Lay Buddhist Zhuang Chunjiang: Basic Understanding of Buddhist Practice, Chapter 5: Buddhism in Everyday Life, Section 2: Counteracting and Taming

Chapter 5: Buddhism in Everyday Life

Section 2: Counteracting and Taming

As the six sense bases engage with their corresponding objects, we ordinary beings can't even stay in the state of "lucid contact" — letting contact remain just contact, without spiraling into defilement. Even stopping at the stage of "feeling," without letting it escalate, is already far beyond what most of us can manage. More often than not, craving inevitably grows out of contact and feeling, and the whole chain runs its course toward sorrow, grief, and anguish. If we're constantly overwhelmed and stuck on that end of things, over time it wears down our confidence in the Dharma and works against our practice. So how might we shift course — moving toward the goal of the "restraint of the six sense contacts," where feeling stays as feeling and contact stays as contact? As mentioned earlier, the path of practice for moving beyond craving and attachment unfolds in three stages: taming, severing, and transcending. Taming is where this path begins, and it's especially valuable for those who find themselves repeatedly lost in sorrow and distress. Beginners in particular should take it seriously.

What is taming? It means training and subduing — continually adjusting behaviors that have gone off course and drawing them back toward the right direction. Correcting off-course behavior calls for counteracting methods, and different problems often need different remedies. What works for one person may not work for another, so counteracting techniques tend to be highly diverse and individualized, varying from person to person and situation to situation. This is an area of practice that demands genuine personal investment and exploration. Below, I offer some general counteracting principles that may be useful, as a reference point for developing your own methods of taming:

1. Transforming How We See — Straightening Our View

In the Noble Eightfold Path, right view comes first. Establishing right view is both the initial foundation and the final goal — the full maturation of wisdom. If our aim is off, or our understanding is skewed, then no amount of effort, no matter how sharp the method, will bear fruit. When our focus is blurry from the start, a hair's breadth of misalignment will, over time, become a gap of a thousand miles.

First, we need to recognize that "the complete and permanent eradication of greed, hatred, and delusion — the total end of all afflictions" is what a liberated sage looks like [1]. If we accept that liberation is the goal of Buddhist practice (the Buddha himself was a liberated being), then we should wholeheartedly embrace this way of being — the end of greed, hatred, and delusion, the end of all afflictions — and make it our own aspiration. With this in mind, when anger arises, would we still insist our rage is justified, that we had no choice, that someone else provoked us into it? If we cling to the belief that "anger is sometimes useful" or insist on its necessity, refusing to adjust our thinking, we'll never arrive at "the complete eradication of hatred, without remainder." The same principle holds for craving and attachment.

Next, let's look at how ignorance, craving, and "sentient being" relate to one another. The Buddha stated plainly that ignorance and craving are what drive sentient beings through the cycle of birth and death, the root causes of their affliction and distress [2]. But why is craving also a cause of suffering? In our everyday understanding, love is celebrated and praised — isn't love supposed to be the greatest happiness? If that were truly so, why did the Buddha say, "When craving arises, there arise sorrow, weeping, grief, anguish, and despair," rather than echoing what most people say: "When craving arises, there arise joy and delight" [3]? The reason is that craving itself grows out of ignorance. It is ignorance that fuels craving, driving it outward into the realm of emotion. And what is ignorance? At its core, ignorance is the attachment to a "real self" — what we call self-grasping (我执). The sense of self is the feeling that there is a truly existing "me," but this is nothing more than an idea, an illusion — a deep and stubborn misperception that all sentient beings hold. Yet we continually, often without knowing it, cling to and act in service of this feeling. The most forceful expression of this self-sense is the desire to control — the demand that things go our way regardless of circumstances. "I don't care, I want it this way" is its classic voice. The most subtle and deep-seated form of self-grasping is the pride of thinking "I'm no worse than they are" — what's called self-conceit (我慢). All of our craving and attachment encompasses both the self we call "me" and everything we call "mine," and it stretches across past and future. Every bit of our affliction and suffering grows from this "sense of a real self" — which is why it's called the root of craving.

Sometimes we tell ourselves that everything we do is out of love — for our children, our families, all beings, society, our country, the Earth... It can feel like none of it is for ourselves, and that thought may give us a sense of nobility and purpose. But what we don't see is that we've subtly made our children, our families, all beings, society, our country, the Earth into "what is mine." It's still an extension of self — quiet and hard to detect, but still tethered to ignorance. So when we try to work with our suffering, if we don't trace it back, honestly and persistently, to the level of "self," we'll never get to the root of the problem.

