The Differences Between Ancient and Modern Buddhist Practitioners

In ancient times, people possessed superior spiritual faculties; their minds were simple and pragmatic, willing to pay the price for spiritual practice. They genuinely cultivated and truly acted, disregarding personal gain, able to see through and let go. Their afflictions were slight, greed was minimal, and their renunciation was strong. Modern people are restless and ungrounded, their eyes set too high but their hands too low, empty in belly yet lofty in mind. Their talk surpasses their thought; they rely entirely on the intellect for broad learning and superficial understanding, unable to delve deeply into contemplation in meditative concentration. They float on the surface of consciousness, unable to penetrate its depths. The profound investigation by the mind-root and the intellectual understanding by the consciousness are as different as heaven and earth. Because they understand much intellectually, their arrogance blazes fiercely, becoming the heaviest obstacle.

Ancient people had a solid foundation in the Dharma, excelling in subtle practices. Modern people today disregard the fundamental Dharma, considering the Four Noble Truths optional. They crave the lofty and distant, greedily pursuing the grand while discarding the small. Lacking foundational practice, they cannot subdue their afflictions, nor transform their mental and behavioral tendencies. Their actions of body, speech, and mind are heavily burdened by greed, hatred, delusion, and afflictions, causing karmic obstacles to grow heavier rather than lighter. Thus, their study of Buddhism yields no progress. Modern people look down upon non-Buddhists, yet in every aspect except Buddhist knowledge, they fall short of even half the merit of non-Buddhists. Those non-Buddhists possess renunciation, their minds are honest and simple, their meditative concentration profound, their afflictions extremely slight. They are strict with themselves; their moral character and other qualities surpass those of modern Buddhist practitioners in every way.

Non-Buddhists merely lack exposure to the true Dharma of liberation. Once they encounter it, they may immediately attain the fruition from the first stage up to the fourth. Modern people may engage with the Dharma for a lifetime yet not even glimpse the shadow of the first fruition (except for those who falsely claim attainment) — how can they compare to non-Buddhists? Non-Buddhists only lack sufficient wisdom and have not encountered the corresponding Dharma; they are just that close to attaining fruition and liberation. Many non-Buddhists, upon encountering the Buddha-Dharma and hearing the Buddha's teaching, instantly had their hair fall out and robes appear, their afflictions completely severed. In past eras, despite such harsh living conditions, non-Buddhists paid no heed, sitting in meditation deep in mountains and forests. When they encountered the Buddha expounding the Dharma, tens of thousands or even more followed the Buddha to renounce the household life and cultivate the path, with an extremely high number attaining fruition.

Yet we, exposed to the Dharma year after year, even after decades, cannot cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path. We lack even the most basic Kāmāvacara concentration (Desire Realm Samadhi). Our minds are full of the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; conflicts of self and others, right and wrong, persist daily. We refuse to endure the slightest hardship, unwilling to relinquish the smallest enjoyment, clinging tightly to wealth, sensual pleasures, fame, food, and sleep. The theories from our mouths can reach the heavens, yet the actions of our bodies draw near the evil destinies. If so-called Mahayana Buddhists are all like this, they are defiling the Mahayana Dharma, destroying the Mahayana Dharma. Few are those who awaken to this reality.