The Practice of the Four Right Efforts (8)

Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, Volume 29 (8)

Original text:如是广辨四正断已。复云何知此中略义。谓为显示于黑白品舍取事中。增上意乐圆满。及加行圆满。是故宣说四种正断。当知此中。由生欲故。增上意乐圆满。由自策励。发勤精进。策心持心故。加行圆满。

Explanation: After having extensively discussed the four right efforts (samyak-prahāṇa), how can one know the essential meaning contained therein? The essential meaning of the four right efforts is to demonstrate that, in the process of abandoning and taking up the black and white categories of wholesome and unwholesome things, the intensified aspiration (adhimātra-āśaya) has been perfected, and the preparatory practice of abandoning evil and increasing goodness has also been perfected; therefore the four right efforts should be taught. You should know that in the practice of the four right efforts, because the desire to abandon evil and increase goodness has already arisen in the mind, the intensified aspiration is perfected; and because one can spur oneself on with one's own mind, thereby giving rise to diligent and vigorous effort, constantly exhorting and sustaining the mind, the preparatory practice is perfected.

Before reaching the four right efforts, in the practice of the four right strivings, one has not yet given rise to a strong desire, so the intensified aspiration is not yet perfected, and the four right efforts do not manifest; the exhortation and encouragement of oneself is not yet strong enough, and the force of spurring and driving the mind is not yet great enough, so the four right efforts do not manifest. Only when the aspiration and the exhortation are both perfected and complete do the four right efforts appear, and at that point the four right strivings have been fully cultivated.

Original text:修瑜伽师。唯有尔所正应作事。谓为断灭所应断事。及为获得所应得事。先当生起希愿乐欲。为断诸缠。复应时时正勤修习止举舍相。为断诸缠及随眠故。更应修集对治善法。为现如是一切所作。说四正胜及四正断。是名略义。

Explanation: For a yogi engaged in practice, only these things are what he should properly do: in order to extinguish those things that should be abandoned, and to obtain those things that should be obtained, he should first give rise to longing, aspiration, and desire. In order to sever the entanglements of afflictions, he should also at all times diligently and rightly cultivate the mark of tranquility (śamatha, meditative concentration), the mark of uplift (exhorting one's own mind), and the mark of equanimity (abandoning evil and unwholesome dharmas). In order to sever the entanglements of afflictions as well as the latent tendencies (anuśaya), he should further accumulate wholesome dharmas that serve as antidotes against evil and unwholesome dharmas. In order to manifest all of these things that should be done, the four right strivings and the four right efforts are taught; this is called the essential meaning of the four right efforts.

Regarding the above dharmas of the four right strivings, some people are unwilling to practice them and look down upon these dharmas, considering them very basic, a Hīnayāna dharma, not worth spending time on, believing it is enough to devote all their energy to immersing themselves in Mahāyāna teachings. But if the four right strivings are not practiced, the mind does not turn toward goodness, virtue is not complete, and one's virtue does not match one's station; then one cannot realize the Mahāyāna dharma, and all that immersion ultimately remains mere theory. Theory, under certain conditions and causes, can be forgotten and lost; even if it is not forgotten, theory is after all just theory, without practical value; at death one falls due to evil and unwholesome dharmas—mere theory cannot save one's life. Only after practicing the four right efforts and severing the coarse and heavy entanglements of afflictions can the virtuous characteristics of the five aggregates be revealed. Only when virtue is complete does one qualify to become a bodhisattva of great virtue or a noble monastic of great virtue, and only then can one be qualified to lead the assembly and together accomplish the Buddha Way.