What sets the Buddhist approach apart is its commitment to the universal principle of dependent origination — and its particular emphasis on applying this principle to the resolution of human suffering. No other religion or philosophy of the Buddha's time offered anything quite like it. Today, if someone turns to dependent origination as a universal framework for working with life's problems, their approach can genuinely be called Dharma practice, for the Buddha said: "Whoever sees dependent origination sees the Dharma; whoever sees the Dharma sees dependent origination" [4]. The scriptures also record the Venerable Subhuti saying, "Whoever sees dependent origination (emptiness) sees the Buddha" [5]. It's fair to say that to leave dependent origination behind is to leave the Dharma behind — it is that representative of the whole teaching.

The definition of dependent origination is simple: "When this exists, that comes to be; when this ceases, that ceases." All things exist only in dependence on conditions — "this because of that." There is no singular, eternal, fixed, independently real entity, and nothing can be said to be absolutely one way or another. Everything exists and appears only in relation. To think in terms of dependent origination, to genuinely honor the profound interdependence of self and other — this is right view. Holding this perspective and returning to it often will help soften the grip of greed and hatred.

2. Delayed Gratification — Think Thrice Before You Act

Delayed gratification is a method introduced by modern psychology. The original experiment used the promise of a greater future reward to encourage restraint from an immediate desire. The future benefit was the incentive; the point was learning to hold back in the moment. Though this method doesn't come from Buddhist scripture, its emphasis on restraining desire makes it a worthwhile reference for taming craving in practice. The idea is this: when we're about to act on an immediate desire, we first pause — deliberately. In that pause, we can feel the desire's intensity, what the Dharma calls its "taste." If holding back feels agonizing, the desire is strong and our attachment is strong — a sign we need to be more vigilant. This also serves as an excellent self-assessment tool for our practice.

Ancient Buddhist commentators analyzed the process by which actions are set in motion as three stages: "deliberative thought, decisive intention, and activating thought" — collectively called the "threefold thought" [6]. This means that our words and deeds emerge only after a thought is turned over repeatedly, a decision crystallizes, and energy gathers to drive it forward. Even "unintentional" actions pass through these stages — we're simply not aware of it. This process closely mirrors the development of awareness described earlier. The purpose of restraining impulse and delaying gratification is to buy more time during the deliberative and decisive stages — time for right view and Dharma-based reflection to do their work of taming and correcting.

From the standpoint of modern neuroscience, delayed gratification makes good sense. As mentioned earlier, two brain structures handle sensory information: the amygdala and the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex, which governs rational thought, takes longer to process input. The amygdala, built for rapid response, tends to produce coarse, emotional reactions. Quick, reflexive responses to desire therefore usually bypass the cortex's rational input. Only by restraining our impulses — delaying gratification — can we create a buffer that gives the cortex time to do its job. In other words, we give ourselves the chance for "wise reflection" — thinking grounded in the principles of the Dharma.

For instance, the Buddha once offered five methods to help monks overcome unwholesome thoughts. The second was: "Contemplate the danger of this thought" [7] — that is, by reflecting on what harmful consequences might follow if one acted on the thought, one can let it go. Of course, being able to anticipate negative consequences requires a buffer. If we react the instant a desire arises, there's no room to consider where it leads. So we should make good use of the space that delayed gratification provides, weighing our potential actions against Dharma values, and avoiding the impulsive pursuit of short-term gratification that harms ourselves and others.

3. Putting Empathy into Practice

Empathy is a concept from modern Western psychology. Broadly, it means being able to step into another person's position, to see things from within their situation, rather than standing fixed in our own viewpoint and treating our assumptions as fact. Practicing empathy should therefore help weaken self-view, self-grasping, and the self-centered need to control. The "method of universal empathy" taught by the Buddha over two thousand years ago works on a similar principle. He offered this analogy: if someone were about to kill me, I'd feel fear and anger — of course I wouldn't want to be killed. If I myself dislike and reject something, others must feel the same way. So why would I kill them? Thinking in this way, one can no longer take pleasure in killing. And from this same reasoning, one can extend to not taking pleasure in stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, sowing discord, harsh speech, or idle chatter [8]. "What I dislike, others dislike too" — this is no different from what the Analects says: "Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire." Both can serve as a discipline for observing the precepts and taming ourselves so that we don't cause harm.

