The practice of “cutting off afflictive habits” (duàn fánnǎo xíqì, 断烦恼习气) refers to methods of eliminating deluded thoughts and emotional disturbances through cultivation. It primarily involves two aspects:
(1) cultivating wisdom and compassion to understand the true nature of afflictions, realizing that afflictions (kleśa) and enlightenment (bodhi) are intrinsically non-dual; and
(2) applying concrete practices—such as scripture recitation, chanting the Buddha’s name, meditation, and observing precepts—to calm and transform habitual tendencies of affliction.
Understanding Afflictions
1. Afflictions are Bodhi:
This is an important Buddhist teaching emphasizing that afflictions are not inherently “bad” things to be completely eradicated, but can instead serve as opportunities for awakening.
2. The Tathāgata within one’s own mind:
By realizing the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature) inherent in one’s own mind, one comes to understand that both afflictions and enlightenment arise from the same source. Thus, one practices within afflictions rather than avoiding them.
Practical Methods
1. Mindful recitation of the Buddha’s name:
Silently chanting the name of the Buddha or Bodhisattva is believed to purify karmic obstacles. It is important to include the phrase “Namo” (meaning “I take refuge in”) to express devotion and refuge.
2. Meditation (Dhyāna):
Through deep meditative concentration, one can still the mind, quiet deluded thoughts, and settle emotional disturbances.
3. Observing precepts:
Following moral precepts regulates one’s conduct, reducing afflictions that arise from unwholesome actions.
4. Cultivating compassion:
Developing a compassionate heart helps diminish greed, anger, and ignorance, enabling better harmony with others and resilience against external disturbances.
Form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness
Are not self, nor what belongs to self.
One who understands their true meaning
Is not attached to them.
When the mind is unattached to all phenomena,
It transcends the fetters of form.
Having fully realized all realms,
One no longer abides within the domain of Māra.
— Saṃyukta Āgama, Sūtra 1102
This Dharma is exceedingly profound—hard to see, hard to comprehend, beyond all thought and conception, transcending the realm of discursiveness.
It is subtle, serene, and tranquil—known only to the wise and discerning.
It cannot easily be believed or accepted by ordinary beings of the world.
It is said that the profound Prajñā Pāramitā is precisely what the Tathāgata, the Perfectly Enlightened One, realized as the unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.
— Mahā Prajñā Pāramitā Sūtra
If the mind abides, it is not truly abiding:
When the mind becomes attached to or fixated on something, it means the mind is not still.
The past mind cannot be grasped, the present mind cannot be grasped, and the future mind cannot be grasped:
When recalling things of the past, the past has already gone;
when focusing on the present, the present is but a fleeting instant;
when longing for the future, the future has not yet arrived.
From afar, I saw a flock of hungry pigeons.
Even the wind blowing at 60 kilometers per hour, scattering branches all over the ground, couldn’t stop the one bringing them food.
If reincarnation truly exists, and these pigeons were to be reborn as humans, they would surely repay the person who feeds them.
Some say there is reincarnation; some say there isn’t. Perhaps the question itself is unnecessary.
The one feeding the pigeons never thought of receiving anything in return — it may simply be a kind of selfless giving.
In the perfection of generosity (dāna pāramitā), there is no such discrimination.
To be free from the notion of “this shore” and “the other shore” — that is the true mark of the perfection of giving.
Human life is brief — in the blink of an eye, one is reborn into the next life. One should diligently cultivate wholesome deeds and practice the holy life (the study and practice of the Buddha’s teachings). There is no one in this world who is born and does not die. Yet people in the world fail to diligently cultivate goodness, virtue, and the true Dharma.
The world regards physical decay as death, while Buddhism regards the abandonment of precepts and return to lay life as death.
Verse:
A person may be indulgent in the past,
But later can restrain themselves,
Like the bright moon breaking through clouds to illuminate the world.
A person may be indulgent in the past,
But later can restrain themselves;
With right faith, they can transcend worldly attachments and love.
Background:
Āṅgulimāla was born in the village of Sāṇa, north of the capital Sāvatthī in the kingdom of Kosala. At his birth, all the noble warriors instinctively drew their swords, yet the blades inexplicably chipped or broke at the hilt, causing fear among them. People widely believed that this phenomenon was caused by Āṅgulimāla’s birth. His parents therefore named him Gāṭaka (Āiśaka), meaning “manifestation in the world,” to record the event.
As he grew up, he was deceived by others and killed 999 people, making a necklace from their finger bones. Later, after receiving the Buddha’s teaching, he deeply repented, renounced his former life, joined the monastic order, and ultimately attained arahantship. The verse above is what Āṅgulimāla spoke after his enlightenment.
The Buddha stated in the *Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra* (*The Sutra of the Elucidation of the Profound Secrets*) that all phenomena can be broadly divided into two categories: conditioned phenomena (*saṃskṛta-dharma*) and unconditioned phenomena (*asaṃskṛta-dharma*). Here, the term "conditioned" refers to things that exist dependent upon external causes and conditions.
As the Buddhist teaching goes, “All dharmas arise due to causes and conditions.” These dharmas—conditioned phenomena—come into being and exist only through the interplay of causes and conditions. Because they arise dependently, they are also inevitably subject to decay and cessation. Since they are destined to perish, clinging to them as permanent leads to suffering. Thus, the *Diamond Sutra* says: “All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew or a flash of lightning; thus should one view them.”
