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 wish to attain sudden enlightenment, you must lay a solid foundation—the bodhisattva's six perfections are the foundation and the prerequisite. To become a bodhisattva, one must possess the corresponding qualifications of a bodhisattva; one does not become a bodhisattva for no reason at all. Resolving the great matter of birth and death accumulated over countless kalpas is no simple task—it can only be accomplished by paying the corresponding price.

As long as these conditions are met, sudden enlightenment is certain to occur, because enlightenment has no quota limit. Good things in worldly affairs are all limited in number, and perhaps one must even scheme and pull strings to obtain them, but the dharma of enlightenment and seeing the true mind is not like this: 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 and saints, until at last you can enter their company.

Buddhists today have a kind of impatience: without laying foundations, without cultivating the six perfections, they go straight into investigating Chan, demanding immediate enlightenment. Many people's attitude is that they want only the seventh floor, 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 one's mind and nature is also of utmost importance. Yet Buddhists ignore all of this and seek only the final prajñā wisdom—that is impossible to obtain. The attainment of wisdom requires certain prerequisites: the accumulations of merit must be complete, and the precepts must be upheld; only then can meditative concentration be complete, and only in 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 have faith in 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 and nature are all very important; one cannot set aside these conditions and expect to attain the fruit directly. A person heavily defiled by worldly ways 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 has slightly detached itself from worldly dharmas can one realize the Way and enter the ranks of the sages.