Closely related to this method is the practice of "regarding others as loved ones." Here, one treats the other person as one would a revered or cherished family member. For example, the scriptures describe how a practitioner might regard someone older as their mother, someone of similar age as their sister, someone younger as their daughter — using this contemplation to counter lust [9]. Of course, this approach isn't limited to countering lust; it can also be tried more broadly to quiet other forms of craving and aversion.

4. Physical Seclusion — From Body to Mind

"Relying on seclusion, relying on dispassion, relying on cessation, tending toward letting go" — this is a sequence of practice often mentioned in the scriptures. It can be applied alongside many methods, including the five spiritual faculties [10], the seven factors of enlightenment [11], the Noble Eightfold Path [12], the four bases of spiritual power [13], and practices contained within the mindfulness factor of the seven factors of enlightenment: contemplation of impurity, mindfulness of death, the four immeasurables, mindfulness of breathing, and contemplation of impermanence, among others [14]. A practice sequence means there's a natural order: one becomes proficient in a given stage before moving on to the next — what the scriptures call "the sequential path of Dharma and what follows" [15]. Of course, stages may partially overlap, but overall there's a clear forward progression, which is why they're called a sequence.

In "relying on seclusion, relying on dispassion, relying on cessation, tending toward letting go," seclusion comes first. But realistically, even this initial step isn't easy for most people, so I'll set aside the latter three for now. True seclusion is most complete when the mind itself is free from craving and attachment. However, when we honestly assess that in certain unwholesome environments we're not yet able to keep the mind secluded — not yet able to remain unswayed — then knowing when to physically remove ourselves becomes a preliminary skillful means for the practice of mental seclusion. The scriptures say, "Defilements are cut off through seclusion" [16], which points to exactly this. Beyond simply avoiding tempting environments, if we're already caught in an unwholesome situation and afflictions have flared up, we should change our surroundings as quickly as we can. For example, when we notice craving or anger has taken hold, shifting our environment and redirecting what the six sense bases are engaged with can be an effective way to find relief. The scriptures mention closing one's eyes or physically stepping away as examples of "not attending to that thought" [17] — the same principle. All of these are ways to use physical seclusion to create a buffer for the sense bases, serving as a preliminary practice for the deeper work of mental seclusion.

Beyond avoiding harmful environments we can't handle, actively seeking out wholesome ones — drawing near wise spiritual friends, listening to the authentic Dharma — is just as important for any practitioner. We can't simply say "go with the flow" and let ourselves drift wherever the current takes us. As Confucianism also teaches, we're shaped by the company we keep. Still, there are times when circumstances don't give us the freedom to choose — when our families, jobs, even our society leave us few options. In those situations, working to improve our environment can itself be a form of physical seclusion. We can share the spirit of the Dharma with the people around us, gently encouraging friends and family with these principles, and together create a better environment for practice. This, too, is a deeper movement from physical seclusion toward mental seclusion.

5. Contemplation of Revulsion

Contemplation of revulsion is the "arousing revulsion" stage in the classic sequence of "revulsion, dispassion, cessation" [18] — a mainstream practice method found throughout the Āgama Sūtras. How does revulsion arise? Through suffering — feeling it deeply, all the way through. Suffering is a kind of pressure, a sense of things being incomplete and unsatisfying. Why is this? Because of impermanence, and even more so because of craving. Impermanence is the inevitable nature of all conditioned things: nothing we like or dislike, nothing wholesome or unwholesome, stays the same. In itself, impermanence is fairly neutral. But when craving enters the picture, everything changes. We want what we like to last forever and what we dislike to disappear immediately. We want to control everything to our liking. Yet the actual workings of impermanence are shaped by complex, deeply hidden causes and conditions that we can't fully grasp. When things don't go as expected or desired, suffering takes shape. So when craving arises, if we can remember that everything we hold will eventually change and slip away — that nothing can be permanently possessed — we become alert to the pain of gaining only to lose. Revulsion arises, and the grip of attachment loosens.

