The Distinction Between Genuine and Counterfeit Dispassion Toward the World

Disgust towards worldly phenomena is divided into superficial conscious disgust and deep-rooted manas disgust. Superficial disgust merely involves the consciousness feeling that the world is boring and meaningless, but it is only lip service—one says one thing and does another, without genuine commitment. Greed remains as it was, unchanged. This is false disgust. When true disgust truly arises in the heart, it manifests directly in action. One no longer seeks many ways to gain worldly benefits but instead avoids worldly affairs and people as much as possible, believing that less is more. There is no longer any attachment to the world. This is the disgust arising from the deep-rooted manas—a mind bound to liberation. Reaching this level is not easy; it is the wholesome root cultivated over many lifetimes. Beginners will absolutely not possess such mental conduct.

How to achieve deep-rooted manas disgust? First, one must cultivate meditative concentration (dhyāna). Within dhyāna, one contemplates the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of the five aggregates (skandhas). After initially realizing impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self, one still cannot generate disgust toward the world. One must continue to deepen the contemplation until the first dhyāna is attained, where greed and afflictions are severed. Only then does disgust toward the world arise—one no longer wishes to continue wandering through birth and death in the world, wasting time. The mind of liberation and renunciation emerges. Therefore, the mind of renunciation and disgust cannot be separated from deep dhyāna and wisdom. Without cultivating dhyāna, one only has verbal disgust; in reality, one remains very greedy and attached, not disgusted at all—saying one thing while thinking another, with heart and mouth not in accord.