Formed Precepts and Formless Precepts

Question: In the Dharma-Ending Age, how should we uphold the precepts? Should beginners in Buddhism uphold the Five Precepts and the Eight Precepts, while long-cultivating bodhisattvas need not uphold form-based precepts and can directly uphold the formless mind-ground precepts of Mahayana bodhisattvas by abandoning form and non-discrimination?

Answer: First, it is necessary to clarify the conceptual connotations of a beginner bodhisattva and a long-cultivating one. At what stage does one belong to the beginner category, and at what stage does one belong to the long-cultivating category? What are their respective characteristics, and what are their mental states like?

Long-cultivating bodhisattvas, having been bodhisattvas for many lives and kalpas, possess the habits of a bodhisattva. Not only are their afflictions inherently very slight or non-existent from birth, and their actions of body, speech, and mind naturally pure without needing instruction, but they also unconsciously and habitually delight in guiding sentient beings toward goodness, not to glorify themselves but solely out of the wish for beings to abandon evil and embrace virtue. Since bodhisattvas inherently have slight or no afflictions from birth, only bodhisattvas on the Bhūmis (grounds) who have taken rebirth can achieve this. Having eradicated afflictions in their past lives, they may occasionally experience very slight afflictions in this life due to the obscuration from the intermediate state between lives; this should be called residual habit-energy of afflictions.

Long-cultivating bodhisattvas, having realized bodhi life after life, upon encountering the Buddha Dharma in this life, will automatically and consciously practice according to the momentum and methods of their past cultivation. They can quickly attain meditative concentration (dhyāna) and soon spontaneously realize the fruits (of the Path) and re-attain the awakening of the mind without great difficulty. After realizing the fruits and awakening the mind, they can quickly reconnect with the level of realization from their past lives; their fruition stage remains that of their past lives, and their meditative concentration remains that of their past lives. If they continue their practice, their progress on the Path is rapid. Regarding guiding sentient beings, they do not need to learn or be conditioned anew; they naturally know how to guide beings without leading them toward greed, hatred, or delusion. They do not indulge the afflictions of beings and naturally become strict teachers, holding disciples to high standards and rigorous requirements.

Only such long-cultivating ones can effectively uphold the Mahayana bodhisattva mind-ground precepts, because their minds are already pure and they will not violate the form-based precepts established by the Buddha. For example, they do not need to deliberately uphold the Five Precepts or Eight Precepts; they naturally do not violate them, and their actions of body, speech, and mind are pure. Because they possess meditative concentration at or above the first dhyāna, their afflictions are eradicated, and their minds are pure. On this basis, they can uphold the formless mind-ground precepts. Their minds are not bound by the forms of the precepts; they can do anything that does not affect the purity of their mind-ground, with the purpose of rescuing sentient beings, not indulging their own greed.

If a bodhisattva still has greed, hatred, or heavy delusion within, they must strictly uphold form-based precepts. The Five Precepts and Eight Precepts must each be strictly upheld without violation. If violated, they must confess and repent with deep remorse, especially the bodhisattva precepts, which must be strictly upheld without the slightest leniency or self-indulgence. Bodhisattvas who have not eradicated any of the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion—especially those who lack even the most basic concentration before reaching the first dhyāna—are not yet qualified to uphold formless precepts and fundamentally cannot uphold them, because their mind-ground is impure. Every thought and impulse corresponds to afflictions. They must uphold form-based precepts well, step by step restraining their minds from transgressing through various external forms. Only after the first dhyāna arises and afflictions are eradicated can they begin to tentatively set aside form and uphold the purity of the mind-ground.

Those who do not possess the characteristics of the above long-cultivating bodhisattvas all belong to beginner bodhisattvas. They should all strictly cultivate and uphold form-based precepts and must not abandon the restraints on bodily and verbal actions, acting arbitrarily and indulging their afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion. Some people, because they cannot abstain from meat, alcohol, or pungent foods and insist on enjoying these gustatory pleasures, make excuses, saying, "I do not grasp at form or discriminate; I uphold the mind-ground precepts. Though I eat pungent foods, my mind does not cling to the form of pungent foods." If that is the case, then why do you not eat feces? Why do you still pick and choose, varying your daily dishes and refusing to eat the same thing repeatedly? Eating the same thing for 365 days a year should not cause boredom; you should know contentment. One set of clothes for each of the four seasons should suffice. When thirsty, why not just drink water? Why be so particular, since it's not entering someone else's mouth or stomach?

Present-day Buddhist practitioners are pitiable, pathetic, and deplorable! Clearly possessing shallow good roots, they presume themselves to be long-cultivating bodhisattvas. Clearly incapable of upholding the Five Precepts, Eight Precepts, or Bodhisattva Precepts, they loudly proclaim upholding formless mind-ground precepts, utterly lacking self-awareness. They are all lofty, grandiose slogan-shouters. If this continues, Buddhism will inevitably decline, and no one will attain accomplishment. The threefold training of precepts, concentration, and wisdom—the three inexhaustible studies proclaimed by the World-Honored One himself—are now to be abandoned, leaving only the study of mere intellectual wisdom. They all speak eloquently and seemingly logically about the Dharma, yet possess no actual cultivation, being all talk and no action. This is the chaotic state of the current Buddhist world, which cannot be rectified due to sentient beings' powerful arrogance.