Buddhist Scriptures and Hinayana Treatises

For Hīnayāna practice, one should still take the Āgama sūtras taught by the Buddha—especially the Saṃyuktāgama—as the standard. The treatises written by others all contain more or less incorrect points, and their details are inconsistent with what the Buddha taught. Even the treatises composed by arhats of the fourth fruit deviate somewhat from the Buddha's teachings, and one must not accept and believe them entirely.

The errors and disputes found in those Hīnayāna treatises are even more numerous than the disputes among the ancient Yogācāra scholars. Such a simple dharma, yet people still argue back and forth with differing opinions—this shows that practicing the Buddha-dharma is not easy. Because the practice levels of the Hīnayāna path of liberation are relatively low, there are many people who write books and compose treatises, and the content is rather jumbled, with quite a few authors each saying things their own way. All of this is brought about by the karma of sentient beings in the Sahā world; such situations do not exist in other worlds.

The sūtras say that after attaining the first fruit, one must develop the meditative concentration (samādhi) of the first dhyāna before one can sequentially eradicate afflictions such as greed, anger, and delusion, and only afterward can one become an arhat liberated by wisdom. Yet those Hīnayāna treatises say that an arhat liberated by wisdom need not have the first dhyāna, nor even preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi). Claiming that one can eradicate afflictions and attain the fourth fruit without cultivating any meditative concentration at all is sheer fantasy.

If in this life we do not diligently cultivate, lay a solid foundation, and achieve some accomplishment, then in future lives, as the Buddha-dharma evolves into ever greater confusion, it will be nearly impossible to distinguish right from wrong, and we could easily fall into the pits set by the māra king and be unable to get out. The māra king's tricks are extremely numerous, impossible to guard against completely. Therefore, we should still make the vow to take refuge in the Three Jewels, rely on the Buddha's power for protection and rescue, and walk the correct path of liberation. In this world, māra obstructions are everywhere; if one's merit is even slightly lacking, one gets obstructed—oneself unaware, and even if aware, powerless to break free. Cultivating more merit, strengthening the power of meditative concentration, and subduing karmic obstructions is the most crucial thing. Then, when karmic obstructions manifest, one will have the ability to break through them.