Cultivation of Concentration and Chan Meditation for Realization of the Way (Part 1)
Chapter 8: In Investigating Chan, One Must Distinguish Between the True Mind and the Deluded Mind
Section 1: The Difference Between the True Mind and the Deluded Mind
1. The Realms Discriminated by the Seven Deluded Consciousnesses
There are seven deluded minds: the seventh consciousness, the manas, and the preceding six consciousnesses; there is only one true mind, the eighth consciousness. The manas is the mind that constantly and everywhere acts as the master: "I want this, I want that, I should do this, I should do that" — it is always deliberating (manasikāra), grasping (upādāna), and clinging without cease, constantly acting as the master; this is the nature of the seventh consciousness, the manas. The six consciousnesses, on the other hand, discriminate the six sense objects: as soon as the eye sees a form object, it knows what it is; this knowing is the knowing of the eye consciousness and the mind consciousness, which together discern the form object. When the ear hears a sound, it knows what the sound is; this knowing is the knowing of the ear consciousness and the mind consciousness.
All these knowings are subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent; whatever can arise, cease, and change is a deluded dharma. The mind that engages in discursive thinking is the mind consciousness, and the mind that knows one is not engaging in discursive thinking is also the mind consciousness — this is the mind consciousness's power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala) upon itself. When sitting in meditation, the prior moment has ceased, the later moment has not arisen, and the middle stretch is lucid and clear — this is the deluded mind consciousness; it is the deluded mind consciousness that knows whether or not one has thoughts at this moment. As long as there is knowing, it is deluded. The true mind does not know whether one has entered meditative concentration or not, and does not know whether there are thoughts or not.
In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, the Buddha said: 知见立知，即无明本。This refers to the knowing of the sixth consciousness, meaning that taking the knowing of the sixth consciousness as real is the root of ignorance — it is deluded. It further says: 内守悠闲，犹是法尘分别影事。This also refers to the state of the mind consciousness having nothing to do; that leisurely, carefree state is a realm of mental sense objects (dharma-viṣaya), discriminated by the mind consciousness. This discriminating, knowing mind is the deluded mind — the sixth consciousness, the mind consciousness — not the true mind. When one sits in meditation until one knows nothing at all, the sixth consciousness still clearly knows that it knows nothing at all, knows that it has entered concentration; this knowing is the introspective function of the deluded sixth consciousness, not the true mind. Because the mind that can discriminate and know that one has entered this state of concentration — this dharma-viṣaya of the meditative state — is the sixth consciousness; the true mind does not know. One must not take this mind as the true mind and think oneself enlightened; this is not a state of enlightenment.
Any knowing of the six sense objects is not the knowing of the true mind; the true mind never knows the six sense objects. The mental sense object is also one of the six sense objects; the state of meditative concentration is a realm of mental sense objects, known by the mind consciousness. Even if one cultivates to the highest concentration in the three realms, the concentration of neither perception nor non-perception (naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñā-samāpatti), there is still a perception within that concentration; this perception is a knowing, and it is also the sixth consciousness. If one extinguishes this knowing and does not take this knowing as self, one attains the fourth fruit of arhatship, immediately enters nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), ends birth and death, escapes the three realms, and attains liberation. Therefore, as long as one takes any knowing as real, one cannot attain the fruits, cannot eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), and remains an ordinary being of birth and death.
The mind that discerns the meditative state within concentration, that knows one has already entered concentration, is the mind consciousness; when the mind consciousness temporarily has no deluded thoughts, it can enter concentration. When the mind consciousness exits concentration, deluded thoughts immediately arise — now with thoughts, now without, constantly changing; what changes is not the real mind. The real mind never changes; it is always thus. Moreover, the thought-free mind in concentration cannot be maintained for long; sooner or later it will change — it is a temporary phenomenon of thought-freeness. Even if one can remain in concentration for eighty thousand great kalpas, the mind consciousness must eventually exit concentration, and upon exiting, thoughts arise again and one is scattered again. Therefore, the thought-free mind consciousness in concentration is a conditioned dharma of arising and ceasing. The nature of the sixth consciousness resembles that of the eighth consciousness in one respect: both are formless and without marks, and so they are difficult to distinguish. One must thoroughly discern the natures of both so as not to make a mistake. This point is of utmost importance; the great matter of birth and death cannot be treated vaguely. Once you have studied the sūtras thoroughly, you will understand.
