Reasons for Being Unable to Eliminate Self-View (ātma-dṛṣṭi)

Cultivation first requires negating and breaking through the functions and activities of the physical body and the five aggregates (pañcaskandha); only afterward is it possible to find the true person behind the five aggregates. How unreal and masterless is this physical body? The body is composed of the four great elements, controlled and manipulated by them. If you wish to manipulate the four great elements, it is truly not easy—it takes a great deal of trouble, and even then you may not succeed. For example, in summer when the heat is intense and the whole body streams with sweat, some people even develop eczema; this is an imbalance of the fire element, water element, and earth element. Then you turn on the air conditioner to let in some breeze, but the body catches a chill and feels unwell—this is an imbalance of the wind element. A body of discordant four great elements is truly vexing. As long as there is a physical body, the four great elements will forever manipulate you. The Buddha said the four great elements are like four poisonous snakes, very hard to serve; the moment you are careless, the poisonous snakes will harm you. Such a physical body has not the slightest autonomy—could it be the true person? Could it be the self?

The self that is unborn and imperishable, life after life, should be free and at ease, possessing autonomy; it should be impervious to all poisons; it should be able to master everything without being mastered by anything. Who among the wise would recognize such a physical body as the self or as belonging to self? Root it out of your own mind as early as possible, negate it, and then go seek a new master to take refuge in.

If, faced with such an obvious and clear principle, you still cannot confirm it within your own mind, it shows that your cultivation is still lacking. What exactly is lacking? Merit, wisdom, meditative concentration (samādhi), precepts, and so on—perfect each of these as quickly as you can; do not be lazy and keep procrastinating.

When the principle that the physical body is not the self and the five aggregates are without a self has become very clear, you ought to bravely take it upon yourself. The notion of self held since beginningless kalpas should be updated and replaced—the old departing, the new arriving, completely renewed. Yet this notion of self seems to be stuck fast; no matter what you say, it will not budge, and even advancing one small step is very difficult. This is obstruction, like a mountain lying across your path that you cannot get over. To topple this mountain requires the harmony of many forces: your own power and the power of others. Your own power includes the power of precepts, the power of samādhi, the power of wisdom (prajñā-bala), the power of merit, and the power of wholesome karma. The power of others includes, first, the blessing power of the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and dharma-protecting deities; second, the impetus of fellow practitioners and spiritual friends; and third, the power of other wholesome conditions. With self-power as the mainstay and the power of others as support, only when self-power is complete can the power of others accomplish anything.

For example, a person pushing a cart up a slope suddenly encounters a large boulder blocking the way ahead. Unable to move forward and get past the boulder by his own strength, no matter how hard he strains, he simply cannot push the cart. At this point, the harmony of many forces is needed. Self-power lies in one's physical strength, perseverance, skillful effort, decision-making ability, and so on. The power of others is this: because of the wholesome connections one formed in the past and the wholesome karma one planted, one happens upon a passerby who has an affinity with you and is willing to help you push the cart together. If two people cannot push it, and then another passerby happens along who is also willing to lend a hand, with the strength of three people the boulder is successfully surmounted, and you continue onward.

If in the past you never formed wholesome connections by helping others, never planted seeds of merit and wholesome karma, then when you encounter resistance you will be isolated and without aid, with no external force or power of others to help you. Perhaps you will not even meet anyone passing by, and no one will know you are in difficulty. Even if someone passes by, lacking affinity and merit, no one will be willing to reach out and save you.

On the path of learning Buddhism, accumulating merit and forming wholesome connections is extremely important, because the path to buddhahood requires a great many helpers; the strength of a single person alone cannot accomplish it. Isolated and without aid, how could one cross the cultivation time-span of three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas? If you refuse even the small effort of a raised hand, merit will not be accumulated, wholesome connections will not be formed, seeds will not be planted, and relying on your own strength alone, you will be unable to surmount any obstacle—left only with sighs and sorrow. If you do not help others, how can you expect help from heaven?