Four Great Dhyāna Illnesses

The four great Chan maladies: stopping, creating, letting be, and annihilating. Stopping: the Chan of the tathāgatagarbha is not something that exists when you stop deluded thoughts and does not exist when you do not; the tathāgatagarbha exists inherently, regardless of whether your mind is stopped or not. Creating: the Chan of the tathāgatagarbha is not cultivated into being through practice; it is inherently present. No matter how your conscious mind tosses and turns, the tathāgatagarbha naturally exists. Letting be: the tathāgatagarbha is not something you can find or seek out by letting your conscious mind do as it pleases, going along with conditions freely, without cultivating generosity (dāna), meditative concentration (samādhi), the six perfections, and merit; although the tathāgatagarbha is not cultivated into being, without practice it also cannot be realized. Annihilating: the tathāgatagarbha exists inherently, manifesting at every moment and functioning at every moment; it is not the case that the tathāgatagarbha can only manifest and appear after you stop and extinguish your conscious mind.