Do Not Let Yesterday’s Mistakes Obstruct Today’s Clarity

(For example, in everyday life, sometimes a thought arises, then greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, and doubt arise; things like wealth, sex, fame, and profit, and anger arises too… Everything is impermanent; I can’t bear that force… it’s just a whole pile of troubles.)

Before we attain enlightenment, there is, in fact, a self in us. That is why the Bodhisattva appears—because there is a self. The Buddha says we are no-self. If we are no-self, none of these problems exist.

Fame and gain, wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—all of this is because there is a self there. Because there is a self, we have wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, and greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, and doubt. If the self did not exist at all, those things would be even more like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows; having them and not having them would be the same, wouldn’t it?

But precisely because, at the beginning, we cannot break through this self, we have all kinds of feelings. When those feelings arise, we still cannot break through our view of the body. We think, “This is a self—this mind and this body are me.” That is when the Bodhisattva appears.

So, when there is a self, what does a Bodhisattva do? Practice the six perfections: giving, upholding the precepts, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom. Through these six perfections, gradually break through your greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, and doubt, and your wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. You need to keep practicing and walk the Bodhisattva Path.

If you want to become a Buddha, if you want to enter the level of no-self, then practice the Bodhisattva Path. Practicing the Bodhisattva Path means breaking through the self. Once you have broken through the self and entered Buddhahood, you can continue with wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—no problem. At that point, everything is like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows.

For a Buddha, because there is no self, who is acting? There is no doer, no doer of evil. Even if you commit bad karma… I’m not telling you to become a Buddha and commit bad karma. Once you become a Buddha, you could not do that anyway. If you do happen to create bad karma, that is your cause and condition; but because there is no self, those things are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows.

(Sometimes I think this way: from the human realm’s perspective, perhaps according to a worldly view, that is how it is. If I give rise to an evil thought, do something bad, do something wrong, I feel that I will receive bad retribution in the future; as it manifests, it seems there will be karmic results. But sometimes, as soon as an evil thought arises, I get frightened—I can’t bear it; unable to bear it, I quickly just…)

No problem. It’s like a child: you know that if you skip school, the teacher will scold you and hit you, but when desire comes, he wants to run away, so he does. We’ll talk about the consequences when they come, right? He bears them, and he cries, and he…

Everyone is like this. Sometimes the habitual tendencies and desires of sentient beings are so strong—so strong that we no longer fear the consequences. When the consequences arrive, many people who are caught stealing will be sentenced. Who wants to sit in prison? But when habitual tendencies and desires arise, he has to do it.

Sometimes we fall into ignorance: when habitual tendencies and desires arise, they make the mind produce an impulse that insists on acting. It is very hard to withstand; sometimes you are struggling with yourself.

(After doing it, I feel I shouldn’t have done it. At that point I notice my mind and look back…)

Yes, reflect. Keep reflecting, and next time you won’t do it; then next time you do it again, and next time you won’t do it again. Keep reflecting and repenting, and then continue doing it. But one day it will be like this: if you recognize that something is wrong, that is better than not recognizing it. One day, you may stop.

But in the course of cultivation, some mistakes are repeated: you make the mistake today, again tomorrow, and again the day after. So during this process, I suggest that, as a practitioner, you look at it from the perspective of cultivation. Since each day you recognize it yet repeat it, and you have not managed yourself well, forget that day. Learn to put it down quickly; don’t keep it in your head.

As much as possible, once you know you were wrong, correct it quickly. Once you have corrected it, don’t keep remembering it; what’s past is past. Don’t keep remembering it. Don’t let it obstruct today’s clarity, understand? You were wrong, yes—but remembering it today makes it even more wrong.

There will still be some habitual tendencies and desires; remove them slowly. But you must recognize that these things have cause and effect. I don’t want to bear these consequences, so one day I will change—the only fear is that you do not recognize it.

(So that means walking the Bodhisattva Path.)

Exactly, walking the Bodhisattva Path. Once we reach no-self, that is how it is. The Buddha has done a very good job of summing up all those habitual tendencies and desires, using the six perfections as antidotes—six tools, condensed into six short tools for you. It’s very simple.

(There’s also the matter that my mind may not be broad enough.)

No, our minds will all be broad. Once you recognize that something has gone wrong, one day you will adjust. The only fear is that you do not recognize it. Second, the only fear is that you are unwilling to change. If you recognize it and are willing to change, no one is incapable of changing.

No one’s mind is too narrow either. We are all Tathāgatas, and ultimately we will all return there. We are boundless and everywhere. Don’t say, “Maybe I’m this way; maybe I can’t change.” That is all nonsense; none of that exists. If you recognize a problem, are willing to solve it, and resolve to change, how could you fail to change?

