215 lines
61 KiB
Plaintext
215 lines
61 KiB
Plaintext
# Reflections on the Stages of Buddhist Practice
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------Delivered at the Symposium on the Stages of Practice in Chinese Buddhism, Singapore, 2005
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Master Jiqun
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Reflections on the Stages of Buddhist Practice
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I. The Core Elements of the Dharma
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1. Practicing the Path of Liberation
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2. Practicing the Bodhisattva Path
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II. The Stages of Practice in the Dharma
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III. Putting the Five Elements into Practice
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1. Taking Refuge
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2. Generating Aspiration
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3. Observing Precepts
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4. Establishing Right View
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5. Practicing Samatha-Vipassana
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IV. Conclusion
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The theme of this symposium is "the stages of practice in Chinese Buddhism," an issue the Buddhist community urgently needs to clarify today. After years of spreading the Dharma, I have come to feel deeply that many people have studied Buddhism for a long time yet remain utterly confused about the basic framework of practice. Why is this? Precisely because they have not grasped the essentials or understood the stages.
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Buddhism has countless schools and an enormous canon. Among the ten thousand and more volumes of the Tripitaka, what is essential, and what are the guiding principles? People either fail to understand or cling to one thing while discarding another; not one in a hundred truly grasps it all. No wonder blind, reckless practice is so common. There are also people who have gained realizations through practices such as Buddha-name recitation or Chan meditation, yet, lacking a systematic understanding of the Dharma, remain stuck at some level, unable to go deeper. It must be understood that a certain meditation experience, or a slight ease in reciting the Buddha's name, is still worlds away from buddhahood. How do we cut off afflictions? How do we realize emptiness? How do we perfect the qualities the Buddhas and bodhisattvas possess? These are all fortresses that must be taken one by one on the path of practice. So where should we begin?
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First, we should recognize which core elements a complete system of study and practice must contain. In other words, grasping these elements means grasping the essentials of the Dharma and the direction of practice. Otherwise, the constant talk of eighty-four thousand Dharma gates leaves beginners at a loss and daunted.
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Second, we need to understand what sequence of stages the study and practice of Buddhism actually follows. Otherwise, even if we learn some theories, we cannot use them effectively when we do not know their place in the whole process of practice or the progressive relations among the various links of practice.
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Beyond that, we should be clear about how each step is to be applied in practice. Without mastering the concrete methods, even with the first two conditions in place, we will inevitably end up with empty talk and dogma.
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I feel that the vagueness and absence of the core elements of the Dharma, the stages of practice, and the practical methods are precisely the key to why most practitioners today make little progress. Of course, exploring these questions is far from easy. The Dharma is vast: beyond the three great traditions of Theravada, Chinese, and Tibetan Buddhism, each tradition has numerous schools and branches, and each school has its own relatively independent structure of study and practice. To set up yet another practice method or yet another sequence would, at best, add one more to the eighty-four thousand Dharma gates---making eighty-four thousand and one gates and one extra sequence---which would hardly have much practical meaning.
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For this reason, the core elements and stages of practice we need to explore should not conflict with any school and should apply to the study and practice of every method. Just as a computer's operating system must be highly compatible in order to run all kinds of software and support all kinds of work, so---if different schools and practice methods are compared to software---the core elements, stages of practice, and practical methods of the Dharma are like the operating system of a computer. If the system itself has flaws, it will not only affect the running of software but bring down the entire system. Therefore, building a sound, practical system is the lifeline on which the healthy development of Buddhism depends, and an inescapable mission for us Buddhists of this generation.
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{#一佛法的核心要素}
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## I. The Core Elements of the Dharma
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All the major language traditions and schools of Buddhism have their own relatively independent structures of study and practice, but however much they vary, they still share common core elements. Only by grasping these cores can we better understand the practice of each school. So what are the core elements of the Dharma? I think they are precisely taking refuge, generating aspiration, observing precepts, establishing right view, and practicing samatha-vipassana.
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Let us consider: which method of practice can do without these five? Perhaps someone will ask: why these and not others? Why not four or six? There are two reasons. First, as core elements, they must encompass all of Buddhism. Second, as core elements, they must apply to all schools without being too many in number---otherwise they would no longer be core.
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Why can these five elements encompass all of Buddhism? The Dharma distinguishes the path of liberation from the bodhisattva path; every school and method belongs to one or the other. The goal of the path of liberation is to develop undefiled wisdom, realize emptiness, attain nirvana, and accomplish liberation. The goal of the bodhisattva path is to perfect the qualities of the Buddha's wisdom and compassion, thereby freeing ourselves from delusion and karma and attaining great freedom. These goals in turn lock in the necessary conditions for reaching them.
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{#解脱道的修行}
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### 1. Practicing the Path of Liberation
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For the practice of the path of liberation, first of all, we should have full confidence in its goal and methods---believing that liberation is of great significance to life and that practicing in accordance with the Dharma will surely bring liberation. Without such confidence, how can practice even be spoken of? Taking refuge is precisely arousing confidence in the goal of liberation (the Buddha), the methods of the path of liberation (the Dharma), and the teachers who guide us toward liberation (the Sangha), and, through a ceremony conducted in accordance with the Dharma, establishing a close relationship of trust and reliance with them and surrendering to them wholeheartedly. When we make the vow before the Buddhas and bodhisattvas---"For my entire life, I take refuge in the Buddha; for my entire life, I take refuge in the Dharma; for my entire life, I take refuge in the Sangha"---it means this relationship is established.
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But faith alone is not enough; we must go further and give rise to the wish to seek it---that is, arouse renunciation. The lives of ordinary beings either drift with the deluded stream or are swayed by circumstances---blind, unable to be their own masters. The arising of renunciation represents a conscious choice of life. It is not only the beginning of practice on the path of liberation but runs through the entire process of practice; only with liberation is renunciation brought to full completion.
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So what is it that binds us, keeping us from freedom and liberation? It is delusion and karma---the deluded karmic stream accumulated over countless lives. Observing the precepts is precisely the key to stopping this stream. Precepts have the meaning of preventing wrong and stopping evil---that is, ceasing unwholesome deeds such as killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and false speech. By regulating our own conduct, we subdue afflictions and stop the continuation of the deluded stream.
