Contents
· Preface
· Practise and Attain Sudden Enlightenment
· The Teaching and the Vehicle Are Different
· Practise and Attain Enlightenment After Understanding the Principles
Preface
All the great teachings of the Tripitaka can be thought of as being expedient
tools to help people break their egotistical grasping, the habit of many lifetimes,
at material object as well as at the concept of a personal self. Because the
potentiality of all sentient beings for spiritual development is very different,
the buddha has bestowed on us a wide range of different teachings and methods
to fit every individual's need. Depending on the particular illness, a particular
medicine can be prescribed. If all sentient beings did not hold any grasping
view whatsoever, the Buddha would, in reality, have had no Dharma to speak .
However, because the past roots of sentient beings are so very different, thus,
also, the expedient teachings of the Tathagata are not uniform. On the other
hand, if they are to be used expediently to help everyone, the teachings of
all Buddhas are, in reality, just like a finger pointing at the moon. We must
never mistake the finger for the moon! These teachings also direct one who is
lost, enabling him to find the true and safe way to return home.
The Supreme Dharma is without words and is inconceivable. However, one who is
intelligent and ready can enlighten his own mind suddenly by realizing that
all corporeal entities are, in reality, no different from the universal "It
is just so" or "It is thus" condition of the Absolute. However,
the spiritual roots of most sentient beings are quite dull; and, lacking some
expedient method, they cannot become liberated from their habitual conditioning
and Karma. Therefore, Buddhism has developed the expedients of the Three Vehicles
and the Five Different Natures to urge people of all kinds and degrees of development
and practice to initiate, nurture and embrace the Bodhi Mind and to protect
the Dharma and preserve its stability and integrity. In this light, Buddhism
promises that if one becomes enlightened regarding his Real Nature or Original
Nature in this present lifetime, then he will attain the fruit of this realization
in his next lifetime.
Ch'an Master Ch'an Yuan, out of great compassion, wrote his work Practice and
Attain Sudden Enlightenment, using the dialogue format between a monk-student
and his master to develop concepts about the nature of the Absolute, Original
Mind, Enlightenment, practice, etc., assuming that future student of the Dharma
would surely benefit from this design. The world is so structured that each
sentence, if read with care and attention and clarity, can reveal one's True
Nature; and each word can enlighten one's mind, purifying one's evil or impure
thoughts and wiping out one's heterodox views. Ch'an Master Ch'an Yuan points
directly to the Wonderful Source of one's True Nature and reminds his reader-students
that, whether they use the sudden or the gradual method to become enlightened,
when the time is ripe they will attain Bodhi completely and thoroughly and,
thereby, become Buddhas suddenly.
This Dharma and the enlightenment achieved by understanding it are like the
boat or raft of salvation floating on the ocean of suffering or like the single
light piercing the pitch-black night of ignorance to show all sentient beings
the True Way.
My most fervent desire is that all of my virtuous friends in the Dharma, as
well as all other sentient beings, should clearly comprehend the deep purpose
of the Tathagata and understand the mind of the Patriarch, who urges everyone
to purify and enlighten his own mind. "Without a single thought arising"
is the condition and being of the Perfect and Completely Enlightened One.
Dharma Master Lok To
Young Men's Buddhist Association of America
Bronx, New York
June, 1996
Practice and Attain Sudden Enlightenment
A monk once asked his master: What is "Tzung"(Ch'an/Zen -- editor
of the web edition)?
The master said: All Buddhas return to Tzung. Tzung is the Mind. This Mind is
vast, comprehensive and empty, having neither karmic residue nor discrimination.
However, without practice there can be no attainment of this Mind. The sutra
says: "Buddha declared that the Mind is Tzung, that without any door whatsoever
is the Dharma door and that from ancient times to the present in the west and
in the east, in the teaching of all Buddhas, in the transmissions of all the
Patriarchs, only this Mind is the substance of Tzung. "The substance of
Mind is clean, originally perfect and bright, accords with conditions and yet
is untainted. Just return to the Origin, which is neither pure nor impure, is
neither less for worldly people nor more for worthy sages, does not change for
different beings, is understood by wisdom, is bright and manifest, and is only
One Mind. If the mind is covered over with defilements, this wonderful substance
will be hidden. If you abandon this correct way of understand in order to practice
other ways, then you will ultimately become a demon, having chosen the wrong
way.
The monk asked: What is the Teaching?
The master said: All Buddhas expounded the True Dharma, which is composed of
the expedients of the Three Vehicles and the five different natures. Also, all
the Bodhisattvas composed the Sastras just to demonstrate that all things are
the One Mind, so that practitioners of later times would be inspired by the
Teaching to cut off illusion and return to the truth in order to practice the
Doctrine and attain its aim.
The monk asked: What is the difference between Tzung (Ch'an) and the Teaching?
The master said: Tzung is the Teaching without words, while the Teaching is
Tzung with words.
The monk asked: If both Tzung and the Teaching are the same principle, then
why is it said that Tzung is "a special transmission outside of the Scriptures".
The master said: because students depend on words, they can develop gradual
understanding by way of the Teaching. However, without words the Sudden Enlightenment
of the One Mind can also be attained by Tzung. Therefore, to say that Tzung
is "a special transmission outside of the Scriptures" is also to say
that Tzung is the "Supreme Sect".
The monk asked: What is without "two doctrines"?
The master said: After hearing the Teaching and understanding the Doctrine,
you should practice to attain spontaneous accord with the non-active Great Tao.
However, to attain Sudden Enlightenment in the Ch'an Sect, you should develop
a complete, concentrated practice to recover your still, bright Original Mind.
The monk asked: The sutra says, "In reality, there are not two ways to
return to the Source of Nature." However, since there seem to be many expedient
ways, I do not know which way is the most direct way for deliverance. Can you
suggest which is the most direct way?
The master said: There are two causes inside and two causes outside characterizing
the most direct way for deliverance.
The monk asked: Would you please point out the two causes, both inside and outside,
characterizing this direct way?
The master said: They are the following: the cutting off of the outside causes
of carnality, killing and stealing; the developing of the inside causes of understanding
the Mind to see your True Nature.
The monk asked: Why should one cut off the outside causes of carnality, stealing
and killing?
The master said: Due to thoughts of sexual desire, all sentient beings are involved
in birth and death; because of killing all sentient beings must repay others
with their own lives in transmigration; because of stealing, all sentient beings
must come to rebirth to repay their principal and interest from previous lives.
If you wipe out these three causes, then you will end the cycle of birth and
death forever.
The monk asked: How can one see the nature of Mind by the inside causes?
The master said: If you see the Original Pure Mind, then you will see your own
Nature, which is original emptiness.
The monk asked: How can you say that the Mind is originally pure?
The master said: This Mind is neither the body nor the heart. It is not the
discriminating mind. It is not sophistical, but absolute; it is without birth
and death; it neither exists nor non-exists. It is bright and empty. It is complete
and reflects all things, is ever changing in condition yet immutable in essence,
is immutable in essence yet ever changing in condition. It is eternal and immutable
True Mind. All Buddhas in the past attained this Mind, and all Bodhisattvas
in the present learn this Mind. All students in the future will come to understand
this Mind, and all sentient beings will be confused about the nature of this
Mind. All practitioners will be enlightened by this Mind. Bodhidharma came from
the West to point out this Mind directly, and all virtues, from ancient times
to the present, radiate this Mind. It is wonderful Mind, which cannot be described
completely here and now. I describe it only briefly to encourage people of the
future to believe in the Dharma and to attain Enlightenment.
The monk asked: What is seen to be the nature of Original Emptiness?
The master said: The nature of the One Reality is original emptiness and stillness,
without shape and form, as clear as space, immovable and unshakable, deep and
permanent. It is called the Original Face and Truth. All mountains, rivers,
the great earth, all phenomena in the universe, and all things pure and impure
come from this.
The monk asked: Are Original Nature and True Mind one or two?
The master said: They are neither one nor two.
The monk asked: What is neither one nor two?
The master said: Original Nature is the substance, and True Mind is the function.
Original Nature is like a clear, bright mirror; and True Mind is like pure,
radiant light. The ancient master said, "Original Nature is bright and
wonderful. "Original Nature is the substance, which is deep and permanent.
True Mind is the wonderful function, which is bright, perfect and illuminating,
just as light illuminates a mirror. Since light and the mirror are two, you,
therefore, cannot really say they are one; also, since light and the mirror
are one, you, therefore, cannot really say they are two.
The monk asked: Since this is the case - that all Buddhas and all sentient beings
are one substance of Mind Nature - then why are the Buddha and all other holy
and sentient beings also worldly?
The master said: All Buddhas and sentient beings have the nature of Original
Emptiness. Because the mind has both purity and impurity, there exist, therefore,
the holy and the worldly.
The monk asked: Why does the mind have purity and impurity?
The master said: Original Nature is like a mirror that is completely still and
bright. True Mind, like pure, clear light reflected in a mirror, illuminates
all things without obscurity. All sages respond to things without a discriminating
mind; they come and go, never taking hold of anything, like pure, colorless
light. All sentient beings, on the other hand, respond to things with a discriminating
mind, grasping, liking, disliking and making all sorts of distinctions, like
impure, multi-colored light. However, even on this level, although the function,
as in the case of light, can be experienced dualistically as pure of impure,
yet the substance, as in the case of the mirror, remains one.
