Observing the Five Aggregates to Cut Through the View of Self (Part 2)

Chapter 4: The Difference Between the Small and Great Vehicles

I. How to Recognize Emptiness?

In the process of studying and practicing the Buddha's teachings, through long-term and extensive observation, once the wisdom for understanding people, affairs, and phenomena has been elevated, one's thoughts and views will change; when views change, attitudes change; when attitudes change, behavior changes; when behavior changes, karma changes; when karma changes, retribution changes; and when retribution changes, liberation follows. With wisdom, one can fully and effectively recognize the emptiness and illusory nature of all dharmas, and no longer grasps at or clings to them. When the world becomes empty and tranquil, the mind becomes at ease, and one is liberated. When one recognizes emptiness, one will feel that nothing in the world really matters; one muddles through worldly affairs, and whether there is benefit in the mundane world or not is unimportant—what matters is that the mind is empty, that body, speech, and mind have changed, that one no longer creates karmic actions of greed, hatred, and delusion, and that one's retribution becomes wholesome. If one still cannot recognize emptiness, there is a self in the mind; where there is a self, there are afflictions and karmic actions of affliction.      

Emptiness should be recognized gradually and deeply from three aspects. The deepest is to recognize it from the perspective of the tathāgatagarbha, but without realizing the tathāgatagarbha, one cannot recognize emptiness in this way. Somewhat deeper is to recognize it from the perspective of the twelve links of dependent origination and the Four Noble Truths. The shallowest recognition of emptiness is from the perspective of worldly dharmas; this is an accumulation of experience and clever wisdom, the wisdom of worldly sages—certainly not ultimate, but still better than those without wisdom who cling to existence. The most thorough and ultimate recognition is to understand all dharmas from the perspective of the functions and operations of the seeds of the seven great elements within the tathāgatagarbha. In this way, one can be empty to the utmost extreme—even emptiness is empty, and the emptiness of emptiness is also empty, cutting off all mind and objects; all dharmas and objects become superfluous. At such a point, there is nothing more to be said; whatever is spoken is not it. There is no understanding beyond words, let alone transmission through words.

II. The Difference Between the Emptiness Realized in the Small and Great Vehicles

The emptiness of the five aggregates realized in the Small Vehicle and the emptiness of the five aggregates realized in the Great Vehicle differ in essence. Precisely because of this difference, the mental capacity, power of vows, and spiritual conduct of Small and Great Vehicle practitioners differ. After attaining liberation, Small Vehicle practitioners enter nirvāṇa without remainder, whereas Great Vehicle practitioners, after attaining liberation, never enter nirvāṇa without remainder. The emptiness of the five aggregates realized by Small Vehicle practitioners is realized at the level of outward appearances—it is the emptiness realized by observing the arising, abiding, alteration, and cessation of the phenomena of the five aggregates. Such emptiness is not ultimate, does not reach the bottom, and is still partial; therefore their wisdom is shallow, and their conduct and vows are also shallow. The emptiness of the five aggregates realized by Great Vehicle practitioners is realized from the essence of the five aggregates—they see that the essence of the five aggregates is born from the tathāgatagarbha, and therefore they no longer care about the five aggregates, nor do they seek ways to extinguish them; hence their conduct and vows are great.

For example, when some people see a person being born and then dying, they know that a person is impermanent, perishable, and cannot be held onto, and is therefore empty. But other people not only see this—they also see that this person is actually conjured up by a magician, that birth and death are controlled by the magician, and that even after death, the magician can conjure the person up again; both birth and death are false appearances. Such people no longer grasp at this illusory person, yet they also do not deliberately avoid or abandon him.

In fact, the emptiness that Small Vehicle practitioners conceive of is an emptiness opposed to existence—this is still another kind of existence. Precisely because the Small Vehicle practitioners' emptiness remains at the level of surface phenomena and is not an emptiness of the essence, they all try to extinguish and discard it, try to avoid it, and fear the world of the five aggregates—this is another kind of existence. If one is truly empty, what is there to avoid? What is there to fear? One would not seek ways to extinguish it. For example, when the heavenly maiden scattered flowers, the Small Vehicle practitioners, fearing the flowers would touch their bodies, avoided the flowers and shook off the flowers on their bodies, believing that flowers touching the body was contrary to the Dharma. But the Great Vehicle practitioners paid no attention to these flowers; even covered in flowers from head to toe, it made no difference to them—and so the flowers did not stick to their bodies at all.

Why do Great Vehicle bodhisattvas have such a state of mind? Because the bodhisattvas know that the flowers are illusory false appearances and cannot have any substantial effect; the material body is also like this. An illusory body and illusory flowers—what obstruction is there? What is contrary to the Dharma about it? These dharmas all need to be personally realized and experienced through one's own practice. Without personal realization, even if one understands them very well, one cannot reach the mark; in mental conduct one still cannot be empty. Small Vehicle practitioners believe there truly is an emptiness; Great Vehicle practitioners believe that even emptiness is empty, and the emptiness of emptiness is also empty—only when emptiness is exhausted is one truly home.