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But stopping is not the same as eradicating. In fact, the force of the deluded stream remains; the afflictions of greed, hatred, and ignorance remain, only temporarily dormant because they get no chance to act. Right view is the true weapon for cutting off delusion and karma. Right view is of two kinds: worldly right view and transcendent right view. Through hearing and contemplating the scriptures, we can gain worldly right view and the ability to distinguish the true from the false and the right from the wrong. Only when we know what is true and false, what is right and wrong, can we adopt and reject appropriately in the course of practice, cut off delusion, and realize truth.
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However, the right view gained through hearing and contemplation is intellectual and conceptual; set against the stream of delusion flowing since beginningless time, its force is still no match. This is why we must rely on samatha-vipassana to bring the right view of hearing and contemplation into mind and conduct, realize emptiness, and give rise to undefiled right view. Only then can we cut off the deluded stream, completely eradicate the root of delusion and karma, attain nirvana, and accomplish liberation.
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{#菩萨道的修行}
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### 2. Practicing the Bodhisattva Path
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The practice of the bodhisattva path likewise requires confidence in the fruit of buddhahood and the methods of the bodhisattva path---believing that accomplishing the Buddha's qualities has unsurpassable value for life, and also believing that practicing the bodhisattva path will surely help us accomplish these qualities. This is the conviction every bodhisattva practitioner must possess. Taking refuge is arousing confidence in the goal of the bodhisattva path (the Buddha), the methods of practicing it (the Dharma), and the teachers who can guide us toward supreme enlightenment (the Sangha), and, through a ceremony conducted in accordance with the Dharma, surrendering body and mind in sincere reliance.
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Admiring the Buddha's sublime qualities and believing in the greatness of the bodhisattva spirit, we yearn toward it and arouse an earnest bodhicitta. As the Yogacarabhumi Sastra defines it, this mind is the wish that one "will certainly attain unexcelled, complete, perfect enlightenment" and "will be able to accomplish every benefit of sentient beings." Bodhicitta contains the meanings of self-awakening and benefiting others---precisely the mental foundation on which the Buddha accomplishes the two great qualities of compassion and wisdom: self-awakening comes from wisdom, and benefiting others comes from compassion.
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In short, practice on the bodhisattva path comes down to two great tasks: abandoning the ordinary mind and accomplishing the Buddha's qualities. How should a bodhisattva who has just generated the aspiration set about this? This requires receiving the bodhisattva precepts and practicing the bodhisattva deeds. The content of the bodhisattva deeds is none other than the six perfections, which are divided into two parts: skillful means and wisdom. The first five perfections are skillful means, through which we accomplish the Buddha's quality of compassion; the sixth is wisdom, aroused by establishing right view through hearing and contemplating the Mahayana scriptures. The Lamrim (the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment) says: "If one learns only one of the two---skillful means or wisdom---one cannot attain buddhahood." This shows that only by practicing both skillful means and wisdom can we perfectly accomplish the two qualities of compassion and wisdom with which the Buddha is endowed. If we neglect the cultivation of compassion, we will fall into the two lesser vehicles; and without accomplishing right view, we cannot abandon the ordinary mind.
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The cultivation of compassion and wisdom both depend on samatha-vipassana. Through contemplative practice such as Shantideva's "exchanging self and other" or the Venerable Atisha's "seven causes and effects," we can cultivate the quality of compassion; through contemplating the right view of Consciousness-only or Madhyamaka, we can accomplish undefiled wisdom. Practice on the bodhisattva path is precisely the continual nurturing of compassion and wisdom through samatha-vipassana, ultimately perfecting the Buddha's qualities.
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From this it is clear that, whether on the path of liberation or the bodhisattva path, the five elements are indispensable; the lack of any one of them will become an obstacle to practice and even affect the healthy development of Buddhism. Clarifying these cores, we can understand the basic content a complete system of study and practice should contain, and so examine whether our own practice is complete and how it should be supplemented and improved. At the same time, it helps us simplify the complex and go straight to the essentials, so that on the path of practice we are not dazzled by a riot of colors, unable to tell the primary from the secondary. It can also resolve the one-sidedness that often appears in practice---treating precepts as everything or samatha-vipassana as everything, clinging to one and losing sight of the Dharma.
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{#二佛法的修学次第}
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## II. The Stages of Practice in the Dharma
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Most of the major schools of Chinese Buddhism took shape during the Sui and Tang dynasties, when practitioners had sharper faculties and a firmer grounding in doctrine. For this reason, the founding masters did not focus on laying foundations but on expounding the perfect-and-sudden teachings, so that those of sharp faculties and keen wisdom could directly realize their own mind and attain buddhahood on the spot. Now we are in the degenerate age of the Dharma; the faculties of sentient beings are shallow, and for most people the perfect-and-sudden methods are like clouds on the horizon---within sight but beyond reach. Recognizing the common foundations of practice and building a sequence of practice accessible to all is thus the urgent task of the Buddhist community.
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Earlier we spoke of the core elements of the Dharma; in fact, discussing the stages of practice likewise cannot do without these. The content is the same, but the emphasis and meaning differ. In discussing the stages of practice, the key is to recognize the progressive, layer-upon-layer relations among taking refuge, generating aspiration, observing precepts, establishing right view, and practicing samatha-vipassana.
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To study Buddhism, one must first take refuge. Taking refuge is the root of the Dharma: without taking refuge, or without taking it seriously, practice is like a tree without roots. Taking refuge is also the root of faith: whether we come to depend on the Three Jewels, and whether we can accept, believe, and practice the teachings of the Tripitaka, both depend on the depth of our refuge. It is because we take refuge in the Three Jewels that we can generate aspiration, observe precepts, hear and contemplate the scriptures, establish right view, and cultivate samatha-vipassana. Otherwise, none of this could even be spoken of.
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Then we must generate aspiration. Aspiration is the wish for the qualities with which the Three Jewels are endowed. Without this wish to emulate what is worthy, one cannot be counted a true Buddhist. Because of this wish, life has a goal and practice has momentum. Therefore, after taking refuge, we must generate aspiration; only on this basis can we go on to cultivate precepts, right view, and samatha-vipassana. Aspiration is the root of practice: if we generate the wrong kind of aspiration, then whatever we do has nothing to do with practice.
