遍歴修行か迷走か
Spiritual journey or spiritual confusion?
2024-07-13 18:00:00
Buddhist practice fundamentally takes the form of itinerant practice.
However, some practitioners may find their practice going astray.
Where does this difference come from?
Regarding this, we can see the following principle in the early Buddhist scriptures of Shakyamuni Buddha:
13 If a monk's mind is restless and scattered, carelessly negligent, and directed towards external matters, then moral conduct, concentration, and wisdom will not be perfected. (Verses of Uplift - Udānavarga, Chapter Six: Discipline, translated by Hajime Nakamura, Iwanami-Bunko)
Additionally, it is said that those who practice the Buddhist path correctly are as follows:
144 Strive vigorously like a good horse touched by the whip. Through faith, moral conduct, exertion, mindfulness, and the knowledge of truth, those who have perfected wisdom and conduct will focus their thoughts and remove this considerable suffering. (Words of Truth - Dhammapada, Chapter Ten: Violence, translated by Hajime Nakamura, Iwanami-Bunko)
2 Strive diligently, like a good horse that runs with zeal when touched by the whip. With faith and virtuous conduct, with a unified and stable mind, knowing the truth, and having perfected wisdom and conduct, focusing their thoughts, such a person will discard all suffering. (Verses of Uplift - Udānavarga, Chapter Nineteen: Horse, translated by Hajime Nakamura, Iwanami-Bunko)
So, it can be said that a practitioner's practice goes astray because 'their mind is directed towards external matters.'
In other words, the proper form of Buddhist practice is fundamentally to advance through introspection.
In fact, we can see the following principle in the early Buddhist scriptures of Shakyamuni Buddha:
174 "The person who always keeps the precepts, has wisdom, unifies their mind well, introspects, and is vigilant will be able to cross the difficult torrent." (Words of the Buddha - Sutta Nipāta, Chapter 1: The Snake, 9: The One Who Lives in the Snowy Mountains, translated by Hajime Nakamura, Iwanami-Bunko)
For this reason, it is taught that "Buddhist practice is a matter of each individual from beginning to end," and at the same time, "Buddhist practitioners should not rely on anything other than themselves."
Furthermore, this should be the case even at the turning points of their itinerant practice, and this ultimately leads to proper itinerant practice, bringing the practitioner closer to Nirvana.
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