The Distinction Between Genuine and False Dispassion Toward the World

Worldly weariness (nirveda) can be divided into weariness at the level of surface consciousness and weariness at the deeper level of the manas. Surface-level weariness is merely the mind consciousness finding the world boring and meaningless—but it is only talk; talking is one thing, doing is another, and nothing is done for real. However greedy one was, one remains just as greedy, and nothing changes. This is false weariness. But when a genuine sense of weariness arises in the mind, it manifests directly in one's actions: one no longer devises many schemes to gain worldly benefits, but instead tries to avoid worldly people and affairs—better to have one less matter than one more—and no longer clings to the world. This is the weariness that arises from the manas at a deep level, a mind connected with liberation. Reaching this level is not easy; it is wholesome root cultivated over many lifetimes. A shallow learner absolutely cannot have such mental conduct.

How can one attain weariness at the deep level of the manas? First one must cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi), and within that concentration engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) as suffering, empty, impermanent, and non-self. After an initial realization of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, one still cannot give rise to weariness with the world; one must continue to deepen one's contemplative practice until the first dhyāna arises, cutting off the afflictions of craving and attachment—only then does weariness with the world arise, with no wish to keep drifting through birth and death in the world, squandering one's time. One then has the mind of liberation and the mind of renunciation. Therefore, the mind of renunciation and the mind of weariness are inseparable from deep-level meditative concentration and wisdom. If one does not cultivate meditative concentration, there is only verbal weariness, while in reality one is extremely attached, not weary in the least—saying one thing while meaning another, with mind and mouth inconsistent.