(Sometimes I think that, whether in cultivation or in worldly work and helping others, selfishness will be there, and I don’t want to concern myself with other people. But according to the Mahayana Bodhisattva Path, it means crossing beyond birth and death and helping sentient beings cross over; I have to take on some burdens, help some beings bear them, help them skillfully, with my own…)

But this also requires wisdom. At the beginning, it requires wisdom. Blindly helping someone does not necessarily benefit him. In other words, make benefiting him so that he can attain enlightenment your first principle—benefit him so that he can truly become someone who turns toward goodness and improves.

This is like someone asking a Bodhisattva for something, saying that Guanyin Bodhisattva responds to every request. It does not mean that whenever someone asks Guanyin Bodhisattva, the Bodhisattva must give you whatever you want. If he asks for money and might use it to take drugs, the Bodhisattva certainly will not give it to him. So the Mahayana Bodhisattva does not mean, “Whatever you ask for, I give you.” The Bodhisattva also looks at this with wisdom and sees that the money is of no use to you, so certainly will not give it to you. Right? That is how it is.

(He may actually need the money when he gets it.)

He might use it to pay for his parents’ medical treatment; perhaps his family truly needs it. Perhaps that help—that money—then arrives. Perhaps he intends to do good; perhaps the money would allow him to fulfill his filial duty or help his growth, so the money may arrive. But if he takes it to buy drugs, it may increase his greed, so it may not arrive.

(So that means observation is needed too.)

But when you first walk the Bodhisattva Path, sometimes you still need to observe. Sometimes we do not have that kind of wisdom; then look at your motivation. Your motivation at that moment may be good, but the result may not be so complete. That is fine. Your motivation is good, and it is within the scope of the Bodhisattva Path.

It is really that simple. If you do not walk the Bodhisattva Path, you cannot become a Buddha. It is that simple. If you want to become a Buddha, you must walk the Bodhisattva Path; if you are not even a Bodhisattva, what kind of Buddha can you become? Don’t count on saying, “My faculties are good; I don’t need to walk the Bodhisattva Path, and I can become a Buddha.” That is impossible. The self must be broken through by walking the Bodhisattva Path. If you are very selfish and full of self, you can never become a Buddha. It is that simple.

(For example, if he cultivates on his own, what is the state of an Arhat’s attainment? In other words, the Bodhisattva mind—Mahayana Bodhisattvas help some sentient beings cross over; Arhats are unwilling to help, perhaps because their wisdom is insufficient, in terms of size—wisdom.)

No. Arhats follow another expedient Dharma door. They seek liberation from samsara. They leave emotion and desire behind; in a monastery they enter meditative concentration. Once they enter concentration, they do not come out; they stay in samadhi to end birth and death.

Their aim is different. An Arhat seeks to end birth and death and leave suffering. “I have left suffering. I remain in meditative concentration, and cessation is bliss. I have found bliss; this bliss is the highest among human beings. No external suffering can affect me.” The Arhat achieves this through the power of samadhi. The Arhat is not seeking Buddhahood; an Arhat is not trying to become a Buddha.

(That is one route toward the Lesser Vehicle.)

The Lesser Vehicle seeks to leave suffering. Because the Buddha taught the Four Noble Truths, at first he led them to leave suffering and find bliss. At the beginning, they had no realization of Buddhahood and did not understand what a Buddha was. But if you tell them about suffering, they understand.

At that time, practitioners of the Lesser Vehicle practiced austerities, so they knew suffering. They had such feelings, so the Buddha said: “Suffering, its origin, cessation, and the path: you want to leave suffering, so I will teach you a Dharma door.” The Lesser Vehicle began to learn this Dharma door and leave suffering. In the end, they said, “With the cessation of birth and death, cessation is bliss.” Taking cessation as bliss, they felt that attaining Arhat Fruition was accomplishment; they were satisfied. That is not Buddha Fruition. They were not seeking Buddha Fruition.

The Mahayana Bodhisattva Path seeks perfect and unsurpassed awakening; its aspiration is different. “I want to become a Buddha. First, this self is the greatest obstacle.” So Mahayana Bodhisattvas benefit others everywhere, beginning with cultivating meditative concentration, giving, and patience.

In fact, all six perfections are only for breaking through ego-clinging—for breaking through this self. Because the self is your greatest obstacle to becoming a Buddha. Break through the self, and you become a Buddha.

You have already decided that you are on the Mahayana Path. If you want to become a Buddha, gain the ultimate liberation and freedom of life, then walking the Bodhisattva Path is necessary. The Buddha has summarized this over thousands of years, in response to the defilements of human nature. You can interpret the content, but the six perfections really are an extremely concise summary.

