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Chapter 3 The Morbidity of Human Thought
Chapter 3 The Morbidity of Human Thought
What is Buddhism- {Chapter Three}-The Pathology of Human Thought
“Chapter Three The Pathology of Human Thought”
Above, I briefly explained the great wisdom, great compassion and great power of the Buddha. At the same time, I also mentioned that human ideology and thinking methods are the main factors that hinder the attainment of Buddhahood. Then, what are the shortcomings and characteristics of human ideology and thinking methods that hinder the original Buddha nature of human beings? Generally speaking, the human mind has six characteristics:
1. The human way of thinking is cumulative
How do you say this? When we were children, our parents taught us to recognize characters one by one, such as one, two, three, and four. When we grow up a bit, we enter elementary school, where our teacher teaches us to read sentences. When we enter middle school, our teacher teaches us to read articles. In college, we research papers. Taking mathematics as an example, we first learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and then learn algebraic geometry and trigonometric calculus. The way we learn is incremental, little by little ; that is what I call the cumulative way.
Is it possible to obtain “all wisdom” in this way of accumulation? Of course it is impossible. This is not because there is too much knowledge and we cannot fully know it, but because our method of seeking knowledge is wrong. How can we reach the end in a cumulative way? If you pile up little by little, you will never reach the top.
2. The human way of thinking is limited
The human mind can only think about one thing or a few things at a time, but cannot think about infinite things. According to Buddhist consciousness-only scholars, people have eight consciousnesses, that is to say, people’s “heart” has eight different functions. These eight different functions all have their inherent limitations. For example, eye consciousness can only see a certain part of materiality, and the non-expressive form of materiality cannot be seen by ordinary naked eyes. Using the common sense of modern science, ordinary eye and ear consciousness can see and hear only a very small part of the wavelength, and the colors and sounds felt in the eye and ear consciousness; high-wave and short-wave “color” and “Sound” can’t be seen or heard. The same is true for the nose, tongue, and body consciousnesses.
As for the sixth consciousness, although on the surface it is more active and sharp than the other five senses mentioned above, in fact its function is very limited. The seventh consciousness is only based on the false self, which makes everything center on the self, and of course it is more limited. As for whether the eighth root consciousness is limited or not, many people have different opinions. I think it is not too much to say that the function of the eighth consciousness is limited in the position of sentient beings; Looking at the eighth consciousness—the Alaya consciousness, it clearly reflects the limitation of the Alaya consciousness.
3. The human way of thinking is contradictory
There are many sufferings in life. Among the thousands of different kinds of suffering, many sufferings are caused by the conflict between reason and emotion. Our emotions tell us to do this, but our reason tells us not to. The tragicomedy of life is nothing more than the product of the duel between two directors, cold reason and passionate emotion. Poor human beings, under the impact of these two opposite torrents, have really tasted all the bitterness. It would not be too much to say that people’s life experience is nothing more than a cycle of ebb and flow of emotion and reason. Reason and emotion are two incompatible things in the human heart: one is cold and the other is hot.
Emotion is an innate instinctive impulse, but reason is mostly the conclusion of acquired learning and experience. There is another characteristic of reason and emotion in the human heart, that is, the cold reason and the hot emotion cannot exist at the same time. When reason reaches its climax, emotion always ebbs. For example: when we concentrate on thinking about a mathematical problem or a difficult philosophical problem, our emotions at that time are always very weak. But when we fall in love with someone or quarrel, that is when our emotions reach their climax, and our rationality at that time is always very weak.
Therefore, we prove that the two things of reason and emotion cancel each other out and do not co-exist in the presence of sentient beings. With such a contradictory heart, how can one reach the Buddha state of compassion and wisdom? This is absolutely impossible.
The coexistence of great compassion and great wisdom is the inconceivable state of all Buddhas, and it is also the goal of our Buddhist studies. If our minds are contradictory, compassion and wisdom cannot arise together, and it is impossible to achieve the Buddhahood.
4. The human way of thinking is upside down
There is a table in front of me, standing there quietly, we cannot see any movement on this table, in other words, the eye consciousness tells us that this table is still. But our consciousness tells us : According to scientific evidence, not only does this table move in space with the earth all the time, but the atoms and electrons that make up the table move there all the time. There are often fights between eye consciousness, consciousness, and other consciousnesses. There are too many fights, and human beings have developed an instinct for coordination. They don’t pursue the right and wrong of the conflicts between the various consciousnesses. If we think about it carefully, the human mind is really a mess, a mess! This kind of phenomenon that each consciousness is independent, each is its own way, preconceived, and does not seek the truth, I call it “inversion”.