Earlier, in our discussion of the relationship between ignorance, craving, and sentient beings, we noted that ignorance and craving — that is, self-grasping and desire — are inseparably linked. The root of craving is self-grasping, and craving can only be fully extinguished when self-grasping is broken through. The sūtras say that diligent contemplation of impermanence cuts through every form of craving, restlessness, arrogance, and ignorance, because reflecting on impermanence gives rise to the insight of not-self. One who can settle steadily into this insight will let go of self-conceit — the deepest, most subtle form of self-grasping — and enter nirvāṇa [19]. Entering nirvāṇa is liberation, also called "cessation" [20]: the end of all afflictions, the uprooting of everything that drives the cycle of birth and death. It doesn't mean death — the Buddha and many arhats continued to live full lives after their liberation. So at a basic level, we use contemplation of revulsion to counter sensual craving through the lens of impermanence. At a deeper level, the very process of working with craving can break through self-grasping, release deep-rooted self-conceit, and open the way to nirvāṇa.

6. The Thought of Loving-Kindness — "They Have Their Own Unavoidable Suffering"

The thought of loving-kindness is the loving-kindness contemplation, one of the four immeasurables — the same compassion that Mahāyāna Buddhism would later develop more fully. In the early Buddhist texts, loving-kindness is most often used to counter anger [21] and serves as an effective method for working with afflictions. It's a kind of contemplation through imagination: we give other people's actions the most generous, reasonable interpretation we can, regardless of what actually happened, and without needing to verify. So when someone harms us and anger flares up, if we can shift toward thinking, "They must have suffering they can't escape" or "They're powerless to control themselves," then even a fraction of our frustration, turned into understanding and compassion, will help quiet the anger.

At the same time, the sūtras say that those who earnestly study and realize the wisdom of dependent origination should begin with generosity, ethical conduct, and meditation — becoming gentler and kinder, easing the pressure of afflictions — before they can realize true emptiness [22]. What is emptiness? There are many interpretations, but understanding emptiness as synonymous with "nominal designation" and "the Middle Way" — that is, as another name for dependent origination — is a fitting one [23]. To see dependent origination (emptiness) in our relationships with others means thinking of them more, understanding how people can't always help themselves when caught in greed, anger, and delusion. This, too, is loving-kindness.

Anger and sensual craving seem, on the surface, to be completely different things. But they share the same root: self-grasping. Craving arises when things go our way; anger arises when they don't. So just as with contemplation of revulsion, loving-kindness works at two levels. At a basic level, it counters hatred. At a deeper level, the process of working with hatred through loving-kindness reveals the interdependent, mutually conditioning nature of all things — and this insight breaks through self-grasping, releases deep-rooted self-conceit, and opens the way to nirvāṇa. These are two complementary approaches, each with its own emphasis, and either can be drawn on depending on what we need.

7. Immediate Awareness — Finding Your Own "Stop Sign" and Setting Personal Precepts

The sūtras describe someone walking very fast who asks himself, "Why am I walking so fast? Wouldn't it be better to slow down?" — and so he does, settling into a slower pace [24]. Getting from walking fast to slowing down involves several key steps: first, noticing that you're walking fast (identifying the problem — the truth of suffering); next, questioning why you're walking so fast (finding the cause — the truth of the origin of suffering); then realizing you don't need to walk this fast (a shift in perspective, removing the driving force and cause — moving toward the truth of cessation); relaxing and slowing your pace (carrying out the choice — the truth of the path); and finally, slowing down or even stopping (the problem resolved — the truth of cessation). This is an example of applying the Four Noble Truths to solve a problem. The same applies to counteracting and taming: becoming aware of your problem is the essential first step.

When it comes to timing, the earlier you notice, the better. Afflictions and emotions usually start subtly and build from faint to forceful. Once they reach a certain intensity, or settle into habit, counteracting and taming them becomes significantly harder. It's like driving on a highway: once your speed passes a certain point, you can't make sharp turns, and you can't just stop on a dime. Haven't you noticed that highway exit signs appear at least two kilometers in advance? And in the last three hundred meters before the ramp, there are warning markers every hundred meters. This system of early and repeated warnings isn't unique to Taiwan's highways — other countries surely do the same — because drivers need enough time to safely change lanes and decelerate. Without advance signage, drivers unfamiliar with the area are left with signs that are effectively useless. What good is seeing a sign when you don't have time to react? You can only watch as you sail past the exit. Working with greed, anger, and delusion is no different. If you become aware too late, what good is the awareness? By the time these afflictions have built up enough force to erupt — like an arrow at full draw that has to fly — noticing is already too late.

