Cultivation and Zen Practice for Attaining Enlightenment (Part Two)
Chapter 7 How to Investigate Chan
1. What does "the Chan school does not establish written words" mean?
The Chan school is also called the "school of the Source" (zongmen). The source of the Buddha-dharma is the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha, and the Chan school is the dharma gate of investigating Chan to awaken to the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha. There are two reasons for not establishing written words: first, throughout the entire process of investigating Chan, language, written words, and sounds are not used, because at that time one must investigate Chan within profound meditative concentration (samādhi), with the manas and the mind consciousness investigating together, thus abiding in a state without language, words, or sounds. When there is language, words, and sounds, thinking is shallow, abiding in a state where the mind consciousness alone intellectually interprets, and the manas cannot exert any force; second, the tathāgatagarbha of the school of the Source itself has no language, words, or sounds, and does not correspond to language and words—whatever is conveyed through language and words is not He.
Therefore, when investigating Chan, the language, words, and sounds of both the one transmitting the dharma and the one receiving it become useless; all books and theories become useless; the investigator no longer needs to mutter, ramble, or hum and haw in the mind, having stripped away all external reference objects for comparison. In this way, one can no longer roam freely and boundlessly with emotional thoughts and intellectual interpretations, giving full rein to inference and non-valid cognition; the mind consciousness has no room to perform, and one honestly relies entirely on the manas's direct-perception pondering and investigating. Although it is arduous and one lies sleepless through the night, the results are abundant: the manas's potential and wisdom can be brought into full play. Once one awakens and digs out one's own family treasure, from then on one will live a free and prosperous life, never again having to wander destitute, begging to get through bitter days.
At this time, external written words and the sounds in the mind are of no use and cannot exert any force; one can only rely on one's own wisdom. Only thus can one develop the great wisdom inherent in oneself. Reasoning, analysis, organizing, summarizing, breaking apart, integrating, conjecturing, imagining, comparing, scriptural inference, theories, knowledge, learning—all are of no use; the mind consciousness rests and no longer needs to toil. At this time, a responsible Chan master will tell you to put the Buddhist sūtras aside, forbid reading sūtras and books, and the ruler awaits those who violate this. Once the investigation reaches a critical moment, being struck is absolutely a good thing. Although language and words are all of no use, one can still be struck; when being struck there is likewise no language, words, or thinking, yet it can trigger the manas's inspiration.
When the master delivers the stick, if the mind consciousness is very active, it will immediately think and analyze, saying "this might be it," but the result is: wrong! The mind consciousness then analyzes and reasons: "true and false conjoined—this is not wrong," but the result is still: wrong! You further use the process of elimination to infer and conjecture: "this is not the eye consciousness, not the ear, nose, or body consciousness, nor the mind consciousness or the manas—it must be the eighth consciousness," but in the end the result is still: wrong! If you dare to move the mind consciousness, no matter how, it comes down to one word: wrong! After three wrongs, if you still fail to awaken, the Chan master will push you out of the Chan hall, may even push you out of the Chan monastery or temple, and will no longer want you, because you are not yet a suitable vessel for the Path and have no qualification to investigate Chan. Of course, a fully qualified Chan master will not strike the stick randomly; he will surely discern the psychological state of the investigator and deliver the stick at the most opportune moment—this is called the blow that meets the moment, casting off all sense objects and sentiments; recognizing through direct perception that which is neither sense object nor sentiment—that is it.
The patriarchs and masters of the past always said: if the thieving mind does not die, one cannot awaken to the Way; if the bandit's mind does not die, one cannot awaken to the Way. What minds do "thieving mind" and "bandit's mind" refer to? Both refer to the mind consciousness. Stealing what prevents awakening to the Way? Stealing answers prevents awakening to the Way. When investigating Chan, how can the thieving mind be removed? Cultivate the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), and within samādhi use the manas to investigate deeply, discarding the mind consciousness's interpretations. The thieving mind during Chan investigation can also be called the opportunistic mind, the shortcut-taking mind—the mind that directly takes knowledge and theories from elsewhere and treats them as realization, as personal verification. Because it is not personally verified by the manas itself, what the mind consciousness opportunistically fetches over is called stealing. In the past, a phrase was often used to describe the dharma teachings of patriarchs with genuine realization: it was said that these teachings were all dug out from their own chest. This means that the dharma the patriarchs taught was all realized by themselves, the crystallization of their own wisdom—not ready-made theoretical knowledge carted over from elsewhere by the mind consciousness, nor learned theories that were organized, summarized, processed, and repackaged as their own. None of this counts as awakening to the Way, and it will also delay awakening.
