering Yogācāra can one reach the level of Bodhisattva Maitreya—and this is no matter of a single morning or evening. At the very minimum, one must realize the eighth consciousness; thereafter one must also pair it with the cultivation and realization of meditative concentration, and must sever afflictions and sever the habitual tendencies of afflictions; gradually, all dharmas can be realized and ignorance can be completely shattered. All the dharmas in the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra demand actual realization; if the foundational dharmas have not been realized, the dharmas of the next level cannot be realized, and the dharmas of the level above that even less so.
Therefore, in studying Yogācāra, one must make the great vow to see the mind and realize one's nature, and walk the bodhisattva path in a down-to-earth manner; the six perfections of the bodhisattva, both inner-gate and outer-gate, must all be cultivated to perfection. One must vow to become a great-hearted bodhisattva who can truly benefit sentient beings; only with the blessing of the Buddha's power can one complete the study of Yogācāra and reach the stage of the wondrous-enlightenment bodhisattva, awaiting only buddhahood. Studying Buddhism is not merely studying theory; one must also study the Buddha's pure great vows, study the Buddha's heart of compassion, loving-kindness, joy, and equanimity toward sentient beings, study the Buddha's precepts, concentration, and wisdom, study the Buddha's profound meditative concentration—learning and actualizing all the merits the Buddha possesses; only then can we ourselves become Buddhas.
15. Attainment in the Buddha-dharma Depends on One's Own Cultivation
When the World-Honored One was in the world transmitting the Buddha-dharma to his disciples, he would expound the dharma that should currently be studied and then let it be; the rest was for the disciples to complete independently. At that time, after hearing the World-Honored One teach, the disciples would each find a quiet place free of disturbance and engage in contemplative practice and reflection within concentration. The World-Honored One never led the disciples in the specifics of practice, never led them in Buddha-recollection retreats, never held Chan retreats—no "sevens" of any kind were ever held. The disciples always contemplated and investigated the Buddha-dharma themselves, cultivating alone; there was no group practice.
In studying the Buddha-dharma, to gain the greatest benefit, one must reflect and contemplate much oneself; try not to have others explain the dharma too finely. If one contemplates little oneself, the benefit is small. The price each person pays determines the benefit they receive. Contemplate much, reflect much; do not fear making mistakes. If you err, turn back and strive in another direction; when all aspects have been contemplated, wisdom will arise. Contemplative practice gives rise to wisdom; contemplation is one's own affair—it is best not to have others do it in your place. Have great aspiration; do not settle for ready-made things. Spend more of your own energy and heart's blood, reflect more: cultivate yourself and you gain it yourself; another cultivates and they gain it; without cultivation, nothing is gained. Only after cultivation and realization can one obtain great wisdom and the merit and benefit of true liberation.
16. Only by Not Craving the Six Sense Objects Can Suffering-Feeling Be Reduced
The pressures of life, work, practice, and so on are simply the mind's feelings. The mind feels at every moment of every day—feeling suffering, feeling pleasure, feeling neither suffering nor pleasure. Pressure is a sense of oppression, a suffering-feeling. All feelings arise from the contact of faculties and objects; when the six faculties contact the six objects, there is feeling. The Buddha said in the Saṃyukta Āgama that to remove craving and reduce the feeling of sensation, or to extinguish it, one must reduce contact or extinguish contact. We cannot extinguish contact, so we should reduce it as much as possible; the best method is to contemplate the illusory and impermanent nature of the six sense objects.
The six sense objects divide into outer six objects and inner six objects. We cannot contact the outer six objects at all; what we contact are the inner six objects, which are shadows of the outer six objects, illusions manifested by our own tathāgatagarbha, not real. Since they are illusions, not ultimate reality, we must in turn adjust our own minds, reducing our minds' attachment and seeking toward the realms of the six objects. In this way, as we view the realms more lightly, the suffering-feeling in the mind decreases and the pressure lightens.
