眾生無邊誓願度
煩惱無盡誓願斷
法門無量誓願學
佛道無上誓願成
眾生無邊誓願度
煩惱無盡誓願斷
法門無量誓願學
佛道無上誓願成
This book is a selection of chapters and sections from the Śūraṅgama Sūtra (Laṅkāvatāra—no, Laṅgama), compiled from explanations given in response to the earnest requests of the assembled disciples. The main topics expounded include the sevenfold inquiry into the location of the mind, seeing-nature possessing four conditions, individual karmic false seeing and collective karmic false seeing, the falsity of the five aggregates, the falsity of the six entrances, the falsity of the twelve sense bases, the falsity of the seven great elements of earth, water, fire, wind, space, consciousness, and seeing, and the perfectly harmonious nature of earth, water, fire, and wind—amounting to approximately 130,000 characters. By earnestly studying these explanations of selected chapters of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra and cultivating diligently, one will have abundant provisions for the path, and when conditions ripen, one will be able to see the mind and realize the nature. Since the content of each disciple's inquiries differed, the compilation may appear insufficiently systematic; it is merely intended so that those who love the Śūraṅgama Sūtra may soon have a reliance and reference in their practice, and thus the book has first been compiled in the form of selections. At present only one volume has been compiled, to be supplemented and revised in the future.
Among mind (citta), manas, and consciousness, mind represents the eighth consciousness, manas represents the manas, and consciousness represents the mind consciousness. The former two are relatively deep, subtle, and hidden, and are difficult to realize and observe; ordinary people can only observe the mind consciousness, and even that not very minutely, being unable to observe the manas and the eighth consciousness. All the contents of the manas and all the contents concerning consciousness-only belong to the category of the wisdom of the seeds of consciousness-only (唯识种智), and this is even more so for the mental factors (caittas) of each consciousness. At present, Buddhist practitioners generally mistake the state of the manas for the state of the mind consciousness; without the wisdom of contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) based on direct perception, it is impossible to observe directly the specific operational state of the manas. This book provides a deep and detailed analysis of the differences and connections between the manas and the mind consciousness, focusing on introducing the differences between the two in bodily, verbal, and mental actions and in the discernment of sense objects. At the same time, it introduces the connections between the manas and the mind consciousness, including their modes of communication, their mutual perfuming, as well as the differences and connections between the manas and the first five consciousnesses, so as to enable Buddhist practitioners to distinguish the respective natures of the manas and the mind consciousness in their concrete functions, no longer confusing them. Once the natures of the two are clearly distinguished, one can easily realize the manas and thereby actually observe it.
This book mainly expounds the many inherent natures and functional roles of the manas, chiefly expounding the important position and role of the manas in the process of Buddhist practice and realization, emphasizing the meritorious function of realizing the fruits through the manas, and also pointing out the main role of the manas in meditative investigation. In short, the practice and realization of the Buddha-dharma both take the manas as the primary factor; apart from the manas, there can be no talk of practice at all, let alone of actual realization, and what is practiced will bear no fruit. The practice of all dharmas must ultimately be brought back to the manas and reach the manas before it can have real meaning and results and before accomplishment can be achieved. Sentient beings in the final age have minds that are mostly restless and scattered, their good roots are meager, their greed is heavy, and their merit is thin; the bustle and confusion of worldly affairs make it difficult to keep the precepts and difficult to cultivate meditative concentration, and the mind cannot be purified. Buddhist practitioners generally take the learning of knowledge as their main pursuit, often taking the theories they have learned, taking the emotional thoughts and intellectual interpretations of the mind consciousness, as actual realization, and taking the results obtained through speculation, inference, and research as actual realization, thereby deluding themselves and then deluding others. If one understands the inherent nature of the manas, one will know the characteristics of actual realization and its distinction from emotional thoughts and intellectual interpretations, and will understand the crucial pivot and key points of actual realization; then one can avoid falling into such errors and will not commit the grave karmic offense of false claims to realization.
Throughout history, the vast majority of those who study Buddhism and engage in practice have had little understanding of the manas, perceiving it as extremely mysterious, difficult to know and difficult to realize, and mistaking the functions of the manas for those of the mind consciousness; consequently, there have been many misinterpretations and misunderstandings, which in turn hinder deep study and practice. This book comprehensively reveals the various natures and functions of the manas, clarifying with great precision—without any vagueness or ambiguity—its relationships with the physical body, karmic seeds, ignorance, meditative concentration (samādhi), supernatural powers, the tathāgatagarbha, and so forth; moreover, it employs skillful means to guide students in locating the manas and engaging in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) upon it, becoming adept at distinguishing the differences between the manas and the mind consciousness, and gradually deepening the wisdom of contemplative practice. This book is of great help to sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age, providing an extremely clear framework for cultivation on the path to buddhahood.
