Buddhist Practitioners Should Skillfully Utilize Deluded Thoughts

In the process of learning Buddhism, many people constantly struggle with delusive thoughts, believing that eliminating them will enable them to realize the Dharma. Yet, even after battling delusive thoughts for a hundred years and subduing them, they still fail to understand the Dharma, and no wisdom arises, leaving them unable to attain liberation.

The correct method of practice is to redirect the attention of the mental faculty toward contemplating the Dharma. Delusive thoughts will naturally diminish as one shifts their focus and changes the object of clinging. By doing so, practice can succeed swiftly. Continuously fixating on and wrestling with delusive thoughts is of no benefit to Buddhist practice or the attainment of wisdom. The most direct approach is to transform the object to which the mind clings—shifting from clinging to worldly phenomena to clinging to the Dharma, transferring attachment from worldly matters to the Dharma, redirecting one’s interests, changing the objects of craving, and converting worldly cleverness and intellectual cunning into the wisdom of contemplating the Dharma. In this way, concentration and wisdom will arise immediately, and there would be no fear of failing to realize the Way. Those skilled in learning Buddhism should know how to utilize delusive thoughts wisely—not by suppressing them, but by transforming them into thoughts that contemplate the Dharma, ensuring that every thought is directed toward the Dharma. When every thought is imbued with the Dharma, concentration and wisdom are naturally accomplished.

If one battles delusive thoughts day after day, it is no different from the practice of non-Buddhist practitioners. Moreover, it cannot compare to the profound meditative states attained by those practitioners. In the past, non-Buddhist practitioners cultivated concentration and achieved the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, even attaining the five supernatural powers. Yet, because they had not eradicated the view of self, they still regarded some phenomenon within the five aggregates and eighteen elements as a real, substantial "self." Not a shred of their erroneous and inverted views was eliminated. Relying on such wrong views, they inevitably remained bound to the cycle of birth and death.

Even if they could enter samādhi for as long as eighty thousand kalpas, upon emerging from that state, they would still fall into the three lower realms and remain subject to the suffering of birth and death. Sentient beings create karmas and cycle through birth and death precisely because of their erroneous view of self. If the view of self is eradicated, the bonds that bind them are loosened, ensuring they will not fall into the three lower realms. In practice, eliminating erroneous views and attaining correct knowledge and views is crucial. Otherwise, even after practicing for countless kalpas, one would still tread a wrong path, unable to return to the right path or attain liberation.

As long as one possesses sufficient merit, sets the right goal, and employs appropriate methods, attaining enlightenment is not an exceedingly difficult task. Each person’s aptitude differs, and thus their methods of practice vary. Those who, from a young age, enjoy tranquility, prefer solitude, and have few interests and hobbies tend to develop concentration more quickly. Even without formal sitting meditation, their minds cling less, and their energy remains focused. Upon encountering the Dharma, they can wholeheartedly contemplate it and immerse themselves deeply in it. After being exposed to the correct knowledge and views of the Dharma for a period of time, they gain correct understanding, learn the method of investigating Chan, and spontaneously begin to practice it. Conversely, some people may sit in meditation for ten or twenty years yet remain unable to focus their minds on contemplating the Dharma, fail to understand how to observe and practice it, and cannot discern the correctness, falsity, or levels of the teachings.