Buddhist Practice Must Follow the Progressive Stages

Normally, spiritual practice should be undertaken progressively, with distinct practices for each stage; different levels of realization correspond to different practices. Ordinary beings have methods suited to ordinary beings, virtuous individuals have methods for virtuous individuals, and sages have methods for sages. It is absolutely impermissible for an ordinary being to use the practice methods of a sage; the gap is far too vast, rendering such methods utterly ineffective.

Ordinary beings can only contemplate the birth, cessation, change, and impermanence of the five aggregates, contemplate the Four Noble Truths (suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path), or engage in Chan meditation seeking to illuminate the mind. They cannot contemplate the states realized by an eighth-stage bodhisattva, such as abiding nowhere and grasping at nothing, such as the emptiness of all dharmas, such as non-attachment to appearances and non-discrimination, such as spontaneous naturalness, and so forth.

Ordinary beings and virtuous individuals who have attained initial insight are currently in the stage of practicing wholesome dharmas with a mind still attached to appearances. Although virtuous individuals have initially broken through some attachments to appearances, their level is still too shallow. It is impossible for such individuals to be free from attachment to appearances or to cognize all dharmas without relying on appearances. For example, when an ordinary being sees meat, they should think that this is a sentient being, and out of compassion, they should not eat the flesh of sentient beings. This is the correct way to practice. At this point, they should not perceive the meat as empty, as tathatā (suchness), and then think that eating it is the same as not eating it, consequently eating it heartily while feeling they have entered the realm of tathatā. In reality, they have entered the realm of greed; this is an erroneous practice method.

For instance, when ordinary beings perceive male or female appearances, they should not say they empty the appearances of male and female, seeing all as the single appearance of tathatā, and then feel as if they no longer perceive male and female appearances, leading them to interact without restraint. The result is severely insufficient meditative stability, causing each to stray from the path. This practice method can also be called "wrongly grasping emptiness" (惡取空, e qu kong), and its karmic offense is grave.

If an ordinary being wishes to repent of past unwholesome karmic actions, they should practice repentance by visualizing their unwholesome thoughts and actions. However, if they practice formless repentance instead, forcibly convincing themselves that all afflictions are bodhi, are appearances of tathatā, and feel at ease after thinking this, then while the mind may feel at ease, the karmic offenses still remain, and the karmic retribution is inexorable. Frequently practicing like this is "wrongly grasping emptiness."

If a member of the opposite sex makes a special demand of oneself, one might then try not to grasp the appearance, not be attached to the appearance, viewing the other as an emanation of tathatā, and thus "go along with conditions" (隨緣, sui yuan). The result is violating one of the ten major precepts of the Bodhisattva Precepts, guaranteeing registration in hell.

Our spiritual practice has stages and principles; it cannot be done haphazardly. What a bodhisattva can do, an ordinary being cannot. "Going along with conditions" to guide members of the opposite sex is beyond the capability of an ordinary being; it is the work of a bodhisattva on the bhūmis (stages) with profound meditative absorption. If an ordinary being does it, they are bound for the three lower realms.

The state of the Dharma today is utterly chaotic. Most people are very clever with their conscious minds and have some understanding of the practice states of bodhisattvas on the bhūmis and the Buddha. Consequently, they parrot the practices that bodhisattvas on the bhūmis should undertake, demanding that they themselves can also achieve them. Is this possible? You are not Sudhana (善財童子, Shancai Tongzi); you lack Sudhana's roots of goodness and merit, and you refuse to diligently and steadfastly cultivate meditative absorption and contemplation.

We should change our habit of mere lip service in practice. The Buddha Dharma must be practiced genuinely to attain genuine realization. Genuine practice and realization are not slogans; there must be practical, feasible methods for genuine practice. If there are none, then it is not genuine practice and cannot lead to genuine realization. Even if we can recite the words spoken by the Buddha, it is of little use; it is merely shouting slogans. We must implement it step by step underfoot.