There is no other way: only by cultivating the mind, increasing wisdom, and seeing the realms clearly. Our Sahā world is the world of endurance—suffering-feeling everywhere, pressure everywhere. We can only constantly adjust our own minds, persuade ourselves, see the realms clearly, and reduce seeking after externals; this is true practice. We have no power to change the external realms; through practice we change our own minds, and thereby change our own inner six objects, so that the realms turn along with our minds—this is the realm of bhūmi-abiding bodhisattvas. At the very least, we must not let our minds constantly turn along with the realms. Practice is our affair life after life; without practice, there is suffering-feeling life after life. In each and every life, we have grasped only karma and grasped nothing else; the result is always a dream, always emptiness. Be skillful in turning pressure into motivation: cultivate diligently, and play the game well.
17. Only by Turning the Mind Toward the Buddha-dharma Can It Gradually Become Pure
When the mind always seeks something and cannot become pure, turn the mind that seeks worldly dharma toward seeking the Buddha-dharma; do not seek, or seek less, worldly dharma, and the mind will become pure and free of scattered thoughts. Not seeking the pleasures of the five aggregates in the world, the mind can settle into purity, and the defilement of the mind-ground will decrease. Study much our self-nature's pure mind: He seeks nothing on any dharma whatsoever, yet benefits sentient beings, performing countless conditioned dharmas while His mind-ground remains unconditioned and untainted. We should rely much on His pure nature, and the mind-ground will gradually become pure.
Even when we do seek something, in worldly matters do not go to excess—enough is enough. The more one craves, the less one gains benefit in the Buddha-dharma. Even if you cultivate great blessings, do not seek the blessings of humans and devas; only seek to attain the Way soon, to advance ceaselessly on the Path, and to liberate many of those with affinity. Seek little of worldly dharma, but the pursuit of the Buddha-dharma you must have; moreover, make pure great vows, relying on the power of vows to draw us toward faster progress. Craving worldly dharma leads to downfall; craving the Buddha-dharma is wholesome—this is called diligent effort. Among the six perfections of the bodhisattva there is the perfection of diligence; without the perfection of diligence complete, one cannot attain the Way.
After we are born, our parents teach us the principles of being a person; not only is it of inexhaustible benefit for one lifetime, it is of inexhaustible benefit for many lives hereafter. Merely teaching us the skill of cooking is retained as a seed; when we become human again, we know how to do it at a glance, and do it well—of inexhaustible benefit for many lives. Our parents teach us to study hard, and in the next life we will spontaneously love learning, without needing prodding. Likewise, when we study the Buddha-dharma, every bit of dharma we learn is retained as a seed.
Do not belittle these seeds—in future lives they will grow into towering trees; a single spark can set the prairie ablaze. Therefore we must not crave worldly dharma; in any case, all these worldly dharmas will perish and cannot be carried to future lives. Over past immeasurable lives, the worldly dharma we pursued has all abandoned us—not that we voluntarily gave them up, but that we simply could not carry them away. This life is the same: at the time of death, these people, matters, and things must be parted from; having a mind of "cannot but part," one must suffer the misery of birth-and-death transmigration. Better to turn one's energy to cultivating the Way; let worldly dharma be passable and that suffices. If one does not renounce worldly benefits, the supreme benefits within the Buddha-dharma will not be obtained. We should be skillful in reflection and choice, and be a person of wisdom.
18. Studying Buddhism Requires Real Cultivation, Not Shouting Slogans
Our study and practice of Buddhism must begin step by step from right where we stand, in a down-to-earth way; do not adopt the slogan-shouting mode, with slogans hanging on your lips all day. Those slogans are mostly the content cultivated and realized by bodhisattvas and noble ones of the ten bhūmis; if you have not cultivated to the corresponding stage, no matter how you shout the slogans, you still cannot move half a step from where you stand. For example, the contemplation of "all like a dream" is realized by bodhisattvas of the ten dedications stage; no matter how loudly we now proclaim that all dharmas are like a dream, however we understand that all dharmas are like a dream, in our hearts we cannot manage to view everything in the worldly realm as illusory as a dream. By the time one truly realizes the contemplation that all dharmas are like a dream, one is already a bodhisattva of the ten dedications stage, close to entering the first bhūmi.