5. The human way of thinking is weak
It is difficult for a person to succeed if he cannot concentrate his strength to deal with everything. Concentration of power is really a necessary condition for success ; dispersion of power is also the main cause of failure. There are eight consciousnesses in the human mind, (note) these eight consciousnesses do their own thing, and the power is naturally dispersed. The time when we work most efficiently is when our consciousness concentrates its power to attack a certain problem. When we are dealing with a big problem, or encounter a major difficulty, we are always fully focused. Ninety percent of the time, the mental power of an ordinary person is scattered or consumed. Let me go further: Human actions and thoughts are all dominated by “habits”. Infinite “habits” or “potentials” are all latent in the hidden consciousness.
When an opportunity meets, this latent seed will take effect. They can all come into being when they are predestined, but in fact, all kinds of consciousness often arise together, so the power is naturally dispersed. All “wisdoms” arise at the same time, and it is a wonderful use of merit in the “Buddha position”; all “consciousnesses” arise at the same time, but they become troubles in the “sentient position”, which is a very wonderful thing. There is a saying in Buddhism: “Sentient beings regard Bodhi as affliction, and all Buddhas regard affliction as Bodhi.” It is very meaningful. Don’t go too far. In short, the human mind is weak and has no great power. It is absolutely impossible to achieve the great power of the Buddhas with such a weak state of mind.
Note: The eight consciousnesses are a matter of suppressing differences, and it is a matter of considerable deliberation. The so-called eight here are just for explanation, and it is not determined that people really have eight consciousnesses. I hereby declare it.
6. The human way of thinking is pragmatic
This point is the most important point among the six characteristics. To put it simply, it means that human thoughts, at any time, are “holding on reality” ; those who hold on to reality, hold all dharmas as real existence, or hold all dharmas to have fixed phase and self-nature. As for how to “persevere” and how to “persevere for reality”, this is an extremely complicated psychological and philosophical issue.
The Madhyamaka School of Tibet and the Supreme Esoteric Buddhism have unique and incisive discussions on this issue. I hope to have the opportunity to discuss it with you again in the future. In this broad field, I would like to raise just one point for discussion today.
We see that this is a table and that is a pillar. Any of us can say with certainty: this table is not that pillar, and that pillar is not this table. The attachment to reality of human thought is complex, but if we can understand the basic attachment of “this is this; There is a considerable understanding of it. After people are born, the education they receive is to teach you to be practical. Teach you that this is this, that is that; right is right, not right and wrong. All day long, I just pretend to be such stubborn ideas. I would like to cite another interesting story to help you understand the reality of human thought.
Once upon a time, there was an old monk who was sitting idle in his room, with a young novice monk standing behind him. At that time, two monks, A and B, were arguing about an issue outside the door, and the two sides could not insist. After a while, monk A ran into the room angrily, and said to the monk: “Master, I said this truth, and it should be so and so, but B said what I said was wrong. You see, I was right, or he said it. Right?” The old monk said to A: “You are right!” Monk A went out happily.
A few minutes later, monk B ran into the room angrily, and he questioned the old monk : “Master, just now A was arguing with me, and his opinion is fundamentally wrong. I said it according to the Buddhist scriptures. What I mean is this and that. Do you think I am right or he is right?” The old monk said, “You are right!” Monk B went out happily. After B left, the little novice standing behind the old monk whispered in the old monk’s ear: “Master, if A is right, or B is right, if A is right, B is wrong; if B is right, A is wrong.” You should be right; how can you tell both of them that you are right?” The old monk turned his head, looked at the little novice, and said, “You are also right!”
This is a very interesting, but also very profound story. This story vividly illustrates the great difference between the Buddha’s unimpeded state and the sentient beings’ real state. Describe Huayan’s non-obstructive philosophy vividly!
Due to the six characteristics of human thought analyzed above, we can draw a conclusion, that is, with the current way of thinking of human beings, it is absolutely impossible to obtain Buddhahood. With human beings’ existing thinking methods and mental forms, it is absolutely impossible to obtain the Buddha’s “all wisdom”, “all wisdom”, as well as the Buddha’s “no reason and great compassion” and the Buddha’s “boundless power”!
However, is it impossible to achieve great wisdom, great compassion and great power? Shakyamuni Buddha set an example, took his own practice process as an example, and clearly instructed us: If we can change our existing state of mind and way of thinking, and cure all six problems, our original Buddha nature will be can be revealed naturally.
Based on this principle, Buddhism does not teach people to work hard on the “knowledge”, such as the efforts of scientists to study the phenomenal world, or the efforts of Buddhist scholars to textual research; Buddhism teaches people to work hard on the “knowing mind” . , expand and develop the “knowing heart” to the highest peak, and great wisdom, great compassion and great power will all appear naturally.
