— Cultivating Proper Rational and Emotional Capacities
The resolve to give up everything and devote oneself to practice is truly difficult to generate. Most people simply have no wish to leave the world and practice—how could they? Losing three dollars can cause heartache for five months; losing a loved one can leave someone unable to recover for ten years… Why is that? Much of our suffering comes from attachment, and much of it also comes from a lack of a sense of security.
In reality, where is there any real safety in this world? Just as we had begun to talk about the suffering of saṃsāra, an earthquake struck Los Angeles. Fortunately, it only shook a couple of times—but what if it had been severe? And that is only an external earthquake. Your internal “earthquakes” can begin at any moment—perhaps one day you suddenly fall ill. Therefore, only by establishing a truly accurate worldview and allowing it to deeply permeate our mental continuum can genuine renunciation arise.
First, we must establish correct fundamental views and understand the principles of suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. Do not blindly believe in those “chicken soup” for the soul books: “time is peaceful,” “live only in the present,” or “everything is the best possible arrangement”…
Secondly, even after one’s Three Views have become correct, it does not necessarily mean that renunciation will arise.At most, one may only have the concept of renunciation. Many practitioners study Madhyamaka and Yogācāra very well—they can raise numerous questions in Madhyamaka, analyze them from different perspectives and at variouslevels, and even recite many Madhyamaka texts from memory. Yet they still do not have renunciation. Even when one already holds a correct worldview, a correct view of life, and a correct system of values, and has also studied The Way of the Bodhisattva, renunciation may still fail to arise. Why is this so? Because within the functioning of our mind itself, there exist two kinds of forces: one is the power of reason, and the other is the power of emotion.
Although we have studied Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, and The Way of the Bodhisattva, and may have established a correct three on the level of reason, what actually determines our happiness and our choices in daily life is still emotion. Within us there are all kinds of feelings, and these feelings arise entirely from attachment—and these attachments are still materialistic in nature.
On the level of reason, we may say: “Beautiful women are illusory; if you look beneath the skin, it’s nothing but pus and blood.” But the moment my habitual tendencies see her, I’m instantly excited—I think her chest and hips are full and well-shaped, and therefore she’s beautiful! My emotional response comes out immediately. You can tell me she’s illusory, that she’s nothing but pus and blood—it simply doesn’t work. We also say, “No need much money; as long as there’s enough to eat and wear..” But if one day someone suddenly puts fifty million US dollars right in front of you, will your mind really not move? Even if your mind doesn’t move and you still insist that enough to eat and wear is sufficient, what if I take away even that basic food and clothing from you? That won’t work either. Our emotional side does not listen to these arguments.
And this is only about money—when it comes to family members, it is even more troubling. Rationally, we all know that our loved ones will sooner or later leave us; they cannot accompany us through the bardo, and at the time of death nothing can be taken along. Yet once something happens to a family member, or when it comes time to go into practice—“I can’t bear to part with my child,” “I can’t bear to leave my wife,” “I can’t bear to leave my husband”—everything we have learned becomes completely useless. Emotion still takes over, and it is wrong emotion taking over. There is no way for the mind to detach from various attachments, or even to soften them, so that genuine renunciation arise and one truly believes in the preciousness and rarity of this human life.
This precious human life with leisure and endowment is truly hard to obtain! You will find that all we are talking about is right view—that is, worldview, view of life, and system of values. If your worldview is extremely firm—if you truly believe that the nature of this world is emptiness, that phenomena arise dependently, and that the laws of dependent origination are precisely as explained by Yogācāra; if you believe that there are indeed three lifetimes of rebirth, that cause and effect are completely infallible, that good deeds bring good results and evil deeds bring evil results,and that liberation can be attained through practicing in accordance with the Dharma—then without any deliberate effort, your mind will naturally make judgments and decisions in this way. Such a person will certainly attain liberation, because they will continue to move steadily in that direction.
So why can’t we do this? Because these three aspects of our view are extremely weak. We may understand them rationally, but emotionally we do not. The power of reason has tostruggle against the power of emotion. By sustained engagement in hearing, reflection, and long-term practice, the strength of correct views will gradually grow. When the strength of correct views becomes sufficiently strong, rational understanding itself will transforminto correct emotion.