What is called the immediate manifestation from one's own mind (sva-citta-pratyakṣa)? Only what is dug out from one's own bosom is called the immediate manifestation from one's own mind; "bosom" and "pit of the heart" both refer to the deep place of the manas, the master. The opposite of this is what the mind consciousness effortlessly interprets out, what is figured out without cultivating precepts, samādhi, and wisdom or the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, what is deduced by comparing and cross-referencing learned theories and knowledge with others' views—this is pretty much taking it over for free. The mind consciousness acting this way is pretty much stealing. If the thieving mind does not die, the manas cannot deliberate (manasikāra) and investigate, and one cannot realize the Way. What the mind consciousness learns of extensive dharma is, in substance, all stealing, because it is not from the bosom, not one's own—it is all dharma from elsewhere, dharma that enters through the ears and exits through the mouth, dharma learned and immediately resold; none of it is one's own family treasure.
2. The treasury of the true dharma eye and the wondrous mind of nirvāṇa, transmitted separately outside the teachings
At the assembly on Vulture Peak, the World-Honored One held a flower offered by a deva and smiled faintly at the assembly of disciples. The entire assembly of humans and devas was bewildered; only Mahākāśyapa responded to the World-Honored One with a smile. With the flesh eye, divine eye, wisdom eye, dharma eye, and buddha eye, the World-Honored One saw that Mahākāśyapa had suddenly awakened to the mind of the Chan school, whereupon he said: 我有正法眼藏涅槃妙心，实相无相，付与摩诃迦叶。This sealed and confirmed Mahākāśyapa's sudden awakening, and thus Mahākāśyapa became the first-generation patriarch of the Chan school in the Sahā world.
The wondrous mind of nirvāṇa refers to the true mind and self-nature of each sentient being, ever abiding in nirvāṇa, subtly manifesting as dharma—the most real of dharma-marks. Yet this dharma-mark has no worldly mark whatsoever: no marks of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas. Because of the obscuration of ignorance, the seven consciousnesses of sentient beings simply do not recognize this wondrous mind of nirvāṇa. In this gong'an, not only is the World-Honored One's wondrous mind of nirvāṇa manifest at every moment, Mahākāśyapa's wondrous mind of nirvāṇa is also manifest at every moment, and even the wondrous minds of nirvāṇa of the countless humans and devas in the assembly are manifest at every moment. Alas, sentient beings simply do not recognize it! The mind is blocked by ignorance, spiritual wisdom cannot be opened, the wisdom eye does not manifest—what can be done?
Only Mahākāśyapa proved worthy of being the Buddha's foremost great disciple; tacitly according with the Buddha's intent, when he saw the Buddha holding up the flower and displaying it to the assembly, his wisdom eye saw through the Buddha's wondrous essence-bright mind, and so he smiled. His subtle wisdom in seeing through the hidden mechanism was also seen through by the Buddha, and between master and disciple there was thus a communication of mind—mind sealing mind, without written words or language. The wondrous dharma of the Chan school was thus transmitted to completion under the clear gaze of all; afterward there is a passage of text supplementing it, namely that passage spoken by the World-Honored One: 我有涅槃妙心，实相无相，传予摩诃迦叶……。
Why can the dharma of the Chan school be transmitted separately outside the teachings? Because the wondrous mind and wondrous dharma transmitted can be grasped by the mind, not confined to language and words. If it could only be confined to words and language, it would not be wondrous. The wondrous mind is wondrous in that it can move within all dharmas, being picky about no dharma; the wondrous mind and wondrous dharma have nothing to do with language and words—it works on every dharma, everywhere is He. Where is He not? The pure and the defiled, the audible and the soundless, the written and the unwritten—He is vividly alive upon all dharmas.