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Precepts stand at the head of the three trainings and are the foundation of concentration and wisdom---from precepts arises concentration, and based on concentration, wisdom arises. Thus, after taking refuge and generating aspiration, we must also receive and observe the precepts; this is the standard course of Buddhist practice. According to the Buddha's regulations, a monk should "study the precepts for five years without leaving his teacher," and the Vinaya stipulates that one may not study the Abhidharma before learning the precepts. All this fully shows that observing the precepts is the necessary precondition for establishing right view and cultivating samatha-vipassana.
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Right view and samatha-vipassana are the keys to putting the Dharma into practice. Right view is the eye of samatha-vipassana, while samatha-vipassana is the technique for bringing right view into mind and conduct; the two complement each other. Without the guidance of right view, the practice of samatha-vipassana often cannot find its way in; and knowledge not verified by samatha-vipassana easily falls into the trap of empty theorizing. Viewed in terms of the stages of practice, we should first learn right view and then cultivate samatha-vipassana. The four practices---associating with virtuous teachers, hearing the true Dharma, applying appropriate reflection, and practicing in accordance with the Dharma---also illustrate this. Practicing on the basis of right view can also help us correct every deviation in our minds. Otherwise, taking refuge may lapse into superstition, aspiration may carry impurities, observing precepts may become a mere formality, and samatha-vipassana may end in fruitless toil.
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Although the five stages deepen in sequence, this does not mean that we only begin generating aspiration after completing refuge, nor that once we generate aspiration we need no longer practice taking refuge. In fact, all five stages can reach their ultimate completion only with liberation or buddhahood. Thus, this sequence represents only the emphasis of each stage of practice. Aspiration arises because of refuge, but aspiration is also a deepening of refuge; so in the course of generating aspiration we should continue to practice taking refuge, and the same holds for the others. In this way they interpenetrate. But the basic order must not be violated; otherwise practice will likewise run into problems.
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Some people start directly with samatha-vipassana meditation, thinking that studying the teachings is like counting the sands of the sea---a futile effort. But without the guidance of right view, what are they ultimately practicing? What are they ultimately realizing? What are they ultimately resolving? It is like entering a station without knowing where one wants to go and boarding at random a train bound for some equally unknown destination. After riding for years, even decades, they remain muddled, not knowing where they will end up.
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Some people start directly with studying the teachings, but having read many great sutras and treatises, they often come to disregard norms such as the rules of discipline and conduct. And without the protection and guardianship of the precepts, the knowledge gained through hearing and contemplation, built only at the level of consciousness, has no power to subdue afflictions and habitual tendencies.
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Some people start directly with observing precepts. This is certainly important, but without correct aspiration and a clear understanding of the meaning of the precepts, observing them becomes extremely difficult. Without renunciation, merely passively resisting the five desires and six sense objects carries a high degree of difficulty. For the ordinary mind is sticky---it adheres to whatever it touches---and only by combining inner and outer efforts can we strengthen our countermeasures. And without bodhicitta, observing the bodhisattva precepts is also beset with difficulties, because ordinary beings care about "me" and "all that is mine." Without a compassion that extends from oneself to others, how can one benefit sentient beings without hesitation?
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Likewise, without an unwavering mind of refuge in the Three Jewels, aspiration cannot be maintained for long. Where does the strength of renunciation and bodhicitta come from? Precisely from our longing for and faith in the Three Jewels. Because we long for liberation and believe we can accomplish liberation as the Buddha did, we arouse renunciation and cut off attachment to self and dharmas; because we long for buddhahood and believe we can perfect the fruit of buddhahood as the Buddha did, we arouse bodhicitta and accomplish the supreme path.
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Understanding the stages of practice can help us establish a step-by-step path of learning Buddhism, clarify the emphasis of each stage, and understand why they enhance one another. When practice reaches a certain stage, we can clearly know what tasks this stage requires, what it adds to earlier practice, and what foundation it should lay for later practice. At the same time, it helps us examine and correct the various problems that arise from practicing without regard for the stages.
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And the first three stages of the sequence---taking refuge, generating aspiration, and observing precepts---are the common foundation that no practice method can bypass. Views and samatha-vipassana are more school-specific: views differ among Consciousness-only, Tiantai, and Madhyamaka, and the ways of applying the mind in meditation also differ. If views and samatha-vipassana are compared to specialized fields, then taking refuge, generating aspiration, and observing precepts are the basic education one must receive before choosing a specialty. With a solid foundation, one is able to go deep into a specialized field.
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These words may sound like commonplaces that need no special emphasis, but the reality before us gives little cause for optimism. Looking at teaching in the Buddhist academies, monastic students study the doctrines of every school but cannot put them to use; some even see their faith weaken and their aspiration for the path decline. Lay practitioners have similar problems: though they have read many sutras and treatises, they do not take the foundations of practice seriously, thinking that taking refuge is too elementary, aspiration lacks depth, and precepts are outdated. And what is the result? They speak with glib fluency but accomplish nothing in practice. If those who study doctrine tend toward empty theorizing, what of those who emphasize actual practice? Whether reciting the Buddha's name or sitting in meditation, those who truly practice with results are equally rare. Most merely recite in a muddle and sit in a daze. Empty theorizing and blind practice seem at first glance to be two unrelated extremes, but the crux of the problem is the same: they have skipped what should not be skipped and omitted what should not be omitted.
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{#三五大要素的实践}
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## III. Putting the Five Elements into Practice
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So how do we follow these core elements to complete the practice of the Buddha path? In other words, how do we put each element into practice? Below, I will briefly explain the emphasis and existing problems of each.
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{#皈-依}
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### 1. Taking Refuge
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The Dharma is boundless, yet it has but one entrance: taking refuge in the Three Jewels. As the beginning of practice, how do we enter through this gate, deepen it continuously, and ultimately accomplish the qualities of the Three Jewels within ourselves?
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First, we examine our motivation. Is our motivation for taking refuge correct? Are we taking refuge in the Three Jewels to be liberated from samsara, to attain buddhahood and become a patriarch? If we take refuge merely to seek the blessings of human and celestial rebirth, peace and good fortune, we may receive the Buddhas' protection, but we only form some good affinities, which have nothing to do with practice or transforming our lives. In fact, this kind of faith often contains elements of superstition and blind faith and cannot be counted as the faith of a true Buddhist disciple.
