The Diligence of Buddhist Practitioners Should Not Be Inferior to That of Non-Buddhists

During the Buddha's time there was a non-Buddhist practitioner called Long-nailed Brahmacārin (Dīrghanakha). In order to debate with his nephew Śāriputra, he resolved to study several major non-Buddhist scriptures, vowing that he would not trim his nails until he had mastered them, and thus he was known as the Long-nailed Brahmacārin. Even a non-Buddhist could apply himself so diligently for the sake of a meaningless worldly debate, not trimming his nails for years on end, with no time to cut them. How do we Buddhists apply ourselves? Every day we brew tea, chat, go shopping, tidy up the house, eat meals, gather with family, then practice health regimens like yoga and qigong, shoot the breeze and boast with Dharma friends, and then get plenty of sleep. At the end of the day, how much time has been spent on cultivating the Path?

Among the Buddhists in the world, how many cultivate as diligently as those non-Buddhists? Probably very, very few. How many Buddhists, like the non-Buddhists, have seen through the world, let go of worldly matters, and gone off to cultivate the Path? Probably very, very few. Among any three people walking together, there must be one who can be my teacher. We truly should learn more from the non-Buddhists, learning from their strengths and virtues, as well as that spirit of letting go, that spirit of diligent effort, and that spirit of taking worldly things lightly. If Buddhists could have this spirit, combined with correct Dharma principles, it would be hard for them not to attain the Way.

Then, when such diligent non-Buddhists encountered the Buddha, they were liberated. With pure precept conduct, fully endowed meditative concentration (samādhi), and excellent wisdom, upon encountering the appropriate Buddhist teachings, they would concentrate their minds in contemplation and realize the fruits of the Path. That was true realization, not mere intellectual understanding. Can we Buddhists do this? We cannot keep the precepts, we cannot develop meditative concentration, and no matter how long we are steeped in the Mahāyāna teachings, we cannot even touch the edge of enlightenment—at most we can merely understand a little. How great is the gap between the inner path and the outer paths? Some people even look down on non-Buddhists. With non-Buddhists like that, if I could encounter and teach them, how easy it would be—it would never wear on my heart; at most they would simply be unable to make the great vow. Even the great vows that Buddhists make advance and retreat, and none of them can be relied upon.