The Logical Relationship Between the False Self and the True Self

Abandon the self to attain non-self. What do both "I" refer to? Both refer to the false self.

If the logical relationship between the false self and true self is not understood, practice becomes difficult in both Mahayana and Hinayana traditions. Engaging in Hinayana contemplative practice yet arriving at Mahayana conclusions; practicing Mahayana contemplation yet reaching Hinayana conclusions. How is such contemplation conducted, digressing from the main topic?

How can worldly people who lack understanding of the Dharma attain non-self? Did secular role models like Lei Feng and other heroic figures who achieved so-called selflessness in worldly endeavors undergo transference to the eighth consciousness? Did Hinayana practitioners from the first to fourth fruition stages all undergo transference to the eighth consciousness? Mechanical application is insufficient—actual contemplative experience is essential. If Hinayana practitioners genuinely attain fruition, they will inevitably arrive at a reasonable and truthful conclusion without shifting to Mahayana teachings to derive Mahayana conclusions.

When many people speak, one can immediately discern whether their words stem from actual practice and realization. Language reveals whether a person’s conclusions arise from genuine cultivation and verification or are merely theoretical patchworks assembled through emotional reasoning and parrot-like repetition.

When an ordinary person expounds Dharma by immediately discussing the practice of first or eighth ground bodhisattvas, it indicates this individual fundamentally lacks understanding of practical cultivation. Not knowing how to begin practice, they misguidedly lead others along convoluted paths without a clear roadmap. One cannot possess a clear roadmap for a path one has never traversed. Let us all diligently cultivate meditative concentration instead—without meditative stability, contemplation lacks logic and thus remains unclear and incomplete.