The Merit of Gradual Cultivation

The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra expounds the gradual cultivation process from the stage of the ordinary being to the four stages of noble ones. Among them, the initial Śrāvaka-bhūmi is explained in great detail: the yogi's process of cultivation and realization is not rapid but progressive, and only in this way can one gradually attain meditative concentration (samādhi), subdue and transform the various afflictive mental activities of greed, hatred, and delusion, and only then eliminate self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), realize no-self, develop the character of a sage, and carry out the work of a sage. It is not the case that one attains the first fruit while still being an evil person with extremely heavy greed, hatred, and delusion, committing every kind of wrongdoing.

Only through gradual cultivation can afflictions be gradually subdued, one's character and virtue be elevated, and the personality and the character of a bodhisattva be gradually brought to completion.

As for rapid intellectual understanding—quickly learning the final answer—it possesses none of this merit at all. There is no time to subdue afflictions, no way to elevate one's character and virtue. The result is merely gaining a reputation without the substance, which is a loss outweighing the gain. It is just like cooking rice and simmering medicine: rice quickly cooked versus slowly simmered over a gentle fire—their flavor and nutritional value are completely different.

Seeking speed is a severe utilitarian mentality, a mind of seeking and a mind of gaining; it is a worldly mind, a mind of birth and death. It cannot give rise to the mind of no-self, the mind of non-action, the mind of liberation, or the pure mind that seeks nothing. It often runs counter to the Path, and the outcome is the opposite of what is intended.