For forty-nine years the World-Honored One used language and words to expound the Tripiṭaka and the twelve divisions of scriptures, everywhere manifesting the wondrous mind of nirvāṇa—this is the gate of teaching and the gate of principle. But it is still somewhat roundabout. This time the World-Honored One displayed to the assembly something most direct, most clean-cut, most exhilarating, directly pointing to the mind—without saying a single word, just swaying a single flower before the assembly. Ah! The assembly anxiously fretted, thinking: what is this about? What medicine does the World-Honored One have in his gourd? They could not figure it out. Mahākāśyapa did not need to think—he suddenly awakened in an instant; this was the manas's sudden awakening. The mind consciousness awakens gradually, because the mind consciousness has to think! Whatever is arrived at by thinking is not real; when the patriarchs saw it, they would strike it all dead with a single blow. You fellow of emotional thinking and intellectual understanding—what promise do you have?
The dharma transmitted separately outside the teachings is just exhilarating, just swift—it does not allow you to think. By the time you think, the wild goose has long since flown away, and the cucumber dish has long gone cold. Whoever at such a moment still dares to strike poses and scratch head and ears—straightaway a blow: what sort of place is this, that allows you to ponder left and right, mulling over past and future? Not a suitable vessel for the Path—beating you to death would be no injustice.
What does "treasury of the true dharma eye" mean? Only this eye is most true; all other eyes are not true—arising and ceasing, afflicted with ignorance and afflictions, unable to stand independently, necessarily needing something to lean on—certainly not true. "Treasury" (zàng) means containing and storing: the wondrous mind of nirvāṇa contains and stores the seeds of all dharmas, can generate all dharmas, and the myriad dharmas are contained within it. This is extremely wondrous: creating existence from nothing, conjuring the world, giving the multitude something to rely on, and thereby to grasp all dharmas.
3. Within the samādhi of initial application and sustained examination is precisely where one investigates Chan
Question: In shallow samādhi, one lets the mind consciousness and the manas abide in a very keen state of sustained examination (vicāra). In this state, one feels one can faintly see one's own body and can keenly perceive subtle events occurring within tens of meters around. The state of the conscious mind in sustained examination is: both the mind consciousness and the manas are highly concentrated, passively perceiving the events occurring around, but the conscious mind does not deliberately attend to or discriminate the events occurring—it merely knows that the event is occurring, similar to the state of a detached onlooker whose thoughts do not stir. Is this state in accord with the Dharma?
Answer: The state of sustained examination of course belongs to meditative concentration, and moreover the degree of concentration is relatively deep and unified; the mind is not as coarse and scattered as when there is initial application (vitarka). The state of initial application is also meditative concentration, but shallower, because the mind is scattered and moves more, so concentration is shallow. In the state of sustained examination, the mind does not move yet knows; over time, wisdom-based cognition arises regarding what is known, and one can see through the dharmas known, knowing dharmas to be empty; the mind can then become empty, thereby reaching the state of equanimity.
Both initial application and sustained examination have an object, and only when the object is unified can meditative concentration appear. Some meditative concentrations lack wisdom; some contain wisdom. Only when there is an object within concentration can there be wisdom; empty with no object, there is no wisdom of contemplation—rather, it is pure empty concentration. Both initial application and sustained examination are clear concentration and both belong to right concentration. But at the stage of initial application, concentration is shallow and movement is much, not still enough; the state of sustained examination is the later stage of Chan investigation, the easiest for wisdom to be born. At this time it is the stage of deliberation (manasikāra) dominated by the manas; the mind consciousness does not move, or moves little and lightly.
Question: If one maintains this state of sustained examination in a very quiet environment, one will gradually feel that the surrounding time and space seem frozen, the body seems barely existent, and the conscious mind seems to drift outside the body, quietly perceiving everything. After emerging from this state, one finds one's thinking power and perceiving power considerably stronger than usual—perhaps this is the effect of the conscious mind maintaining concentration? When in this state of sustained examination, as the duration gradually lengthens, one finds the concentration power of the mind consciousness and manas growing greater, the perceiving power ever keener; one also finds the breathing and heartbeat growing slower and slower, ever finer and longer—one really worries that at some moment the breathing and heartbeat will cease and the person will die.
