Pitfall Two — Meditating Without Study and Contemplation
This pitfall is the reverse of the previous one. In Buddhist circles, there is a term called “actual practice” . This term can be quite misleading. If one thinks that not studying all those technical terms and concepts, but simply sitting there meditating, constitutes actual practice, then one is being misled.
What is actual practice? Useful practice is actual practice. Observing the mind and taming the mind effectively is actual practice. Otherwise, it is merely foolish practice or blind cultivation. Yet many people practice in exactly this blind way.
Even in the meditation centers we have established, there are many practitioners like this. Some people sit in meditation from eight o’clock in the evening until eight o’clock the next morning—more than ten hours at a stretch—without even blinking. They are essentially full-time practitioners. Apart from not shaving their heads, they live much like monastics. They do nothing else all day but practice, with all their food, clothing, and lodging provided.
Because they meditate so much, at a certain point they experience great happiness and become trapped in it. During meditation, an intensely pleasurable state may arise; this is called bliss. Sometimes minor psychic abilities may arise, and the body and mind become exceptionally clear; this is called clarity. At other times, not a single thought seems to arise for a long period; this is called thoughtlessness. Bliss, clarity, and thoughtlessness are three major advanced pitfalls.
They also practice the Five Preliminary Practices (Ngöndro) merely to accumulate numbers. Because they lack study, contemplation, and proper view, they do not understand the purpose of the Five Preliminary Practices, nor do they understand their key points and essential instructions. For example, what is the primary purpose of taking refuge? How should it be practiced? What is the purpose of Vajrasattva practice? What are its key points? They do not understand these things. They simply follow the procedures and try to complete the required numbers.
The Five Preliminary Practices are intended to help practitioners generate genuine bodhicitta. Yet after completing one, two, or even three rounds of the Five Preliminary Practices in this manner, not only have they failed to generate any bodhicitta, but their mental continuum has not been tamed, nor have they learned to observe the various states of their own minds. Worse still, because they are skilled at meditation, they can easily become arrogant.
People caught in the first pitfall—studying and contemplating without practice—can easily become arrogant. For example, during group discussions, when Buddhist terminology comes up, they can rattle off one concept after another, making others think they understand everything. In reality, what they possess is merely verbal and conceptual knowledge.
Those caught in the second pitfall are in an even worse situation. People who meditate constantly believe that they are engaged in “actual practice.” Because they do not study, although they may meditate well and have completed many rounds of the Five Preliminary Practices, and although some may even have experiences of one-sided emptiness (single emptiness)—which are in fact only simple meditative experiences—they become arrogant as a result of these practices. They feel that they are highly accomplished, genuine practitioners who can attain Buddhahood in this very lifetime.
In reality, merely sitting in meditation may amount to nothing at all. It may even be no different from non-Buddhist practices. Of course, practicing the Five Preliminary Practices may generate some merit; it would be impossible to say that there is no merit whatsoever. Even mere study and contemplation, or simply reciting “Amitābha Buddha” once, will produce corresponding merit.
However, if your goal is awakening or realization in this very lifetime, this alone is not enough. If your meditation is frequently characterized by states of bliss, clarity, and thoughtlessness, it indicates that you may be reborn in the heavenly realms in the future. Remaining in a state of thoughtlessness for long periods can easily lead to rebirth in the Heaven of Long Life, which is one of the Eight Unfavorable Conditions for Buddhist practice. Such an outcome would be extremely unfortunate.
This is Pitfall Two: blind cultivation without study and contemplation.
——Excerpted and compiled from The Relationship Between Buddhist Theory and Practice
This article is a preliminary translation draft and has not yet been reviewed or proofread by the speaker.
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