Practicing Buddhism Requires Cultivating Both the Mind-Nature and Technique Simultaneously

So-called technical matters in the Buddha-dharma mean learning theoretical knowledge and realizing theoretical knowledge; being diligent in technical matters means sitting in meditation to cultivate samādhi, diligently studying theoretical knowledge, ardently investigating, researching, and pondering, in hopes of realizing and attaining some dharma, attaining some fruit, qualification, or reputation, and obtaining a certain result.

So-called work on the mind's nature refers to contemplating the non-self nature of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha), subduing the self, subduing afflictions, being gentle and kind in mind, possessing the non-self nature of mind of the sages, removing selfishness and the mind of self, and thereby being able to benefit oneself and being willing to benefit others. Concretely, this is the earnest practice of the bodhisattva's six pāramitās: gradually perfecting the accumulation of merit, upholding the precepts, being patient with all people and affairs in order to subdue one's own mind, replacing laziness and indolence, cultivating meditative concentration (samādhi) to enhance the power of contemplation, subduing afflictions, and steeping oneself in the principle of the emptiness (śūnyatā) of prajñā, so that the mind gradually draws near to emptiness. Mind-nature and technique complement each other: mind-nature is the eyes, technique is the feet; the eyes determine the direction and height of technique.

In studying Buddhism and cultivating practice, one should combine mind-nature and technique and cultivate both together; one cannot cultivate only one side while ignoring the other. Only by walking on two legs can one keep balance. So-called one-sided cultivation at the technical level means engaging only in theoretical research without subduing the nature of self, so that theory and practice are disconnected. The Buddha-dharma is originally meant to help sentient beings subdue the self, realize non-self, and attain liberation and ease. Yet the purpose and result of sentient beings' cultivation of non-self is instead the growth of the nature of self and the growth of self-grasping; the self becomes ever more inflated, and the mind's nature becomes worse than before—a huge gap from the intended result of practice. This is the result of not cultivating mind-nature and only cultivating technique.

Practicing only at the technical level and not at the level of mind-nature results in virtue unworthy of one's position, and great disorder follows. Treating the practice of the Buddha-dharma as a kind of capital, once one has mastered the techniques of the Buddha-dharma, one considers oneself above everyone and stronger than everyone, able to be a person above persons, able to be smug about this technique, growing in arrogance and using it as capital to overpower everyone else. This is precisely the severe marks of self, person, and sentient beings—the result of cultivating only at the technical level, a pitiable evil fruit that runs contrary to the Buddha-dharma. In severe cases, such a person can use arrogance and self-grasping to disrupt the Buddha-dharma and Buddhism, and to undermine sentient beings' faith in the Buddha-dharma and Buddhism. 

The method of practice can never be a one-sided technical matter of only doing theoretical research; what is more important is the cultivation and transformation of mind-nature. If studying Buddhism and practicing were only technical exertion, the Buddha would not have sentient beings make pure great vows, using the power of vows to draw and guide their practice. If studying Buddhism and practicing were only technical exertion, why is it that some people bury themselves day and night in studying the sūtras and various theories, diligent in various contemplative practices (vipaśyanā-caryā), able to work out theories that ordinary people cannot know, seemingly gaining something from study, yet their greed, hatred, and delusion still blaze fiercely, and perhaps their whole life they remain stuck at the stage of the seventh, sixth, or fifth abode—despite having learned an enormous amount of Yogācāra theory, they still cannot take a step forward. 

If studying Buddhism and practicing were only technical exertion, why is it that some people sit in meditation day and night for thirty or fifty years and still cannot attain the first dhyāna, while for others the first dhyāna manifests within one or two years; some people have been enlightened for thirty years and still see no shadow of the first dhyāna. Yet some people, not long after studying Buddhism, upon encountering theory and doing a little contemplative practice, can realize various fruits—even though many of the technical terms of the Buddha-dharma are still not clear to them, the wisdom of contemplative practice has already arisen. 

