Severing the View of Self Is No Easy Task

Novice Buddhists all have doubts, and unresolved doubts will hinder progress in the Way. Therefore, one should find ways to resolve these doubts. The first is to seek answers from others to resolve the doubts; the second is, after seeking guidance, to think for oneself, search for evidence, and personally resolve the doubts.

When there are clearly too many doubts, yet one does not resolve them but instead blindly practices concentration to cover them up, how can one then eliminate doubts and attain wisdom?

In an attempt not to regard the body as the self, one imagines regarding inanimate objects as one's own body, engaging in various imaginings, yet never contemplating why the physical body is not the self. In this way, there is still a 'physical body self', and one remains bound and unable to attain liberation. Then, without having eliminated this view of the physical body as self, one imagines that the functions of the conscious mind are not the self. These imaginings are still a craving for pleasant feelings, substituting the current painful feelings with another imagined feeling of pleasure. One fails to carefully contemplate and observe why all feelings are not the self, are not real, and why they are subject to arising, ceasing, change, and impermanence. Instead of contemplating thus rationally, one escapes reality, indulging in enjoyment within imagination, which is also a form of craving and bondage. All subsequent content follows this pattern: imagination and emotional-intellectual understanding, lacking the process and experience of contemplative practice. This is not true cultivation; it is escaping reality.

Those who are good at mathematics and science possess excellent logical thinking skills, which are precisely applicable to the contemplative practice in Buddhism and are quite practical. On the other hand, scholars and literati rely entirely on research and emotional-intellectual understanding when studying Buddhism. They do not understand contemplative practice and do not know how to think rationally. Consequently, because scholars and literati have good comprehension and research skills, along with excellent literary ability, even though they have realized nothing, theoretical articles emerge one after another, dazzling people and leading them astray.

How many people in the world are truly discerning, possessing fiery golden eyes like Sun Wukong, able to see through all disguises and restore the truth of everything? Learning Buddhism and practicing cultivation is not about pursuing some fruition level or seeking some fruit to eat. It is about truly and genuinely attaining the wisdom of liberation, and the mind must reach liberation. This is the fundamental goal and purpose of cultivation. Pursuing fruition levels and empty fame is to prioritize the trivial while neglecting the essential. Originally not liberated, one now adds another fetter, putting another rope around oneself. Why go to such trouble? Pursuing vanity is still about a 'self', isn't it? How can one then eliminate the view of self? In the Dharma-ending age, sentient beings have meager merit, and their cultivation is all upside down. Clearly, the aim is to eradicate the view of self, yet they constantly reinforce it. Clearly, the aim is selflessness, yet everywhere there is still the self. They haven't grasped the essential meaning of cultivation, nor do they wish to. Studying Buddhism is still for the sake of a 'self' – 'I want this, I want that.' This is running counter to the goal. The more one pursues, the faster one runs; the more effort one exerts, the farther one strays from the Way. Eliminating the view of self is truly difficult, not an easy matter. It's not like some people who read a few books, ponder a bit, and then stuff the fruit of selflessness into their pocket. It's still far too early, still a long way off. The eighty-four thousand li Long March has only just begun. Being eager to attain the fruit is still about the 'self', not transcending one's own mind. 'I want to attain the fruit, I want to attain the fruit' – with this 'I', how can one attain the fruit? 'I want to become a sage, I want to become a sage' – with this 'I', how can one be a sage?