2. The Difference Between the Luminous Knowing Free of Thoughts and the Thought-Free True Mind
The Sixth Patriarch's "no-thought" means: 无者无妄想，念者念真如。This refers to the thought-freeness of the true mind; the true mind originally has no thoughts whatsoever, and the true mind does not recollect any dharma within the world of the three realms. Since the true mind is originally thought-free, we should not, after cultivating the mind consciousness into a state of no-thought, then consider that at this time it is the thought-free eighth consciousness. The thought-freeness at this time is produced through the transformation brought about by diligent cultivation of concentration; it is not the eighth consciousness that has always been thought-free from the beginning. If the power of concentration disappears and thoughts emerge again, where has the eighth consciousness gone? Is the eighth consciousness a consciousness that changes back and forth, subject to arising and ceasing? Of course not. Therefore, a mind that is sometimes with thoughts and sometimes without thoughts is not the eighth consciousness at all, but the mind consciousness.
The eighth consciousness is not produced; it exists originally, is unborn and unceasing; no one can produce Him; rather, He gives rise to all dharmas. One must understand these principles before one can have the opportunity to see the mind and awaken to the Way, and give rise to wisdom. Only when the natures of all eight consciousnesses have been realized, with nothing unknown, can we become Buddhas. Especially having realized the eighth consciousness, the seven deluded consciousnesses can take refuge in Him and learn from Him; only then can the seven consciousnesses become increasingly pure, defilements be eliminated, and ignorance be utterly extinguished — only thus can one become a Buddha.
When one has clearly understood the characteristics of all dharmas, one knows which are subject to arising and ceasing and which are unborn and unceasing; one no longer clings to conditioned dharmas, and transforms the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti) toward the unborn and unceasing self-nature of suchness (tathatā), thereby being able to exhaustively break all ignorance. When all conditioned dharmas have been thoroughly understood and identified, and one no longer takes conditioned dharmas as real, the problem of birth and death can be resolved. All dharmas rest upon consciousness; the root of the eight consciousnesses is still the eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness is precisely the Middle Way; without the eighth consciousness, there would be no existence or arising of any dharma.
3. What Exactly Is the Luminous Knowing Mind Free of Thoughts?
The eighth consciousness pervades all times, all stages of meditative attainment, all places, all realms, and all dharmas. "Pervading all times" means that the eighth consciousness exists moment after moment, never leaving sentient beings, never leaving the seventh consciousness, the manas, and never leaving the five aggregates (pañca-skandha). "Pervading all stages" means that sentient beings in the nine stages of the three realms all have the existence of the eighth consciousness; all sentient beings have the eighth consciousness. Every sentient being existing in the nine stages of the three realms has the eighth consciousness; even after leaving the three realms and entering nirvāṇa without remainder, the eighth consciousness still exists — only there is no longer any sentient being self.
"Pervading all places" means that the eighth consciousness pervades the six faculties and also pervades the six sense objects; whenever a sentient being's six faculties contact the six sense objects, the eighth consciousness is present and manifest. "Pervading all realms" means that the eighth consciousness is present in the six faculties, present in the six sense objects, and also present in the six consciousnesses. "Pervading all dharmas" means that as long as a dharma exists, whether or not it can be cognized, the eighth consciousness upholds it; whether it is material form (rūpa) or mind, the eighth consciousness holds it; whether it is a conditioned dharma or an unconditioned dharma, the eighth consciousness upholds it; as long as there is an existing dharma — all human affairs, events, and phenomena — the eighth consciousness upholds it.
Many people do not understand whether the luminous knowing mind free of thoughts is the sixth consciousness or the eighth consciousness. Now let us analyze what the original face of this luminous knowing mind free of thoughts actually is. "Free of thoughts" means that at this moment there happen to be no thoughts or delusions; "luminous knowing" means vividly aware knowing — knowing that one is free of thoughts, knowing that one has no thoughts, knowing that one temporarily has no delusions or thinking, and even, in this thought-free state, still being able to know other realms. So how many consciousnesses are there in this thought-free state? Since the eighth consciousness pervades all times, the eighth consciousness certainly exists at this time; otherwise there would be no existence of the five aggregates, no existence of the seven consciousnesses, and no existence of the thought-free state.
