Is Buddhist Study and Practice a Matter of Technical Skill or a Matter of Mind Nature? (2)

If studying Buddhism and practicing were merely a matter of technical effort, why is it that some people sit in meditation and practice day and night for thirty or fifty years yet still cannot attain the first dhyāna, while for others the first dhyāna manifests within just one or two years? Some people have been enlightened for thirty years yet still see no trace of the first dhyāna. Yet others, not long after taking up Buddhism, upon encountering the theory and engaging in just a little contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), can realize various fruits of attainment—even though many of the Buddhist terms and concepts are still not clear to them, the wisdom of contemplative practice has already arisen.

If studying Buddhism and practicing were merely technical effort, then the bodhisattva's six perfections—are they technical practice, or practice of the mind's nature? The perfection of generosity (dāna)—does it belong to the technical level, or the level of the mind's nature? Does keeping precepts belong to the technical level, or the level of the mind's nature? Is forbearance a matter of technique or of the mind's nature? Is meditative concentration (samādhi) a matter of technique or of the mind's nature?

As for wisdom—what kind of wisdom does a person of poor mind-nature have? Does such wisdom correspond with that of bodhisattvas and the Buddha? As for diligence, there is right effort (samyag-vyāyāma) and wrong effort; wrong effort belongs to the technical level, while right effort is precisely the cultivation of the mind's nature. Can people with ulterior motives obtain genuine benefit from the Buddhadharma? The hallmark of a bodhisattva's true accomplishment is loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity; if the mind's nature has not transformed, there will never be the mental conduct of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, and the bodhisattva's stages will never be fulfilled.

Between an arhat and a bodhisattva, whose mind-nature is better? Whose path of practice advances more? Whom does the Buddha favor most? Who becomes a Buddha first? Whose practice is technical, and whose is at the level of the mind's nature? Did the Buddha not scold those who did technical work, calling them scorched sprouts and rotten seeds who had fallen into the pit of inactivity?

The final result of studying Buddhism and practicing must surely be possessing both virtue and talent—having talent, but even more having virtue; without virtue, talent is merely crooked talent, and it may be put to use on deviant paths, committing evil karma without even knowing it. The world has many talented people, but not all of them use their talent to create wholesome karma; many use it to create unwholesome karma. If talent is used to commit evil deeds, it would be better to have no talent at all.

For those who study Buddhism and practice, virtue must come first, placed at the very front; with virtue, one need not worry about lacking talent. If a person has only talent and no virtue, no matter how great the talent, it cannot be put to proper use. But a person with virtue and no talent can be cultivated into one who has both, for with such a bodhisattva mind-nature, the Buddha's power will bless them to swiftly attain the Way. Therefore, studying Buddhism and practicing is not merely technical work; most important is the cultivation of the mind's nature. Only a person who is selfless and without self is a true bodhisattva. If within one's heart there is only oneself, only one's own private interests, and one single-mindedly seeks only one's own benefit, such a person is not a true bodhisattva.

Technical practice is always many times easier than cultivating the mind's nature. With technique, as long as one puts effort into studying and researching, one can surely dig something out of the texts and gain some results; add cleverness and quickness of mind, and quite a few techniques can be mastered. But what about the mind's nature? Even a hundred years may not suffice to subdue it—innate disposition is hard to change. A bodhisattva who has mastered techniques but has not subdued the mind's nature is still not a true bodhisattva, merely a nominal, fake bodhisattva, an impostor, forever unable to fulfill the role of a bodhisattva.

Many people painstakingly engage day and night in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), research, and study, yet never examine their own minds. No matter how assiduously they study the science and technology of the Buddhadharma, they cannot subdue their arrogance and selfishness, cannot truly eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), and cannot genuinely see the mind and attain enlightenment. Such people are not bodhisattvas, even though they have mastered the science and technology of the Buddhadharma!

In this present age, how many people who study Buddhism are merely doing technical work, never putting effort into their own mind-nature. The techniques have been produced, but their virtue does not match their position; wherever they go, they inflate and indulge the self, and wherever they go, chaos follows. For them, studying Buddhism is about standing out, about indulging the self—never about subduing the self, never about nonaction, never about selflessness or liberating the mind from its afflictions. The more they learn, the more high-profile they become; the more they learn, the heavier their self grows; the more they learn, the more chaotic the world becomes, until finally the whole world is thrown into disorder. Many people study Buddhism just to rise above others, to stand on other people's shoulders; they have never thought of extinguishing the self, of letting the self vanish without a trace. Is this eradicating the view of self, or strengthening it? If Buddhism develops this way, in the end there will be great chaos in the world.

Therefore, if you wish to truly cultivate yourself into a genuine practitioner, you must grasp with both hands: put ample effort into the mind-ground, softening and taming yourself, and also put ample effort into contemplative practice and investigation, striving for real realization, so as to become a sage in the true sense.