Answer: In the state of sustained examination, the mind consciousness maintains only a knowing, without extraneous thoughts; the manas is undisturbed and will deliberate deeply, subtly, and single-mindedly, and wisdom easily arises. Once the manas's wisdom arises, it can see through the object-realm, see the object-realm as empty, and realization of the Way becomes easy. If the state of sustained examination has not been reached, the mind consciousness's thinking is active, and the manas's pondering will be obstructed, with no true wisdom arising. The results that the mind consciousness works out through thinking, reasoning, analysis, and judgment will not land in the manas; the manas does not accept them. Then no matter what views this person's mind consciousness holds, in the end views remain views and mental conduct remains mental conduct, mutually unrelated, and cultivation still does not get on the path.
Many people claim they have attained fruition, seen the mind, and so on, yet their body-mind world has not changed in the slightest; on the contrary, afflictions grow heavier and heavier, and arrogance blazes all the more. That is the mind consciousness having analyzed and thought out a theory, but the manas does not accept it; what they think and do remains as before—still the old person with the old conduct. The name is a sage's name, the mind is an ordinary person's mind; then they one after another regress and fall back from the path—very pitiable.
4. How to investigate Chan apart from mind, manas, and consciousness
Contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and Chan investigation without meditative concentration, or lacking it, fundamentally cannot depart from the mind consciousness, much less from the mind consciousness's analysis, reasoning, imagination, and guessing. This is the mode of investigating Chan that the Chan patriarchs of the past most tabooed and opposed—the emotional thinking and intellectual understanding that the patriarchs constantly resented and disdained. Therefore, if one wishes to investigate Chan apart from mind, manas, and consciousness, so that the results of investigation are more ultimate and more directly perceived, one must strive to cultivate meditative concentration, bring the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) to completion, and then investigate and contemplate the Buddha-dharma. In this way the manas exerts more effort, which ensures realization, rather than the mind consciousness's interpretation.
In contemplative practice and Chan investigation, the more the mind consciousness is used and the greater its role, the more the effect is discounted, the less satisfactory, the less effective. The more the manas is used and the greater its role, the greater the explosive power, the greater the staying power, the farther one runs, the deeper the awakening, the greater the power of samādhi, the sharper the wisdom, the lighter the afflictions, and the more liberated the mind.
5. How to deliberate and investigate within samādhi of the second dhyāna and above
All Buddhas attained the Way within the samādhi of the fourth dhyāna. Ordinary people, in the second dhyāna, can no longer investigate Chan, because at that time the mind consciousness is too faint to assist the manas in thinking and weighing; one can only rely on the manas's own solitary deliberation. Then, when the Buddhas awakened within the fourth dhyāna—and moreover with extremely deep, extremely deep great awakening, thorough awakening, ultimate awakening, awakening penetrating to the very source of all dharmas—without the mind consciousness's assistance, what kind of wisdom must the manas have had? That one cannot investigate dharma meanings above the second dhyāna is said with regard to ordinary people; in fact, within the second dhyāna and higher concentrations, one can think and investigate, and can enter the Way.
Then how does one deliberate and investigate within samādhi of the second dhyāna and above? One must, before entering samādhi, have the manas possess extremely deep questioning doubt, with every thought being questioning doubt and no other thoughts or ideas; all other dharmas are blocked out, so that one single-mindedly adheres to one dharma, doubting deeply, investigating deeply, single-mindedly wanting to clarify the dharma meaning. In that case, as soon as one sits down and crosses the legs, the mind consciousness will eliminate obvious thoughts, the mind becomes tranquil, not disturbing the manas's deliberation; the five consciousnesses, having nothing to do, cease, the second dhyāna appears, and the manas investigates single-mindedly. When conditions arise and the manas has scattered thoughts, prompting the mind consciousness to produce thoughts, then the five consciousnesses appear, and one emerges from the second dhyāna.
When the manas deliberates and investigates within the samādhi from the second to the fourth dhyāna, not only are the five universal mental factors complete, the five object-specific mental factors must also be complete; its power of determination (adhimokṣa) and power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) are not merely strong but extremely powerful—only then can one awaken to the Way, only then can one investigate dharma meanings through to mastery, give birth to the power of samādhi, and abide within samādhi. If samādhi and wisdom, the power of determination, or the power of mindfulness fall short even a little, one cannot awaken to the Way. Those whose manas's five object-specific mental factors are powerful are no ordinary people—none but sages can achieve this. Ordinary worldlings and worthy ones should cultivate diligently, striving to strengthen the manas's five object-specific mental factors, so that the power of the Path becomes mightier and cultivation of the Way swift.