The monk asked: Does the substance of Mind Nature have limits?
The master said: Yes!
The monk asked: How wide are they?
The master said: They embrace and contain all the ten directions of inexhaustible
space.
The monk asked: Since Mind Nature is without any boundaries whatsoever, why
does it appear to be located inside the body?
The master said: Since beginningless time, all sentient beings have been imprisoned
by the womb and shackled by the body, which they have always grasped very tightly;
therefore, they have the almost unbreakable delusion that Mind Nature is inside
the body. This is tantamount to regarding a thief as one's own son. It is like
falling into a vast, eternal hell. When can you ever get out?! Not only are
both heavenly beings and human beings confused about this, so also are the followers
of the Two Vehicles.
The monk asked: If Mind Nature is not in the body, from where am I thinking
at this very moment?
The master said: Your question is really about deluded consciousness and the
body, because it implies that thinking and anxiety are your Mind. This is because
of the deceptive influence of the six types of sensory objects, which deludes
you about your True Nature and which makes you foolishly grasp the idea that
your Mind is inside your body. Thinking in this way, how can you ever escape
from the prison of the womb? In the Surangama Sutra, Buddha, replying to Ananda,
says, "Ananda, this is a result of your false thinking, which arises from
external objects and deludes you about your True Nature and which has deceived
you since beginningless time and continues to deceive you, thereby making you
lose awareness of that which is basically permanent; therefore, you continue
in the round of birth and death. "To understand this you should know clearly
that the mind of thinking and anxiety is like a shadow in a mirror or illusory
flowers in the sky - really only voidness, just original nothingness.
The monk asked: If thinking and anxiety and the deceptive influence of the six
types of sensory objects are in or connected with the body, what and where,
then, is my bright and wonderful Mind Nature?
The master said: All sentient beings completely misunderstand the boundlessness
of Mind Nature, which is neither inside nor outside the body. However, they
grasp at the shadows of the six types of sensory objects and think that space
includes the body and that the body includes the fleshly mind. Then they grasp
at greed and love and, thus, bind themselves ever more and more to the cycle
of the Wheel of Birth-and-Death. Who really, without any doubt whatsoever, knows
that space, the great earth and all the other "things" in the universe
are actually just false shadows and insubstantial illusions manifesting themselves
in the bright and wonderful Mind Nature? The Surangama Sutra says, "Dimness
creates emptiness; and both, in the darkness, unite with it to become form.
The mingling of form with false thinking causes the latter to take the shape
of a body, which is then stirred by accumulated causes within and is drawn to
external objects. Such inner disturbance is mistaken for the true nature of
Mind, and thus arises the false view of a mind dwelling within the physical
body and the concurrent failure to realize that this body - are all nothing
but phenomena within the wondrous, bright True Mind. "Because I am afraid
that you still do not understand, let me give you a further analogy. Original
nature is like a universal mirror. True Mind is like pure, bright universal
light. Mountains, rivers, the great earth and all the other phenomena of the
universe - even the physical body and consciousness - are just like shadows
or reflections in the mirror. Because all sentient beings recognize only these
shadows or reflections, they remain submerged in and bound to the four kinds
of birth and the nine states of being. However, if they can just recognize the
universal mirror itself and the bright, universal light, then they will, quite
naturally and suddenly, recover the Original True Mind Nature.
The monk asked: Because vast Mind Nature, which includes all things, is not
in the body, is it correct to think that it is outside the body?
The master said: No! That is not right!
The monk asked: Since I do not understand why it is neither inside nor outside,
would you please explain it to me clearly?
The master said: Original Nature is as omnipresent as space. Being neither inside
the body nor outside the body, True Mind does not dwell anywhere. It neither
is the body nor is not the body. Therefore, even though Ananda looked for Mind
in seven places, still he could not locate it because it is without a basis.
The second Patriarch understood this truth and so, according with the Tao, uttered
only one word. However, maybe it is still not clear, so let me give you another
example. Original Nature is like the clear water of the ocean, while True Mind
is like the light of that clear water. The body is like bubbles rising as wind
moves over the water. Also, the ocean water is like the Dharmakaya, while the
wetness of the water is like Original Nature. However, both the wetness of the
bubbles and the wetness of the water are of the same nature. Therefore, there
is no inside and no outside. Both the water and the bubbles have the nature
of wetness, but worldly people mistakenly just grasp at the bubbles, abandoning
the boundless ocean. The Surangama Sutra says, "Like an ignorant man who
overlooks the great ocean but grasps at a floating bubble, regarding that bubble
as the whole body of water in its immense expanse, you are doubly deluded among
the deluded. "If one comes to understand that both the water of the bubble
and the water of the ocean have only the one original nature of wetness, then
how can he continue to cling to the erroneous notion of inside and outside?
What a pity if you do not comprehend Original Nature!
The monk responded: The wetness of water is like the nature of the Dharmadhatu,
and the wetness of the bubble is like consciousness in the body. Those two natures
of wetness are not different; therefore, there is neither inside nor outside.
Although there is neither inside nor outside, nevertheless, at the end of one's
life, one leaves this place and is born in another place. So then it seems that
there, indeed, is an inside and an outside. Taking this into account, how can
you then say absolutely that there is no inside and no outside?
The master said: You still do not understand what I have taught you, and you
continue to ask me where the sky-flowers (specks in the eye fluid seen as spatial
presences) come from and where they go. You are very foolish, indeed! Because
you do not regard your Original Nature right from the very beginning, false
thoughts arise; and you then become bound within the prison of the womb. You
consider your Original Nature to be located within your body; and then you go
grasping at life after life, thinking that Mind Nature has an inside and an
outside and that it comes and goes like those illusory flowers in the sky. However
even though sky-flowers come and go in space, space itself never moves. Although
consciousness seems to have an inside and an outside, Original Nature has neither
and it never moves. Just as flowers in the sky are an illusion, so, also, consciousness
in the body is false. You must use space, sky-flowers and other illusions to
understand that the notion of consciousness as being or residing within the
body is false. You should think about this yourself.
Do you, perhaps, still not understand? Let me quote from the Surangama Sutra
once again: "Think of the void in an empty pitcher which has two mouths.
If one stoppers both mouths and carries the pitcher to another country, the
void does not go from one place to
another. If it were actually possible to carry the void from one place to another,
then the first place would lose some of its voidness. Also, on arrival elsewhere,
when the mouths of the pitcher were unstoppered and it was turned upside down,
one would see the void pouring out of it and a consequent increase of voidness
in the second place. "Logically, of course, this could not happen. Therefore,
you should understand that consciousness is unreal and is neither conditional
nor self-existent.
Let me explain this further. Stoppering the two mouths of the pitcher, called
a bird-vase, can be compared to two kinds of karma - good and evil. The pitcher
itself is like karma strength, which can guide the consciousness to go somewhere.
The void inside the pitcher is like the consciousness that follows karma. There
seems to be both an inside and an outside void about the pitcher, however, in
reality, these "two voids" are not different substances. Both the
inside and the outside voids originally are one; therefore, there is really
neither inside nor outside. This void inside the pitcher can be compared to
Original Consciousness, which is just emptiness. The karma of good and evil,
guiding this Consciousness to somewhere - just as one carries a pitcher a thousand
miles from the starting point - is rather like abandoning something here and
receiving it there. The Surangama Sutra says, "Ananda, the void does not
come from another place and does not arrive at this place. "So we can compare
abandoning the body to the pitcher's going from one place to another; i.e.,
the consciousness of the previous body does not decrease but receives the new
body in this place. However, consciousness, like the void in the pitcher, never
departs when the body dies; rather, consciousness is already here simultaneously
with the birth of the new body.
Thus, it can be concluded that consciousness does not come packaged, as it were,
in the new body. In reality, before the new body is born, consciousness already
has been in continuous existence. One who is confused about this and who does
not understand thinks, erroneously, that consciousness is within the body and,
also, that it comes and goes. If one clearly understands that the substance
(consciousness) never has this and that or inside and outside, then how could
he possibly conclude that it comes and goes?
The master said: All things are produced by causal conditions and end by causal
conditions. Even though they may manifest the actions of coming and going, the
perfect, bright Original Nature, in reality, never changes. Because worldly
people, who have sick, inverted vision, only recognize illusory sky-flowers
as real, they, as a consequence have the continuing illusion of creation and
destruction; and they are endlessly influenced and deluded by the environment.
The sutra says, "Since beginningless time, all sentient beings have had
so many reverses and held so many inverted views (just like a confused person
losing his bearings and becoming lost in the four directions) that they consider
the four elements to be the body and the deceptive influence of the six types
of sensory objects to be their own Mind. "It is just like the case of one
who has an eye problem. He sees flowers in the sky until they disappear in space,
but he cannot really say how these sky-flowers are created nor just how they
are annihilated. This is because there never really was a place for such creation.
All sentient beings originally exist from no birth and no death; but they are
deluded, as we have observed, and so they experience both birth and death. Therefore,
they assert that there actually are birth and death in transmigration. However,
one who has experienced Sudden Enlightenment knows that birth and death are,
in reality, the results of deluded, false consciousness and that the substance
of Mind and Perfect Enlightenment is always permanent and indestructible. There
was one patriarch who said, "Even when every last skeleton is pulverized
and dispersed, only the One Mind still remains bright." For one who realizes
this Mind, how can there be any birth and death?