Once a correct worldview is strong enough, our emotional side will naturally give rise at least to the experience of mere emptiness. We will genuinely feel that this world is illusory. Directly perceiving and experiencing this world as illusory—this is precisely what is meant by mere emptiness.
When a correct view of life becomes even stronger, you will feel that clinging to the various illusory appearances within life is entirely unnecessary. Attachment to this lifetime itself, and to the loved ones or enemies within it, will strike you as foundamentally meaningless. You will experience it directly as a genuine and immediate feeling, not merely as an idea.
If one’s system of values is correct and sufficiently deep, then at the very least one’s renunciation—perhaps even one’s bodhicitta—will be extremely strong. In everything one does, the mind naturally turns toward practice, and over time this develops into an emotional force. Emotional force means that there is no need for deliberate thinking—it arises spontaneously, and when it arises, it is already correct. However,this can only be achieved through long-term engagement in hearing, reflection, and practice, and through extensive study of Madhyamaka and Yogācāra.
Do not assume that discussing Madhyamaka is merely a discussion of emptiness, or that discussing Yogācāra is simply a matter of explaining the laws of dependent origination. In the process of long-term hearing and reflection, it is precisely these deeper and subtle theories that more readily give rise to renunciation, making our renunciation well grounded in reason, and real and powerful.
Many practitioners have studied Madhyamaka for a very long time; some have even received direct pointing-out of the nature of mind from their teacher. Yet when they reflect honestly, , they find that they still need to engage in the Five Additional Practices and the Four Preliminary Practices. This is because their confidence in Buddhist theory has been firmly established:, their worldview has truly been taken shape,, and through various forms of practice their Three Views have become increasingly pure. However, for these pure Three Views to actually take charge, long-term hearing, reflection, and practice are still required, in order to cultivate both correct rational strength and correct emotional strength.
When we first study a little Madhyamaka or Yogācāra and come to hold a correct worldview, view of life, and system of values, this is only rational strength. Such rational strength is oftenno match for the mistaken emotional forces accumulated in the past, and in most cases it will be defeat. However,if you persist over the long term, you will eventually win. At that point, genuine renunciation (without even speaking of bodihicitta) will be firmly established.
Most people, even after studying Madhyamaka and Yogācāra, are still governed by emotion: “I want this kind of happiness, I want that kind of recognition, I want money, wealth, a family”—especially a blissful and beautiful romantic relationship (young people today believe that love is greater than everything). Why is this so? Because within their worldview, romantic love is the highest good in lifeand beyond it, there is nothing else. Contemporary films, television, and all kinds of media elevate love above all else and driving people , to plunge into its pursuit again and again.
Many people who have already suffered deeply because of romantic relationships still continue to believe in love. Why? Because they feel they have no alternative but to believe in it.t. In their minds, without love there is nothing at all. They do not know that there is another kind of joy—the joy of liberation, and the joy of spiritual practice. Once those joys are truly tasted, romantic love will naturally be let go of. However, to taste the joy of practice or the joy of liberation requires a long term of cultivation. As for the joy of romantic love—does it require any cultivation at all? Not really. As long as the body naturally matures, that feeling arises on its own.
Consider men and women when they reach a certain age—do they need to be trained to fall in love with someone? No. But the object of love and the way love is expressed can be cultivated. Take the object of love as an example.: in ancient times, plumpness was considered beautiful, and fuller bodies were admired; in the mordern world, thinness is regarded as beautiful, and slim figures are favored. The same applies to the ways love is expressed.: in ancient times, people expressed love by tossing embroidered balls, writing poetry, and so on; today, expressing love is much simpler—sending a text message, or even directly arranging intimacy . While =the forms and objects of love may change, the underlying habit of love—that is, the pursuit of desire and craving—never changes. People believe that this is the only thing there is, and therefore it cannot change.
We are exactly the same. If we have not truly tasted the joy of practice—such as the joy of meditation—there is no way for us to truly leave behind attachment and craving. Therefore, we must engage in practice and meditation, gradually transforming a merely conceptual sense of renunciation into genuine renunciation.
— Excerpted and compiled from The Seven Points of Mind Training, Lesson 02
This article is a preliminary translation draft and has not yet been reviewed or proofread by the speaker.
