Buddhist-Meditation-Systematic-and-Practical

whereby instead of heaven or liberation, harm to oneself
can be the only result. Very often people who have firm
faith in some false practice neglect the really
wholesome spiritual factors, such as renunciation,
morality, etc.
All five of these sharp drivers are corrupt knowledge
and are not rooted out until one has obtained the third
path, that of insight (darsana-marga). Neither the first
(of accumulation) nor the second (of preparation) are
sufficient to dislodge the sharp drivers.
D. Why the Four Mindfulnesses Stress Elimination
of the Five Sharp Drivers
1. These four meditations contain the three
Dharma-seals (tri-laksana: anitya, duhkha, anatman) and
these distinguish Buddhism from other religions. To
realize them requires very fine meditations, as they are
subtle compared with the gross hindrances overcome in
the last chapter. These three seals are extremely
important.
It is also said that there are two forms of meditation:
those within the three realms (karma, rupa, arupavacara),
and those beyond them. It is our real purpose to practice
the latter, for which a thorough grounding in the four
mindfulnesses will be required. These four remove the
sharp drivers and enable transcendental meditation to be
attained.
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