Wholesome Dharmas Are Not the Buddha-Dharma

Question: Did Lei Feng eliminate the view of self? Was there still a "self" in his mind? Did those who heroically sacrificed themselves for others eliminate the view of self? Was there still a "self" in their minds?

Answer: The Buddha-dharma is the dharma of learning from the Buddha, cultivating practice, and attaining buddhahood. The wholesome dharmas of worldly dharmas and the wholesome dharmas of the human realm are not the Buddha-dharma. Wholesome dharmas also exist among the non-Buddhist paths; as long as one does not understand the principle of liberation, even wholesome dharmas cannot liberate sentient beings—they can only bring the meritorious rewards of humans and gods, and when those rewards are exhausted, one still cannot avoid the cycle of birth and death through the three evil destinies. If one wishes to avoid the cycle of birth and death, one must also engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the birth-and-death bondage of wholesome dharmas, contemplate wholesome dharmas as empty, and not cling to wholesome dharmas in the mind; only then can liberation be attained.

Moreover, the subject and master of attaining liberation is the manas. One must completely eradicate all of the manas' views of self regarding the five-aggregate body—every non-true and non-accordant view—seeing no dharma whatsoever among the five aggregates as self or as real; only then is there hope of attaining liberation. Carrying the view of self while practicing wholesome dharmas is still birth-and-death bondage. One must know that the true mind and self-nature that is truly liberated forever has no wholesome mind and does not practice wholesome dharmas, has no unwholesome mind and does not practice unwholesome dharmas, has no worldly mind and does not practice worldly dharmas; therefore it is not bound by any of these dharmas—only that is a liberated mind. Clinging one-sidedly to wholesome dharmas or to any single dharma, one cannot attain liberation.