Spiritual Practice Must Be Pragmatic

Looking at the practice of the twenty-five sages in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the cultivators of the past were very pragmatic in their practice. They did not study a great deal of theory; once they had slightly familiarized themselves with some theory, they would immediately go into meditative concentration (samādhi) to engage in actual contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). Their cultivation was centered mainly on meditative concentration and contemplative practice; cultivating samādhi and investigating occupied more than eighty percent of their practice. Their cultivation was very solid and grounded, so they were able to quickly realize the principle, attain samādhi, and achieve accomplishment rapidly. Many realized the principle, but few expounded upon it.

People today are just the opposite: they devote over ninety percent of their energy to studying theoretical knowledge. They are strong in reciting and memorizing, yet lack the ability to cultivate independently. They do not like to cultivate samādhi, and their minds are so scattered and chaotic that they cannot develop meditative concentration. Their contemplative practice relies solely on the mind consciousness's emotional thinking and intellectual understanding. They believe that knowing a lot means possessing the Path, and that knowing a similar-sounding answer counts as realization—completely unaware of what the consequences are for being a mere doctrinarian of the school of knowledge and understanding, or for one who speaks of food yet is never filled. Then they write books and establish doctrines, widely gathering disciples, giving not the slightest consideration to whether they might mislead others and lead sentient beings astray. This is the result of the restless minds and shallow thinking of sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age. Looking around, one sees nothing but eloquent talkers who expound the principle, and hardly ever a practitioner of the Path who has realized it. The less merit sentient beings possess, the more severe these phenomena become. Speaking of these matters too much invites hatred and curses. To restore the ancient ways and follow the footsteps of the ancient sages in cultivation is extremely, extremely difficult. Few people can recognize that Buddhism faces a great crisis, or how severe these unhealthy phenomena are.