Why Is Excluding Those Who Differ from Oneself a Characteristic of the Ordinary Nature of Worldlings (Pṛthagjana)?

Because such a person has "self" in mind, has "others," has the four marks, has matters and principles—the mind is not empty at all, entirely filled with self-nature (the nature of self-clinging). Such a person is not good at cultivation. If they further resort to unreasonable means, or even stop at nothing, always trying to trample others underfoot, then such a person is finished—not an ordinary worldling (pṛthagjana) in the usual sense, and unable to eliminate self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) and realize the fruits.

Excluding and eliminating those who differ from oneself belongs to bodily, verbal, and mental actions—it is improper bodily, verbal, and mental action. One who has eliminated self-view will no longer act this way, because at the initial stage there is already no-self, the mind accords with no-self, and one no longer creates coarse, heavy unwholesome karmic actions. Therefore, to judge whether a person has realized the fruit and whether they possess the Path, one must still judge from the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the seventh consciousness—the more specific, the better. Apart from this, there is no other criterion for judgment. One cannot judge the seventh consciousness's fruit realization and cultivation from the mental activities of the eighth consciousness, nor can one judge only from what is spoken. Actions best reveal a person's realization and cultivation; faking it in speech is the easiest—there are countless instances of using false words to deceive and mislead others. Although sometimes bodily actions can also be faked, the scope is too limited and cannot be sustained.

The nature of an ordinary worldling also manifests in desires. Some people, as they study Buddhism, have ever-growing desires: they want to realize the fruit and awaken to the true mind as quickly as possible, by any means whatsoever, wanting any fruit at all—even a fake fruit is fine—as long as they have the reputation of having realized the fruit and awakened to the true mind. Once they gain that reputation, they directly become superior to others, and all benefits will come to them. Their desires are enormous; it does not matter through what channel they obtain the fruit—they will exhaust every means to obtain it. This is a very strange kind of thinking. Having this very thought is precisely the strongest and most solidified "self"—how could such a person still hope to eliminate self-view and realize the fruit? They treat the Buddha-dharma as a tool for gaining worldly fame and profit, their hearts blinded by greed. Blinded by profit, they can hardly walk out of darkness and saṃsāra. In short, the worldling nature of sentient beings is inexhaustible to describe, and one can only sigh in regret. That such unawakened beings remain in the cycle of rebirth is only to be expected—pitiable people must have hateful aspects about them.