How do we become aware? When is awareness effective? Everyone is different, and you'll need to observe and test this through your own experience. But it always comes down to noticing changes in your body or mind. Noticing physical changes corresponds to mindfulness of the body in the four foundations of mindfulness, while noticing mental changes falls under mindfulness of feelings, mind, and phenomena. Mindfulness of mind and phenomena is more subtle and requires a solid foundation of awareness. And since mental changes eventually show up in the body, starting with physical sensations is more accessible for most people. For example, when you feel hungry and notice your limbs going slightly weak, a little lightheadedness, a faint cold sweat — you may know from past experience that your blood sugar has dropped to a certain level, that you've hit your own "stop sign": the point where you should stop what you're doing and get some sugar. If you notice too late, or notice but don't know your own stop sign — don't know whether it's time to act — you might not replenish in time, and your body could give out and you might faint. The same holds for craving and anger. Before they're fundamentally uprooted, we rely on counteracting and taming to manage them. But if we can't catch them before they reach our personal stop sign, even the best intentions to counter and tame won't be enough.

Once you know where your stop sign is, you need to set rules for yourself — personal precepts — to keep from crossing that line. For example, if you notice your stomach clenching and you know this is your anger stop sign — that continuing will likely mean losing control and acting irrationally — then if your personal precept is "get out" (physical seclusion), you leave without hesitation and change your environment. Beyond leaving, your precept could take other forms: shifting your attention, changing the topic, focusing the mind and reciting the Buddha's name (all of these also count as physical seclusion), pausing before reacting while bringing to mind correct Dharma views, drawing on empathy, loving-kindness, contemplation of revulsion, and so on. You can look at your own past experiences — what's worked and what hasn't — and choose what suits you best.

8. There Are Other Choices — Right Reflection (Yoniso Manasikāra)

We often react on autopilot, falling into our most habitual patterns. If we can pause and ask ourselves, "Do I have other choices? Is this habitual reaction really the best one?" we create a little space for reflection — especially when attachment is strong and we're about to go all in. Extreme behavior usually happens precisely when we fail to ask whether there might be a better option. What counts as "better"? Different value systems give different answers. From a Dharma perspective, "better" means right reflection — thinking guided by Buddhist values: Does what I'm doing accord with dependent origination? With the three marks of existence? Does it move toward liberation and awakening? Does it align with the Noble Eightfold Path, the five precepts and ten wholesome actions? With the Buddha's teachings on physical pain without mental anguish, on dispassion, on restraint of the six sense spheres, on loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity?

Sometimes we get stuck in an affliction we can't seem to shake — like working a math problem where you check everything repeatedly: the calculations are right, the method is right, the logic is right, but the answer still comes out wrong (just like that affliction that won't go away). The problem may lie in an assumption made at the very beginning — something we took as given that isn't actually correct. In other words, some of the views we've always trusted and clung to may themselves be the issue. If we can bring an open mind to this, re-examining things through the lens of dependent origination and not-self, looking to see whether other choices exist, then a knot we thought was impossibly tight may begin, in the process of rethinking, to loosen — bit by bit.

9. The Practice of Right Speech — Five Principles for Pointing Out Others' Faults

Speech is the most common way we interact, and the easiest way to spark conflict — especially when criticizing others. The Dharma values compassion and gentleness, but it doesn't encourage us to become wishy-washy people-pleasers who can't tell right from wrong. If everyone acted that way, a community couldn't stay healthy and pure. Once, Venerable Sāriputta asked the Buddha how monks in the saṅgha should point out one another's faults in order to maintain harmony and purity. The Buddha laid out five principles: "Truthful, not untruthful; timely, not untimely; beneficial, not unbeneficial; gentle, not harsh; with a kind heart, not anger" [25]. These five principles aren't limited to pointing out mistakes — they serve equally well as general guidelines for conversation among friends and communities:

1. Truthfulness: Speak accurately and in line with the facts, avoiding emotionally charged embellishment. When quoting others or offering your own inferences, make that clear to prevent misunderstanding.
2. Timeliness: Say the right thing at the right time. Even a well-meaning remark can backfire badly if the timing is off.
3. Benefit: Speech should nurture wholesome qualities in yourself and others and help reduce afflictions. If something isn't beneficial, it's best left unsaid. Constantly talking just to fill the silence, chattering without substance, can become a habit of grasping after distractions — not helpful for Dharma practice.
4. Gentleness: Choose words that are soft, not sharp. Consider the other person's feelings. Don't resort to sarcasm, insults, or pointed confrontation.
5. Kindness: Don't let anger take over. Regularly using these five principles to govern yourself is, itself, the practice of right speech in the Noble Eightfold Path.

