The Practice of the Four Right Efforts (III)

Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, Volume 29 (Part 3)

Original text: 又彼一切恶不善法。或缘过去事生。或缘未来事生。或缘现在事生。如是彼法。或缘不现见境。或缘现见境。若缘过去未来事境。是名缘不现见境。若缘现在事境。是名缘现见境。

Explanation: All evil and unwholesome dharmas arise either conditioned upon past events, or conditioned upon future events, or conditioned upon present events. Therefore, evil and unwholesome dharmas are either conditioned upon objects not presently seen, or conditioned upon objects presently seen. If they are conditioned upon past and future events and objects, this is called being conditioned upon objects not presently seen; if they are conditioned upon events and objects appearing in the present, this is called being conditioned upon objects presently seen.

Original text: 当知此中于缘不现见境。恶不善法其未生者。欲令不生。其已生者。欲令永断。自策自励。是名策励。于缘现见境。恶不善法其未生者。欲令不生。其已生者欲令永断。勇猛正勤。是名发勤精进。所以者何。要当坚固自策自励。勇猛正勤。方能令彼或不复生或永断灭。

Explanation: As for evil and unwholesome dharmas conditioned upon objects not presently seen, when they have not yet arisen, one must wish to prevent their arising; when they have already arisen, one must wish to eradicate them forever. One spurs oneself on and encourages oneself—this is called exertion (策励). As for evil and unwholesome dharmas conditioned upon objects presently seen, when they have not yet arisen, one must wish to prevent their arising; when they have already arisen, one must wish to eradicate them forever. One practices with courageous right effort—this is called arousing diligent effort. Why is this so? It is because only by firmly spurring oneself on and encouraging oneself, with courageous right effort, can one cause those dharmas either not to arise again or to be eradicated forever.

Original text: 又于下品中品诸缠。其未生者欲令不生。其已生者欲令永断。故自策励。于上品缠。其未生者欲令不生。其已生者欲令永断。发勤精进。又若行于过去境界。如是行时。不令烦恼缘彼生起。设复失念。暂时生起而不忍受。速能断灭。除遣变吐。如缘过去。若行未来当知亦尔。如是未生恶不善法。能令不生。生已能断。是名策励。

Explanation: Regarding the entanglements of afflictions of the low grade and middle grade, if they have not yet arisen, one must make them not arise; if they have already arisen, one must make them eradicated forever; therefore one spurs and encourages oneself. Regarding the entanglements of afflictions of the high grade, if they have not yet arisen, one must make them not arise; if they have already arisen, one must eradicate them forever, and thus one arouses diligent effort.

If the mind is engaged with past objects, then while engaging with them in this way, one should not allow afflictions to arise conditioned upon those objects. Suppose one loses mindfulness and the afflictions arise temporarily—one should not tolerate them, but swiftly extinguish them, dispelling and expelling the afflictions. Just as with engaging with past objects, so too should it be understood when engaging with future objects. In this way, evil and unwholesome dharmas that have not yet arisen can be prevented from arising, and those that have arisen can be severed. This is called exertion (策励).

Original text: 若行现在所缘境界。如是行时。不令烦恼缘彼生起。设复失念。暂时生起而不忍受。速能断灭。除遣变吐。如是未生恶不善法。令其不生。已经生起，生已能断。是名发勤精进。

Explanation: If the mind engages with objects presently seen, then while operating among present objects, one does not allow afflictions to arise conditioned upon present objects. Suppose one carelessly loses mindfulness and afflictions arise temporarily—once discovered, one does not tolerate their continuation, but swiftly extinguishes them, dispelling and expelling the afflictions. In this way, evil and unwholesome dharmas that have not yet arisen can be prevented from arising, and those that have already arisen—once arisen, the afflictions are severed as soon as they arise. This is called arousing diligent effort.

If one can practice the four right efforts with such courageous diligence as described above, spurring oneself on and encouraging oneself, the afflictions will soon be dispelled. Only after the afflictions are dispelled can the mind become pure and one can see the Path, attaining liberation through wisdom. If one cannot awaken to the harm of the entanglements of afflictions and allows them to run rampant, the calamity of cycling through saṃsāra's suffering will not be removed, and there will be no way to see the Path and realize sagehood. From this it can be known that there is no such thing as realizing bodhi without severing afflictions.