The Practice of the Four Right Efforts (2)

Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, Volume 29 (Part 2)

Original text:云何名为一切善法。谓若彼对治。若盖对治。若结对治。未生已生。应知如前。恶不善法若时未生。恶不善法先未和合。为令不生发起希愿。我当令彼一切一切皆不复生。是名于诸未生恶不善法。为不生故生欲。

Explanation: What can be called all wholesome dharmas? Wholesome dharmas are the antidotes to unwholesome dharmas; they are the opposite of unwholesome dharmas, the dharmas that subdue unwholesome dharmas, and thus are called wholesome dharmas. For example, the antidotes to the hindrances of afflictions, and the antidotes to the bonds and fetters of afflictions: when wholesomeness arises, evil ceases, just as when the sun rises it drives away darkness and the darkness disappears. If unwholesome dharmas have vanished, wholesome dharmas are no longer needed as antidotes; once the mind is pure, it is neither unwholesome nor wholesome. Even doing good is a conditioned dharma, karma of birth and death. When the mind is pure, there is no karma; one attains great tranquility and great nirvāṇa.

Using wholesome dharmas to counteract unwholesome dharmas is the practice of the four right efforts: preventing unarisen evil from arising, and extinguishing evil that has already arisen. When the causal conditions for the arising of evil and unwholesome dharmas are not yet complete, in order to prevent evil and unwholesome dharmas from arising, one generates aspiration and vows in the mind, hoping that evil and unwholesome dharmas will never arise again. For example, making vows to never be jealous again, never steal again, never speak falsely again, never kill again, never frame or harm others again, and so on. This is called generating aspiration and desire so that evil and unwholesome dharmas that have not yet arisen will not arise.

Original text:若时已生恶不善法先已和合。为令断故发起希愿。我当于彼一切一切皆不忍受。断灭除遣。是名于诸已生恶不善法。为令断故生欲。

Explanation: If at this time the causes and conditions for the arising of evil and unwholesome dharmas have come together, and evil and unwholesome dharmas have already arisen, one generates aspiration and vows in order to make them cease, hoping never again to tolerate any evil and unwholesome dharmas, resolving to extinguish and eliminate all evil and unwholesome dharmas, and to make the mind become wholesome. This is called generating aspiration and desire to extinguish evil and unwholesome dharmas that have already arisen.

All the vows made above are wholesome vows; only a person who has awakened can make vows like these—awakening to the fact that one's own mind has evil and afflictions, knowing the evil consequences and retributions of evil and unwholesome dharmas, that they are obstacles to liberation, and also clearly distinguishing what is wholesome and what is evil and unwholesome. If one cannot distinguish them clearly, one cannot awaken to one's own mind; even if one has vows, one cannot fulfill them or bring them to completion. These vows arise spontaneously and consciously during the process of cultivation; they are a manifestation of dharma-conformable practice bearing fruit, the result of diligence. Diligence is diligence of the mind, not merely making a show on the surface of body and speech. Body and speech are like a cart, and the mind is like the cart driver; if you want the cart to go fast, of course you must urge and spur the driver. Most beginners in Buddhism exert diligent effort on the level of body and speech, such as prostrating to the Buddha and reciting the Buddha's name, not yet knowing how to work on the mind. Seasoned practitioners know to observe their own minds, monitor their own minds, and counteract their own minds, making the mind cease evil and cultivate goodness.