Mere Slogans Are Not Equivalent to Spiritual Practice and Actual Realization

The practice before enlightenment is divided into many stages, and the practice after enlightenment is similarly divided into many stages. Practicing the methods intended for post-enlightenment before enlightenment cannot lead to success. Immediately after awakening, attempting to practice using the methods of a bodhisattva on the stages of realization (bhūmis) will likewise prove ineffective. Holding lofty theories in hand and believing oneself to have realized them, thinking one is already like a sage or the tathāgatagarbha, is nothing but self-deception. Many people, upon hearing the phrase "afflictions are bodhi," assume that merely viewing afflictions as illusory manifestations of the tathāgatagarbha constitutes practice, and thus make no effort to subdue their afflictions. The result is that afflictions remain afflictions, bodhi remains bodhi, and after death, they still sink into the cycle of birth and death. What benefit is there?

Some, understanding that the tathāgatagarbha is beyond cultivation and attainment, then assume that the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates should also be beyond cultivation and attainment. They reason that since the tathāgatagarbha is inherently Buddha, they themselves can simply be a Buddha at home. Since the tathāgatagarbha does not discriminate, they believe they too should not discriminate. They think that since all dharmas arise from discrimination, if they cease all discriminating mind, then the mind will be empty and dharmas will cease. Following this logic, they feel one should have no complaint even if starving for seven days.

It is true that all dharmas are like illusions, but this is the realization of bodhisattvas at the tenth bhūmi and above. If one has not yet reached that level of practice and lacks this actual realization, then one should not constantly have the word "illusion" on one's lips, turning it into a mere platitude. Because the tathāgatagarbha does not observe precepts, some believe they too should be like the tathāgatagarbha and need not observe precepts, thinking they can act freely and indulge without restraint. They fail to realize that their own minds are filled with greed, hatred, and delusion – how could they possibly indulge freely and act without restraint? If one cannot even relinquish the pleasure of taste, yet spends all day spouting high-sounding rhetoric, such empty talk often leads the country astray. Those who can talk the talk but cannot walk the walk, who speak of ten feet but cannot manage an inch, had best engage in solid, practical cultivation and cease their lofty talk while lacking practical ability.