The monk asked: I understand all that you have said. It is quite clear, but
can you explain why I seem to have my body and my mind at the beginning of my
life?
The master said: The source of Truth is pure, and the Ocean of Enlightenment
is clear and still, originally never having any trace whatsoever of either the
active or the passive. So how can it then have even the tiniest trace of name
and form? Because there is ignorance, a thought suddenly arises in the beginning
to start the thought process. Because of this, the dust of confusion arises.
Following this, perception arises; and consequently name and form become firmly
established and rooted. As a mirror manifests forms, suddenly the sense organs
and the body arise in that very second in which the world is completely created
by thought. Finally there arises the duality of liking and disliking, which
continues the fruit of karma. Due to all of this, Truth becomes confused and
sinks into the Three Realms to engage in transmigration forever.
The monk responded: It is surely just as you say. The sense organs and the body
appear suddenly due to ignorance at the beginning of the rising of a single
thought; and, also, when the delusory body terminates, the four elements dissipate.
So just how do we come to rebirth due to this false consciousness?
The master said: All worldly people in daily life exist with many feelings,
including love and aversion, thus always and ever creating new karma, either
good or evil. Then, according to these causes, they realize effects when, at
the end of their present lifetime, they return to darkness to discover what
their causal conditions for rebirth are. At this time, glimpsing a single point
of light, they instantly are pulled and go directly to that very point, which
just happens to be the place where their future parents are engaged in sexual
intercourse. If, at that very moment, their own thoughts of love and hate arise,
they are pulled into the blood-sperm mixture of the womb, just as lodestone
magnetizes and pulls iron, disturbing it instantly.
There are five sages of development in the womb. The first seven days can be
described as mixed or impure. The father's sperm and the mother's blood are
mixed and shaped like creamy paste. Thus, name and form are mixed; hence, this
stage is called impure. During the second seven days, an ulcerous bubble, as
big as a garden pea, appears; but the inside still looks like creamy liquid
or paste because the blood has not yet been begotten. During the third seven
days, further congealing takes place, condensing with a little bit of blood.
During the fourth seven days, the condensed mixture gradually thickens and hardens,
and the five viscera take shape little by little. During the fifth seven days,
the small shaping mass takes in some air; also, the embryo's four limbs begin
to take shape along with the five organs by the end of this period. During the
sixth seven days, hair, nails and teeth develop. During the seventh seven days,
the organs develop fully; that is, all the viscera and organs become perfect.
After ten months, when it is born to become a human being, the essence of consciousness
has already become divided into six functions to create karma with its surroundings.
Thus, through seeing, hearing, feeling and knowing, one cycles continuously,
birth after birth and death after death, forever, in transmigration.
The monk asked: If one has the form of spirit-consciousness, then does one,
consequently, come to rebirth in a physical body?
The master said: Yes!
The monk asked: What shape does it take?
The master said: The spirit-consciousness - or "middle existence"
- of a human being takes the shape of a human being, having an apparent body,
and it appears between death existence and rebirth existence. It has the form
of a child for two or three years and is about two feet high. The "middle
existence" of an animal takes the shape of an animal. It is exactly the
same with all other orders of being. Even though these shapes of consciousness
infinitesimally small, they can, nevertheless, still create all sorts of karma.
To become involved again in the cycle of reincarnation, at the side of parents,
allowing the dualistic thought of hate and love to arise, is generally known
as "having a soul".
The monk asked: What is the nature of that non-womb-entering spirit, which is
called "dwo-shih"?
The master said: There may be someone who practices the Tao in his lifetime
in the world or someone who has great blessings but does not want his spirit,
after his death, to enter just any womb indiscriminately, preferring to wait
for some auspicious condition. Just as this preferred mother, who has good or
auspicious conditions in her life, is giving birth to her baby, the "dwo-shih",
who has great blessings, suddenly approaches, scolding in a very loud voice,
and forces the original, less blessed spirit already housed within to leave
the child. Then this highly blessed spirit usurps the position of the original
spirit. This, then, is the nature of the "dow-shih". However, all
these things are inconceivable to the rational mind and cannot be intentionally
arranged or planned.
The monk asked: All sentient beings in the world, perhaps, after their deaths
really seek rebirth for themselves just as they choose, like the "dwo-shih",
but would any being choose rebirth and suffering in hell? Is hell, perhaps,
not real?
The master said: One the contrary! Hell is very real, indeed! This hell-condition
is strictly dependent on the mind. All sentient beings create karma by means
of ten different habits. Because of that karma, they receive retribution; and
if that karma is evil enough, then hell will manifest itself from the mind,
not from any other region. The Avatamsaka Sutra says, "To perceive the
nature of the Dharmadhatu, just understand that all things are created by the
mind. "Therefore, we can understand that to take the position of suffering
in hell is a condition created by the mind itself.
In the Surangama Sutra, Buddha, speaking to Ananda, says, "Ananda, all
hells are created by ten causes and six effects, which confuse all sentient
beings. "People should not doubt that hell is real, or they might tend
to become neglectful, not cease creating evil karma and persist forever in their
bad habits. However, when hell does manifest from the mind, it is impossible
to escape. As people live in the world, doing good or evil in a great or a small
way, all happens according to the law of cause and effect. This means that great
good causes will result in the effect of rebirth in heaven, while deeply evil
causes will result in the effect of rebirth in hell. One who has an equal number
of both good and evil causes will have rebirth as a human being. Some beings,
having both sins and blessings of an inferior sort and not yet coming to rebirth,
may suddenly take a shape that is called "chung yin shen" (intermediate
existence). Originally it is nothing, but it transforms into a shape - thus,
rebirth from transformation - about three feet high and having six organs, that
quickly comes and goes with no obstructions. It may appear to others' vision
to be only a shadow. It dies after seven days, only to come alive again; but
the length of its life is rarely ever more than seven weeks. Thus, it only has
a short life span - one, two or three weeks - to search out its conditions for
rebirth. Usually people call this being "a soul".
The monk responded: The substance of Original Nature is vast and includes infinite
space. True Mind really dwells nowhere, neither inside nor outside. However,
consciousness itself seems to dwell in the body as a prisoner. So is True Mind
inside of consciousness or outside consciousness?
The master said: As gold is bonded to minerals and water to waves, even so the
Alaya consciousness, in bondage to the Bhutatathata. Therefore, the advanced
student should understand what is true and what is false, and he must depend
on True Mind to attain Bodhi; furthermore, he must understand that to follow
the false mind will cause him to drift in the ocean of birth and death endlessly.
The monk asked: Not knowing just how the mind of consciousness is situated in
the body, just how can we distinguish what is True Mind from what is false mind?
The master said: True Mind is the mind of stillness and illumination. The false
mind of knowledge is the mind that keeps us from causal attainment.
The monk asked: Just what is the false mind of knowledge that keeps us from
causal attainment?
The master said: Originally the false mind was empty, but because it had the
subject-object duality and discriminated outside itself - liking and disliking,
grasping and rejecting - it attained only confusion, thought after thought,
without ceasing. So it was born into heaven, hell and all the other states of
being. Originally there was no birth to be considered as birth, and there was
no death to bethought about as death. Mind was just free, like a monkey playing
in a tree or like a horse running in a field; it just loafed about, without
desire, in the Three Realms forever.
The monk asked: If the false mind has knowledge, then how can illusion arise?
The master said: Illusory thought is like the moon in water, and false-mind
knowledge is like flowers in the sky - both arise due to the perception of the
duality of subject and
object. Due to discrimination - the function of knowing mind using the organs
- illusory thought comes from outside the body. If there is mind without an
object, then there can be no substance. Objects are illuminated by mind; but
if objects are destroyed, there is no more illumination. All things arise by
means of thought, but without thought all things are empty. If one takes these
false things for the substance of truth, one then creates false causes, which,
in consequence, take the effect of annihilation. In this case, how can one ever
realize True Mind?!
The monk asked: What is True Mind, and what is the Knowledge that is true and
bright?
The master said: True Mind is clear and luminous with no object whatsoever,
is still and shining, encloses the Great Void, never has any purpose, and is
always bright and understanding. It is open without a trace and folds with no
vestige of action. It is as clear as a lake reflecting the wild fields. It is
as clear as a dustless mirror in the sky that reflects within itself the infinite
universe in all its variety, which is neither within nor without and which neither
exists nor non-exists. All Holy Ones return there, and all Buddhas of the Three
periods are permanently abiding there. It is called Original True Buddha Nature
and is also called Pure Dharmakaya. If one rejects this Dharma to follow or
practice others, he can only become a demon in the end.
The monk asked: How can you prove that True Mind has been realized?
The master said: True Mind is still and bright as well as clear and boundless.
The universal cannot cover it. Nothing can hide or conceal it. No deva or human
being can see it. Demons cannot find it. The sharpest knife cannot cut it. The
fire-kalpas cannot burn it. The iron-ringed mountain cannot sink it. Transmigration
cannot confound it. It is perfect and completely bright forever. If you can
understand the nature of True Mind, then you, also, can attain to the Complete
Enlightenment of Buddha at any time.
