How Are Afflictions Subdued and Eradicated?

When a affliction arises in one's own mind, upon noticing it one recalls the dharma teachings one has learned—that all people, matters, and things are empty—and feels that one should not have given rise to this affliction, and so one pinches it out, becoming as if the affliction had never arisen just now. Is this the state of eradicating afflictions? Not at all. This is the state of "awakening the moment a thought arises, and the thought vanishes upon awakening," but before the awakening, the thought has after all already arisen and appeared, and it cannot be treated as never having appeared.

Once a thought has come out, there is an affliction; when there is an affliction, it is not the state of eradicating afflictions. No matter what happens afterward, the affliction has after all appeared, which proves that the manas does have afflictions, and they have also manifested. Although the mind consciousness is later in arising and later in awakening, the manas has afflictions innately and is non-awakened. And the afflictions of the manas cannot always rely on the mind consciousness to be discovered and managed, because first, the mind consciousness may be too late to stop the affliction, thus forming afflictive karmic actions and leaving behind karmic seeds; second, the mind consciousness cannot operate together with the manas at every moment and everywhere, nor can it always be clear and awake—it also has times of being weak, muddled, and absent, in which case there is no way to discover and manage the manas's afflictions.

Pinching off afflictions the moment they arise—this is what one should do in the initial stage of practice. After meditative concentration (samādhi) is attained, one will gradually transition to having fewer thoughts and naturally not giving rise to afflictions, gradually subduing and suppressing afflictions. Forcibly pinching off thoughts to subdue afflictions is very difficult; in fact, in the end, whether it is suppressing afflictions or eradicating them, one need not counteract them this way—once meditative concentration appears, afflictions naturally do not arise. In meditative concentration, afflictions naturally gradually become fewer and lighter, and then they are subdued, and finally they are naturally eradicated within meditative concentration. Those who have meditative concentration can understand this principle. For those whose meditative concentration has arisen and become firm, think about it: have you ever especially counteracted your afflictions? Do they not naturally cease to appear within meditative concentration? Those without meditative concentration, due to insufficient power of concentration, have no choice but to carry on inner dialogue, with the mind consciousness reasoning with the manas. For those with meditative concentration, the manas naturally follows the teachings and naturally receives perfuming.

For example, when the qi is full, one does not think of food—is not wanting to eat a result achieved through counteraction, or a naturally occurring result? Forcibly not wanting to eat or eating less is very difficult and distressing, but when one has cultivated concentration to the point that the qi in the body is full, the stomach is always filled with qi, and one naturally does not feel hunger. When essence is full, one does not think of lust—is this a result achieved through counteraction, or a naturally occurring result? This too is that when one has cultivated concentration to the point that the essence in the body is full, there is naturally no thought of lust; forcible restraint is very difficult. When spirit is full, one does not think of sleep—is this a result achieved through counteraction, or a naturally occurring result? Likewise, this is when one has cultivated concentration until the spirit is full, and there is no need for sleep to restore one's vitality—one is naturally not sleepy; forcibly not sleeping would be unbearable for the body. The subduing and eradication of other afflictions are all similar to this.

Only laymen in practice, at the stage before entering the gate, use theory to counteract and suppress afflictions; having suppressed them for a while, they claim they have eradicated afflictions, or attained realization of the fruits, or seen the mind (enlightenment)—in fact they have not yet entered the gate of practice. The merit of meditative concentration is precisely to subdue and eradicate afflictions. Without meditative concentration, no matter how complete the theory, there is nothing one can do about afflictions—each thing subdues another; meditative concentration subdues afflictions. Once afflictions are subdued, karmic obstructions and the obstructions to seeing the Path are subdued; only without obstructions can one see the Path. Therefore, without eradicating afflictions, it is impossible to attain bodhi.

Practice is a process of the self's dissolution. As long as the direction of practice is correct and the method appropriate, and one diligently applies effort to the Path, the self will dissolve bit by bit, and of course the afflictions related to the self will also dissolve bit by bit along with it, and before one knows it, the afflictions are gone. After practicing for a period of time, looking back, one discovers that one has changed. Where is there any principle of using theory to counteract afflictions, of afflictions poking their heads out and then being pushed back in?