Is there a seventh consciousness at this time? Of course there is. If there were no seventh consciousness, the sentient being would have entered nirvāṇa without remainder, and the state of luminous knowing free of thoughts could not possibly appear. Is there a sixth consciousness here? Of course there is also. Except in five situations where the sixth consciousness ceases — when asleep and dreamless, when unconscious, at death, in the concentration of no perception (asaṃjñā-samāpatti), and in the concentration of cessation (nirodha-samāpatti) — and the luminous knowing free of thoughts does not belong to these five situations, this shows that the sixth consciousness mind also exists. Moreover, it can still know the dharma-viṣaya realm of being without thoughts, which shows that during the luminous knowing free of thoughts, the mind that knows is precisely the sixth consciousness. As for whether the first five consciousnesses are present during the luminous knowing free of thoughts: as long as one can know that the five sense objects of form, sound, smell, taste, and touch exist, that is the knowing of the five consciousnesses.
Since during the luminous knowing free of thoughts there are at least three consciousnesses — the eighth, seventh, and sixth — and perhaps even the first five consciousnesses, if someone claims to have been enlightened at this time, which consciousness was realized? Here there is a great difference: if one awakens correctly, one has awakened to the eighth consciousness; if one awakens incorrectly, one has awakened to the sixth consciousness. The seventh consciousness is generally not easy to awaken to, and the eighth consciousness is also not easy to awaken to; this requires special conditions. These special conditions are the conditions of the bodhisattva's six perfections taught by the Buddha. If the conditions of the six perfections are not complete, it is impossible to awaken to the eighth consciousness, impossible to see the mind and become a true bodhisattva of definitive meaning, impossible to leave the stage of an ordinary being, and thereby one cannot avoid falling into the three evil destinies in the future.
If this person's cultivation is deficient in merit, without keeping precepts, with insufficiently good mental disposition, insufficient forbearance, not diligent in the study and practice of generosity (dāna), precepts, forbearance, meditative concentration, and prajñā, without even attaining preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), with incomplete knowledge and view of the Buddha-dharma, and without understanding the nature of the eighth consciousness — then it is evident that this person could never awaken to the eighth consciousness under any circumstances. If someone believes they were enlightened at this time, they must carefully examine which consciousness they actually realized. Only after studying and thoroughly understanding the natures of all eight consciousnesses can one judge one's own and others' realizations and know what was realized.
4. How to Distinguish the Knowing of the Mind Consciousness from the Knowing of the True Mind?
Question: If one can see the mind and see the nature upon reaching preparatory concentration and the first dhyāna, then at that time how does one distinguish whether the knowing is that of the mind consciousness or that of the true mind? What mind is seen in seeing the mind, and what nature is seen in seeing the nature?
Answer: Meditative concentration is one of the conditions for seeing the mind and seeing the nature; if the other conditions are not met, even with preparatory concentration and first dhyāna, one still cannot see the mind and see the nature. Seeing the mind and seeing the nature means that the seven deluded consciousnesses realize the true mind and the Buddha-nature; it is the knowing and realization of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. At the time of seeing the mind, one directly observes the rough workings of the eighth consciousness within the body of the five aggregates, and understands the origin of the body of the five aggregates.
The knowing and clarity at the time of seeing the mind are the knowing and clarity of the deluded mind; the object of knowing and clarity is the eighth consciousness, whereas the true mind, the eighth consciousness, does not know or clarify the principle of enlightenment and seeing the mind; the true mind does not seek itself, does not realize itself, does not clarify itself. The mind consciousness is an excellent tool for cultivation and living; it can discern all dharmas and understand all dharmas. Without the mind consciousness, there would be no way to guide the manas to investigate Chan and investigate the eighth consciousness, and the manas would know and understand nothing. In studying Buddhism and cultivating, one must make full use of the mind consciousness, using it to analyze, deliberate, judge, infer, and verify, guiding the manas to investigate, and finally realizing all dharmas and directly perceiving all dharmas. When investigating Chan and engaging in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), do not extinguish the mind consciousness; if the mind consciousness is extinguished, the manas cannot investigate Chan or engage in contemplative practice, and without a guide, it will be at a loss.
5. When the Prior Thought Has Ceased and the Later Thought Has Not Yet Arisen, What Is the State in Between?
When the prior thought has ceased and the later thought has not yet arisen, this does not mean the seven consciousnesses have ceased or that the seven consciousnesses have not arisen; on the contrary, all seven consciousnesses exist and are operating. Among them, the seventh consciousness can only cease when a fourth-fruit arhat enters nirvāṇa without remainder; no one else has the ability to extinguish it. Ordinary beings have no ability to extinguish it; bodhisattvas on the bhūmis and all Buddhas, although capable of extinguishing it, are unwilling to do so; therefore the seventh consciousness does not cease. When we occasionally have no thoughts, or in the intermediate state between the arising of thoughts, the mind consciousness or the five sense consciousnesses have not ceased; they still exist and operate, and there is still a knowing present, knowing that one temporarily has no thoughts at this moment. This knowing is the arising-and-ceasing deluded mind with the mind consciousness as the primary; if one takes this mind to be the eighth consciousness, that is erroneous enlightenment.
