The Diligence of Buddhist Practitioners Should Not Be Inferior to That of Non-Buddhists

During the Buddha's time there was a non-Buddhist ascetic called Longnails Brahmin (Dīrghanakha). In order to debate with his nephew Śāriputra, he resolved to study several major non-Buddhist scriptures, vowing that he would not trim his nails until he had mastered them, and thus he was known as the Longnails Brahmin. If a non-Buddhist could apply himself so diligently for the sake of worldly, meaningless debates—going for years without trimming his nails, having no time even to cut them—then how do we Buddhists apply ourselves? Every day we brew tea, chat, stroll around shopping, tidy up the house, eat meals, gather with family, then practice health regimens like yoga and qigong, shoot the breeze and boast with Dharma friends, and then get plenty of sleep. At the end of the day, how much time has been devoted to cultivating the Path?

Among the Buddhists in this world, how many cultivate as diligently as those non-Buddhists? Probably very, very few. How many Buddhists, like those non-Buddhists, have seen through the world, let go of worldly matters, and gone off to cultivate the Path? Probably very, very few. Among any three people walking together, one must be my teacher. We truly should learn more from the non-Buddhists—learn from their strengths and virtues, from their spirit of letting go, their spirit of diligent effort, and their spirit of taking worldly things lightly. If Buddhists could have this spirit, coupled with correct Dharma principles, it would be hard for them not to attain the Way.

When such diligent non-Buddhists encountered the Buddha, they were delivered. With pure precept conduct, fully endowed meditative concentration, and fine wisdom, upon meeting the appropriate Buddha-dharma and contemplating it with focused attention, they would realize the fruits. That is genuine realization, not mere intellectual understanding. Can we Buddhists manage that? We cannot uphold the precepts, we cannot develop meditative concentration, and no matter how long we are steeped in the Mahāyāna Dharma community, we never come close to the edge of enlightenment—at most we merely gain some intellectual understanding. How great is the gap between the inner path and the outer paths? Some people even look down on non-Buddhists. As for non-Buddhists of that kind, if I could encounter them, how easy it would be to teach them—I would never feel weary at heart; at most, they would simply be unable to make the great resolve. Even the great resolve that Buddhists make advances and retreats by turns, and is by no means reliable.