What Kind of Person Is a Chan Follower of Mere Intellectual Understanding?

In modern society, information is highly developed, obtaining sutras is easy, and the mind consciousness has strong comprehension. As soon as someone explains that the five aggregates are subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent, and without self, fifty percent of people's mind consciousness can understand that the five aggregates are without self, knowing that the physical body is not real but an illusory false shell. Even some people who do not study Buddhism often say with their mouths that the physical body is a false shell, a stinking skin-bag, subject to arising and ceasing and impermanent. But saying is one thing—none of them has eliminated the view of body or eliminated the view of self, and every one of them still clings very severely to self.

If understanding with the mind consciousness that the five aggregates are without self counted as eliminating the view of self, then attaining the fruits would be far too easy. More than half of Buddhist practitioners would be able to eliminate the three fetters, be freed from the suffering of the three evil destinies, and become noble and sagely persons. Then what would Buddhism have to worry about? Sentient beings would have nothing to worry about either, and Śākyamuni Buddha could rest assured about the Sahā world, without needing to worry that Buddhism would perish. But the facts are not so.

Those who have merely understood non-self with the mind consciousness, believe they have eliminated the view of self, and then believe their afflictions are slight and that they have already cultivated to the second fruit will be in great trouble at the time of death, and in future lives they will suffer greatly. It would be best if, in the remaining time of this life, they consider how to remedy this, adopt some effective and feasible measures, and once again carefully engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the five aggregates in order to truly eliminate the view of self, thereby dissolving the grave karma of false speech.

Nowadays, in Buddhist circles, it is hard to say exactly how many people of the second fruit there are—it seems like an era teeming with noble and sagely persons. But what is the reality? Utter chaos. If the third fruit were not gated by the first dhyāna, without the hallmark of having eliminated desire, who knows how many people would claim to have attained the third fruit. Right now there are people propagating that attaining the third and fourth fruits does not require the first dhyāna, and that first-bhūmi and second-bhūmi bodhisattvas previously did not need to cultivate the first dhyāna. What such propaganda portends can well be imagined. Going further down this road, there will be no boundary between ordinary beings and noble ones—anyone who has understood a bit of the Buddha's teachings will be a noble one. These so-called noble ones are in fact nothing but disciples of intellectual understanding.