The Relationship Between Ascetic Practices and Spiritual Cultivation

Modern people cannot endure hardship, so they make excuses, saying that ascetic practices are not the true path. Although asceticism itself is not the ultimate path, cultivating the Way cannot be separated from ascetic practices. This represents a person's ability to free themselves from various cravings; actions born from a mind free of greed lead to a purified heart, enabling swift progress in cultivation. Reading the accounts of Śākyamuni Buddha's past lives and cultivation practices reveals that for countless lifetimes, he engaged in rigorous asceticism. He even sacrificed his body to feed a rakshasa in exchange for half a verse of teaching. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, during their causal ground cultivation, primarily engaged in ascetic practices and did not indulge in sensual desires. In the present world, however, the trend of cultivation has reversed. It has turned into the notion that asceticism is not the path, with everyone wanting to enjoy sensual desires while simultaneously pursuing the reputation and fruition of a sage. Can one have both?

Some, burdened by heavy greed and unable to renounce it, seek to conceal this mentality. They make excuses, saying that Bodhisattvas are beings of great merit and virtue who should display their blessings to sentient beings in order to attract and guide them. Therefore, these individuals constantly seek enjoyment everywhere, presenting themselves as if they have already attained realization. If this were so, was Śākyamuni Buddha then a man without merit during his time? After renouncing household life, was he unable to enjoy his blessings? Could it be that all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions were without merit during their cultivation, unable to enjoy blessings, hence they cherished merit so profoundly? Were the Twenty-Eight Patriarchs of the West and the Six Patriarchs of the East, along with all the Chan masters and great virtuous ones of past ages, people without merit, unable to enjoy their blessings?