The four maladies

From the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (A. Charles Muller’s translation), among other things, we learn there are four maladies people suffer from who want to engage with Buddhism.  They are as follows:

1) Contrivance: The belief that perfect enlightenment can be attained by contrivance, for example, through study, meditation, ritual, chanting, doing good deeds, etc.  Contrivance, in other words, is linked with the idea of “practice” such as doing zazen or chanting.  The adept believes that a particular practices will lead to perfect enlightenment.

2) Naturalism: The belief that perfect enlightenment can be attained by not cutting off samsara and not seeking nirvana, that is, letting things follow their natural course.  One generally comes across this malady when some teacher talks about letting thoughts naturally arise and fall as if this is perfect enlightenment, which it is not.

3) Stopping: The belief that perfect enlightenment is attained by stopping thoughts.  This should be self-evident.  The suppression of thoughts does not work.

4) Annihilation: The belief that perfect enlightenment is attained by the annihilation of defilements in both body and mind.  This sounds like the practice Siddhartha did when he practiced asceticism.

Of the four maladies I think the first malady is the one modern practitioners suffer from the most.  In Muller’s translation of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment, Kihwa is the Korean commentator who provides the exegesis which Muller has added to the Sutra.  According to Kihwa, the chapter, Universal Enlightenment Bodhisattva, in which the subject of the four maladies appears is for those of an inferior capacity.  It should also be fairly obvious, from this, that these same people have not attained gnosis of pure Mind.  If they had done so, why pursue worthless practices?

I think it is important for newbies who are serious about Zen to review these maladies and get Muller’s translation of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment (there is a used copy for $0.01 on Amazon—hurry!).

Comments

[Susan]

Thank you for the tip, Zenmar! I ordered the book you recommended. Yes, I know "contrivance" can't get me there--but like you, I enjoy studying the sutras. My classes re-commence in a week. Yippee!

[Eidolon]

Constant gassing about what Buddhist practice is *not*, but when it comes to what the practice *is*, what we get is infrequent advice to try to "apperceive" one's thoughts (whatever the hell that could be said to mean). Like being told to hoist oneself by one's own bootstraps...

[The Zennist]

Instance:

Yes, from the standpoint of absolute Mind this is quite true. It's like seeing a golden world. All things are made of gold—fundamentally there is only gold. The problem with interpreting such a passage is that prithagjanas think to themselves, "Wow, so I don't have to do anything!" But since they have not realized pure Mind they are now so deluded that they might never escape from their madness.

[Instance]

"Good sons, all hindrances are none other than ultimate enlightenment. Whether you attain mindfulness or lose mindfulness, there is no non-liberation. Establishing the Dharma and refuting the Dharma are both called nirvana; wisdom and folly are equally prajna; the method that is perfected by bodhisattvas and false teachers is the same bodhi; ignorance and suchness are not different realms; morality, concentration and wisdom, as well as desire, hatred and ignorance are all divine practices; sentient beings and lands share the same dharma nature; hell and heaven are both the Pure Land; those having Buddha-nature and those not having it equally accomplish the Buddha's enlightenment. All defilements are ultimately liberation. The reality-realms's ocean-like wisdom completely illumines all marks to be just like empty space. This is called 'the Tathāgata's accordance with the nature of enlightenment.' "

Pretty heavy stuff, this Sutra.

[minx]

My master told me;

"By the grace of our singular trade we are those devoted to the mastery of the Mind. Ours is the art that offers a direct path into the deathless which makes us supernal painters and sculptors, with tools steeped in pure spirit.

We are those whom dare speak the truth in the face of a collective delusion. In the eyes of these masses of the walking dead, our trade is indeed a sordid one."