10. If Bad News Comes: Contemplation of Impermanence, Mindfulness of Death

Once, the Venerable Śāriputra taught the bhikṣus that a forest-dwelling monk who prefers solitude can test whether he has truly let go of the five desires by deliberately calling to mind images of "the intimacy of men and women, the pleasures of sights and sounds" — and then watching his own reaction. If desire stirs, it means he hasn't yet freed himself from the five desires, and shouldn't claim otherwise[26].

We can take a page from Śāriputra's teaching and set up similar thought experiments for ourselves. Imagine that bad news arrives: you lose the person or thing you value most; a major investment or piece of property vanishes; you're diagnosed with a serious illness — and then notice how you react. The point isn't to measure our level of accomplishment. It's to surface whatever latent problems we might have, and to practice responding to them wisely. Since these are only hypotheticals, we can stay calm and collected, bringing proper attention to bear and thinking through what would be the right thing to do — what's truly in accord with the Dharma.

This approach has a lot in common with the contemplation of impermanence and mindfulness of death. These two practices are versatile — they're not limited to cultivating disenchantment with sense pleasures. On a simpler level, we can use mindfulness of death like this: If I were facing death right now, would I have any lingering attachments? Could I pass on with a peaceful, settled heart? If not — what am I worried about? What am I still holding on to? What would a worldly perspective say I should do? What does the Dharma say? What should I actually do? Questions may surface one after another.

At first it might feel like a purely intellectual exercise. But if we sit with these contemplations regularly, they become a kind of psychological preparation — like a military war game played out on a sand table. When something difficult actually happens, we'll be far better off than if we'd been caught with no preparation at all. And if this practice helps us keep engaging in right reflection, over time the habit itself will strengthen our right view.

11. The Courage to Bear It

Finally, we need to strengthen our courage to face and bear what's unpleasant. Suffering is the inevitable product of dependent origination, impermanence, and craving. Short of liberation, no one escapes it completely — and even liberated beings still experience bodily pain. Giving in to fear, constantly scheming to avoid difficulty — that only piles more vexation onto the habit of self-clinging, and does nothing for our practice. Far better to face hardship bravely, to meet it head-on, and through the very experience of difficulty, to taste the Dharma for ourselves, confirm it, and let our conviction deepen.

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Notes

[1] "Śāriputra said: Nirvāṇa is the complete cessation of greed, the complete cessation of hatred, the complete cessation of delusion — the complete cessation of all afflictions. This is called nirvāṇa. … When greed is completely and utterly ceased, when hatred and delusion are completely and utterly ceased, this is what is called an arhat." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 490.

[2] "At that time, the World-Honored One addressed the bhikṣus: Sentient beings, since beginningless time in the round of birth and death, veiled by ignorance, bound by the fetter of craving, cycle through birth and death for a long night, never knowing the end of suffering." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 267.

[3] "The World-Honored One replied: Exactly so, brahmin! Exactly so! When craving arises, sorrow, weeping, distress, vexation, and regret arise. The brahmin said: Gautama, why do you say that when craving arises, sorrow, weeping, distress, vexation, and regret arise? Gautama should know that when craving arises, joy and pleasure arise!" Madhyama Āgama Sutra 216.

[4] Madhyama Āgama Sutra 30.

[5] "At that time, the World-Honored One spoke this verse to the bhikṣuṇī: One should first pay homage to good deeds, the foremost without fault. Emptiness is the gate of liberation — this is the meaning of paying homage to the Buddha. If you wish to pay homage to the Buddha, regarding the future and the past, observe that all dharmas are empty and without substance — this is called the meaning of paying homage to the Buddha." Ekottara Āgama, 36th Division, 5th Sutra.

[6] "There are three types of thought: first, deliberative thought; second, the thought of determination; third, the thought that initiates action. If thought can move the body, it is called bodily action…" Treatise on the Establishment of Action in the Mahāyāna (Taishō Tripiṭaka, vol. 31, p. 785b).