III. The Difference Between the Emptiness of the Small and Great Vehicles

The emptiness of "all dharmas are empty" has two aspects of meaning. One aspect is the meaning of the emptiness of the world of the five aggregates as taught from the perspective of Small Vehicle dharma—its level is relatively shallow and its scope relatively narrow, not encompassing all dharmas. The other aspect is the meaning of the emptiness of the world of the five aggregates and the emptiness of all dharmas as taught from the perspective of Great Vehicle dharma—its level becomes ever deeper; it is emptiness at the root, emptiness of the essence, emptiness in the ultimate sense, finally reaching complete and thorough emptiness, with a scope that encompasses all dharmas without the slightest omission. Small Vehicle dharma teaches the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of the world of the five aggregates. This emptiness refers to dharmas that arise and cease, change, and are impermanent: as long as something arises, it will change and even cease; it cannot abide permanently or last long. Dharmas that arise and cease are dharmas without the nature of self—this is the Small Vehicle's emptiness.

The Great Vehicle's emptiness is that after realizing the tathāgatagarbha, one directly perceives that the world of the five aggregates and all dharmas are manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, and are therefore all empty; these dharmas also arise and cease, change, and are not real. Clearly, the Great Vehicle's emptiness is more fundamental, more ultimate, and more thorough, making the principle of emptiness clear. From the perspective of the consciousness-only seed-wisdom of bodhisattvas on the bhūmis, all objects seen before one's eyes are manifested by the mind; the dharmas that are transformed and produced are illusory and not real. It is like a magician conjuring a bouquet of fresh flowers out of thin air: although this bouquet of flowers exists in appearance, in essence it is empty and nonexistent—its existence is a false appearance. Great Vehicle dharma expounds the emptiness, falsity, and middle way of all worldly dharmas, whereas the Small Vehicle's emptiness is relatively shallow: it has no "falsity" and no "middle"; it only observes that worldly dharmas are impermanent, changing, and unlasting. It lacks that falsity of being illusorily conjured, fails to grasp the essence of dharmas, and its observational wisdom is relatively shallow.

Whether the practice is of the Great Vehicle or the Small Vehicle, it is all about breaking the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates, enabling the seven consciousnesses and five aggregates to possess the wisdom of emptiness. If one has been steeped in many teachings and has a rich theoretical knowledge, able to write numerous argumentative essays, yet the mind is not empty, treating all the theories one has learned as truly existent dharmas, this is learning knowledge, not practice—it runs counter to practice.

Especially in studying Great Vehicle dharma, if one becomes immersed in profound and interesting theories, constantly absorbing knowledge, diligently exploring and researching, organizing and categorizing, analyzing in minute detail, and grasping at all the dharmas manifested by the tathāgatagarbha as existent dharmas—clinging to existence and not being empty—none of this is practice. Practice is to rely on theory to realize emptiness and break ignorance, changing one's mental conduct and mental nature. Mental nature can only be changed when the mind is empty; when mental nature changes, mental conduct can change accordingly, and retribution can change from evil retribution to wholesome retribution. Every student must remember that the purpose of studying Buddhism is to attain an empty mind—"with the mind empty, one returns in triumph." Practice is not doing scholarship, not accumulating knowledge or researching theories; therefore one must not cling to principle while discarding practice—one must unify principle and practice, with principle and practice perfectly fused without obstruction.

IV. The Difference in Realizing the Path Between the Small and Great Vehicles

Eradicating the view of self is the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the principle that the five aggregates are without self, and does not involve the eighth consciousness. Realizing the eighth consciousness requires studying the Mahāyāna prajñā. After the mind consciousness has acquired considerable correct prajñā knowledge and views, one must then practice meditative concentration and investigate Chan, investigating the eighth consciousness, in order to realize the path of the Great Vehicle. The methods and content of practice differ between the Small and Great Vehicles, and after realizing the path, the level and content of the empty mind also differ. The Small Vehicle's eradication of the view of self realizes the emptiness of the five aggregates as without self—an emptiness that is merely a kind of "nothingness"; whereas the emptiness after realizing the path in the Great Vehicle includes that Small Vehicle kind of "nothingness" emptiness, and also includes realizing the unique emptiness-nature inherent in the eighth consciousness itself—knowing how the eighth consciousness itself is empty, and also being able to observe how the five-aggregate body born from it is empty. Therefore the Great Vehicle's emptiness is more ultimate than the Small Vehicle's emptiness, closer to the truth, and better reveals the true reality of the dharma realm. At the time of realizing the path, the wisdom of the two differs greatly.