In this state, the eye consciousness can still see forms, the ear consciousness can still hear sounds, the nose consciousness can still smell scents, the tongue consciousness can still perceive tastes in the mouth, the body consciousness can still perceive whether the body is comfortable, and the mind consciousness can still know whether one has thoughts. At this time all six consciousnesses are present, the manas is also present, and the eighth consciousness necessarily exists. Thus, when there are no thoughts, all eight consciousnesses are present. So what exactly is this interval when the prior thought has ceased and the later thought has not arisen? It is a temporary concentration in which the mind does not cling to the mental sense object; there is still the existence of the mind consciousness and the existence of the manas — it is not the eighth consciousness alone. Therefore, being enlightened at this time does not necessarily mean realizing the eighth consciousness; if the mind consciousness is thought-free and does not know or recognize the eighth consciousness, then enlightenment is even more impossible.
When there are no thoughts, there are at least three consciousnesses present — the sixth, seventh, and eighth — and at this time it is possible to awaken to the eighth consciousness. But ordinary people lack the ability to awaken to the eighth consciousness because they do not meet the conditions for enlightenment; the mental disposition of ordinary beings (pṛthagjana) is far from being subdued, and they are not yet qualified to be bodhisattvas of definitive meaning, so they cannot see the eighth consciousness therein and attain realization. Therefore, they often take the thought-free mind consciousness to be the true mind, the eighth consciousness, and thus fall into erroneous enlightenment — a mistaken realization.
The true mind and the deluded mind exist simultaneously. Finding the deluded mind is easy; finding the true mind is very difficult, requiring certain causal conditions. If the causal conditions are not complete, one cannot realize the true mind, the eighth consciousness. Without realizing the eighth consciousness, one cannot begin cultivation from the eighth consciousness; only after finding the eighth consciousness can one begin cultivation after enlightenment. The thought-free mind consciousness is especially easily confused with the eighth consciousness. Many people think that a thought-free mind consciousness is the eighth consciousness; in fact, whether you have thoughts or not, He has always existed — He did not come to exist only after cultivation.
When the ancient patriarchs investigated Chan and awakened, some awakened upon seeing forms, some upon hearing sounds, some upon being struck or shouted at, and some upon being squeezed by a door; the ways of awakening are varied and highly flexible. It is not necessary to awaken only when there are no thoughts; in fact, trying to become enlightened when there are no thoughts is extremely difficult. Therefore, the patriarchs did not permit their disciples to cultivate thought-free concentration; even if thought-free concentration is achieved, it cannot bring enlightenment.
By reading many Chan public cases (gong'an), one can know that most patriarchs' awakenings were true awakenings, and thus they were people who had attained the Way. Modern people lack sufficient roots of goodness and merit, often transmit the Buddha-dharma incorrectly, causing sentient beings to take detours in their practice; our discerning ability is still insufficient, and we cannot distinguish right from wrong. If the thought-free state were the eighth consciousness, then when thoughts appear again a moment later, has the eighth consciousness disappeared? Would the eighth consciousness not then become something subject to arising and ceasing? "Lucid and clear" — "lucid" means knowing, and "clear" means understanding, which is also knowing. As long as there is knowing, it is the deluded mind; the true mind does not know and is not lucidly clear.
The mind that is lucid and clear can know various realms; it is not without knowing. What can know the six sense objects is not the true mind; the true mind does not know the six sense objects. What state one is currently in — the true mind does not know; this is precisely what the mind consciousness can know and discern. This is the key to realization. The mind consciousness is sometimes free of thoughts and is luminously aware — but this is still knowing. A mind that can know the six sense objects is not the true mind. Everyone should compare this with the ancient Chan teachings, seeing how the patriarchs awakened, when they awakened, and what they awakened to.
When the Sixth Patriarch awakened, he came to know the five declarations of "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)". If one awakens to a luminous knowing mind free of thoughts, one could never, under any circumstances, come to know the five declarations of "how unforeseen is self-nature". Compare with the Heart Sūtra: the true mind is unborn and unceasing, forever unchanging, whereas this luminous knowing mind is subject to arising and ceasing, now present and now absent, unable to be maintained for long. Therefore, whether the luminous knowing mind is the true mind or the deluded mind should now be clear in your mind. This issue is extremely critical; one must be careful. The great matter of birth and death cannot be treated vaguely. In studying the Dharma, be careful and cautious, verify from many angles; if you happen to learn wrongly, that is not a matter of just one lifetime!
