The Stages of Observing Precepts

Buddhist sūtras frequently speak of the faults and perils of afflictions, and cause and effect also frequently reveal the obstructions created by afflictions. Yet there are still people who dare to openly despise the precepts, openly urge others to comply with their own afflictions of greed, anger, and delusion, and brazenly claim that the precepts are all mere appearances—precepts with marks—and thus need not be heeded, that one need not cling to or grasp at the marks of the precepts, and that one should directly uphold the markless precepts. But the reality is that if one cannot even uphold the precepts with marks, how could one uphold the markless precepts, which are more refined and more subtle? If one cannot even control the body, which has marks, or the mouth, which has marks, then how could one control the markless mind? The actions of body and speech all arise from the actions of the mind; when the mind and speech are not in accord, one can still conceal and pretend. But if one cannot even manage to pretend, how agitated and inverted must that markless mind be—how could it ever be subdued?

Subduing afflictions follows a sequence, always proceeding from the coarse to the subtle. If even the outermost layer of coarse skin cannot be washed clean, how can the deeper layers of filth within be washed away? If one cannot even do simple things well, how could one manage complex ones? Therefore, the talk and practice of abandoning the precepts with marks is practically the conduct of Māra—deludedly attempting, by way of denying the precepts with marks, to deny the precepts altogether, causing sentient beings to sink into grave afflictions, unable to extricate themselves, and in the end to fall into the three evil paths and cycle through birth and death. The reason sentient beings can be deceived is that their ability to discern right from wrong is too poor and their power of logical thinking too weak. The underlying reason is still that their merit is too deficient and their experience of learning Buddhism too shallow; they always want to take shortcuts and are unwilling to give anything, which is why they are so easily swayed by wrong views and provocations.