V. The Emptiness of the Small and Great Vehicles Is Not the Same Realm

The emptiness of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas and the emptiness of the tathāgatagarbha that is empty are two different realms, vastly different, and must not be conflated. Of the three kinds of emptiness of the tathāgatagarbha, whichever one it is, one must realize the tathāgatagarbha before one can engage in direct contemplative observation; it is utterly different from the Small Vehicle's emptiness. The empty mind after realizing the tathāgatagarbha and the emptiness before realizing the tathāgatagarbha must not be conflated—their natures differ, and their mental states differ. "Originally there is no bodhi tree" is the Small Vehicle's emptiness; at that time the tathāgatagarbha had not yet been realized, and it had no connection with the empty tathāgatagarbha. Later, upon hearing the Diamond Sutra speak of the five "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)" verses, only then was the tathāgatagarbha realized.

VI. The Meaning of Emptiness in "Form Is Impermanent, Suffering, Empty, and Not Self"

Every dharma has meanings at different levels, and people of different wisdom will naturally have understandings at different levels. Small Vehicle practitioners understand it as the emptiness of disintegration and destruction; Great Vehicle practitioners, in addition to this, add the emptiness-nature of the tathāgatagarbha; bodhisattvas on the bhūmis and the Buddhas see form as the operation of the seeds of the four great elements—empty to an even greater degree. Material form is itself an empty mark; this profound principle absolutely cannot be observed by bodhisattvas before the bhūmis, who cannot truly understand its actual content. The Buddhas observe form directly down to its source. Newly enlightened bodhisattvas can only understand form as born from the emptiness-nature of the eighth consciousness; their power of observation is weak, and their understanding is largely inferential.

However, "impermanent, suffering, empty, and not self" mainly refers to the Small Vehicle's dharma of disintegration and destruction. From the preceding "form is impermanent," one realizes that form is suffering; then one realizes that form disintegrates and does not abide long; finally one will realize that form is not the un-disintegrating subject representing the self that we have believed in since beginningless kalpas.

VII. The Practice Map of the Small and Great Vehicles

The true point of entry for practice: in the Small Vehicle, the Sūtra on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness is the point of entry for actual practice, and so is the Sūtra on Dhyāna and Samādhi. In the Great Vehicle, the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (Pitāputrasamāgamasūtra) is where the World-Honored One had his father engage in contemplative practice of all dharmas as like a dream; it only discusses theory, because it is an entry method for guiding beginning students—only a similar understanding of "like a dream," not a realization.

As for the practice map of the Small and Great Vehicles, of course one first engages in contemplative practice to eradicate the view of self and realize the fruit, and only then investigates Chan. The methods of investigating Chan, the methods of eradicating the view of self, and the methods of cultivating meditative concentration have all been explained already. Without eradicating the view of self, investigating Chan will yield no result; if investigating Chan is not accomplished, do not even think about the contemplation of illusoriness, do not even think about the third gate of the Chan school, the gate of mirage, or the contemplation of all as like a dream, let alone the dharmas cultivated by bodhisattvas on the bhūmis thereafter. One may seek materials to be steeped in, but no matter how one practices, it is all merely immersion—absolute realization is impossible. The sequence and route of practice are very clear: cultivate meditative concentration and study theory, then engage in contemplative practice to eradicate the view of self, and after realizing the fruit, investigate Chan to see the mind. If these cannot be attained, talking about anything else is useless. Those without great or exceptionally great faculties cannot skip stages in practice. Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats who have returned can do so; everyone else cannot leap over it no matter how they jump.

Bodhisattvas at and above the first bhūmi can fully comprehend the Small Vehicle Buddha-dharma, but only partially comprehend the Great Vehicle; only the Buddha fully comprehends everything. Without personal realization, there is only understanding, and what is merely understood can never be called complete comprehension. Because there is no personal realization, not a single dharma can be penetrated, and no realm of wisdom can be reached. As for transformation of the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti), without personal realization, transformation of the basis is also impossible. Only after personally realizing the eighth consciousness can one gradually transform the basis; when a portion of the transformation of the basis has succeeded, the mind-ground has changed, and consciousness has been transformed into wisdom—that is already a bodhisattva at or above the first bhūmi. Ordinary people cannot speak of transformation of the basis: their mind-grounds are full of greed, hatred, and delusion; they have not even eradicated the initial view of self, and carrying such a towering self with such severe obscurations, what could they possibly transform the basis into?

Without meditative concentration, one cannot even attain concentration in recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti), cannot attain concentration in reciting mantras, cannot sustain contemplation of the breath—if even basic meditative concentration cannot be cultivated, how could one have the ability to engage in contemplative practice of the five aggregates as without self, how could one eradicate the view of self? How could one investigate Chan and see the mind? Without seeing the mind, talking about anything else is simply far too remote.