6. Only within preparatory concentration and the first dhyāna can one investigate the huatou
Question: If seeing the path requires preparatory concentration and the first, second, third, and fourth dhyānas, then does the Chan school's investigating the huatou to awaken and see the path accord with Buddhist principles?
Answer: Without preparatory concentration and the first dhyāna, one cannot investigate the huatou; one can only recite the phrase in the mind—actually reciting the tail of the phrase, for the huatou cannot be found—so how could there be any talk of awakening and seeing the path? Only within preparatory concentration and the first dhyāna can one investigate Chan and awaken to the Way. Above the second dhyāna, the five consciousnesses have ceased and the mind consciousness is faint, unable to investigate Chan—unless the manas has been deeply, deeply steeped in the huatou, in which case it might perhaps investigate alone. In the past, the Chan patriarchs awakened to the Way all within concentration prior to the first dhyāna; they both sat in meditation cultivating tranquil concentration and investigated Chan in daily activities. The two kinds of concentration complemented each other, and awakening came quickly; with only one of the two, awakening is somewhat harder.
7. The relationship between phenomenal practice and principle practice
All dharmas divide into two parts: phenomena and principle. Phenomena are the marks; principle is the principle-substance of the tathāgatagarbha. When discussing phenomena, one must refute the marks' nature of real existence from the standpoint of the marks; at this time one must not speak from the standpoint of principle—the tathāgatagarbha. That would lead some people to regard the marks as real, giving rise to attachment, so that the mind is bound and cannot be liberated.
The Hīnayāna teachings all refute existence from the standpoint of the marks; the Mahāyāna teachings cultivate from both principle and phenomena, refuting the marks from the standpoint of principle. Grasping the principle makes things easier, but the marks are not discarded either—one does not cling to principle and discard phenomena; the requirement is that principle and phenomena be perfectly interfused, with no leaning toward either side; otherwise the Buddha-dharma will not be accomplished. One who cultivates to the ultimate degree of perfect interfusion of principle and phenomena—that is a Buddha. Those whose interfusion of principle and phenomena is not yet ultimate are the bodhisattvas on the bhūmis and the two awakenings of equal and wondrous enlightenment. Bodhisattvas who have seen the mind may perhaps achieve a little interfusion; if the power of observation is lacking, then not even a little interfusion is possible.
If someone who has neither attained fruition nor seen the mind is told that the five aggregates and eighteen realms, all dharmas of the world, are neither arising nor ceasing, he will regard the five aggregates and eighteen realms as real, and there would be nothing wrong, nothing bad, in clinging to these dharmas; consequently he will not seek ways to eliminate his own craving and attachment. In that case, the problem of sentient beings' birth and death cannot be solved. "All dharmas are true suchness" is the result of direct-perception contemplative practice of the bodhisattvas on the bhūmis and the Buddhas. Worldlings can only cultivate step by step from the mark of arising and ceasing (utpāda-nirodha-lakṣaṇa) of the basic five aggregates and eighteen realms; they cannot directly treat the five aggregates and eighteen realms as the neither-arising-nor-ceasing true suchness—no one can directly observe this principle.
The four dhyānas and eight absorptions are phenomenal practice, cultivating marks; marks necessarily have arising and ceasing—there are no marks without arising and ceasing, except the empty mark of the eighth consciousness; the empty mark is without mark, and therefore neither arises nor ceases. The six consciousnesses within the four dhyānas and eight absorptions are, from the standpoint of marks, arising, ceasing, and changing; the seventh consciousness, from the standpoint of marks, is also arising, ceasing, and changing. When discussing dharmas of arising, ceasing, and changing, when cultivating marks, there must be marks of arising, ceasing, and changing. If at this time one were to say that the seven consciousnesses and the four dhyānas and eight absorptions are all neither arising nor ceasing, it would appear incongruous. Since all are neither arising nor ceasing and fixedly unchanging, then there would be nothing left for us to cultivate—we would already be perfect. But the facts are not so; therefore, study and cultivation must have sequence, and principle and phenomena must be perfectly interfused.