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Second, we obtain the refuge commitment. At the time of taking refuge, are we sincere? Do we have full confidence in the object of refuge? Do we yearn for the goal that refuge leads to? Do we vow from the depths of our hearts to take the Three Jewels as the refuge of body and mind, to solve the problems of life with the Dharma, and to help others with it? If our aspiration at the time of taking refuge is incorrect, or the ceremony is not conducted in accordance with the Dharma, we cannot obtain the refuge commitment.
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Third, we safeguard the refuge commitment. Obtaining the refuge commitment is not a once-and-for-all matter; we must carefully guard it afterward. In particular, we must not violate the vows made at the time of taking refuge: "I take refuge in the Buddha and will never take refuge in devas, maras, or followers of other paths; I take refuge in the Dharma and will never take refuge in the scriptures of other paths; I take refuge in the Sangha and will never take refuge in the misguided assemblies of other paths." If we transgress these, the refuge commitment is broken.
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Fourth, we practice and strengthen the refuge. Any thought or skill must be repeated and habituated over a long period to be strengthened, and refuge is no exception; it is by no means accomplished in a single ceremony. Therefore, after taking refuge, we must practice it daily and recall it constantly, so as to strengthen the place of the Three Jewels in our minds. Otherwise, its weight will naturally dwindle, until it is replaced by other things. Since the beginning of this year, I have been vigorously promoting the practice of refuge in various places and have compiled a group-practice liturgy centered on the practice of refuge, covering aspiration, repentance, offerings, analytical meditation, placement meditation, vows, and dedication of merit---suitable both as an individual's daily practice and as the regular religious life of monasteries leading the faithful in group practice.
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The more we trust the Three Jewels, the stronger our mind of refuge, and correspondingly the greater the effect the Dharma has on us. Thus, whether practice can succeed and accomplish its intended goals depends first of all on the quality of our refuge.
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{#发-心}
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### 2. Generating Aspiration
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Whether we study Buddhism or not, whatever we do, we cannot do without aspiration; the only difference is what kind of aspiration we generate. Since beginningless time, what we have generated is the ordinary mind---greed, hatred, and ignorance---and this is what has produced our present ordinary character. When we recognize the harm the ordinary mind has brought to our lives and no longer wish to sink into such a life, we must counter it with correct aspiration.
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There are two kinds of correct aspiration: one is renunciation, the other bodhicitta. Whatever aspiration we practice with, that is what we will ultimately accomplish. Moreover, if deviations or impurities creep into the process of generating aspiration, a slight error at the start will lead a thousand miles astray---this calls for particular attention. Aspiration represents a strong wish in life, but when first generated it is only a single thought; it must be continually strengthened through analytical meditation before a spark can start a prairie fire.
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Practitioners of the sravaka vehicle seek liberation; they see the world as a prison and the three realms as a burning house, unwilling to stay a moment longer---this is renunciation. In fact, if renunciation is genuine and intense, liberation is already half accomplished. Why is practice so difficult for modern people? The key lies in renunciation not being earnest. Renunciation is renunciation of the five desires and six sense objects, renunciation of ignorance and afflictions, and above all renunciation of the delusion and karma of birth and death. If our wish to renounce is strong and firm, we will no longer cling to anything in the world. The afflictions built upon attachment will then loosen and crumble away.
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Therefore, we should often observe and contemplate the suffering of samsara and see clearly that we are trapped in the three realms, unable to be free. Then we will be like a prisoner eagerly longing for freedom: given the chance to leave, we would not want to stay one minute longer in the cage. In fact, this is exactly our situation in samsara. Once we realize this, there is nothing to cling to in wealth, lust, fame, food, or sleep, because clinging can only mean staying in prison.
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As practitioners of the bodhisattva path, we must also arouse renunciation. Not only that---out of compassion for sentient beings, bodhisattvas see them turning endlessly in the sea of suffering and cannot bear to leave alone; they vow to help all beings gain liberation together. This compassion that extends from oneself to others is bodhicitta, the root of accomplishing the Buddha's qualities. As the Chapter on Samantabhadra's Practices and Vows states: "The Buddhas and Tathagatas take great compassion as their very essence. Because of sentient beings, great compassion arises; because of great compassion, bodhicitta arises; because of bodhicitta, they attain perfect enlightenment."
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The arising and strengthening of bodhicitta must likewise be supported by analytical meditation and placement meditation. The Venerable Atisha's seven causes and effects, Shantideva's exchanging self and other, and Master Sheng'an's Exhortation to Arouse the Bodhi Mind are all sublime instructions for deepening bodhicitta. Apart from these psychological guides, we must also receive and practice a bodhicitta liturgy, reciting and contemplating it three times each day and night, constantly reminding ourselves: What am I to accomplish? What is my goal in life? This is not just shouting empty slogans---that is of no use. The key is to wish for it from the depths of the heart and to vow with genuine sincerity.
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{#戒-律}
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### 3. Observing Precepts
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Precepts are the root that accords with liberation and also the root of supreme enlightenment. Through the behavioral norms of "this should be done, this should not be done," they provide a wholesome mental environment for practice, helping us reach smoothly the goals of liberation and buddhahood.
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Corresponding to the practice of the path of liberation and the bodhisattva path, precepts are likewise divided into the precepts of individual liberation and the bodhisattva precepts. The precepts of individual liberation include the five precepts and eight precepts for laypeople, and the novice precepts and monks' precepts for monastics---the standards of conduct for practitioners on the path of liberation. Their emphasis is on restraint: by keeping away from the five desires and worldly toils and disciplining our behavior, we stop the continuation of the deluded stream, subdue afflictions, and move toward liberation.
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The bodhisattva precepts, on top of the precepts of restraint, add the precepts of performance, so that ceasing evil and doing good go forward together. The myriad practices of the six perfections advocated by the bodhisattva precepts are both the provisions for attaining supreme enlightenment and sharp weapons for dismantling the ordinary mind: giving overcomes stinginess and greed, observing precepts counteracts negligence, and patience conquers anger. At the same time, these virtuous deeds are the standard for examining whether bodhicitta has been accomplished. When we practice giving, can we give up everything we own without reserve? Do we make no distinction of closeness or distance toward those who receive? Have we ceased clinging to a self who gives and an other who receives?