As for understanding the contemplation of "all like a dream": if one has not cultivated to the ten dedications stage, no matter to what degree one understands, it is in the end merely understanding, not realization. Such understanding is also called wisdom; if everyone pursues and contents themselves with this kind of wisdom, then becoming a Buddha would be far too easy—just take out all the contemplative theories prior to buddhahood, study and understand them in sequence, and generate the wisdom of various understandings—would that then mean we possess the wisdom of the bodhisattvas of the ten bhūmis and the wondrous-enlightenment stage, and of the Buddha?
Speaking of food does not fill the belly. One who truly wishes to practice should not adopt a mode of cultivation that consists of shouting empty slogans. The language may sound lofty and grand, but one's actual inner state is petty and lowly. Why not, in accordance with the actual condition of one's own mind, adopt corresponding, practical, feasible methods of cultivation? Do not shout slogans that cannot be realized in the short term, or even the long term. The Buddha-dharma is for actually contemplating, countering, taming, and subduing one's own mind, not for playing with the tongue. One must not indulge the tongue for a moment while neglecting actual, genuine practice.
For example, take the non-abiding of the tathāgatagarbha—asking our seven consciousnesses-minds also to abide in nothing with respect to all dharmas, like the tathāgatagarbha—that is far too lofty. Only eighth-bhūmi bodhisattvas can accord with a part of it, and even they cannot accord completely; bodhisattvas above the first bhūmi can accord with some of it, still less completely. Bodhisattvas before the bhūmis and those before awakening can only understand it; making the mind not abide in dharmas is extremely difficult. Talking is talking, doing is doing; without actually cultivating to that level, speech and action can in no way be unified or consistent. Because it has not been realized, it cannot be done; after understanding one can speak of it, but only after realization can one do it—only then can speech and action be unified and coordinated. Therefore, if we meet people whose words and deeds do not match, we should know that they have not actually realized it and are not ones who have realized awakening to this dharma.
Take another example: the shallowest contemplation of illusion after seeing the mind. Without very deep, continuous meditative concentration, there cannot be even a trace of the perception of illusoriness; apart from concentration, such perception cannot possibly arise—shallow concentration will not do, let alone no concentration at all. Many people have "all dharmas are like a dream, like an illusion" hanging on their lips all day, but in fact they cannot manage illusoriness at all; understood illusoriness, after all, cannot truly function. When a matter confronts them, the inner feeling is not the least bit like an illusion, still less like a dream. We should all cultivate in a down-to-earth manner and not play at lip-service Chan. Those slogans, as mottos for one's own practice, are of course fine; as goals to pursue, of course fine—but one must still begin cultivating one step at a time, honestly cultivating merit and meditative concentration, honestly completing the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment. Do not imagine that one can skip cultivating the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment and still complete the various contemplations of the Mahāyāna—that is pure fantasy.
Wisdom without precepts and concentration is all wisdom of mere understanding. The wisdom of understanding is like a worldling who, through study and emotional speculation, can expound the dharma of the bodhisattvas of the ten bhūmis, the wondrous-enlightenment bodhisattvas, even of buddhahood—yet in fact he has never walked a single stretch of the road, yet can tell you the rough way to walk each stretch; to explain in detail is absolutely impossible, unless he fabricates. Whether others, following the path to buddhahood he describes, could walk it quickly—or whether they could walk it at all—is itself a question.
But one who has truly walked that stretch of road need only point the way; others following the pointing can quickly reach the destination, without detours, without circling around, without twists—arriving by a straight line.
19. Practice Must Follow the Proper Sequence; Do Not Cultivate Chaotically
Under normal circumstances, practice must proceed in stages, one stage with one practice content; different levels of cultivation involve different contents of practice. Worldlings have the worldling's method of practice, the worthy have the worthy's method, the noble have the noble's method. A worldling absolutely cannot use the noble one's method of practice—the gap is too great; it simply cannot be applied.