If studying Buddhism and practicing is technical exertion, then the bodhisattva's six pāramitās—are they technical cultivation or cultivation of mind-nature? The pāramitā of generosity (dāna)—does it belong to the technical level or the level of mind-nature? Upholding precepts—does it belong to the technical level or the level of mind-nature? Forbearance—is it technical or of mind-nature? Meditative concentration—is it technical or of mind-nature? Wisdom—what kind of wisdom does a person with poor mind-nature have? Does such wisdom accord with bodhisattvas and the Buddha? Diligence: there is right effort (samyag-vyāyāma) and wrong diligence; wrong diligence belongs to the technical level, while right effort is precisely cultivating mind-nature. Can people with ulterior motives obtain true benefit from the Buddha-dharma? The mark of a bodhisattva's true accomplishment is loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity; if mind-nature has not transformed, there will never be the mental conduct of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, and the bodhisattva's fruits can never be fulfilled.

Between the mind-nature of an arhat and that of a bodhisattva, whose is better? Whose path of the Way advances more? Whom does the Buddha favor most? Who becomes a Buddha first? Whose practice is at the technical level, and whose is at the level of mind-nature? As for those who do technical work—did the Buddha not denounce them as scorched sprouts and rotten seeds, fallen into the pit of inertness? The final result of studying Buddhism and practicing must surely be possessing both virtue and talent—having talent, but even more having virtue; without virtue, talent is merely crooked talent, perhaps to be used on deviant paths, committing evil karma without even knowing it. There are many talented people in the world, but not all of them necessarily use their talent to create wholesome karma; many use it to create unwholesome karma. If it is used to create evil karma, it would be better to have no talent at all. 

For those who study Buddhism and cultivate practice, virtue must occupy first place, placed at the very front; with virtue, one need not worry about lacking talent. If a person has only talent and no virtue, no matter how great the talent, it has no proper use. But a person with virtue and no talent can be cultivated into one with both virtue and talent; with such a bodhisattva mind-nature, with the Buddha's power blessing them, they quickly attain the Way.

Therefore, studying Buddhism and practicing is not merely technical work; the most important thing is the cultivation of mind-nature. Only a person without self and without selfishness is a true bodhisattva. If within one's heart there is only oneself, only one's personal private gain, a person single-mindedly only for oneself—such a person is not a true bodhisattva.

Technical work is always many times easier than the work of mind-nature. With technical work, as long as one puts effort into studying and researching, one can surely dig something out of the texts and gain something; add cleverness and quick wits, and quite a few techniques can be acquired. But what about mind-nature? Even a hundred years may not suffice to subdue one's mind-nature—inborn disposition is hard to change. A bodhisattva who has produced technique but has not subdued mind-nature is still not a true bodhisattva, merely a nominal fake bodhisattva, a counterfeit bodhisattva, forever unable to play the role of a bodhisattva.

Many people painstakingly exert themselves day and night in contemplative practice, research, and study, yet never examine their own minds. No matter how arduously they study the science and technology of the Buddha-dharma, they cannot subdue the nature of self and selfishness, cannot truly eliminate self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), and cannot truly see the true mind and attain enlightenment. Such people are not bodhisattvas, even though they have mastered the science and technology of the Buddha-dharma! In this present age, how many people who study Buddhism are merely doing technical work, never applying effort to their own mind-nature. The technique has been produced, but virtue is unworthy of position; everywhere they go they inflate the self, flaunt the self, and in the end, wherever they go, disorder follows. Studying Buddhism becomes about standing out, about flaunting the self, and never about subduing the self. The more they learn, the more high-profile they become; the more they learn, the heavier the self; the more they learn, the more chaotic the world. The ways of the world have been thrown into disorder. Many people study Buddhism just to rise above others, to step on others' shoulders, never having thought to extinguish the self, to make the self vanish without a trace. Is this eliminating self-view, or increasing self-view? If Buddhism develops this way, in the end there will be great chaos in the world.

Therefore, if you want to truly cultivate yourself into a genuine practitioner, you must grasp with both hands: apply effort on the ground of the mind to make yourself gentle and pliant, and also apply effort in contemplative practice and investigation, striving for true realization, becoming a sage in the true sense.