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The bodhisattva precepts have two major systems: the Brahma Net and the Yogacara. By comparison, the allowances and prohibitions of the Yogacara Bodhisattva Precepts are more skillful, which is why Master Taixu of the modern era vigorously advocated them. The Brahma Net Bodhisattva Precepts, on the other hand, represent the level of great bodhisattvas and are quite difficult for ordinary beings to uphold. In the Chinese Buddhist community, the bodhisattva precepts are included as one of the three platforms of the triple-platform ordination, so the vast majority of monastics have received them; even among laypeople, a considerable number have received the bodhisattva precepts. This should be a gratifying phenomenon, yet what is worrying is that, although so many people have received the bodhisattva precepts, they often do not know what bodhicitta is and have never developed the habit of cultivating compassion---they are "bodhisattvas" in name only, a mere formality.
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In view of this, I have compiled a liturgy for receiving and practicing bodhicitta, drawing on the traditions of bodhicitta practice in the two great systems of Madhyamaka and Yogacara and the bodhicitta instructions of the Lamrim, and I have begun transmitting it to the students of the Jiechuang Institute of Buddhist Studies. Bodhicitta is the soul of the bodhisattva precepts; therefore, before receiving the bodhisattva precepts, one should train by arousing bodhicitta and earnestly practicing compassion, and only after laying the corresponding foundation receive the bodhisattva precepts. Only in this way can we truly carry out the spirit of the bodhisattva path and become true children of the Buddha who shoulder the Tathagata's great work.
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{#正-见}
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### 4. Establishing Right View
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Right view heads the Noble Eightfold Path; it is the compass of all practice methods and the lighthouse of the long path of cultivation. Because aspiration cannot be accomplished in one step, precepts cannot be perfected overnight, and even the deepening of refuge is not achieved at a stroke, right view plays a decisive role in this process, guiding us to correct deviations of mind and weed out its impurities.
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For practice on the path of liberation, the right views of dependent origination and karma and its results are extremely important. Life is the accumulation of habits: what we do and think determines what our future life will be. Thus, in the world of dependent origination, karma is everything. Moreover, the views of impermanence, no-self, and emptiness are basic cognitions that practice must possess. Practice on the bodhisattva path is likewise inseparable from the guidance of right view; only so can conventional bodhicitta be elevated into ultimate bodhicitta. Ordinary beings cling to the marks of self, person, sentient being, and life span---like a limited vessel that confines the mind within it. Only the view of emptiness can shatter this confinement, returning the finite to the infinite, so that we can benefit all sentient beings with an impartial, selfless mind and complete the provisions for the fruit of buddhahood.
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So how can we obtain and consolidate right view? It cannot be separated from associating with virtuous teachers and hearing and contemplating the scriptures. Based on many years of teaching experience, I believe this learning process should go deep into a single approach. Modern people tend to study in a scattered way, dabbling in Tiantai, Huayan, Madhyamaka, and Consciousness-only alike. Unless one has extraordinary energy and sharp faculties, such study mostly skims the surface: one seems to know a little of everything but is merely a "knowing intellectual," without even systematic knowledge, let alone right view. I think most people, in a lifetime of practice, need only the right view of a single school---whether the view of impermanence or no-self, or the Consciousness-only view or the view of emptiness. Practice one weapon until it is fully mastered and wielded with ease; you can still defeat the enemy and press forward bravely.
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But the right view of hearing and contemplation, established at the level of consciousness, is often very coarse, because human thinking has many pitfalls. How can it be made precise? One way is through debate and mutual refinement among teachers and peers, exposing the blind spots and problems in our understanding, discarding the dross, and keeping the essence to raise its purity. Another is through gaining experiential realization in meditation, because the essence of the Dharma cannot be fully conveyed in words; those ineffable parts can only be finally known through personal realization---as the saying goes, the person who drinks the water knows best whether it is hot or cold.
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{#止-观}
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### 5. Practicing Samatha-Vipassana
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Samatha, in Sanskrit, is another name for meditative concentration; it is also called samadhi. It includes samatha with an object and samatha without an object. The meditation of the Lesser Vehicle leans toward samatha with an object---that is, with an object of focus. The practice of the Chan school and of the Tibetan traditions of Dzogchen and Mahamudra, by contrast, belongs to samatha without an object: through specific methods, one directly realizes emptiness and settles the mind in it. Vipassana, rendered in Chinese as guan and meaning "insight," encompasses the levels of contemplation, visualization, and analytical meditation.
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Many people misread the Chan school and one-sidedly reduce the practice of samatha-vipassana to non-discrimination. I think this is the main cause of the opposition between Chan and the doctrinal schools. As a result, neglecting the scriptures, they lack the right view gained through hearing and contemplation, and without a virtuous teacher to guide them by the hand, how many Chan practitioners have fallen into blind practice!
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Non-discriminative meditation is the cultivation of non-cultivation---the meditation in which non-discriminative wisdom realizes emptiness. It is beyond the grasp of ordinary meditators, because our present basis of mind is extremely unstable and built upon inverted views. If we start directly with non-discrimination, how can we adjust our wrong views and inverted mental states? Therefore, we must take contemplation with discrimination as the precondition, freeing the mind from its inverted state, before we can enter non-discriminative meditation.
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At the same time, the practice of samatha is indispensable. Although samatha is a practice common to Buddhism and non-Buddhist paths, it is an important foundation for cultivating insight. In Chinese Buddhism, the theory of insight is extremely rich---so why can so few people actually put it into practice today? Precisely because samatha has been neglected for so long. If we can establish the foundation of samatha and then use right contemplation to break through attachment to self and dharmas, realizing emptiness is not as far out of reach as we imagine.
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Apart from the engagement of mind free from discrimination and fabrication spoken of in the Chan school, contemplation with discrimination is also indispensable: analytical meditation and visualization meditation are both excellent ways of practice. What is good about them is that even ordinary people without a foundation in meditative concentration can practice them. It can be said that anyone who can think normally can do analytical meditation, and anyone with imagination can do visualization meditation. Of course, although analytical and visualization meditation do not demand much of practitioners, they must still be based on the corresponding right view gained through hearing and contemplation. Only then, through appropriate reflection or visualization, can we abide in mindfulness and clear awareness. For those who study doctrine, making good use of analytical meditation---adjusting mind and conduct by reflecting on the meaning of the Dharma they have learned---is an excellent way to combine study with practice.