So in cultivation, whether you are a president, whether you have money and power, whether you are a PhD or a master’s graduate, or whether you have never studied or gone to school, everyone is the same before human nature. As long as you have a self, the obstacle is there. Your self and your selfishness are the obstacles to becoming a Buddha. Breaking through ego-clinging—that is all; that is what all six perfections do. It is not about how much education you have. In the face of human nature—in the face of both Buddha-nature and human nature—everyone is equal.

(So, the Buddha was also a prince. He cultivated, realized suffering, its origin, cessation, and the path, and then went on to cultivate, awaken to the Way, and realize the Way.)

No, he did not experience it. As a prince, how could he experience suffering? He did not experience suffering; he saw inequality. When he went through the four gates, he saw the appearances of birth, aging, sickness, and death among sentient beings. He wondered whether liberation from this was possible.

He thought: “Today I am so happy. In the palace, whenever I need clothes, I have clothes; I have everything. But one day, I will be the same as the dead and the old people outside. I will grow old, I will die, and my parents will grow old and die too. Then everything my family owns will disappear.”

All of this may be gone in just a few decades. Is there a way to make it last forever, to live forever? Is there a way to solve this problem? He sought the answer, so he went to cultivate the Way.

After completing his practice and returning, after attaining enlightenment and realizing some truths, he devised the Three Vehicles of Buddhist teaching in order to help the people around him. He wanted to help people; his disciples—the five monks—had a deeper understanding of suffering. They were practicing asceticism and could not understand other things, so he taught them from suffering.

Where there is a good understanding of bliss, he might teach the gods about bliss instead of suffering; the gods do not know suffering. So he began with the Truth of Suffering: “Do you know? You have eight sufferings.” They said, “Yes,” and accepted it. If you directly told them what a Buddha was, or that Form and emptiness are not two, they would not listen.

You tell him directly, “You have eight sufferings.” He says, “I do. I accept these eight sufferings.” You say, “Do you want to leave suffering and find bliss?” “I do.” “Then, OK, practice with me.” It is that simple.

He did not arouse the aspiration—not even the aspiration. “Practice with me, and I will teach you the way to attain enlightenment.” The Arhats of the Lesser Vehicle finally said, “Cessation is bliss.” They practiced cessation samadhi and took cessation as bliss. “All conditioned phenomena are impermanent; this is the Dharma of arising and ceasing. When arising and ceasing have ceased, cessation is bliss.” This is what the Arhats of the Lesser Vehicle recited every day.

Taking cessation as bliss, the Arhats of the Lesser Vehicle were very happy when they attained the Fourth Fruition. They had left suffering and found bliss; they thought they had exited samsara. Dwelling in meditative concentration, they thought they had left samsara. Later, the Buddha told them, “Lesser Vehicle Arhat, you have not left; you are still in samsara.” That was only an expedient teaching, understand?

Then, when he thought he had attained the state of an Arhat, he came out of concentration, emerging from cessation concentration. After he had taken cessation as bliss, the Buddha told him again, “This bliss of yours is also illusory; it is temporary. You have not yet left samsara.” So he continued practicing the Mahayana, and the Buddha brought him onto the Mahayana Path.

But because the Arhat had the power of samadhi and great depth in meditative concentration, his Mahayana practice was very powerful. Giving and upholding the precepts were already no problem for him; he went straight past them and quickly completed and realized the six perfections. Because of his power of samadhi, he only needed the point to be made at the level of wisdom, and it was enough; he could attain enlightenment directly. He broke through the mark of written words, left the boat, stepped ashore, and could go straight across.

He was remarkable. When a Fourth-Fruition Arhat practiced patience and so on, all the Buddha had to tell him was, “Fundamentally, there is no one to be endured, and there is no one who practices patience.” He understood immediately. He did not merely understand it as a principle; he could do it—the Arhat could do it. We understand it conceptually now, but cannot do it, because we do not have an Arhat’s power of samadhi. They understood through both words and action, and realized the Way.

(Then what does it take to maintain concentration and wisdom together? I mean…)

The aim is for us to maintain concentration and wisdom together, not rely on mere verbal Chan, but cultivate both concentration and wisdom. This is what later Mahayana Buddhism hopes for: concentration and wisdom together. Some people enter directly through principle; that is entry through principle.

There is entry through principle, and entry through practice. Some people only understand the principles in the scriptures. They seem to have the wisdom of emptiness—it is called dry wisdom. They only seem to have wisdom; they seem to understand, but they have not realized it and have no power of samadhi. So you must practice both, maintaining concentration and wisdom together. In other words, do not merely have the wisdom of emptiness, just talk emptily about Form and emptiness not being two. You cannot do it.

Note: This text was prepared from a teaching video by Yang Ning. If it differs from the video, the video takes precedence. Watch the video.