The Practice of the Four Right Efforts (I)

Original text:如是于四念住串习行故。已能除遣粗粗颠倒。已能了达善不善法。从此无间于诸未生恶不善法为不生故。于诸已生恶不善法为令断故。于其未生一切善法为令生故。于其已生一切善法为欲令住令不忘失。广说如前。乃至摄心持心。

Explanation: Because of repeatedly cultivating contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the four foundations of mindfulness, one has already been able to eliminate the coarsest inversions. Formerly, one took the body as self, reckoned it pure, and craved attachment to it; now one knows the body is impure and without self. Formerly, one took suffering as bliss and indulged in feelings; now one knows all feeling is suffering. Formerly, one considered the mind to be continuous and permanent; now one knows the mind is impermanent. Formerly, one reckoned the five aggregates and worldly dharmas as self; now one knows there is no self. Having turned the inverted views right side up, the mind is no longer inverted.

After cultivating the four foundations of mindfulness, one can thoroughly understand what wholesome dharmas are and what unwholesome dharmas are, and from this point one enters without interruption into the cultivation of the four right efforts. One can prevent those evil and unwholesome dharmas that have not yet arisen from arising; one can eliminate those evil and unwholesome dharmas that have already arisen; one can bring forth wholesome dharmas that have not yet arisen; and one can sustain those wholesome dharmas that have already arisen, never forgetting or losing them. Elaborated as stated previously. Even to the point of gathering and sustaining the mind.

Original text:云何名为恶不善法。谓欲缠染污身语意业。是身语意恶行所摄。及能起彼所有烦恼。若未和合。未现在前。说名未生。若已和合。已现在前。说名已生。

Explanation: What is meant by evil and unwholesome dharmas? Evil and unwholesome dharmas are bodily, verbal, and mental actions entangled and defiled by craving, subsumed under evil bodily, verbal, and mental actions, together with all the afflictions capable of giving rise to them and to the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses. If the evil and unwholesome actions of body, speech, and mind have not yet been carried out, and the evil and unwholesome actions have not yet appeared, this is called evil and unwholesome actions that have not yet arisen. If the evil and unwholesome actions of body, speech, and mind have already arisen in combination, and the evil and unwholesome actions have already appeared, this is called evil and unwholesome actions that have already arisen.

"Arising in combination" means that afflictions combine with conditions: when afflictions encounter conditions, evil and unwholesome karmic actions appear; when afflictions do not encounter conditions, they merely lie dormant, and evil and unwholesome karmic actions do not appear.

Evil actions and unwholesome actions are slightly different; there is a distinction in the degree of severity of the afflictions. Evil actions indicate afflictions that are relatively heavy and coarse, while unwholesome actions indicate afflictions that are somewhat lighter, lying between evil and wholesome. Unwholesome actions encompass a broader range, whereas evil refers to actions that are unbearable to others.

From the cultivation of the four right efforts, it can be seen that in the actual process of practice, afflictions will certainly be continuously lightened and eliminated, and the mind will certainly become gradually purified. Only when the purity reaches a certain degree can one be transformed from the inside out—like a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate—turning from an ordinary being into a sage. If the coarse afflictions (dausthulya) are not eliminated, one remains a bound ordinary being (pṛthagjana).