6. The Difference Between True Knowing and True Awareness Versus Deluded Knowing and Deluded Awareness
Sentient beings have seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing only through the six faculties: seeing forms through the eye faculty, hearing sounds through the ear faculty, smelling scents through the nose faculty, tasting flavors through the tongue faculty, perceiving touch through the body faculty, and knowing dharmas through the mind faculty. The awareness at the gates of the six faculties includes the deluded awareness and knowing of the first five consciousnesses and the mind consciousness, as well as the true awareness and true knowing of suchness (tathatā). But the natures of these two kinds of awareness are utterly different, and the objects and scope of their content also differ. Knowing dressing and eating, knowing moving, standing, sitting, and lying down, knowing movement and stillness — these are all the knowing of the six consciousnesses, because the six consciousnesses have the capacity to know the six sense objects. The mind of suchness does not correspond to the six sense objects, and therefore does not know the six sense objects. The mind consciousness is a dharma of arising, ceasing, and change; therefore, the knowing that knows the six sense objects is a conditioned dharma of arising and ceasing, not the unborn and unceasing knowing of suchness. Suchness has never known, and will never know, the six sense objects.
Some people think that lucid luminous knowing is suchness; it is not — that is the nature of the mind consciousness, the knowing of the mind consciousness, because its object of knowing is the realms of the six sense objects, and the knowing itself is also a knowing subject to arising, ceasing, and change; it is not true knowing. True knowing never arises, ceases, or changes. Even when the mind consciousness is not giving rise to deluded thoughts, it can still discern and know the six sense objects, and this knowing is precisely the aggregate of perception and the mental factor of perception (saṃjñā) — this is exactly the function of the deluded mind; suchness has never known the six sense objects.
When the eye sees forms, four consciousnesses can give rise to the function of awareness: the eye consciousness, the mind consciousness, the manas, and the eighth consciousness. If, at the time of seeing forms, one believes oneself enlightened, one must examine which of the four consciousnesses one realized — a true consciousness or a deluded consciousness, or a combined entity of true and deluded? If the conditions of the bodhisattva's six perfections are not complete, one cannot realize suchness.
When the ear hears sounds, the nose smells scents, the tongue tastes flavors, and the body perceives touch, four consciousnesses each participate in discernment and perform the function of awareness. Only by finding the true eighth consciousness therein can one claim to have been enlightened; taking the mind consciousness as the true mind is only erroneous enlightenment and misunderstanding, and speaking of it to others constitutes grave false speech karma, bringing evil retribution in future lives. Therefore, in studying Buddhism and cultivating, one should be careful and cautious, and not misunderstand the Buddha-dharma.
For many people, enlightenment means realizing a mind of unobscured luminous knowing, realizing a mind consciousness of unobscured luminous knowing without thoughts, with not a single thought arising — and indeed it then requires sustaining and maintaining, requiring that this mind consciousness constantly have no delusions and no thoughts, making the mind consciousness resemble the nature of the true eighth consciousness, so that it can remain in a state of so-called enlightenment, as if only thus were it the thought-free suchness, the eighth consciousness. This so-called enlightenment requires continual cultivation of concentration to maintain the absence of delusions and deluded thoughts — yet it is not the suchness, the eighth consciousness, of which the Sixth Patriarch spoke as "ever abiding in concentration". This takes the deluded mind as suchness, finding a false suchness — not the suchness, the eighth consciousness, that originally has no thoughts, not the suchness, the eighth consciousness, that originally requires no cultivation. Realizing the eighth consciousness requires no sustaining and maintaining: the eighth consciousness never runs away, is never lost, never gives rise to thoughts at any time; He cannot be driven away by beating, cannot be extinguished — what need is there for you to sustain and maintain Him?
The existence of the self-substance of suchness, the eighth consciousness, is truly real, although He cannot be seen, touched, or felt. He does not exist in the form of the marks of the six sense objects, nor does He exist in any mark of the world of the three realms; His mode of existence is very special. No matter how sentient beings think and imagine, they cannot imagine Him; therefore, seeing the mind and realizing Him is extremely difficult, whereas realizing the mind consciousness is very easy — it does not require much merit, nor much precept, concentration, and wisdom; the mind consciousness can be easily discovered, and so there are very many people with false enlightenment. If discovering the mind consciousness counted as enlightenment, would saints not be running everywhere?
