Subduing Coarse Craving: The Path to Dhyāna and the Eradication of Self-View

All forms of recreational activities, including music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and various arts, fall within the realm of greed and attachment. Regardless of how elegant, noble, exquisite, wonderful, or pleasing they may seem in worldly perceptions, they are contrary to the path. They belong to the realm of worldly existence and thus are matters within the cycle of rebirth. Attachment to them prevents liberation from samsara. A mind harboring greed and attraction resonates with the path of hungry ghosts, and upon death, one will go to the ghost realm to receive karmic retribution. The scope of greed is extremely broad; it permeates almost every aspect of life. As long as there is liking, concern, or grasping, it belongs to greed and attachment. Therefore, regardless of whether one studies Buddhism or not, as long as one's virtuous karma is insufficient for rebirth in the heavens or as a human, due to all kinds of greed and attachment, one will almost invariably first go to the ghost realm to receive retribution. Afterward, one will go to the animal realm to receive retribution. Only when the negative karma of the lower realms is temporarily exhausted, and some residual blessings remain, will one return to the human realm. Craving the phenomena of the desire realm prevents transcendence beyond the desire realm; craving the phenomena of the human realm prevents rebirth in the heavens, or even prevents rebirth as a human.

The desire for food and drink is the coarsest and easiest affliction to subdue in the human realm. It is the first barrier in spiritual practice. If one cannot overcome this barrier, other forms of greed will be even harder to subdue. Ordinary people exhibit countless faults and mistakes, manifested in the minute traces of greed in daily life—grasping everywhere, attaching everywhere. Living with such meticulousness—what are they pursuing? They pursue everything; they refuse to let go of any phenomenon, always seeking the best. Take eating alone—the variety is immense, the fastidiousness extreme. Yet, the karmic results are often contrary to what is sought: greed for food leads to rebirth as a hungry ghost, arrogance leads to a short and small physical body, and so on.

The desire for the opposite sex is the heaviest form of greed in the human realm. If one can subdue it, one can attain the first dhyāna absorption. Severing greed for the opposite sex ensures rebirth in the heaven of the first dhyāna in the next life. If one can subdue the greed for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation in the human realm, one can attain the access concentration, thereby subduing human afflictions and ensuring rebirth in the desire realm heavens after death. Those unable to attain dhyāna should examine the various forms of greed within their minds. Enjoying high-rise buildings, fine clothes, and sumptuous food in the human realm comes at a cost. Once the blessings are exhausted, one lacks the necessary conditions to remain in the human realm and must go to the three lower realms to suffer. Therefore, those who crave wealth, honor, and luxury should awaken and plan early, seeing through the unreality of worldly glory and not coveting vain splendor.

Why do the dhyānas correspond to the heavens, ensuring rebirth there after death? Heavenly beings possess corresponding virtuous karma; their minds are virtuous, with minimal afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion. The desire realm heavens are primarily the result of virtuous karma—the fruition of good deeds—with some influence from dhyāna. The form realm and formless realm heavens are primarily the fruition of dhyāna. Without corresponding dhyāna, one cannot be reborn in the form or formless heavens. Therefore, dhyāna certainly subdues and severs afflictions. Cutting off the view of self and realizing the mind’s true nature both require at least the access concentration, both requiring the subduing of coarse afflictions in the desire realm. Fame, profit, wealth, sex, reputation, food, and sleep are all afflictions within the desire realm. Those with such severe afflictions cannot attain dhyāna, cannot cut off the view of self, cannot realize the mind’s true nature, and certainly cannot enter the stages of bodhisattvahood.

If someone claims to have cut off the view of self and realized the mind’s true nature yet remains like an ordinary person, exhibiting obvious afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, then it is not genuine cutting off of the view of self or genuine realization of the mind’s true nature. Worldly people, ignorant of the matters of spiritual cultivation and realization, often overestimate their own and others’ practice, leading to many misunderstandings. Due to the view of self, they never underestimate but only overestimate. In the past, some people told me they had cut off the view of self or realized the mind, asking me to verify or certify them. They would elaborate repeatedly on how they perceived non-self and emptiness. Yet such theories are ubiquitous and easily acquired. Can I, upon hearing such descriptions, necessarily determine whether they have genuinely realized anything? Of course not. Seeing is better than hearing.

In truth, to judge whether someone has severed or realized something, the key does not lie in listening to what they say but in observing what they do—conduct is the truest reflection. Therefore, a simple method of judgment is to examine their words and observe their actions, scrutinizing their physical, verbal, and mental conduct—their attitude toward food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and material phenomena. This is where the coarsest afflictions reside and what must be changed first in spiritual practice. Slightly subtler afflictions concern one’s attitude toward the mind and consciousness—one’s thoughts and views. These too must undergo change; otherwise, nothing has been severed, nothing realized. If one has genuinely realized the non-self of the five aggregates and realized emptiness, clearly knowing it is empty and devoid of self, how could one still cling to coarse and heavy phenomena without letting go or changing? This method of examining a person is the most direct, simplest, and most effective. How many people can withstand such scrutiny?