[7] "At that time, the World-Honored One addressed the bhikṣus: If a bhikṣu wishes to attain a superior mind, he should repeatedly recollect five characteristics. After repeatedly recollecting these five, any unwholesome thoughts that have arisen will immediately cease. Once unwholesome thoughts cease, the mind remains steady, settles inwardly in one-pointedness, and attains concentration. What are the five? A bhikṣu recollects marks in harmony with wholesome qualities… Furthermore, bhikṣus! If unwholesome thoughts arise while recollecting marks in harmony with wholesome qualities, he should observe the danger and harm in those thoughts…" Madhyama Āgama Sutra 101.

[8] "The World-Honored One told the brahmin elder: I will now explain the method of understanding through oneself. Listen carefully and reflect well. What is this method? It is when a noble disciple trains himself thus: I think to myself — if someone wanted to kill me, I would not like it. Since I don't like it, others feel the same way — so how could I kill them? Having realized this, he takes up the precept of not killing and does not delight in killing, as described above. If I don't like others stealing from me, others feel the same — how could I steal from them? Therefore he upholds the precept against stealing and does not delight in stealing, as described above. Since I don't like others violating my wife, others feel the same — how could I violate someone else's wife? Therefore he upholds the precept against sexual misconduct, as described above. I don't like being deceived, others feel the same — how could I deceive them? Therefore he upholds the precept against false speech, as described above. I don't like others turning my friends and relatives against me, others feel the same — how could I turn others' friends and relatives against them? Therefore he does not engage in divisive speech (as described above). I don't like others speaking harshly to me, others feel the same — how could I insult and abuse others? Therefore he does not engage in harsh speech toward others, as described above. I don't like others speaking frivolously to me, others feel the same — how could I speak frivolously to others? Therefore he does not engage in frivolous speech toward others, as described above." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 1044.

[9] "When seeing an elderly person, regard her as your mother; when seeing a middle-aged woman, regard her as your sister; when seeing a young girl, regard her as your daughter." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 1165.

[10] "At that time, the World-Honored One addressed the bhikṣus: There are five spiritual faculties. What are the five? The faculty of faith, the faculty of effort, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, and the faculty of wisdom. If a noble disciple has accomplished the faculty of wisdom, he can cultivate the faculty of faith — relying on seclusion, relying on desirelessness, relying on cessation, heading toward letting go. This is called accomplishment of the faculty of faith. Accomplishing the faculty of faith is itself the faculty of wisdom. As with the faculty of faith, so too with the faculties of effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 656.

[11] "At that time, the World-Honored One addressed the bhikṣus: Cultivate the seven factors of awakening. What does it mean to cultivate the seven factors of awakening? It means the factor of mindfulness through the factor of equanimity. If a bhikṣu cultivates the factor of mindfulness, he relies on seclusion, relies on desirelessness, relies on cessation, and heads toward letting go. Likewise, he cultivates the factors of investigation of dharmas, effort, joy, tranquility, concentration, and equanimity — relying on seclusion, relying on desirelessness, relying on cessation, heading toward letting go." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 729.

[12] "When a bhikṣu cultivates right view — relying on seclusion, relying on desirelessness, relying on cessation, heading toward letting go; cultivates right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration — all relying on seclusion, relying on desirelessness, relying on cessation, heading toward letting go — this is called cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 764.

[13] "In this way, a noble disciple cultivates the basis of spiritual power that is desire, accomplishing the practices of cutting through [the fetters] — relying on seclusion, relying on desirelessness, relying on the way out, relying on cessation, heading toward letting go — up to the severing of craving. When craving is severed, that desire too subsides. He cultivates the bases of spiritual power that are effort, mind, and inquiry, accomplishing the practices of cutting through — relying on seclusion, relying on desirelessness, relying on the way out, relying on cessation, heading toward letting go — up to the exhaustion of craving. When craving is exhausted, inquiry too subsides." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 561.

[14] Samyukta Āgama Sutras 741–747.

[15] "The Buddha told the bhikṣus: Listen carefully, reflect well, and I will explain. When a bhikṣu turns toward disenchantment with form, dispassion, and its cessation, this is called following the Dharma in due order. The same for feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness: turning toward disenchantment, dispassion, and cessation — this is called following the Dharma in due order." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 27.