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{#四结-说}
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## IV. Conclusion
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In summary, taking refuge, generating aspiration, observing precepts, establishing right view, and practicing samatha-vipassana are not only the core elements of Buddhist study and practice but also the stages of practice that run through it from beginning to end. Grasping these five elements, we grasp the key stages from first taking up the study of Buddhism to the attainment of buddhahood. At the same time, they are like the great earth that nurtures all things---the common foundation on which all practice methods are established. If we take them seriously and truly put them into practice in mind and conduct, then whether our starting point is high or low, whether our faculties are sharp or dull, whether our progress is fast or slow, we are all advancing toward the destination step by step. This is not only of great significance for individual practice; it is also a strong guarantee of the healthy development of Chinese Buddhism in today's society.
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# Reflections on Chinese Buddhism
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Published during the Spring Festival of 2004
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In the history of Chinese culture, although there were the Hundred Schools of Thought in the pre-Qin era, the three traditions active in society since the Han and Wei dynasties have mainly been Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Among them, only Buddhism is a foreign culture. Yet in its two thousand and more years of circulation in China, it has become intimately blended with the traditional culture, deeply influencing the Chinese people with its rich thought and doctrine, standing as one of three pillars alongside the native Confucian and Daoist traditions and becoming an important part of Chinese culture. Correctly understanding Buddhism can not only help us recognize the truth of life and resolve afflictions and suffering, but also give us a comprehensive, in-depth understanding of traditional Chinese culture.\
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Buddhism entered China during the reign of Emperor Ai of the Western Han, spread through the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and reached its peak in the Sui and Tang. In the early period of its spread in China, Buddhism was mainly engaged in two kinds of work: the translation of sutras and doctrinal studies. The translation of sutras enabled Chinese Buddhism to inherit the Buddhist thought of early and middle-period India fairly completely, while doctrinal studies led Buddhism in China to form different systems of thought---namely the eight major schools of Tiantai, Three Treatise, Huayan, Chan, Pure Land, Consciousness-only, Vinaya, and Esoteric.\
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The formation of schools is not a new phenomenon unique to China. Different sects appeared in early India as well as in the Theravada and Tibetan regions. The reason schools arose is mainly that Buddhism is so vast and profound that no one can master it completely. In order to spread the Dharma and to make practice easier for people, the patriarchs built their own systems of study and practice on the basis of a particular sutra or treatise, or a group of similar ones, which then evolved into different schools.\
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The major schools of Chinese Buddhism were mostly founded in the Sui and Tang, but their histories can be traced back to the Northern and Southern Dynasties or even earlier. For example, the founding patriarch of the Pure Land school was Huiyuan of the Eastern Jin, while its actual founder was Shandao of the Tang. The founding patriarch of the Tiantai school was Huiwen of the Northern Qi, who, on reading the Mahaprajnaparamita Sastra, realized "the three wisdoms attained in a single mind," and from the Madhyamaka Sastra awakened to "three insights in one mind." Huisi inherited this teaching and, combined with the essentials of the Lotus Sutra, transmitted it to Zhiyi, who formed the ideas of "one thought containing the three thousand realms" and "the perfect interfusion of the three truths" and formally established the Tiantai school. From this it is clear that no system of thought is accomplished overnight; it must accumulate over several hundred years and be summed up by several generations before it takes shape. Afterward, it still depends on being passed down from generation to generation by those accomplished in practice, to keep it from falling.\
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Chinese sectarian Buddhism has its own characteristics. First, each school has its own foundational scriptures: the Tiantai school relies on the Lotus Sutra, and the Huayan school on the Avatamsaka Sutra. Second, each school has its own intellectual lineage, either originating in India---as the Consciousness-only school takes Maitreya Bodhisattva as its founding patriarch and the Three Treatise school takes Nagarjuna---or sprouting on native soil, like the Pure Land and Tiantai schools mentioned above. Third, each school has different criteria for evaluating the Buddha's entire teaching---that is, doctrinal classification, such as Tiantai's five periods and eight teachings and Huayan's five teachings. Beyond this, because of differences in each school's core theory, each also formed its own distinctive practice methods.\
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The formation of Chinese sectarian Buddhism not only marked the maturity of the Chinese people's thinking about and understanding of the Dharma, but also embodied the completion of the localization of Chinese Buddhism. Sectarian Buddhism inherited the thought of Indian Mahayana Buddhism, but this inheritance was not a copy; it took root in the soil of Chinese civilization and absorbed the color of native culture. The prevalence of Tiantai, Huayan, and Chan, for instance, was related to traditional Chinese culture and the temperament of the Chinese people. It can be said that sectarian Buddhism is Buddhism with Chinese characteristics.\
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From the Tang and Song onward, as China's national power declined, the spread of Buddhism also went into decline. Among the schools, the Consciousness-only school, lacking a foundation in Chinese culture, faded into oblivion after only two or three generations despite the exhausting efforts of the Tripitaka Master Xuanzang. The Vinaya and Three Treatise schools likewise failed to spread widely in China; after the Buddhist persecutions under Emperor Wuzong and Emperor Shizong, their important texts were scattered and lost. Fortunately, these lost texts were still preserved in neighboring Japan and returned to their homeland in the late Qing and early Republic. As for Tiantai and Huayan, although revered by the Chinese, their transmissions of realization were not carried down intact, and in the end there was doctrine without contemplation. In the final analysis, only Chan and Pure Land became widespread because their theory and practice were simple---yet, in reality, they too had no small number of problems.\
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The decline of these methods filled me with regret and also impelled me to keep reflecting: where does the cause of the decline truly lie? Over many years of study and practice, I gradually discovered that some of these schools do indeed have innate deficiencies: they can serve as a system of thought or a method of practical cultivation, but are not enough to form an independent system of study and practice. I believe that a complete system of study and practice should have five elements: taking refuge, bodhicitta, precepts, the right view gained through hearing and contemplation, and the practice of samatha-vipassana---none of them can be missing.\
