You Must Cultivate This Inner Ideal and Purpose

If we don’t practice, it’s hard to grasp the full depth of Master Tiantai Zhi’s teaching on not sparing one’s life for the Dharma. But if you’re truly committed to the path of practice, you must build a foundation of pure merit even as you work with the deluded thoughts that arise in your mind. This merit runs directly counter to the endless cycle of birth and death you’ve been trapped in since beginningless time—you’re swimming upstream against the flow of samsara.

Along this path, countless hardships will arise to test you: your own afflictions will block your progress, your past karmic actions will block you, and even the physical body you inhabit will act as an obstacle. These three root causes of suffering—delusion, karma, and its fruit—take shape as the three hindrances: the hindrance of afflictions, the hindrance of karmic actions, and the hindrance of karmic retribution. The creditors from your past eons, tied to the spirit realm by old grievances, will also stand in your way, as will the demon king Mara. Later, when we go over how to recognize demonic activity, you’ll see for yourself how many such obstacles can arise.

The only thing that lets you push through all these stacked obstacles is that single, unshakable resolve: the mind that aspires to attain the sacred path and liberate all sentient beings. This resolve burns so fierce and steady that you’re willing to give up your life without hesitation; you take the attainment of supreme bodhi as your sole mission, and your vow rings clear: "If I do not realize all the Buddha’s teachings, I will never turn back!"

Master Tiantai Zhi says the core challenge of this path is the risk of regression. Many people set out to practice, but few cross the finish line, because it’s so easy to lose heart and turn away from the path. Many also vow for rebirth in the Pure Land, but few actually hold steady, correct mindfulness at the moment of death. The difference comes down to whether you generated bodhicitta—the mind of awakening—when you first took up the path.

If we look at Master Tiantai Zhi’s biography: he received the full precepts at 22, and spent eight years studying under Chan Master Huisi. During those years, he practiced the Lotus Sutra samadhi and attained the Swift Turning Dhāraṇī. At 30, he left Chan Master Huisi and took up residence at Waguan Temple, where he taught for eight years, lecturing on the Lotus Sutra, The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra, and The Gradual Path of Meditation and the Perfection of Wisdom. For those eight years, his conditions were extraordinarily auspicious: both court officials and ordinary lay followers placed deep trust in him.

At 38, he reflected that the Dharma’s spread in the world was only a surface-level flourish; its true substance was slowly fading. So he gave up the fame, wealth, and status he had attained at the time, and retreated into the wilderness. Tiantai Mountain was still wild, uncultivated land back then, so he went there with a small group of followers to continue his practice. Sure enough, his dedication on Tiantai Mountain broke through: he laid down the Tiantai school’s core framework of doctrine and meditation, making its teachings more complete and ensuring they would be passed on for generations to come.

The resolve Master Tiantai Zhi brought forth to make that choice was truly extraordinary.

Take the many lay practitioners and monastics I’ve seen, for instance. When we first turned to the Three Jewels, we had barely any spiritual merit to our name, adrift in the three realms with no refuge in sight. Trapped in the cycle of birth and death, lost in the tumbling delusion of ignorance, we endured endless suffering. Then we took refuge in the Three Jewels, studied the Buddha’s teachings, and put the Dharma’s truths into practice in our daily lives. Sure enough, we eradicated karmic obstacles, cultivated goodness, and countless merits took root in our minds. But some people turn back the second good fortune arises. They get distracted by small, bright flowers blooming along the roadside, right before they reach the great bliss of liberation. These minor favorable conditions blind them to what’s ahead. Why? Because they never firmly fixed their goal when they first set out on the path. That’s the root of the problem.

At first, you may not realize how essential generating bodhicitta is. But as you walk the path, when good fortune arises, without bodhicitta you won’t be able to push through that final barrier. It’s the wall you can’t climb over no matter how hard you try. That’s why the Surangama Sutra says: "If your initial resolve is not genuine, the fruit of your practice will be twisted and distorted." If your starting intention is laced with desires for fame and gain, when good fortune comes your way, you will be blocked by that very good fortune. That’s the pitfall.

This is Master Tiantai Zhi’s great compassion at work: he first lays out the key to cultivating the mind. When you practice shamatha and vipashyana—calm abiding and insight meditation—and follow the methods taught by Buddhas and bodhisattvas, your mind will gradually transform from a consciousness weighed down by past karmic offenses to one filled with merit. You may even experience signs of good fortune in this very lifetime, but all of these are still conditioned, impermanent phenomena. You have to keep moving forward, because the vast, boundless merits lie ahead.

So before you even begin practicing shamatha and vipashyana, you must vow to liberate all sentient beings and seek supreme Buddhahood. Your resolve must be as firm as diamond, unshakable and unwavering, and you must be willing to give up your life without hesitation. Vow this: "If I do not realize all the Buddha’s teachings, I will never turn back!" Hold this ideal and this goal deep in your heart.

Master Jingjie: Essentials for Practicing Shamatha, Vipashyana and Seated Meditation