Worldlings can only contemplate the arising, ceasing, change, and impermanence of the five aggregates, contemplate the four noble truths of suffering, its origin, cessation, and the path, or investigate Chan in order to see the mind. Worldlings cannot contemplate the realms realized by eighth-bhūmi bodhisattvas—such as abiding in nothing and attaching to nothing, such as emptying all dharmas, such as not taking up marks and discriminations, such as spontaneous naturalness, and so on.
Worldlings and worthy ones who have awakened are precisely at the stage of cultivating wholesome dharmas with mind and with attachment to marks; although the worthy ones have initially broken through some marks, their level is still very shallow. At this stage, to be non-attached to marks, to not cognize all dharmas in terms of marks—not only is it impossible, it will also breed arrogance and denial of cause and effect. For example, when a worldling sees meat, he should think: this is the flesh of sentient beings; out of compassion one should not eat the flesh of sentient beings—this is the correct way of practice. At this stage one should not view meat as empty, as without mark, as thusness, and then think that eating it is the same as not eating it, and so eat heartily while imagining oneself has entered the realm of thusness—in fact one has entered the realm of greed and desire. This is a wrong method of practice.
For example, when a worldling sees the marks of male and female, he should not say, "I empty out the marks of male and female, viewing them all as the one mark of thusness," and then, feeling in his heart as if he no longer had marks of male and female, associate without restraint—the result, with concentration severely insufficient, is that both go off the rails. This method of practice may also be called perverted grasping of emptiness, and the transgression is great. If a person of the opposite sex makes special demands on you, and you claim to be non-attached to marks, not dwelling on marks, viewing the other as empty, as a manifestation of thusness, and thus "go along with conditions"—the result is that the ten major precepts of the bodhisattva precepts are violated, and a place in hell is surely registered. As for so-called going along with conditions: you must possess the ability to go along with conditions—having realized emptiness within, truly able to achieve an empty mind, no arising mind, no attachment to marks. Without the concentration of first dhyāna and the wisdom of a bodhisattva of the first bhūmi or above, anyone can merely think it and say it, but fundamentally cannot do it. One must still honestly hold the precepts and cultivate, and must not overstep the boundaries and sequence of practice.
A worldling who wishes to repent of the karmic offenses he has committed in the past should practice marked repentance for his evil mind and evil deeds, hoping to change his evil mental conduct. But instead he practices the Mahāyāna formless repentance, forcibly telling himself that all afflictions are bodhi, all are marks of thusness, while being unable to realize the formless; after thus regarding it, he feels at ease. But ease of mind aside, the karmic offenses still exist, not eliminated, and retribution spares no one. To do this is perverted grasping of emptiness, and retribution follows without the slightest deviation.
Our study and practice of Buddhism has its sequence and its method; one must not act recklessly. What a bodhisattva can do, a worldling cannot necessarily do; liberating those of the opposite sex according to conditions is beyond a worldling's capacity—that is the deed of bhūmi-abiding bodhisattvas with profound meditative concentration. If a worldling does it, he will surely go to the three evil destinies.
The Buddha-dharma today is thoroughly chaotic. Most people's manas-consciousness is quite clever; they can understand something of the cultivation realms of bhūmi-abiding bodhisattvas and even of the Buddha, and so hang the dharma that bhūmi-abiding bodhisattvas should cultivate on their lips, thinking they too can do it. Is that possible? You are not Sudhana; you lack Sudhana's roots of goodness and merit, and you refuse to cultivate concentration and contemplative practice in a down-to-earth way.
Our practice should change the habit of lip-service Chan. The Buddha-dharma must be actually cultivated before it can be actually realized; actual cultivation and realization are not slogan-style—there must be practical, feasible, concrete methods of cultivation. If there are none, then it is not actual cultivation, and realization is impossible. Even if we can utter the words the Buddha spoke, it is of no use—merely shouting slogans. Only by taking step after step underfoot is there any hope.