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Taking refuge is the basic procedure for becoming a Buddhist disciple and the necessary precondition for accepting, believing, and practicing the Buddha's teachings. Whether Buddhist disciples can earnestly practice the Buddha's Dharma depends on whether they have generated a genuine mind of refuge in the Three Jewels and truly recognize the role of the Three Jewels in improving life and realizing life's highest value. Even with such recognition, after taking refuge one must continue to practice taking refuge, because life is an endless accumulation, and in the course of it the ordinary mind has long since formed tremendous force. Only by continually contemplating death and impermanence and visualizing the qualities of the Three Jewels can we reduce the workings of the ordinary mind, let the Three Jewels gradually take root and sprout within us, and eventually make them the dominant force of our lives. Unfortunately, the Chinese schools have mostly not especially promoted the practice of taking refuge, so that the Buddhist community today shows a serious weakening of faith.\
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The Mahayana is by nature a Buddhism of active engagement with the world, yet in China it has left people with the impression of passive renunciation. Why is this? In the final analysis, it is because bodhicitta has been neglected. In the past, we always assumed that Mahayana scriptures represented Mahayana Buddhism and that studying Mahayana sutras and treatises naturally made one a Mahayana practitioner. We failed to realize that the key distinguishing the Mahayana from the lesser vehicles lies in aspiration---in whether bodhicitta is present. For bodhicitta is the distinctive cause of buddhahood and the distinctive teaching of the Mahayana. Looking back at the major schools of Chinese Buddhism, they have generally not attached enough importance to bodhicitta. It is for this very reason that, in many people's minds, bodhisattva practices such as the six perfections and four means of embracing seem to be taught only for great bodhisattvas, with no connection to one's own practice.\
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Precepts are the foundation of Buddhist practice. The sravaka vehicle's fivefold dharmakaya consists of precepts, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge and vision of liberation, and the Mahayana likewise regards precepts as the root of supreme enlightenment---all of which shows the importance of precepts in practice. When the Chinese patriarchs constructed the precepts into a school of their own, their intention must have been to strengthen people's respect for the precepts, so that they would study and observe them better. But when the precepts exist as an independent school, some people tend to inflate their role without limit, thinking that observing the precepts is all of practice. In fact, the precepts cannot serve as a complete system of study and practice, because they are only the common foundation of practice, not everything. At the same time, studying the precepts is not the exclusive preserve of Vinaya practitioners but the code of conduct for every Buddhist disciple.\
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The right view gained through hearing and contemplation is also very important. The Noble Eightfold Path is the essential practice of Buddhism, and right view heads it. The four factors of stream entry in the Agamas are associating with virtuous teachers, hearing the true Dharma, applying appropriate reflection, and practicing in accordance with the Dharma; in the Mahayana sutras and treatises, it is advocated to enter samadhi through hearing, contemplation, and practice. It is clear that both the greater and lesser vehicles' scriptures attach great importance to obtaining right view. Only under the guidance of right view can one practice in accordance with the Dharma. Yet in Chinese Buddhism, the most widely spread schools---Chan and Pure Land---have not particularly emphasized the importance of the right view gained through hearing and contemplation. When Bodhidharma came from the West, along with transmitting the Buddha's mind seal, he also proposed using the Lankavatara Sutra to seal the mind---but it was used only to verify the mind after enlightenment. And the Chan slogan---"not established on words and letters, a special transmission outside the scriptures, pointing directly to the mind, seeing one's nature and attaining buddhahood"---has become the basis on which many people distance themselves from the scriptures. Of course, in the Sui and Tang era, when doctrinal study was highly developed, many people already had a deep doctrinal foundation before entering the Chan gate, so not emphasizing right view seemed to do no great harm. Moreover, at that time eminent masters appeared in abundance: even if practitioners were weaker in doctrine, the earnest instruction of great virtuous teachers kept their practice from going astray. But in an age when doctrine has declined and the Chan school has lost its masters, if one still does not emphasize the right view gained through hearing and contemplation, practice is nothing short of blind cultivation.\
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Teaching and contemplation are the two great essentials of Buddhist practice. Any school must have not only scriptures as its theoretical construction but also the practical methods of yogic samatha-vipassana. The practice methods of each school were mostly passed down from generation to generation by the patriarchs, who inherited the Buddha's teachings and combined them with their own practice experience. The Three Treatise school had Kumarajiva, Sengzhao, Senglang, Sengquan, Falang, and Jizang; the Huayan school had Dushun, Zhiyan, Fazang, Chengguan, and Zongmi; and the Chan school, still more, saw one flower bloom into five petals, keeping the dharma lineage alive. These schools all had very sublime transmissions of realization in their early days, but today most of them have become blurred. Because the transmission of practice and realization has been weak, many practitioners cannot bring the right view gained through hearing and contemplation into the practice of samatha-vipassana, making it a means of arousing fundamental wisdom and realizing emptiness. At the same time, lacking experience of the wisdom of emptiness, they cannot go deep in their study of doctrine either.\
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Since the late Qing and early Republic, Buddhism has shown a trend of revival. At that time, the Venerable Xuyun promoted Chan, Master Yinguang promoted the Pure Land, Venerables Dixian and Tanxu promoted Tiantai, Venerable Xingci promoted Huayan, and Master Hongyi, a Vinaya master, promoted the Vinaya school. These great masters taught in their own regions across the country and had a certain influence on society. While they were promoting the traditional sectarian Buddhism, Master Taixu was energetically devoted to promoting Humanistic Buddhism---on the one hand, to reform the bad practices that had accumulated in the spread of Buddhism, and on the other, to advocate that Buddhism should stand on real human life and reach the Buddha path from the human vehicle, in the words of the saying, "when one perfects being human, one attains buddhahood."\
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The proposal of Humanistic Buddhism gave a new image to a Buddhism that had drifted into mystification, spirit worship, and otherworldliness. It enabled Buddhism to walk into real human life and give comprehensive attention to the various problems existing in society, fully embodying Buddhism's compassionate spirit of benefiting the world and helping others---undoubtedly of great significance for the popularization of Buddhism. But some people fail to grasp the true content of Humanistic Buddhism, thinking that Buddhism cares only about happiness in real human life and forgetting Buddhism's distinctive three-vehicle liberation and the distinctive teachings of the Mahayana. This has caused the spread of Buddhism in today's society to show a tendency toward superficiality and secularization, a phenomenon worthy of our attention.\