Unconditioned phenomena, on the other hand, are those that do not arise, change, or cease due to causes and conditions. They are described as “unborn and undying, neither coming nor going, neither this nor that.” This refers to *nirvāṇa*, which in Mahāyāna Buddhism is synonymous with *Buddha-nature*, *suchness* (*tathatā*), and *dharma-nature* (*dharmatā*). The teaching that “All sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtues of the Tathāgata, but are unable to realize it due to deluded thoughts and attachments,” expresses the idea that beings of the six realms inherently possess the unconditioned, but it is obscured by defilements and illusions.
Therefore, all the teachings of the Buddha are ultimately aimed at helping sentient beings remove these defilements and return to the realization of the unconditioned state.
A person of many desires, because they constantly seek gain, also suffers much affliction. One with few desires, having no seeking or craving, is free from such troubles. Simply having few desires is already something to be cultivated—how much more so when having few desires gives rise to all kinds of virtues!
A person of few desires does not flatter or bend to win others’ favor, nor are they pulled about by the senses. One who practices few desires has a calm and untroubled mind, free from fear and worry. In all situations, they have enough, and are never in want. Those with few desires are close to Nirvana. This is what is called 'having few desires.
The world is impermanent;
Nations are fragile and perilous.
The four elements are all suffering and empty,
The five aggregates are without a self.
Arising and ceasing, changing and decaying—
All is false and ownerless.
The mind is the root of evil,
The body is a marsh of sin.
Contemplating thus, one gradually departs from birth and death.**
Desire brings suffering;
The weariness of birth and death
Arises from craving.
With little desire and no attachment,
The body and mind are at ease.**
The mind knows no contentment,
Always craving more,
Thereby increasing transgressions and evil.
But bodhisattvas are not like this—
They constantly reflect on contentment,
Live in peace with poverty,
Uphold the Way,
And take wisdom as their only task.
When suffering arises, one should reflect and say:
*"Throughout countless kalpas in the past,
I have abandoned the root and pursued the branches,
wandering through various realms of existence.
I have often created enmity and hatred,
committing countless acts of harm and opposition.
Though I may be innocent in this life,
this suffering is the ripening of past evil karma.
It is not something that gods or humans can perceive or alter.
Therefore, I accept it willingly and wholeheartedly,
without resentment or complaint."*
— From the "Practice of Accepting Resentment" (Bao Yuan Xing),
in the Two Entrances and Four Practices by Bodhidharma
Name and Form (Nāma-rūpa)
All things have name and form: that which can be heard by the ear is called “name,” and that which can be seen by the eye is called “form.” Yet both are false appearances, not in accord with the true nature of Dharma. Ordinary beings constantly discriminate these illusory names and forms, giving rise to various deluded confusions. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra (chapter four) says: “Ignorant common beings are carried along by the current of names and forms.”
Names and forms are all fabricated. This means that all phenomena constituted by labels, concepts, and appearances arise from dependent conditions, lack any inherent nature, and are ultimately unreal and illusory.
A 28-year-old man accidentally cut his finger and came to the children’s emergency department. After confirming his age, the receptionist told him that he needed to go to the adult clinic, which was a 20-minute drive away and would close in less than an hour. Just as the patient was about to turn and leave, a nearby nurse stopped him and said, “Wait a moment, let me call them first and see if they can still take you today.”
After making the call, the nurse learned that since it was an urgent wound, the adult clinic could make an exception and fit him in as their last patient of the day. Hanging up the phone, the nurse didn’t stop there. She immediately put on gloves, carefully cleaned the patient’s wound, and said, “Let me do a quick treatment first, so you’ll make it in time over there and also lose less blood.”
I stood nearby watching, and I truly felt that this nurse embodied the very spirit of “a healer with a benevolent heart.”
Right Mindfulness is the foundation of observing precepts.
Right Mindfulness means that whenever thoughts arise concerning the self or what belongs to the self, one is able to recognize the deviation from true mindfulness, and then return to the state of mindfulness.
Reflection of Dawn · Downton
Morning light drifts softly, touching the deep halls; old dust rises in the hush.
Once there were laughter and gentle steps circling the grand ballroom.
Now only faintly, past days return like smoke,
Joyous voices flowing away like water in a goblet’s swirl.
One more glance, and the room stands empty, holding only a quiet fragrance.
So it is—our joys were brief as passing breeze;
The faces in the mirror were always illusions,
And the heart, forever wandering.
How, then, could one keep tenderness bound within the chest for long?
Tides rise and fall; meetings and partings are but natural.
And now, at last, I offer this ordinary heart to time itself,
Letting the quiet longing simply remain.
Reflection of Dawn · Downton Abbey - The Grand Finale
Soft morning light…
drifting across the hall,
dust rising like memory.
Once… there was laughter.
Steps gliding gently
through the ballroom air.
And now—
the past returns like mist,
voices flowing away
like water in a shining cup.
One more glance…
and the room is still.
Only a faint scent remains.
We loved for a moment,
a moment was enough.
Faces in the mirror—
always meant to fade.
How could a heart
hold anything forever?
Tides rise.
Tides fall.
We meet,
we part.
It is simply the world breathing.
So now…
I set this quiet heart
in the hands of time,
and let longing
rest softly,
undisturbed.
Reflection of Dawn · Downton Abbey - The Grand Finale