Common Misconceptions Among Mahayana Practitioners

Some practitioners of Mahayana Buddhism neglect foundational practices and the liberation path outlined in the Āgama sutras, creating a stark separation between Mahayana and Hinayana. They view them as entirely distinct entities with little interconnection, resulting in a severe fragmentation of the Dharma. It is akin to students of secondary education feeling superior and disdaining primary school curricula, failing to understand that one cannot graduate and advance to secondary studies without completing the foundational courses. Without the basics of primary education, secondary courses become incomprehensible and unmasterable, preventing graduation from secondary school as well.

These Mahayana practitioners belittle the Thirty-seven Factors of Enlightenment, the Noble Eightfold Path, and similar teachings, dismissing them as the practices of Hinayana followers and considering them optional. Thus, they skip directly to cultivating the eighth consciousness. Lacking moral discipline (śīla) and meditative concentration (samādhi), even after ten, twenty years, or longer, they exhibit no transformation in body or mind and gain no genuine benefit. Instead, they become slick talkers like "Buddhist sophists," whose theoretical knowledge seems lofty enough to win a top scholar title. Yet, the theories they acquire are like castles in the air — the principles float high above while the person crawls on the ground, with no connection between the two. How can such an approach lead smoothly to the realization of the Way? The consequence of aiming too high while neglecting the fundamentals is failure in any practice, a mere waste of time. At life's end, having neither cultivation nor realization, they drift helplessly according to their karmic winds, devoid of autonomy.

We should all calm our minds and reflect rationally: Should practitioners of Mahayana not cultivate the Seven Factors of Enlightenment? Without the factor of discrimination of dharmas (dharmapravicaya), one is like a blind person groping an elephant. Without the factor of joy (prīti), it shows the teachings have not entered the heart. If the teachings do not enter the heart, the heart cannot generate joy. Without joy in the heart, the body lacks lightness and ease (praśrabdhi). Without bodily lightness and ease, the mind lacks concentration. Without mental concentration, there is no emptiness (śūnyatā). How then can there be any talk of wisdom? Should Mahayana practitioners not cultivate the Four Right Efforts? Without ceasing unwholesome acts and increasing wholesome ones, the mind remains unchanged — still an ordinary being bound by fetters and karmic obstructions. Without severing even a single grade of defilements, how can one advance toward the preliminary fruit of stream-entry (srotāpatti-phala-pratipannaka), let alone attain the actual fruit of stream-entry (srotāpanna)? Without the fruit of stream-entry, how can one realize the mind in Mahayana?

Should Mahayana practitioners not cultivate the Noble Eightfold Path? Without right view (samyag-dṛṣṭi), what path is being cultivated? Without right thought (samyak-saṃkalpa), how can one engage in Chan meditation? Without right speech (samyag-vāc), how can one guard the mind and uphold the Five Precepts? Without right effort (samyag-vyāyāma), one moves in the opposite direction. Without right mindfulness (samyak-smṛti), how can the mind be rectified? If the mind is not rectified, how can one enter the path? Without right concentration (samyak-samādhi), how can there be right wisdom (samyag-jñāna)? Only when both body and mind are rectified can one enter the true path. Therefore, those who do not cultivate the Thirty-seven Factors of Enlightenment have not yet even entered the gate of practice; they cannot be considered practitioners of either Mahayana or Hinayana. In this present world, encountering a genuine practitioner is exceedingly rare. People’s minds are restless; they prefer shortcuts and pursue short-term gains. This stems from the shallow roots and deficient merit (puṇya) accumulated by sentient beings in past lives, compounded by the agitation stirred by some Dharma propagators. If this situation is not rectified, Buddhism will produce no true talent.