Dharma Master Jingjie
Externalists do not have the methods of Dharma to deal with thoughts. They use
meditative concentration (samadhi) to extinguish thoughts; it is called the
samadhi of non-thought. This suppresses thoughts like a stone pressing down on
grass or like ice encasing a fish.
But why do they fall instead of ascending to liberation as they wish? This is
because, after being reborn in the heavens in their next life, when they return
to the human realm in the following life (the third life), their afflictions will become coarser
and heavier than those of ordinary people. This is the result of suppressing
afflictions at the causal stage.
You should take note of this! If you do not rely on Buddha's wisdom to
transform your afflictions, but only use mantras and Amitabha’s name to
suppress your thoughts, after suppressing them for a long time, when they
rebound in your future lives, your afflictions may be even heavier. The Dharma
uses the wisdom of Prajnaparamita and various skilful means to transform
thoughts, but externalists rely entirely on brute force to suppress them.
In short, afflictions should not be merely suppressed because they will arise
again. When the externalists lose their meditative concentration or exhaust
their merits, the afflictions that surface will be heavier than those of
ordinary people. Then they are very likely to create negative karma and fall
into the lower realms. This is because your method of handling afflictions is
wrong. This is the biggest blind spot of the externalists.
Thus, the consequence of not learning Dharma principles and investigating the
scriptures is that, even though you are courageous and diligent, you may end up
becoming a heavenly mara or externalist. This comes from not understanding the
Buddha's skillful means…
Just as it is said in the Shurangama Sutra, our minds have many knots. The
externalist's method is like pulling the rope from both ends, making the knot
tighter. If this is the case, it would be better not to practice; because once
they practice, they add another delusive thought on top of a delusion. Adding
delusion to delusion is what makes an externalist.
Ordinary people have only one delusion, but externalists have two
delusions—they have an additional wrong view. Buddhist disciples have the
transmission of the Buddha; they know that this knot must be untied from the
center, it should not be pulled from both ends…
This is the sorrow of the externalists: they very much want to improve, but
they lack the right method, as a result, they make themselves worse off than if
they hadn't practiced at all. Therefore, according to the Shurangama Sutra,
practicing incorrectly is worse than not practicing. The Shurangama Sutra
indeed has this meaning. When the past masters explained the Shurangama Sutra,
they said, "One would rather go a thousand years without realisation than
be possessed by the demon of wrong view for a single day"…
I met a Bhikshu in Taiwan who had ordained in his middle age, but he did not
study Dharma theory. He told me that he didn't wish to study or read the texts.
He was very earnest in bowing to the Buddha and reciting the sutras. I said,
"Why don't you study the Dharma?" He replied, "Because I don't
want to be a Dharma teacher."
Actually, studying the Dharma has nothing to do with being a Dharma teacher. If
you want to practice, you must clearly recognize how to walk the path. That is
to say, the principles of the Dharma are there to guide you, not for you to
guide others. Of course, if you gain insights later on and wish to share them
with others, that is doing your part according to the situation.
But the key point is, without the guidance of the Dharma, how would you know
how to start dealing with the deluded thoughts you've accumulated since
beginningless eons? This is the real point of learning Dharma.
