Manifestations of Sentient Beings' Ignorance Disease

The ignorance of sentient beings is the most fundamental mental illness — it is the inverted views and deluded thinking of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. We will not speak of the mental illnesses of the general public, but only of the mental illnesses of Buddhist practitioners. What are the manifestations of the mental illnesses of Buddhist practitioners? What is their fundamental source?

The mental illness of Buddhist practitioners manifests in the highlighting of the self, fundamentally arising from the deeply entrenched "I" — that intense ego. To illustrate how severe the "I" of sentient beings is: back when going into business and starting enterprises first became popular, society suddenly produced countless general managers and chairmen of the board — too many to count. The people at the Industrial and Commercial Bureau who processed business licenses would say: "Your company has only two or three people; just write 'manager' as the title — it doesn't qualify as a general manager or chairman of the board." Yet the streets were still full of general managers. If a rock fell from the sky, it could instantly crush twenty or thirty general managers and several chairmen of the board.

Now, within the ranks of Buddhist practitioners, the manifestation of the beings' "I" is just the same — they do whatever it takes to make themselves stand out as different from others. There are countless good spiritual friends (kalyāṇamitras), enlightened bodhisattvas, returning bodhisattvas, and bodhisattvas of the stages of equanimity and wondrous awakening, along with piles of "masters" — great sages fill the whole world. If a large rock fell from the sky, it would instantly crush about twenty enlightened bodhisattvas, about ten good spiritual friends, about five bodhisattvas of the stages of equanimity and wondrous awakening, and three or more "masters." It would be just as well if they were all crushed to death — the Saha world has long been overcrowded with sages. Let these sages hurry off to other Buddha-lands to deliver sentient beings; the Saha world has no need for so many of them. Gathered together, they only fight with one another. If they won't leave, they should be forced out.

If one is fortunate enough to encounter a good spiritual friend of the mentally ill variety, one can be guided to enlightenment within a few days, at most not exceeding a month. After being "enlightened" for three to five days, or a few months, one will start considering organizing a group to teach the Dharma and deliver sentient beings. Sages reproduce so quickly that the Saha world will soon have no sentient beings left to deliver — Śākyamuni Buddha could completely take a rest and save Himself some worry. Then these great sages can spread out to other worlds to help the other Buddhas deliver sentient beings, letting the Buddhas of the ten directions also take a rest and save themselves some worry.

From now on, whenever you encounter some good spiritual friend, some bodhisattva of the stages of equanimity and wondrous awakening, some returning one, some arhat, some "master" or the like, you should advise them to disperse as much as possible and go to places without good spiritual friends or sages to deliver sentient beings, instead of all crowding into the tiny Saha world making a noisy racket. The Saha world is already almost entirely sages; there are not many sentient beings left to deliver — do not waste the talents and virtues of the sages. From now on, if anyone tells you that they have attained enlightenment and realized the fruits of the path and the like, you can tell them that this is no longer anything remarkable — everywhere there are people realizing the fruits and attaining enlightenment, so what is there to be surprised about or to boast of? Everywhere there are good spiritual friends teaching the Dharma and delivering sentient beings, which is likewise nothing strange or worth boasting about.

Yet there is one strange thing I cannot figure out: as the Saha world produces more and more sages, why do natural disasters and man-made calamities also increase accordingly? Could it be that these sages are the ones bringing the natural disasters and man-made calamities? I truly cannot figure it out! >> Why do sages reproduce so quickly, like breeding cockroaches? Because sentient beings are simply too ignorant and foolish — excessively ignorant, excessively foolish, excessively egocentric, and too full of craving for things. They do not study the Buddhist sutras, they refuse the guiding beacon of light, and they would rather be blind cats. With five black cloths covering their eyes, they bump into someone and immediately acknowledge them as a good spiritual friend and are led away — whatever that person says goes. It is as if they have been deeply hypnotized: unable to use their own brains, they accept wholesale whatever is indoctrinated into them.

These so-called good spiritual friends are even more formidable than the Buddha Himself, manipulating sentient beings until they prostrate themselves completely. Thus enlightenment comes extremely quickly, far surpassing the Buddha's level of guidance. If the Buddha were to come to this world, He could not lead more than a few people to enlightenment, whereas these good spiritual friends can turn the difficult into the easy — isn't that strange?

Why do those mentally ill beings, after their "enlightenment," not have the slightest doubt that they have been deceived? Ignorance is one aspect, but the biggest aspect is that their self-nature is too strong. As soon as they have the empty title of "enlightened," they immediately feel themselves grow tall and mighty, superior to everyone else, with a strong sense of satisfaction in their minds. Yet all these feelings are an extremely severe flooding of the self-nature, of which they themselves are completely unaware. To put it crudely: fools.