The mind consciousness is one of the most capable assistants in the practice and realization of the Buddha-dharma; it is used to come into contact with the Buddha-dharma, to contemplate the Buddha-dharma, and to attain correct knowledge and views, and then to perfume the manas, and finally to achieve realization. The functions and activities of the mind consciousness can be observed by ordinary people; it has many characteristics, and its overall characteristic is that it is subject to arising, ceasing, change, and impermanence. However, many Buddhist practitioners mistake a certain aspect of the mind consciousness for the function of the non-arising and non-ceasing eighth consciousness, and in this way they fail to distinguish the true from the false, and are prone to erroneous enlightenment. This book expounds the types of the mind consciousness, its functions, the principles of its arising, its process of arising, ceasing, and changing, and so forth, fully demonstrating that there is a great difference in nature between the mind consciousness and the eighth consciousness, so that it becomes easy to recognize the distinction between the two, to no longer take the mind consciousness as the true, and thereby to embark on the correct path of investigating Chan, without wasting the merit of a lifetime of practice. Ordinary beings all take the mind consciousness as their own true spiritual knowing nature; because the obstructions within their minds are heavy, they do not see the substantial function of the true mind, the eighth consciousness. If one can clearly recognize the intermittent arising-and-ceasing nature of the mind consciousness, one can quickly eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and resolve the problem of birth and death; therefore, understanding the nature of the mind consciousness is extremely important.
Nowadays the Buddhist world seems to be gradually attaching importance to actual practice, and its slogans and aims also call for realization, yet in substance they still do not involve genuine practice and realization, nor do they know what genuine practice is or what realization is. If what is cultivated does not involve meditative concentration (dhyāna) and does not deeply permeate the manas, it is all unreal practice, like duckweed drifting unsteadily; the result is only understanding without realization, yet all believe it to be realization. If this continues, the superficially flourishing Buddhism will gradually decline; the multitude will practice blindly without knowing what they are cultivating, and there will be neither practice nor realization, so that even intellectual awakening will vanish without a trace, let alone realization through awakening. Going on like this, the true dharma of realization will become extinct and lost, or even be submerged by the flamboyant manner of learning Buddhism, with no one actually benefiting, and the raft of the Buddha-dharma will no longer be able to ferry sentient beings across. Therefore it is necessary to cry out here for genuine realization and to advocate genuine practice, so as to fulfill the Buddha's original intent, to rescue and deliver those whose good roots, merit, and conditions are complete, enabling them to swiftly achieve accomplishment, liberating themselves and liberating others.
The analogy of the black box refers to a dark and confined space or place; our brain is precisely dark and confined, like a black box, even though the space our brain allows us to perceive appears vast. Our perceiving activity takes place within the black box of the brain, the dharmas we perceive are also within the black box of the brain, and both the perceiver and the perceived are within the black box; therefore we sentient beings are, in fact, living inside a black box. Since this is so, how unreal and unreliable our perception must be, how false and unreal the dharmas we perceive must be, and even the brain upon which we depend is subject to arising, ceasing, and change—then what, after all, is the world of the five aggregates? Or is it nothing at all? This question is enough to overturn all the understanding of life that we have accumulated through lifetime after lifetime and through countless kalpas; therefore I sincerely invite everyone to contemplate deeply along with the text, so as to elevate your understanding of life and obtain the true wisdom of liberation!
This book distills practical cultivation experience drawn from the merit of actual realization, making it a textbook-style guide to genuine practice that is most worthy of being treasured and studied; it almost leads students by the hand across the threshold of investigating Chan (dhyāna) and further across the threshold of cultivating the Path at even higher levels.
A Brief Explanation of Material Form
The mental factors (caittas) of the manas are the dharmas possessed by the seventh consciousness; they are the trajectory of His mental activities in the course of His functioning. The mental factors of the manas are difficult to verify. The direct-perception contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the manas is the wisdom realm of bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis; even those who have attained enlightenment can only understand it in a similar manner and cannot engage in direct-perception contemplative practice, while unenlightened ordinary beings are unable to directly observe the functioning of the manas. The mental factors of the manas are very complex. The wholesome and unwholesome karmic retributions of all sentient beings since beginningless kalpas have all been accomplished through the wholesome and unwholesome mental factors of the manas; whether it is the karmic retribution of ordinary beings in wholesome or unwholesome destinies, or the sublime retributions of the four kinds of noble ones—from hell to Buddhahood, the differences in retribution are immense, and all without exception are accomplished by the wholesome and unwholesome mental factors of the manas. Since this is so, according to the different kinds of sentient beings, the various mental factors of the manas must be explained separately and cannot be generalized. The mental factors of the manas are not fixed and unchanging; the process of cultivation is precisely the process of turning around and transforming these mental factors. All ignorance resides in the manas; if He does not realize the Dharma, ignorance cannot be eradicated. Eradicating the ignorance of the mind consciousness is useless; the cultivation and realization of all dharmas must touch upon the mental factors of the manas in order to resolve the root.
Throughout the entire Diamond Sutra, its essential purport is to break through marks, break through marks, break through marks—breaking through all marks, beginning with breaking the four marks, and breaking through all dharma-marks. All marks are false and illusory; they are no-marks, not no-marks, neither dharma nor non-dharma. Yet the basis for breaking through all these marks is the unborn and unceasing vajra mind (vajra-citta). The process and result of breaking through marks in the Diamond Sutra echo from afar the Dharma gate of perfect penetration through the ear faculty of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, emptying all that can be emptied, leaving only the vajra prajñā mind that can under no circumstances be emptied—it is the other shore, yet not the other shore, nor not the other shore, solitary and without companion, yet it is the one true dharma realm. The Diamond Sutra also echoes from afar all prajñā sūtras and Mahāyāna sūtras, mutually corroborating one another without the slightest discord—apart from emptiness there is only emptiness; emptiness carried to its end is non-emptiness, nor not non-emptiness.
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