The Six Pāramitās Are the Foundation of Chan Meditation

The prerequisite for sudden enlightenment is gradual cultivation. Anyone who attains sudden enlightenment must go through a process of gradual cultivation, whether long or short; without gradual cultivation, there is no sudden enlightenment. If you want sudden enlightenment, you must lay a solid foundation—the bodhisattva's six perfections are the foundation and the conditions. If you want to become a bodhisattva, you must possess the corresponding qualifications of a bodhisattva; one does not become a bodhisattva without cause. Resolving the great matter of birth and death accumulated over countless kalpas is not a simple matter; it can only be accomplished by paying a corresponding price.

As long as these conditions are fulfilled, sudden enlightenment is certain, because enlightenment has no quota. Good things in worldly affairs are limited in number, and perhaps one even needs to scheme and pull strings to obtain them, but the dharma of enlightenment—seeing the mind—does not work that way. Whoever meets the conditions can awaken to the Way, and no one else can prevent it. Therefore, you must cultivate yourself well and perfect yourself, drawing ever closer to the sages, until finally you can enter the company of the sages.

Buddhist practitioners today have an impatient mentality: they do not lay foundations, do not cultivate the six perfections, but directly engage in Chan investigation, wanting enlightenment immediately. Many people's attitude is to want only the seventh floor of the building, without the first and second floors. The World-Honored One repeatedly taught the bodhisattva's six perfections; merit and precepts are both extremely important, and the taming of the mind's nature is also extremely important. Yet practitioners ignore all of this and seek only the final prajñā wisdom—this is impossible to obtain. The acquisition of wisdom requires certain prerequisites: the resources of merit must be complete, and the precepts must be upheld. Only then can meditative concentration (samādhi) be complete, and only at the end can wisdom be born.

We cannot apply ourselves only in principle-practice and wisdom-practice while neglecting the foundational merit and precepts; such cultivation cannot lead to accomplishment. We must believe and accept the Buddha's words; whatever the Buddha tells us to do, we must strive to accomplish. Taking refuge, receiving precepts, keeping precepts, and taming the mind's nature are all very important; one cannot set aside these conditions and expect to attain the fruit directly. A person heavily defiled by worldly contamination cannot possibly become a sage. The gap between a practitioner and a sage must not be too great; therefore, the five precepts, the eight precepts of fasting, and the bodhisattva precepts should all be upheld. Only when the mind slightly detaches from worldly dharmas can one realize the Way and enter the ranks of the sages.