"Śāriputra said to the Buddha: World-Honored One! There are four factors of stream-entry. What are the four? Associating with good friends, listening to the true Dharma, right reflection within, and following the Dharma in due order." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 843.

[16] "How are defilements severed through avoidance? Bhikṣus! When you see a vicious elephant, keep your distance; vicious horses, vicious cattle… bad teachers, bad friends, bad paths, bad villages, bad dwelling places… keep your distance from all of them. If you don't, affliction and distress will arise; if you do, they won't. This is called severing defilements through avoidance." Madhyama Āgama Sutra 10.

[17] "If unwholesome thoughts arise while a bhikṣu is recollecting marks in harmony with wholesome qualities, or if unwholesome thoughts arise again when he's observing the danger in those thoughts, he should not continue dwelling on them — because doing so only produces more unwholesome thoughts. Once he stops dwelling on them, the unwholesome thoughts that have already arisen will immediately cease. Once they cease, the mind remains steady, settles inwardly in one-pointedness, and attains concentration. It's like someone with eyesight: even if a visible form is right there in the light, he doesn't have to look at it — he can simply close his eyes or turn away." Madhyama Āgama Sutra 101.

[18] "The Buddha told the bhikṣus: Listen carefully! Reflect well, and I will explain. When a bhikṣu turns toward disenchantment with form, dispassion, and cessation, this is called following the Dharma in due order. The same for feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness: turning toward disenchantment, dispassion, and cessation — this is called following the Dharma in due order." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 27.

"The Buddha told the bhikṣus: If a bhikṣu turns toward disenchantment with aging, illness, and death — toward dispassion and cessation — this is called following the Dharma in due order." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 364.

[19] "When the contemplation of impermanence is cultivated and cultivated again and again, it can sever all craving for sense pleasures, craving for form, craving for the formless, restlessness, conceit, and ignorance. … The contemplation of impermanence can establish the contemplation of non-self. When a noble disciple abides in the contemplation of non-self, his mind is free from self-conceit, and he smoothly attains nirvāṇa." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 270.

[20] "The Buddha told the bhikṣus: When a bhikṣu grows disenchanted with form (feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness), becomes dispassionate, and ceases it — so that no more outflows arise and his mind is rightly liberated — this is called a bhikṣu who sees nirvāṇa here and now." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 28.

[21] "Immeasurable concentration is when a noble disciple's mind is suffused with loving-kindness — without resentment, without aversion, without anger — vast and expansive, cultivated immeasurably, extending universally, filling one direction, then the second, third, fourth, above and below…" Samyukta Āgama Sutra 567.

[22] "Those who contemplate true emptiness first practice immeasurable generosity, ethical conduct, and meditative concentration; their minds become pliant, their afflictions and fetters grow thin — and only then do they realize true emptiness." Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom (Taishō Tripiṭaka, vol. 25, p. 194a).

[23] "Whatever is born from causes and conditions, I call emptiness; it is also a provisional name; it is also the meaning of the Middle Way." Mūlamadhyamaka-kārikā (Taishō Tripiṭaka, vol. 30, p. 33b).

[24] "It's like someone walking down a road in a great hurry, who then thinks: Why am I rushing? I might as well slow down. And so he slows his pace." Madhyama Āgama Sutra 101.

[25] "If a bhikṣu's mind is established in five qualities, he may point out another's offense. What are the five? It is true, not false; the timing is right, not wrong; it is beneficial, not harmful; the words are gentle, not rough; the motivation is loving-kindness, not anger." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 497.

[26] "At that time, the Venerable Śāriputra told the bhikṣus: A forest-dwelling bhikṣu, whether in an open field, in the forest, or under a tree, should train himself thus: I look within and reflect — do I notice any thoughts of desire arising in my mind? If I don't, then when I encounter sense objects or pure marks, if craving arises that runs counter to seclusion… if, following those pure marks, craving wells up and pours forth, contrary to seclusion — then I should know that this bhikṣu would not dare claim for himself that he has been freed from desire and liberated from the five objects of pleasure." Samyukta Āgama Sutra 493.

"Or taking up pure marks (i.e., deliberately conjuring images of the intimacy of men and women, the pleasures of sights and sounds, etc.)…" An Outline of the Buddha's Teachings, p. 258, by Venerable Yinshun.