What is cultivation???
In life, we often encounter many people who speak grandly about cultivation. Vegetarian? They talk about vegetarian chicken and vegetarian duck… but they are still caught up in appearances.
Eating vegetarian, chanting Buddha’s name, donating money… yet they always comment on others’ rights and wrongs, pointing out others’ faults, limiting themselves to commercialized rituals, blindly practicing infinite supernatural powers, not realizing that demons can also create illusions to sway and confuse people’s hearts.
Day in and day out reciting scriptures, thinking that this will bring the support of deities and Buddhas, yet they do not understand the meaning of the teachings or put them into practice. Every scripture tells you: enter through recitation, return through familiarity, knowing is essential, and then practice with body and mind.
It’s just like studying; if you only memorize without application, without understanding its principles or experiencing its depth, what good is it! Reading scriptures should be about understanding their meanings and learning from them; it’s not just about memorizing a lot without any obstacles. The focus of reading scriptures is this.
The Diamond Sutra states: no self-appearance, no person-appearance, no sentient being-appearance, no lifespan-appearance; all appearances are illusory.
Even at the beginner level of not clinging to appearances—calming the mind, avoiding harsh speech, not discussing others’ strengths and weaknesses—they still cannot settle their own hearts. They are constantly swayed and flustered by their environment and even foolishly criticize others’ practices.
How can they talk about cultivation with others like this? Carrying a heavenly mandate? Peace of mind is the true gateway; life itself is Zen everywhere. Understanding your own path and living each step well; purity and peace of mind is the best cultivation for oneself.
by – Yin Shi