Why was Hui Neng able to attain enlightenment by hearing "the mind should act without any attachments" twice? His spiritual capacity was sufficient. As practitioners, we should follow the path that Hui Neng demonstrated. However, why can't we attain enlightenment just by hearing the same line? The answer is straightforward - we lack the necessary capacity.
What does it mean to lack capacity? We do not truly know our minds. We are far from understanding them. We cannot control our minds, which are controlled by our habitual tendencies. Afflictive emotions and discursive thoughts torment us, and sometimes we cannot even fall asleep at night.
Worse still, our minds can be like an unleashed wild horse, rampaging out of control. We may be able to calm our minds slightly in better situations, but we do not understand how our minds work. Since we do not study, observe, practice, contemplate, meditate, and train the mind, we are unaware of its functions.
The mind, which creates everything we experience, remains largely unknown to us - this is ignorance, or samsara. Therefore, not being aware of and observing our own minds is a sign of lacking capacity. However, if we possess the capacity, we can seek the guidance of our gurus or enlightened practitioners to receive pointing-out instructions. These instructions help us to immediately recognize the true nature of the mind, leading to awakening ––– the starting point for dharma practice and eventual enlightenment.
Once you attain awakening, the practices of Dzogchen and Chan become simple. Everything you do, whether it's seeing, hearing, walking, eating, or sleeping, becomes a part of your practice. Your practice will evolve rapidly, and you will feel your mind changing every day. An awakened person can immerse themselves in practice anywhere and anytime.
In the later stages of Dzogchen practice, dreaming becomes a criterion for evaluating the effectiveness of your practice. If your practice is good, you will not forget what you learned during the day, and you will be able to continue practicing in your dreams at night. But this is only possible once you have attained awareness. Without awareness, you are like a crazy fly without its head, and your efforts at practice will be in vain. You may do all the basic practices like prostration, meditation, study, contemplation, and praying to the Buddha and deities, and even engage in idle talk with other practitioners, but you will not know the true nature of the mind. I call this kind of person "wasted."
Gurus are very kind, and after accumulating many virtuous deeds, they usually give us empowerment or the pointing-out instruction. But unfortunately, if you have not attained awakening, these teachings will be of little use. It is ironic that some may expect something extraordinary to happen before receiving the pointing-out instruction, but if nothing happens after that, they become disappointed and lose hope.
Chan Buddhism has its own methods of pointing out the nature of the mind, while Dzogchen has more delicate and thorough methodologies that gradually calm the mind and guide it towards the destination step by step. But this is not for you if your capacity is not at that level yet. Many practitioners have gone through these methods, but have not gained any realization because their capacity is not there yet.
As previously stated, lacking the capacity to understand the nature of the mind is a result of not knowing or training one's own mind. This leaves the mindstream untamed and unable to attain a peaceful state. Without these prerequisites, how can we possibly comprehend the nature of the mind? Our deluded minds have wreaked havoc, leading us to habitually follow it wherever it takes us. To develop the capacity to receive the pith instruction of Dzogchen or the pointing-out instruction of Chan Buddhism, we must engage in studying, contemplation, and practice. Studying and contemplating the theory is necessary, and putting that theory into practice is equally important.
Excerpted from: The Relationship Between Buddhist Theory and Practice