The monk asked: How can one transform intellectual knowledge so that it becomes
natural understand? Also, how can one turn the false mind around so that it
becomes True Mind?
The master said: The false mind is tied to the sense organs, while True Mind
is not tied to the sense organs.
The monk asked: Can you characterize the false mind tied to the sense organs
and True Mind not tied to the sense organs?
The master said: Originally there were no world, body and mind. All was stillness
and emptiness in a state of radiant perfection. However, due to the sudden arising
of just a single thought, the organs of thought became connected with objects.
Because objects lead to such thoughts as liking or disliking, the condition
of the discriminating mind is like a moth flying to a lamp, grasping and rejecting
the flame; it can also be compared to a silk womb tightly bound within its own
threads. However, if there is no discrimination regarding objects by the sense
organs, then you own spiritual light will always be clearly shining. If the
six senses could interchange their functions with each other, then all things
and the self would not be different.
The Surangama Sutra says, "You have only not to follow the states of stillness
and disturbance, of contact and separation, of changing and unchanging conditions,
of clearance
and obstruction, of creation and destruction, and of light and darkness. From
these twelve worldly conditions, just root out any one of your six sense organs
to disengage it from both inner and outer adhesion. As soon as it is subdued
and brought back to the Real, the latter's light will appear. When its bright
nature becomes manifest, the other five adhesions will, simultaneously, be rooted
out; and you will be completely free from wrong views created by sense data.
This light does not follow the sense organs but manifests itself through them,
and so all six organs function through each other." Further one, in the
same Sutra, we read: "Ananda, if all your sense organs are rooted out,
your inner light will appear. All transient sense data, as well as the changing
conditions of the material world, will vanish like ice melted by boiling water,
and you will realize Supreme Bodhi instantly."
Probably you still do not understand, so let me explain it to you again. Both
True Mind and the false mind have the function of knowing, but the false mind
depends on the sense organs and data to have its knowledge, whereas True Mind
functions without the organs and data to have understanding or awareness. One
who wishes to learn the Tao, should understand, right at the very beginning,
what True Mind is and what false mind is so that practicing and attaining the
Tao will be easy.
The Teaching and the Vehicle Are Different
The monk asked: I clearly understand your explanation of the Sudden-Enlightenment
Dharma, but would you please demonstrate more clearly what you mean by the statement
that the Teaching and the Vehicle are different.
The master said: I wish never to disappoint anyone; so if you have further specific
questions, I shall answer them.
The monk asked: What is the meaning of the statement "All Dharmas return
to the One Mind"?
The master said: Let me use the example of a lump of gold that is used to make
many different gold containers. If, later, one puts all these gold containers
into the fire, they all remelt again into the original single lump of gold.
Likewise, all Dharmas return to the One Mind.
The monk asked: What is the nature of the surpassing strength of one who is
suddenly enlightened by the Dharma?
The master said: With right understanding and perfect practice, one can transcend
Kalpas. Even in birth and death he can enter Nirvana, or he can stay in the
world constantly as well as dwell in the Pure Land forever. He can change the
flesh-eye into the Wisdom-Eye and turn the worldly mind into Buddha-Mind. Thus,
to believe in the Sudden-Enlightenment Dharma brings great merit.
The monk asked: It is said that to understand the Mind and to realize the Self-Nature
is just "like a drinker of water who knows for himself whether it is cold
or warm"; but what is the evidence for this?
The master said: If a student is sincere about practicing and realizing, then
his body-mind duality will become Absolute Oneness. His light of wisdom will
be bright, understanding Original Enlightenment throughout numberless Kalpas
-- a state which cannot be described in words. So he is said to be "just
like a drinker of water who knows for himself whether it is cold or warm".
If one wishes to take the expedient method to manifest Original Mind, then he
should take both the Teaching and the Vehicle and compare them in order to experience
a genuinely all-sided understanding.
The monk asked: Why does the Ch'an Sect teach that students should not be allowed
to study the Teachings, asserting that many of them get only incomplete comprehension
and gain only a knowledge of words?
The masters said: If you want to study the Teachings and do research in the
Tripitaka, then just understand how each word makes its impression upon your
mind. However, because some students grasp the letters and the words for an
explanation, they cannot really understand the substance. Therefore, some Ch'an
adherents laugh at those who study the Teachings to become holy through words
alone.
The monk asked: What is the confused mind in contrast to the Enlightened Mind?
The master said: If in Original True Mind there arises an unenlightened thought,
this is called confused mind. In contrast, if in the unenlightened mind the
process arises for the actualization of Enlightenment in order to recover True
Mind, this is called Enlightened Mind. Therefore, just understand that if thought
either arises from or falls upon the causal ground, then the confused mind and
Enlightened Mind are different; but in Original Mind they are one.
The monk asked: Why should one, after understanding the principles, then put
an end to both false and truthful views?
The master said: Because there is the false, we must then say that the true,
also, exists; but the true is really without form and is void. Similarly, if
we declare the true to be existent, then we must recognize the false, also,
as existent; but the substance of the false originally is empty. Since the false
is originally empty, the true, also, cannot be set up as other than void. Therefore,
we should put an end to both the true and the false. Original Mind is permanent
and naturally void.
The monk asked: If, by the sudden method of Ch'an, one can become enlightened
directly, then how can words be used to explain or show it?
The master said: One who investigates the profound meaning should have two different
kinds of eyes. First, there are one's own eyes, which are used to understand
Ch'an. Second, there is the Wisdom Eye, which is used to recognize illusion.
The Ch'an Sect has explained it thusly: "If one only understands one's
own self, he does not know what is in front of his face." Thus, if a person
only has one eye -- i.e., has only an awareness of the principles but not of
the illusory appearances -- he cannot ever really realize complete perfection.
Also, if he dares to consider that pursuing wisdom is not right, then what is
to be understood by that great wisdom of Manjusri, who is the son of the Dharma
King? On the other hand, if one thinks that to be without learning is right,
then why is the non-learning Bhiksu really a hell-person? It is just because
his consciousness is locked. However, without the key of wisdom how can it be
opened? Because one is caught in the net of emotion, how can it be cut away
without using the sharp sword of wisdom? If anyone is practicing for Complete
Enlightenment, then he should not hold the view of the unlearned but should,
on the contrary, utilize both kinds of eyes.
The monk asked: If one has perfect practice and has attained True Mind, can
he still fall back into cause-and-effect conditions?
The master said: From the lowest sentient beings right up to the level of the
Buddhas -- all are affected by the law of cause and effect. How can we deny
the law of Karma? because the heterodox believers do not understand that all
things are created by causal conditions, they grasp at nature as the only explanation,
seeking to deny causes and effects. The Two-Vehicle followers, having narrow
views, attain only a partial insight into emptiness because they extinguish
their bodies in the fire of the house of the passions, grasping at the law of
Karma as the only explanation. All of the above, however, become merely foolish
explanation if one remains ignorant of one's own permanent, complete Original
Mind. If one is to be a real practitioner, he should understand that only reality
is the cause and, also, that only reality is the effect. Also, he should not
have any view that denies the law of Karma, or he will certainly fall into heterodoxy.
Thus, one should learn to create perfect causes and attain wonderful effects.
The monk asked: There once was someone who developed the method described as
"practicing without mind". If there really is such a thing as "practicing
without mind", that would be like becoming a piece of wood or a stone.
Under such conditions, how can holy beings and sages be said to have achieved
great wisdom?
The master said: If there be one who is really "without mind", he
is not at all like a piece of wood or a stone. He just has no discriminating
mind, no hating nor loving mind, no liking nor disliking mind, no good nor evil
mind, no void nor existent mind, no extreme nor middle mind, no inside nor outside
mind -- no grasping mind whatsoever. This does not mean that he is without True
Mind. It is simply still yet radiantly illuminated. It is radiantly illuminated
yet simply still.
The monk asked: The ancient master said, "One should not say that No-Mind
is the Tao, because No-Mind still has one more gate." What is it?
The master said: True Mind is voidness, neither having existence nor non-existence.
If one abandons existence and dwells in non-existence, that is wrong. The ancient
master also handed down the following gatha. "I advise you to learn the
Tao, but don't seek it with greed. All things are without mind, which is, perhaps,
to be near the Tao." With No-Mind one comprehends the Tao of Mind; and
after one comprehends No-Mind, the Tao, also, rests.
The monk asked: What does it mean to declare that in No-Knowing there is real
awareness and that there is only understanding through mere knowing?
The master said: No-Knowing is the function of Pure Mind, and knowing is the
function of the intellectual mind. The substance produces the function, that
is, No-Knowing is real and fundamental awareness. The function cannot, in reality,
be separated from the substance. If the function is apparently separated from
the substance, this is knowing that is dependent on form and is the condition
of knowing through the intellectual mind. However, if there is only substance
without function, that is merely stupid emptiness.
The monk asked: Why is it said that the thoughts that arise from the knowing
mind are false?
The master said: The six sense organs with their objects have both discriminating
thought and knowledge, therefore, such knowing is said to be false.
The monk asked: What, then, is the nature of that No-Mind understanding, which
is said to be true?