8. Can one investigate Chan directly without eradicating the view of self?
Question: Must one first eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) before investigating Chan and awakening to the true mind? Some people seem to have no understanding of eradicating the view of self and want to investigate Chan directly. If the investigation succeeds and they awaken to the true mind, will they then naturally see everything in the world as impermanent? Because once one knows the one true, everything else is naturally false.
Answer: If one has no understanding even of eradicating the view of self and still takes the false self as real, then how could one realize that true reality and thereby see the mind and awaken? There are extremely rare individuals who, due to an exceptionally good foundation from past lives, have a certain cognition and personal experience of emptiness and no-self, and can investigate Chan directly; during the investigation they will first eradicate the view of self, and only then can they see the mind. But the vast majority have a weak foundation, with too heavy an attachment to existence and self internally, and the obstructions during Chan investigation are too heavy for them to truly see the mind and become enlightened. The great majority probably must first eradicate the view of self before they can investigate Chan. If one goes straight to investigating Chan without eradicating the view of self, the best outcome is understanding-based awakening—the fruit looks quite good and fragrant, but has little practical value; the bad outcome is wasted effort and squandered time.
At the time of understanding-based awakening, there are two selves existing side by side in parallel, without conflict, which only increases the view of self and afflictions. The "understanding" in understanding-based awakening is equivalent to inference, not realization; therefore it will not eradicate the view of self, and one also feels the true mind is another self. This is a great hindrance to cultivation. So for those with a relatively heavy view of self, it is better to focus first on eradicating the view of self; once the view of self is eradicated and the obstructions are gone, the true mind is easier to realize.
Most people do not even achieve understanding-based awakening—understanding-based awakening is not easy either. If one has truly understood, then as long as one additionally cultivates meditative concentration, and within concentration uses the manas to investigate Chan anew, or verifies what one has understood, when conditions and the season arrive, it can turn into realization. The prerequisite is that precepts, samādhi, and wisdom must all be cultivated to perfection, including the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment and the six pāramitās of the bodhisattva. At true understanding-based awakening, the general direction is already clear, and cultivation will be faster. The worry is that hardly anyone achieves true understanding-based awakening—most only understand without awakening.
Establishing theoretical views, compared with actual practice, is much, much easier. If the views are learned from elsewhere, the difference in difficulty between the two is more than one to ten. If the views are groped out by oneself while cultivating, the difference in difficulty is less than one to ten. In cultivation one mainly relies on one's own samādhi and wisdom; the time of groping is the time of actual practice. Once one has groped out the approach, and the skill has become proficient, seeing the path comes quickly.
9. If the five aggregates do not die, the dharmakāya does not live
禅宗祖师说：打得五阴死，许汝法身活。What does this mean? If it does not die, it cannot live—what does that mean? Everyone's dharmakāya is operating at every moment, sustaining the activities of the five-aggregate body and upholding the eighteen realms. But sentient beings do not recognize the dharmakāya; having it is as good as not having it, so the dharmakāya is as if dead. Why do sentient beings not recognize the dharmakāya? It is because the mind is covered by the dark clouds of the five-aggregate body: they see only the five-aggregate body before their eyes, not the dharmakāya behind the five-aggregate body. If one wishes to see the dharmakāya and let the dharmakāya come alive, one must use prajñā wisdom to part the dark clouds of the five aggregates; then the dharmakāya behind will vividly and lively reveal itself. This too is the sequence of cultivation.
10. Within meditative concentration, one may replace the mantra with questioning doubt to investigate
Question: After the habit of silently reciting the Śūraṅgama mantra has been formed, with it held deep within, if a questioning doubt about the dharma arises deep in the heart, can one replace the mantra with the questioning doubt, so that one is investigating whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down?
Answer: When the skill of silently reciting the Śūraṅgama Sūtra's mantra is very deep, meditative concentration arises, and the manas can, following the mind consciousness, single-mindedly and exclusively recite the mantra. When one has cultivated to very deep concentration, the manas is unified upon the dharma, wisdom arises, and questioning doubt easily arises. Then replace the mind's recitation of the Śūraṅgama mantra with the huatou of Chan investigation, or replace it with the questioning doubt, and within samādhi investigate with full concentration, without the slightest distraction. Only thus can the questioning doubt be effectively resolved and wisdom be born. Nothing is more important than giving birth to wisdom; reciting the mantra is also for this ultimate goal. Reciting the mantra is merely the initial method for entering the Way; one must not take reciting the mantra as the goal of cultivation—it should be used as a tool.