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In the contemporary spread of Buddhism, there has also appeared a trend different from the past: the academization of Buddhism. For a considerable period, Buddhism was dismissed by the world as superstition. It was only after Elder Zhao Puchu put forward the saying "Buddhism is culture" that Buddhism once again drew the attention of the cultural world. In recent years, many universities have also begun to value Buddhist studies, setting up institutes of religious studies and Buddhist studies centers one after another, and quite a few scholars have thrown themselves into the wave of Buddhist research. The Buddhist community has responded quite actively as well: some young monks have entered domestic and foreign universities to pursue degrees, and temples everywhere have been holding academic conferences and founding academic journals. This trend is clearly of positive significance for promoting Buddhism in the cultural world. But what scholarship can attend to is only the cultural dimension of Buddhism; the profound doctrines and inner realization of Buddhism cannot be touched merely through academic research. If the sangha, which upholds the Dharma and shoulders the Tathagata's work, cares only about the academic dimension of Buddhism, it is bound to lose the sangha's true character.\
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In view of the various ills that have appeared in the course of Buddhism's spread, I believe that the future development of Buddhism should pay attention to the following aspects. First, we should attach importance to the practice of taking refuge---this is where the root of the Dharma lies; without valuing refuge, the root of the Dharma is lost. Second is bodhicitta: the study and practice of Mahayana methods must take bodhicitta as its precondition; only in this way can one be led onto the Buddha path, rather than remaining in the human and celestial vehicle or seeking only one's own liberation. Third is observing the precepts: precepts are the foundation of all practice and the basic guarantee of accomplishment in practice. Fourth is the right view gained through hearing and contemplation: with right view as the guide, practice can have the correct direction, instead of frittering away one's whole life in groping about. Fifth is the practice of samatha-vipassana, by which the wisdom of the Dharma is put into practice in the mind and becomes a force for improving life. Lacking this core, the doctrines one has studied will lose their vitality.\
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Perhaps someone will say, "The mind itself is the Buddha" or "one's own nature is Amitabha; the mind alone is the Pure Land"---why must it be so complicated? Indeed, these two phrases represent a very high view. But as views of an extremely high level, they are not suitable for everyone. In fact, their starting point is so high that only a very few of sharp faculties and keen wisdom are capable of shouldering them. For "the mind itself is the Buddha" is not the present state of ordinary people: although sentient beings possess the Buddha-nature, they have remained in the state of the ordinary mind since beginningless time. And to go from the ordinary mind to the perfect accomplishment of the Buddha mind, there must be skillful methods as a path. Otherwise, even if we shout "the mind itself is the Buddha" or "one's own nature is Amitabha; the mind alone is the Pure Land" for ten thousand years, we still cannot be liberated from the state of the ordinary mind.\
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So what is the key to abandoning the ordinary mind and accomplishing the Buddha mind? It is bodhicitta, the bodhisattva practice, and right view. The vows and actions of ordinary beings both start from the ordinary mind, so what they finally accomplish is naturally the ordinary mind. If we wish to accomplish supreme enlightenment, we must arouse bodhicitta. And the six perfections and four means of embracing of the bodhisattva path are indispensable skillful means for accomplishing the two virtues of compassion and wisdom of the fruit of buddhahood. Although sentient beings originally possess the Tathagata's wisdom and virtuous marks, this treasure can only be unearthed with the appropriate skillful means. The noble ones of the sravaka vehicle, although they also realize the nature of reality, fail to accomplish immeasurable merits precisely because they lack bodhicitta and the skillful practices of the six perfections and four means of embracing. Besides bodhicitta and bodhisattva practice, right view is also needed as guidance. Our present basis of mind is the ordinary mind, which has long since become the master of our lives; whatever we do, it is difficult to transcend its workings. The right view gained through hearing and contemplation can help us recognize the nature of the ordinary mind and fundamentally overcome and dismantle it, so that life can transcend it.\
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For the promotion of Humanistic Buddhism, bodhicitta and the view of emptiness are likewise indispensable. A single virtuous deed is hard to classify as belonging to which level of Buddhist practice. Take the practice of giving: it is advocated by the human and celestial vehicle, the path of liberation, and the bodhisattva path alike. Practiced with the upward-striving mind of the human and celestial vehicle, it is a wholesome dharma of that vehicle; practiced with the renunciation of the sravaka vehicle, it is the practice of liberation; practiced with bodhicitta, it is the bodhisattva practice. The bodhisattva practice includes the defiled practice of ordinary beings and the undefiled practice of sages: bodhisattvas who have not yet reached the grounds have not escaped the workings of the ordinary mind, so the giving they practice is still defiled virtuous action. But in the course of practicing giving, a bodhisattva continually uses the view of emptiness to eliminate the workings of the ordinary mind, and ultimately realizes emptiness and accomplishes ultimate bodhicitta. From this it is clear that only under the guidance of bodhicitta and the view of emptiness can the virtuous actions of the human and celestial vehicles rise to the bodhisattva practice. Otherwise, Humanistic Buddhism is very likely to evolve into human-vehicle Buddhism.\
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I have put forward the five elements for studying and practicing Mahayana Buddhism. Although there is nothing new in them, they are the fundamental conditions that the study and practice of every school must possess. I hope we can use them to re-examine Chinese Buddhism, to see whether the schools we revere possess these conditions---or perhaps originally possessed them but have long since neglected them. At the same time, we should examine our own practice: have we generated a genuine mind of refuge in the Three Jewels? Has bodhicitta been aroused? Do we live according to the precepts? Do we possess the right view gained through hearing and contemplation? Can we put it into practice in samatha-vipassana, making it a means of realizing emptiness? Do we follow the corresponding stages of practice? If these conditions are all present, I believe everyone's practice will surely bear fruit. If some link is missing, it should be made up in time. Then how is it to be made up? If one's own school originally has these contents, supplement from one's own school; if one's own school lacks them, one should absorb the strengths of other schools to perfect one's own school's study and practice.
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Here, let us together pray for the blessings of the Three Jewels and the protection of the dragons and devas, and pray that our colleagues in the Buddhist community will join in generating aspiration, study and practice Chinese sectarian Buddhism in accordance with these five elements, and absorb the strengths of Tibetan and Theravada Buddhism. If these things can be done, I believe Chinese Buddhism will surely flourish and spread far.
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