The master said: When True Mind responds to all things, it is just like a mirror
that reflects all images brightly and clearly without any cloudiness or impurities
-- that is to say, No-Mind understanding is true.
The monk asked: What is the right view?
The master said: If one does not rely on any sense organ or its data for understanding,
he, then, has the right view. However, if one relies on the various sense organs
and their data to understand, he, then, has the wrong view.
The monk asked: What are the Precious Three?
The master said: Voidness and stillness of the mind is the Precious Buddha.
Stillness with illumination and permanence is the Precious Dharma. Illumination
without any defilement is the Precious Sangha.
The monk asked: What does it mean to really offer to the Buddha?
The master said: Abandoning oneself to follow objects and desires is to go against
the Buddha, but returning to one's Original Mind is really offering to the Buddha.
The monk asked: What does it mean to really listen to the Dharma?
The master said: With the six sense organs in front of all objects, the six
consciousnesses do not arise. This is really listening to the Dharma.
The monk asked: What does it mean to really leave home?
The master said: Not to dwell in the house of the five Squanders is really leaving
home.
The monk asked: How can one not dwell in the house of the five Skandhas?
The master said: In seeing, do not rely on the particular sense organ, but always
understand that form is empty. Understand clearly that with No-Mind all feelings
toward objects are empty. Then, in thought after thought, without defilement,
the impulses and passions are, also, seen to be empty. True Mind is permanent,
and its consciousness is empty.
The monk asked: What does it mean to say that "The void is form and the
form is void"?
The master said: If one see void and dwell on the void, then the void is form.
If you see form and do not dwell on form, then the form is void.
The monk asked: What does it mean to say "The mind is Buddha"?
The master said: Mind and Buddha are one, so don't go seeking anything else
outside.
The monk asked: What does it means to say that "There really is neither
mind nor Buddha"?
The master said: Just eliminate your grasping and take away your explanations.
Only this is really "originally no mind or Buddha".
The monk asked: What is the meaning of the statement "The three minds are
unobtainable"?
The master said: Originally the three minds of past, present and future are
void and still. It is, therefore, unreasonable to give rise to and grasp at
false flowers in the sky, creating obstacles and illusions that cover the total,
bright Truth.
The monk asked: What is real Emptiness?
The master said: The substance of True Mind is stillness. The function of abstract
thought is illumination. Therefore, being illuminant while yet maintaining stillness
is called real Emptiness.
The monk asked: What is Wonderful Existence?
The masters said: When you so illuminate both existence and non-existence such
that neither has subject nor object -- this is Wonderful Existence.
The monk asked: What is the meaning of "Only get the beginning, no need
to worry about the end"?
The master said: If one is enlightened, understanding that True Mind is original
stillness, then all Dharmas vanish quite naturally.
The monk asked: What is the meaning of "Defilement is Bodhi, and ignorance
is Buddha Nature"?
The master said: When the first thought arises, that is defilement; but if the
second thought does not stay, that is Bodhi. When the first thought moves, that
is ignorance; but if the second thought does not continue, that is Buddha Nature.
The monk asked: How can one keep from backsliding?
The Master said: Just realize suddenly enlightened Original Mind, hold it with
discipline, and practice for complete attainment; and then you will complete
the process in one lifetime. If one can just do this, he will never backslide.
One the other hand, if one relies on written explanation to realize some meaning
but has many bad habits and a floating mind that has no discipline or meditative
insight whenever he meets some object or thought or circumstance that creates
discrimination, then he will backslid automatically.
The monk asked: What are the six Paramitas?
The master said: To be enlightened about Absolute Mind suddenly -- this is to
be filled with the six Paramitas.
The monk asked: What does it mean to say the Absolute Mind is filled with the
six Paramitas?
The master said: If one is enlightened about Absolute Mind, then that is the
six Paramitas taking root. In contrast, if one is confused about Absolute Mind,
he is blind to the six Paramitas. Just why must Absolute Mind be the original
root? If one does not understand True Mind but holds the Disciplines, he will
take his effect as rebirth into the heaven of the desire realms; however, after
finishing his effect, he might still backslide and fall into hell. If one does
not understand True Mind but practices forbearance, he will take the effect
of good retribution; but he cannot attain stillness and Nirvana. If one does
not understand True Mind but practices Dhyana, he can only arrive at the stage
of the heavenly realms of form; but he cannot realize the Dharmadhatu. If one
does not understand True Mind but practices Wisdom, he can only skillfully explain
ideas and manipulate concepts with words, but all the meanings become Mundane.
Therefore, if one is enlightened about True Mind, he is completely filled with
all the virtues (Paramitas). However, if one is confused about True Mind, all
his labors are, sadly, in vain.
The monk asked: What are the Discipline, Meditation and Wisdom, which are the
threefold Mahayana study of the Supramundane?
The master said: Neither to find existence outside nor to hold to emptiness
as inside is the Discipline. To realize that without a single thought all conditions
are void and still is the Meditation. To distinguish among objects but never
to have love or hate for anything is the Wisdom. This, then, is the threefold
Mahayana study of the Supramundane.
The monk asked: What is the threefold study of the Hinayana path?
The master said: To control both one's body and speech and to cut off the disease
of the four seeds of defilement is the discipline. To view the body like a piece
of dried wood, without showing respect-inspiring deportment, is the meditation.
Finally, only to attain prejudiced voidness, losing the law of the Middle Way,
is the wisdom. Therefore, this is called poor Dharma, which burns and discards
meditation and wisdom. That is why Vimalakirti criticized those practicing the
Dharma of the Hinayana path.
The monk asked: What is the best way to begin to learn meditation?
The master said: In beginning to learn how to realize Samadhi, it is best to
maintain concentration on one Dharma only. After practicing over a long period
of time, one can realize the complete fruit of meditation. Then True Wisdom
will appear automatically.
The monk asked: How many kinds of ch'an are there?
The master said: There are five kinds.
The monk asked: What are the five kinds?
The master said: First, there is the view of one who likes to practice superior
Dharma but dislikes to learn inferior Dharma. This the Ch'an of heterodox believers.
Secondly, there is the view of one who believes in causes and effects but also
practices depending on his own idea of what he likes or dislikes. This is the
Ch'an of worldly people. Thirdly, there is the view of one who understands the
doctrine of voidness and who practices and attains only the prejudiced truth.
This is the Ch'an of the Hinayana path. Fourthly, there is the view of one who
is without concepts of either person or Dharma and who always practices the
Middle Way. This the Ch'an of the Mahayana path. Fifthly, there is the realization
of the one who is without any differentiating or discriminating view whatsoever
and who attains the awareness of the complete equality of all Dharmas. This
is called the Ch'an of the Tathagata.
The monk asked: What is the Tathagata?
The master said: Stillness and illumination are always one -- this is Tatha.
One never abandons either his vow or compassion -- this is Gata. Worldly people,
however, have Gata without Tatha, while Hinayanists have Tatha without Gata.
Only Buddhas have both Tatha and Gata. Therefore, all Buddhas are called Tathagata.
The monk asked: In the study of the three meditations -- the void, the unreal
and the Middle Way -- why is it said that the latter is inclusive of the first
two?
The master said: In reflecting on one's own Mind, one understands that, originally,
it comes from nowhere and that, because it comes from nowhere, it is called
void. so since it comes from nowhere and produces all things, all things are,
thus, unreal and are called unreal. However, do not dwell on either or both
extremes of the void or the unreal. It is really only True Mind that one should
dwell on, and this is called the Middle-Way meditation.
The monk asked: How can we analyze or make a distinction between the substance
and the function of True Mind?
The master said: The substance of True Mind is voidness and stillness, while
the function of True Mind is clear understanding. The voidness and stillness,
however, are not like the obstinate void; for while it is still, yet it is always
shining, clear and understanding. Do not defile by consciousness and discrimination
that which is illuminant yet still, for that which has both stillness and illumination
is called True Mind.
The monk asked: What are "staying" and "not staying"?
The master said: Since voidness is the substance of True Mind, we, therefore,
say that it does not stay; on the other hand, since the substance of voidness
is all penetrating and omnipresent, we, therefore, say that it stays.
The monk asked: If True Mind is penetrating and omnipresent, then why does the
body have knowing, whereas other objects do not have knowing?
The master said: The substance of True Mind is void, and the Dharmadhatu is
absolute oneness, which permeates the ever-changing world of objects and responds
to conditions that are manifest within it everywhere.
The monk asked: What are the four inverted views of worldly people?
The master said: The first inverted view is that the body, which is impure,
is ours. The second inverted view is that sensation, which always results in
suffering, is enjoyable. The third inverted view is that thought, which is impermanent,
is permanent. The fourth inverted view is that, even though there is originally
no self, there is a self. By means of these four inverted views, worldly people
grasp at experience.
The monk asked: What are the four inverted views of Hinayanists?
The master said: The first inverted view is that the body, which is originally
pure and empty, is impure. The second inverted view is that sensation, which
originally is nowhere, is suffering. The third inverted view is that Original
Mind, which is permanent, is impermanent. The fourth inverted view is that No-Ego,
which is one's Real Self, is merely ego. Thus, the Hinayanists fall into nihilistic
emptiness by holding these four inverted views.