11. Good rain, drop by drop, falls nowhere else
Outside the window the rain pours down in torrents—is this rain rain inside the mind or rain outside the mind? Where have the raindrops fallen? The heavy rain, drop by drop, beats upon the mind—is it beating upon the mind that is the tathāgatagarbha, or upon which of the seven consciousnesses as the mind? Could it beat the window of the mind broken? Of course, form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas fundamentally cannot touch the tathāgatagarbha; the tathāgatagarbha does not receive sense objects. What receives sense objects is the mind of the seven consciousnesses; it is the mind of the seven consciousnesses that can perceive the beating of the rain, and during a violent rainstorm, the mind may be frightened.
How does this rain come about—can it be changed according to human will? If it can, why do so many people suffer floods? If it cannot, why are there people whom not a drop of rain touches, and who can summon wind and call rain, stopping the rain and turning it into gentle breeze and bright sunshine? Who can see the mark of rain and yet be apart from the mark of rain, not attached to the mark of rain? Who can see that the mark of rain is the mind's mark, not abiding in any mark, thought after thought? Since the rain is within the mind, why does your mind rain so heavily? If the rain is outside the mind, it has nothing to do with the mind—how could the mind perceive the rain?
Although what the seven consciousnesses discriminate are false illusory images, these illusory images appear far too real: form, sound, smell, taste, and touch are all three-dimensional, vivid and lifelike—how could one not feel them to be real? But to liberate body and mind, what should be done?
12. Various misinterpretations of enlightenment
Many people take the states of cultivating concentration as enlightenment. Others believe that enlightenment requires extinguishing all the conscious minds, even extinguishing the manas so that it ceases to function—only then, they say, is the true state of enlightenment. Let us consider: what fault is there in this? In such an "enlightenment," who is enlightened? Awakened to what? In that state there is no person, no five aggregates and seven consciousnesses—only the tathāgatagarbha remains. Clearly that is the arhat's state of Nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), which has nothing to do with enlightenment. Moreover, a worldling cannot, through cultivating concentration, attain the doubly-liberated great arhatship and directly extinguish the manas, immediately entering Nirvāṇa without remainder. Even for a worldling to extinguish the five consciousnesses is extremely difficult; the mind consciousness is even harder to extinguish—let alone extinguishing the manas.
Some people always cling to "faculties and objects dropping away" as the state of enlightenment. But when faculties and objects drop away, there are no faculties and no objects; faculties and objects do not come together, and of course there is then no consciousness of the six sense consciousnesses either. If this is enlightenment, then what is awakened to? Taking the state of "empty space shattered and the great earth flattened" as enlightenment—what exactly is awakened to? Not even knowing what relation this state has to the tathāgatagarbha, there is no way to prove it is a state of enlightenment. Some people misinterpret and misunderstand the Buddha-dharma; investigating the cause, the fundamental problem is still that the false dharmas and the true dharmas have not been clearly distinguished or understood, merit and wisdom are still insufficient, and there is the severe blocking of afflictions and karmic obstructions, obstructing the growth of merit and wisdom; therefore the true and the false cannot yet be genuinely comprehended and integrated.
The true mind and the false mind each have their own different natures. For example, awareness has the true mind's awareness and the false mind's awareness; equality has the true mind's equality and the false mind's equality; purity has the true mind's purity and the false mind's purity; freedom from marks has the true mind's freedom from marks and the false mind's freedom from marks; the conditioned has the true mind's conditioned and the false mind's conditioned; the unconditioned has the true mind's unconditioned and the false mind's unconditioned—and so on, many more. In short, when everyone studies the dharma, it is very hard to distinguish the true from the false; they are often confused and mixed up, with many misunderstandings. This is because the conditions of the bodhisattva's six pāramitās are not yet complete; once complete, there will be the wisdom to distinguish the natures of the true and the false, and one will no longer misinterpret the state of awakening to the Way.
