Practice Must Follow Stages

Under normal circumstances, practice should proceed step by step, with each stage having its own content of practice; when the levels of practice differ, the content of practice also differs. Ordinary beings have the practice methods of ordinary beings, sages have the practice methods of sages, and noble ones have the practice methods of noble ones. An ordinary being absolutely must not use the practice methods of a noble one—the gap is too great, and one simply cannot apply any effort with them.

Ordinary beings can only contemplate the arising, ceasing, change, and impermanence of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), contemplate the Four Noble Truths of suffering, its origin, cessation, and the path, or engage in Chan investigation in order to see the mind. Ordinary beings cannot contemplate the states realized by bodhisattvas of the eighth bhūmi, such as abiding nowhere and attaching to nothing, such as emptying all dharmas, such as not grasping at marks or discriminating, such as acting spontaneously and naturally, and so on.

Ordinary beings and sages who have awakened are still at the stage of practicing wholesome dharmas with a deliberate mind and attachment to marks. Although sages have already initially broken through some marks, their level is still very shallow. At this stage, to not attach to marks and not cognize all dharmas in terms of marks—not only is this impossible to achieve, it will also lead to arrogance and to denying cause and effect. For example, when an ordinary being sees meat, one should think: this is the flesh of sentient beings; out of compassion, one should not eat the flesh of sentient beings—this is the correct way of practice. At this stage one should not view meat as empty, as markless, as suchness (tathatā), and then think that eating it is the same as not eating it, and so eat it in big mouthfuls while feeling that one has entered the realm of suchness; in fact one has entered the realm of greed and craving. This is a wrong method of practice.

For example, when an ordinary being sees the marks of male and female, one should not say, "I will empty out the marks of male and female and view them all as the single mark of suchness," and then, feeling in one's mind that one no longer has any marks of male and female, associate with others without any scruples—with the result that, due to severely insufficient meditative concentration, both parties go off the rails. This method of practice can also be called wrongly grasping emptiness, and the offense is very grave. If a person of the opposite sex makes special demands on you, and you insist on not grasping at marks, not attaching to marks, viewing the other person as empty, as a manifestation of suchness, and thus "go along with conditions"—as a result, you violate the ten major precepts of the bodhisattva precepts, and then a place in hell is certainly reserved for you. As for so-called "going along with conditions," you must possess the capability to go along with conditions: your mind must have realized emptiness, and you must genuinely be able to keep the mind empty, free of arising thoughts and unattached to marks. Without the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna and the wisdom of a bodhisattva at the first bhūmi or above, for anyone else it is merely a matter of thinking about it and talking about it—it simply cannot be done. One must still honestly uphold the precepts and practice, and must not overstep the boundaries and sequence of practice.

When an ordinary being wishes to repent of the unwholesome karma created in the past, one should perform repentance with marks (taking a visible object of repentance) over one's unwholesome thoughts and unwholesome deeds, in hopes of changing one's unwholesome mental conduct. Yet instead one practices the Mahāyāna markless repentance, forcibly convincing oneself that all afflictions are bodhi, that all are the mark of suchness, while being unable to realize the markless state; after convincing oneself this way, one feels at ease. But ease of mind is one thing—the unwholesome karma still exists and has not been eliminated, and karmic retribution shows no mercy. To do this is wrongly grasping emptiness, and the retribution will not miss by the slightest degree.

Our study of Buddhism and practice has its sequence and its method; one must not act recklessly. What a bodhisattva can do, an ordinary being may not necessarily be able to do. Guiding those of the opposite sex according to conditions is beyond the capability of ordinary beings—that is the conduct of bodhisattvas on the bhūmis with profound dhyāna; if ordinary beings do it, they will surely fall into the three evil destinies.

Buddhadharma today is simply in utter chaos. Most people's conscious minds are quite clever, and they can understand something of the practice realms of bodhisattvas on the bhūmis and of the Buddha; so they hang the dharmas that bodhisattvas on the bhūmis should practice on their lips, thinking they too can accomplish them. Is this possible? You are not Sudhana (Shancai Tongzi); you lack Sudhana's wholesome roots and merit, and you are unwilling to diligently cultivate concentration and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā).

We practitioners should change our habit of "Chan on the lips." Buddhadharma must be actually practiced before it can be actually realized; actual practice and actual realization are not mere slogans. There must be concrete, practical, feasible methods of actual practice; if there are none, then it is not actual practice, and realization is impossible. Even if we can speak the words the Buddha spoke, it is of no use—it is just shouting slogans. Only by taking each step underfoot, one at a time, can there be any hope.