The monk asked: How can one relinquish these eight inverted views and attain
Eternity, Bliss, Real Self and Purity?
The master said: All sentient beings, bound as they are to the cyclical Wheel
of Birth-and-Death, grasp their four inverted views; but those Hinayanists seeking
salvation believe that is they cut off their four inverted views, they will
attain Nirvana. All Buddhas and Tathagatas, however, are detached and remain
far distant from these eight inverted views, holding no concept of them whatsoever,
and thus attain Eternity, Bliss, Real Self and Purity -- known collectively
as the Four Permanences.
The monk asked: If True Mind is really without discrimination, isn't that like
walking on a pitch-black night with no light and, thus being ignorant of one's
surroundings, recognizing nothing?
The master said: There are three kinds of discrimination. The first is when
we begin to have sense organs and consciousness, which create discrimination
through perception. The second is discrimination through calculated thinking.
The third discrimination is that of True Mind, which responds to all things
like a mirror reflecting all images; this is the same as having everything but
understanding clearly with nothing whatsoever.
The monk asked: If there are three kinds of discrimination, then which is false
and which is real?
The master said: All discrimination is false which depends on the sense-organs
and sense-consciousness. However, True Mind, responding to all things with absolute
clarity and understanding, looks like it has discrimination but really has nothing
at all.
The monk asked: If the Dharmakaya is originally without form, it must be like
voidness, so why, then, does it ever appear to have the form of the six sense
organs?
The master said: To understand True Mind as form is not contrary to its function.
The Supreme Dharma exists for the benefit of all, never closing the door when
it comes to converting sentient beings. The ancient master once said, "It
is like void without form, but it can manifest all kinds of forms." Likewise,
the Dharmakaya is fully endowed with the forms of the six sense organs.
The monk asked: What is real salvation?
The master said: If the six sense organs are not bound by anything whatsoever
as they reflect all things and do not dwell on any Dharma at all, then there
is real salvation.
The monk asked: How can one subdue all demons?
The master said: Just have real and total compassion for and patience with all
beings, and you will subdue all the demons in the world -- just this, without
any differentiating thoughts about subduing demons in the mind and without any
subtle scheme or wonderful drug for subduing either inside or outside demons.
The monk asked: What is the Threefold Tathagatagarbha?
The master said: The substance of bright True Mind is voidness and stillness,
and there exists the so-called Tathagata Store of Voidness. The Tathagata Store
of Voidness produces infinite wonderful functions, as numberless as the grains
of sand in the Ganges River. There exits, also, the so-called Tathagata Store
of Voidlessness. Substance can produce function, but function can never be separate
from substance in this so-called Tathagata Store of Voidness - Yet - Voidlessness.
The monk asked: What are the eight consciousnesses?
The master said: They are the following. The first six are the consciousnesses
of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind; the seventh consciousness is called
Manas; and the eighth consciousness is called Alaya.
The monk asked: Would you please characterize the eight consciousnesses and
all their forms?
The master said: The eighth consciousness (Alaya), or store consciousness, is
the mind that collects and holds all the Dharma-causing seeds; i.e., causes
are created by these seeds to produce all Dharmas. The seventh consciousness
(Manas) is the mind that cooperates with the Alaya consciousness, constantly
examining objects and both pondering and calculating, thus causing and creating
ego. The first six consciousnesses constitute the six different sense realms.
Examining and being aware of the thinking process and its constant and interrupted
changes at the very instant of each change, just as it occurs, constitute understanding.
The monk asked: According to the Lankavatara Sutra, "There are three kinds
of consciousness -- namely, real consciousness, immediate consciousness and
discriminating consciousness." Just how is consciousness divided into these
three categories?
The master said: The ninth consciousness is called Pure Consciousness. The eighth
consciousness (Alaya) manifests all kinds of Dharmas. All the other seven consciousnesses
together are called the discriminating consciousness. The seventh consciousness
(Manas) does not itself depend on external objects but, since it cooperates
with the eighth consciousness, still has discrimination.
The monk asked: How can the eight consciousnesses be transformed into Fourfold
Wisdom?
The master said: Just transform the first five consciousnesses into Perfecting
Wisdom; turn the sixth consciousness into Wonderful-Observing Wisdom; turn the
seventh consciousness into Equality-Nature Wisdom; and turn the eighth consciousness
into Perfect-Great-Mirror Wisdom.
The monk asked: What is Perfect-Great-Mirror Wisdom?
The master said: It is True Mine's unchanging voidness and stillness that is
like a bright mirror.
The monk asked: What is Equality-Nature Wisdom?
The master said: It is the opposite of all Dharmas, for it is without any distinguishing
characteristic whatsoever.
the monk asked: What is Wonderful-Observing Wisdom?
The master said: It is the interplay of all the sense organs in discriminating
activity but without any defilement.
The monk asked: What is Perfecting Wisdom?
The master said: It is characterized by each of the five sense organs performing
the functions of its opposite sense realms without distinguishing or discriminating.
The monk asked: How can one transom Fourfold Wisdom into the Threefold Body?
The master said: Perfecting Wisdom and Wonderful-Observing Wisdom become the
Nirmanakaya, Equality-Nature Wisdom becomes the Sambhogakaya. Perfect-Great-Mirror
Wisdom becomes the Dharmakaya.
The monk asked: What is the Dharmakaya?
The master said: To be without a single thought, wherein all is only void and
stillness, is the Dharmakaya.
The monk asked: What is the Sambhogakaya?
The master said: To be skillful about all Dharmas, wherein everything is equal,
is the Sambhogakaya.
The monk asked: What is the Nirmanakaya?
The master said: To depend on one's own Original Vow to do all things responsibly
is the Nirmanakaya.
The monk asked: The Complete Enlightenment Sutra says, "The Perfect-Great-Mirror
Wisdom is my Sangharama Body." If the mind dwells in Equality-Nature Wisdom,
then why don't Perfecting Wisdom and Wonderful-Observing Wisdom manifest at
the same time?
The master said: Perfect-Great-Mirror Wisdom, even while it is still, yet is
luminous. Equality-Nature Wisdom, even while it is luminous, yet is still. The
Wonderful-Observing and the Perfecting Wisdom are both accepted by the Dharmakaya.
When delusion is transformed from the eighteen sense realms into Wonderful-Observing
Wisdom, all phenomena then turn into Perfecting Wisdom; and finally all Wisdom
transform into the Perfect-Great-Mirror Wisdom. The Lankavatara Sutra relates:
"The Buddha, speaking to the Great-Wisdom Bodhisattva, said, "From
early in beginningless time, during its middle and at the end, one should use
Wonderful-Observing Wisdom to purify instantaneous consciousness and the six
sense organs, transforming them into Perfecting Wisdom so that when a hand is
placed with its palm up, one does not ask what is on the other side, also, on
seeing ice, one does not ask where the water is". Just take a strong vow
to have compassion and pity for the benefit of others and thence attain Wonderful-Observing
Wisdom and Perfecting Wisdom for the benefit of all sentient beings.
The ancient virtuous master once said, "All sentient beings grasp the name
of Alaya consciousness, but they do not understand what is really means. "However,
Buddhas have attained that understanding and, therefore, can have the functions
of the Four Wisdom. If one is ignorant regarding Alaya consciousness, only grasping
its name, then the seventh consciousness (Manas) is labeled impure, while the
sixth consciousness is thought to consider all things to be real. Also, thereafter,
the first five consciousness are thought to be bound by the forms of their sense
organs. However, if one can truly understand that the substance of Alaya is
Perfect-Great-Mirror Wisdom, then he will have opened the door of merit. At
that time, Manas is then understood to be the source of Equality-Nature Wisdom
and is clearly seen to have the awareness that self and others are of one nature.
Then, the sixth consciousness is understood to be the source of Wonderful-Observing
Wisdom, which turns the wheel of Right Dharma. Then, the first five consciousnesses
are understood to have the merit of Perfecting Wisdom for manifestations of
the Nirmanakaya. To be concentrated in single-minded meditation, without moving,
creates a clear division between consciousness and Wisdom, so that then one
does not change the substance but only changes the name in the transformation
of the eighth consciousness into Perfect-Great-Mirror Wisdom.
The monk asked: If one is enlightened about the Doctrine, then he can transform
consciousness into Wisdom, while those who are bounded by illusion rise and
fall according to the vicissitudes of consciousness. So can we know whether
the eight consciousnesses are great or small?
The master said: The mind of consciousness is fine, wonderful and inconceivable
and receives its forms depending on Karma; so it is not uniformly great or small.
In the Sutra of Manifest Consciousness, the Buddha, speaking to the Bodhisattva
Tao Yao, says, "There, consciousness is like the wind, without form or
shape and compressed and confined in a deep hole or valley; and it is so strong
when it bursts forth that it can destroy Mount Sumeru. Just as the molecules
of the wind are subtle and without form, likewise is consciousness itself."
The monk asked: What are the causes for the sinking of consciousness into the
four kinds of beings?
The master said: One is born from the womb due to love. One is born from eggs
due to thinking. One is born from moisture due to feeling and thinking. One
is born from transformation due to the separation of feeling and thinking. all
of these states rise and fall and are created by Karma. If one can suddenly
cut off discriminating consciousness, then he will be free from transmigration
forever.
The monk asked: What are the Five Eyes?
The master said: Not dwelling on outside objects is the Fleshly Eye. Not dwelling
on the void inside is the Heavenly Eye. Not dwelling on either existence or
non-existence is the Dharma Eye. Illumination of both existence and non-existence
without defilement is the Wisdom Eye. Letting go of all forms is the Buddha
Eye.
The monk asked: When are the Six Supernatural Powers manifested?
The master said: When the six sense organs, facing objects, come and go without
any obstruction whatsoever.
The monk asked: What are Universal Enlightenment and Wonderful Enlightenment?
The master said: Universal Enlightenment is stillness and illumination, wherein
all Dharmas are equal. Wonderful Enlightenment is without either stillness or
illumination; it is just bright in real permanence.
The monk asked: What is transformational birth and death, and what is the recurring
of birth and death?
The master said: The concept of transformational birth and death refers to the
process of Bodhisattvas fulfilling their vows and maintaining their compassion
for the benefit of all sentient beings, even while they remain in the cycle
of birth and death. However, this is different from the process of worldly people,
and since its purpose is to purify the outflow of Karma, it is called transformational
birth and death. The recurring birth-and death process of worldly people is
totally created by false mind grasping at thought after thought and producing
obstacles due to defilement. These beings are bound to the Great Wheel of Suffering
without remaination. This, then, is the process of recurring birth and death.
The monk asked: What is the meaning of "Standing on top of a pole one hundred
feet high, one must still take one more step; then, in all ten directions, the
Dharmadhatu manifests itself"?
The master said: The mind of the Tathagata-Store is originally unified and bright,
but because we follow phenomena, it becomes divided into six functions and is
turned by outside things, drifting forever in birth and death. If one knows
how to return to the Truth, he will not wander outside in search of sense data.
The sense organs become disengaged from externals at that point, and if any
one of them can be returned to Pure Mind, then the functions of all six sense
organs will stop; and Mind will remain clear and pure like an extremely bright
mirror. If one can hold this Mind, he will be delivered from the deep pit. Such
is the view from one side of voidness; but one still needs to take one more
step, and then , in all ten directions, all will manifest. Mountains, rivers
and all other things are suddenly recognized clearly as the substance of Dharma.
The monk asked: How can one not dwell in the Supramundane and still not exhaust
oneself in activity?
The master said: Even if one attains the Dharmakaya, he should not yet embrace
complete realization but should still fulfill his vow and have compassion for
the benefit of all sentient beings, responding appropriately to all beings and
appearances. The Ch'an Master Tsao Shan said, "Do not walk in the path
of thinking, never wear your original clothes, and, for the sake of justice,
you should not think about what you were before you were born. "The Mahayana
Bodhisattva, leading land directing all beings, does not dwell in the Supramundane
and just expediently wears ordinary clothes; also, at the same time, he does
not exhaust himself in activity. Since he is responsive to all appearances,
his actions may appear to be wrong or defiling as he expediently converts sentient
beings; but, in reality, his practice is pure, following the way of all Buddhas.
The monk asked: What is real repentance?
The master said: All people in the world are in heavy bondage instigated by
the passions. There are four grave sins and ten evils. Since the causes of Karma
are already so deep, people, almost automatically, follow the three evil ways.
However, if one can suddenly have a sense of great shame and put forth a great
and vigorous effort and approach a good, virtuous master to try to enlighten
his own mind, all evil Karma of the past an all sins in the present will then
become like snow melted by boiling water or like bone-dry firewood consumed
in a raging fire. In this way, one can extinguish his Karma, producing blessings
and wisdom. He then will attain Great Wisdom to direct the next generation,
encouraging all beings to enlighten their own natural minds and showing all
of them how they, too, can ultimately attain Buddhahood.
Practice and Attain Enlightenment After Understanding the Principles
The monk asked: I now understand, after having heard your teaching; but
I still cannot reduce my heavy Karma and restless thought, and I cannot attain
and realize Enlightenment suddenly because of my small, inferior root. So what
can I do?
The master said: One's Original Nature has no enlightenment, so it is illusory,
therefore, to say "Enlightenment". Original Mind does not practice,
because it is defiling to "have practice" or to have either deep or
shallow habits. Therefore, some expedient teaching has been set up to help people,
which uses both sudden and gradual methods. If one has only a little defilement,
he can realize and attain Complete Enlightenment suddenly. If one has some heavy
obstacles, he can recover his Original Nature gradually. There are different
methods for the three different roots, depending on their ability to understand
and to practice.
The monk asked: What are the different methods used for the three roots?
The master said: The superior-root practice leads to sudden Enlightenment, the
medium-root practice leads to Enlightenment gradually; the inferior-root practice
leads to Enlightenment after great encouragement.
The monk asked: Why is the superior-root practice sudden?
The master said: The superior-root person has a sharp intelligence, has good
seeds from his previous life and can be enlightened by just one word. One must
neutralize the effects of past Karma by creating beneficial present concurrent
causes; and one must purify one's consciousness by holding neither to continually
moving and changing thought nor to empty thinking. One must remain universal
and impartial and, also, clear and void in order to see everything in any and
every environment only in the light of its wonderful functions. The Ch'an Master
Wei San said, "If your mind is not attached to anything whatsoever, no
person or thing ever becomes an obstacle." He said further, "If you
focus your mind, thought after thought, on one thought only, and if you still
mind-instant after mind-instant forever, then this perfect and complete Dharmadhatu
attains Nirvana suddenly." However, if your potentiality for the sudden
method is dull, you can take the expedient of recovering your True Mind gradually.
The monk asked: How can one suddenly attain the Tao through practice?
The master said: If one really has some good reason and is very sincere, with
no trace of falseness, there is, for him, no need to spend endless Asankhyeya-Kalpas
in practice. The Mahaparinirvana Sutra says, "A man who sails a boat on
the ocean can move very far in a short time in a favorable wind." If there
were not a favorable wind, the boat would only stay in the same place for many
years. Also, if the boat were to leak, it would submerge and the man would die.
The situation of all sentient beings can be compared quite closely to this one.
The Surangama Sutra says, "There is Samadhi of seeing all things as illusion,
which, in a finger-snap, leads to the state beyond all study." Therefore,
in this case, it is not necessary to understand the Three Vehicles nor to attain
the Ten Stages of a Bodhisattva's Progress to become Buddha in one thought,
thereby transcending Kalpas of practice suddenly.
The monk asked: Why is the medium-root practice gradual?
The master said: Superior-root practice needs sudden teaching and can be compared
to wind blowing clouds away to reveal the bright moon clearly in the sky. Medium-root
practice, on the other hand, needs gradual teaching and can be compared to cleaning
a dirty mirror -- when the dirt vanishes, the light will appear. If some student
in a future age has heavy habits from previous lives and has inferior wisdom
due to his wafting mind, and if, nevertheless, he can calm his mind completely
for a period of twenty-four hours while moving or sitting still, with no thoughts
of good or evil arising, but if such thoughts do arise he just becomes quickly
aware of them, then he, too, can come to understand Original Mind. Therefore,
the ancient master said, "Do not fear if a thought rises up; just fear
being aware of it too late." If one practice like this for a long time,
false thoughts will gradually disappear, until, finally, both personal thoughts
and Dharma vanish. Then the senses and the sense data will suddenly be wiped
out, and True Mind, luminous everywhere, will open and turn freely with no obstacle
whatsoever.
The monk asked: How does one encourage practice in the inferior-root person?
The master said: Since the inferior-root person is dull and his thought comes
very slowly because he is too much disturbed, it is very difficult to encourage
him. He really needs very good instruction and to be directed most carefully
in order to help him make use of a good opportunity and to plant a good root.
Therefore, he should have faith, stay in a big monastery, always follow good
friends, take training every day, practice moment after moment, repent his own
Karma in front of the Buddha's image and be humble in assembly. When he seems
to have arrived at the enlightened stage, he still must not leave his good,
virtuous teacher, but must yet learn to abandon all phenomena. Then, with further
deep cultivation and more training and discipline for a very long time, he can,
at last, come to recognize his own Mind.
The monk asked: Why is it so much more difficult for the inferior-root person
to practice and attain Enlightenment?
The master said: The inferior-root person is polluted with thick and dense defilements;
his mind is dull and disturbed with a myriad passing thoughts, and he is ignorant
due to heavy Karmic obstacles. So if he does not practice hard, he cannot start
his spiritual light. A virtuous ancient teacher once said, "You can give
one thousand or ten thousand examples to the inferior-root person, and still
he cannot understand." Even if he gets a little understanding, he thinks
that he has some great Enlightenment. He does not receive others' teaching,
and his pride and arrogance cheat others. This person should come to have great
shame and to develop deep humility, otherwise he could become mad, choosing
a wrong path that could lead him to disaster.
The monk asked: How can one, having understood the Doctrine and having maintained
his determination and good practice, know when True Mind appears?
The master said: One who already understands the principles but who still clings
to his old habits will, upon encountering adverse circumstances, lose his right
thought; so he should take great care to cultivate his mind most carefully.
This practice can be compared to one's need to pasture a wild bull with great
effort and restraint, sometimes having to flog it repeatedly with a whip until
it adjusts its won mind and steadies its step, becoming so disciplined that
it does not have to touch even one blade of grass without permission. Then and
only then is there no need for a cowherd, and it can be let free. If you want
to test your True Mind, just to remember those things that you have loved or
hated over the course of your lifetime, place them squarely in front of you,
and test yourself by once more seeing and hearing them. If you still have that
hate or love, as you once had in the past, then you will know that your mind
is not yet stilled. One the other hand, if you happen to meet favorable or adverse
circumstances and no thoughts of love or hate arise, then you are near the Tao.
When your True Mind appears, test yourself by recalling the strongest loving
thought that you've ever had in your life; and by thinking about that thing
or situation which made you so joyous before, just observe that now such a loving,
pleasurable thought completely ceases to arise and cohere any more. Again, test
yourself by recalling the strongest hateful thought that you've ever had in
your life -- something about which you've felt the strongest anger -- and observe
that now your hateful, angry thought completely ceases to stir or move anymore.
then and only then can you be free, changing with all conditions to respond
to all things without any obstacles whatsoever.
The monk asked: When false thought ceases but one does not yet see True Mind,
one must then take time to do good and support the Tao. Is this correct?
The master said: When false thought ceases, then to do good and to practice
supporting the Tao are right. However, if one has some conscious purpose to
do good, then that is grasping the good, and one will attain only the blessings
of human beings or devas. In contrast, to do good without purpose ad forms is
right practice, and this can really be called supporting the Tao. In the Diamond
Sutra, Buddha says, "Subhuti, if a Bodhisattva's mind does not abide in
forms when practicing Dana, then his merit will be inconceivable and immeasurable.
"Some present-day students, in practicing charity, hold one-sided and narrow
ideas about it; and so it is non-perfect, for they have not understood the principles
and rely, instead, merely upon their own cleverness. Such practice is not all
good, and most of these people are demons with few blessings.
The monk asked: To do only good in relation to worldly phenomena produces endless
blessings and virtue, and to see one's own Mind Nature in relation to the noumenon
creates immeasurable merit. So why must one practice with both phenomenal and
noumenal awareness?
The master said: To grasp only at Phenomena brings retribution to both human
beings and devas, but if one also acts in the noumenon, without defilement,
then he will manifest True Mind Nature.
The monk asked: If one who has enlightened his mind and has attained understanding
of the principles should also realize supernatural power, then why, among many
who live by enlightened principles in the present, do so very few of them have
any supernatural power?
The master said: Supernatural power is really a secondary attainment, but when
anyone attains Original Mind -- i.e., when Original Mind arises -- the Tao will
simultaneously appear, and then supernatural power will also appear quite naturally.
If just anyone could possess supernatural power and take it and transform it
into different forms of the Tao, then any and all of the heavenly demons, heterodox
believers and evil spirits could also have the Tao -- which certainly is not
correct. if one really desires to attain supernatural power, he must first attain
the One-Vehicle Dharma, because this One-Vehicle Dharma can initiate the wonderful
function of wisdom that can lead to Enlightenment in this world and, thereafter,
to the attainment of Nirvana in both birth and death. Turning the worldly into
the holy in every Ksana is changing phenomena into void, and this is what supernatural
power is really all about. It is not some magic that can be performed. The ancient
master said, "There are five different kinds of supernatural power. The
first is the Tao supernatural power; the second is the spiritual supernatural
power; the third is the dependent supernatural power; the fourth is the retributive
supernatural power; the fifth is the demonic supernatural power."
What is the demonic supernatural power? One example is that of the old fox who
could change into many other forms at will. Even wood and stone can, at times,
become evil spirits or monsters to affect other beings. Clever and strange is
this demonic supernatural power! What is the retributive supernatural power?
There are some ghosts and spirits who know how something will be transformed
before it actually changes. These non-physical, intermediate-existence beings
know exactly when the Karma-body will be reborn, and dragons and other entities
can appear, disappear and transform themselves at will. This, then, is the retributive
supernatural power. What is the dependent supernatural power? It is evident
when some spirit depends on a person, an animal or even a tree, etc., to produce
or create a strange, startling or mischievous event or when a spirit or an animal
enters the body of a human being to make trouble. This, then, is the dependent
supernatural power. What is the spiritual supernatural power? It is just stilling
the mind completely and illuminating all things. One with this power can remember
what he has been and done in his previous lives. All his strength and power
comes from meditation. This, then, is the spiritual supernatural power. What
is the Tao supernatural power? It responds to all things without mind, converting
all beings by causes and conditions, knowing that the moon in water and flowers
in the sky are only shadows without self-nature or substance. This, then, is
the Tao supernatural power. The latter power that I have described is the True
Supernatural Power, while all the others are evil and false. The false ones
are not real, land the evil ones are not right, for they disturb thought and
confuse Original Nature. Therefore, one who is really learning the Tao should
not manifest any supernatural power that confuses or confounds the Truth.
The treatise entitled Mahasamatha - Vipasyana (in Chinese, Chih-Kuan) says,
"One who practices Samadhi can acquire some supernatural power suddenly,
but he should abandon it just as suddenly because that Dharma is both false
and Mundane." The inferior-root person seeks supernatural power, but this
can be an obstacle to the achievement of Prajna. The wise man, on the other
hand, perceives the body as reality in the same way that he perceives the Buddha.
Thus, even though a Maha-Bodhisattva, a Holy One or a sage may have attained
understanding of the Doctrine, once he manifests his supernatural power he can
no longer remain in the world. If anyone manifests supernatural power to convert
sentient beings, he is considered to be a spirit or a demon.
The monk asked: If one is not yet enlightened and, holding a false view, confounds
the Truth, creating good and evil causes, he then, after taking his effects
of either suffering or joy, is reborn according to his Karma. This I understand
without any doubt. However, if there is one who understands the Truth, having
suddenly recovered his True Mind, and thus, having transcended causes and effects,
no longer has the relative body but only the spiritual body, then upon what
does he depend?
The master said: All sentient beings are involved with causes and depend upon
causes and conditions for their rebirth, which is the same as having something
to depend upon. However, if one is enlightened as to the reality of the True
Mind and has attained the Tao, he does not, like a vagrant, drift aimlessly
in the world, nor does he, like a ghost or solitary spirit, drift gently without
any place on which to depend. If one is really enlightened about the Tao, the
fundamental Law will manifest itself. This Law establishes and affirms that
all directions are the True Mind, and this is the Great Function for the Perfect
Substance, there being no other place whatsoever on which to depend. The virtuous,
ancient master said, "All the great earth is just the single eye of the
Sramana."
The Prime Minister Wen Tse-Ao once asked Master Kuei Feng, "If one is already
enlightened about the principles, upon what does he depend until the end of
his life?" Master Kuei Feng replied, "All sentient beings originally
have the same Buddha Nature, there being no differences or distinctions with
Buddha. so if one achieves enlightenment about Buddha Nature, that itself is
the Dharmakaya, which originally has no birth. Therefore, this being the case,
how can he have anything on which to depend? The Dharmakaya is bright without
ignorance, is always clear and comprehending, comes from nowhere and goes nowhere,
and is the substance of voidness and stillness only. One should not consider
bodily forms and discursive thinking to be one's Original Mind. When false thought
arises, one should not follow it but, on the contrary, should always concentrate
on the One Mind until the end of his life so that he will be bound no more by
any Karma whatsoever. Then he can go up to heaven and down to earth or anywhere
else freely, depending on whatever or wherever he wishes; for all things have,
for him, become merely emptiness. For him only Perfect Wisdom and Great Enlightenment
are luminous and shining everywhere to convert all sentient beings according
to their potentialities and are enlightening all minds to grasp the principles
so that all may ultimately become Buddhas."
The monk asked: There was once a famous monk, in ancient times, who is said
to have held his concentration in meditation even in death. It is also said
that his corpse did not decay for many, many years and that even his hair and
nails continued to grow during all that time. How can you explain this?
The master said: That particular monk was a Small-Vehicle follower, and his
body dwelt in extinct meditation. However, he had only extinguished the first
six consciousnesses but he still grasped the eighth consciousness to support
his body. Because he so disliked existing among phenomena, he preferred to turn
to voidness to seek rest and peace. However, this rest was only temporary, for
even though he has entered into extinct meditation and seemed to have a tranquil
body and mind, he, nevertheless, did not have real extinction; so after a long
time his consciousness arose again. This can be compared to one who goes through
the vicissitudes of malarial fever day after day. Thus, one must become enlightened
as to the true nature of meditation, and then, after that, one can really be
free from transmigration.
The monk asked: If Mahakasyapa enters extinct meditation and a Small-Vehicle
follower also enters extinct meditation, are they the same or are they different?
The master said: Mahakasyapa, the Great-Vehicle follower, seeks to extinguish
Dharma principles and concepts, and the Small-Vehicle follower seeks the extinction
of physical appearances. However, even after the Great-Vehicle follower enters
extinct meditation, he still has the five Skandhas and the seventh and the eighth
consciousnesses, which at that point can be the guides to conduct and regulation
for awe-inspiring meditation anymore. Therefore, his meditation is disturbed
and cannot be perfect, for he has abandoned seeming and appearances to achieve
only partial emptiness. Thus, it must be clear that their meditations are, indeed,
quite different!