Compilation of Daily Discourses
Chapter 8: The Mahāyāna Tathāgatagarbha Section
1. Where in the material body are the eight consciousness-minds located?
The eight consciousness-minds are formless and without marks; they are not material form (rūpa-dharma). Between the consciousness-minds and material form there is no physical kind of contact; therefore the consciousness-minds are not inside, outside, or in between the material body. If the consciousness-mind were inside the body, then by taking apart the material body and cutting it open piece by piece, one should be able to see the consciousness-mind. But even if the body were chopped entirely to pieces, no consciousness-mind would be seen running out; even disassembling the supreme faculty (indriya) at the back of the head, one cannot find the eight consciousnesses; therefore the consciousness-mind is not inside the body.
If the consciousness-mind were outside the body, outside the body is empty space, and the consciousness-mind cannot be in empty space—it and empty space are two different properties and cannot exist within each other. Even if the consciousness-mind were in empty space, it would have nothing to do with you; it would be a consciousness-mind belonging to no one, and it could not be shared by everyone. If the consciousness-mind were on another person, it would belong to that person; if it were on inanimate objects, smashing the object would not reveal it; therefore the consciousness-mind is not outside the body.
If the consciousness-mind were in the middle of the body, no middle position can be found; if it were on the surface of the body, it still counts as inside the body, not the middle. As long as there is a location, it is inside the body, not the middle. Therefore the consciousness-mind is not inside, outside, or in the middle of the body.
For specifics, refer to Volume One of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, where the World-Honored One explains that the six consciousnesses are not inside, outside, or in the middle of the body. The seventh and eighth consciousnesses, like the six consciousnesses, are not inside, outside, or in the middle of the body. Material form and non-material form cannot have that physical kind of contact; what is not material form cannot be inside, outside, or in the middle of material form.
Then someone will ask: where exactly are the eight consciousnesses, then? They cannot be nowhere at all, can they? The eight consciousnesses are of course at their respective places of function, but they are not seen with the eyes, because they are formless and without marks. As for what functions the eight consciousnesses each have, apply effort and contemplate on your own; at a certain point you will be able to realize each consciousness, and then you will know where each one is. Among them, the first six consciousnesses are relatively easy to realize; the seventh and eighth consciousnesses are extremely difficult and require fully endowed karmic conditions to be realized.
2. The tathāgatagarbha is not an omnipotent dharma
Question: True great supernatural powers require realizing the tathāgatagarbha and being able to wield the wondrous functions of the tathāgatagarbha consciousness oneself; only that is true great supernatural power, which is at least the realm of an arhat and above. The minor supernatural powers of ordinary sentient beings should, in principle, also be wondrous functions of the tathāgatagarbha, but they have not yet realized the tathāgatagarbha, so they should not have the tathāgatagarbha's wondrous functions—then where do these minor supernatural powers come from? Should we say that the tathāgatagarbha is a treasure trove: however much is developed, that much can be used—great supernatural power means the tathāgatagarbha has been developed one hundred percent, while minor supernatural powers mean only a tiny bit has been developed?
Answer: All sentient beings are using the tathāgatagarbha at every moment; there is not one who does not use it, including beings such as bacteria and ants. The difference is that those who have realized enlightenment use it knowingly, while sentient beings who have not realized it use it unknowingly; in fact all use is passive—there is no choice but to use it, and it is the tathāgatagarbha that actively assists. Buddhas and bodhisattvas, people of wisdom, use it well; those with defiled minds use it badly. But whether used well or badly, it is the tathāgatagarbha actively cooperating with the manas and the five aggregates to produce functions. If the manas and five aggregates are wholesome, the tathāgatagarbha cooperates to create wholesome dharmas; if the manas and five aggregates are unwholesome, the tathāgatagarbha follows conditions to create unwholesome dharmas. The key lies in the manas and the karmic seeds. Therefore cultivation means cultivating the manas well and storing wholesome seeds; then the tathāgatagarbha will follow wholesome conditions to create wholesome dharmas. We need only cultivate and that is enough; there is no need to worry about how to use the tathāgatagarbha—use the manas well and you have used the tathāgatagarbha well.
The supernatural powers generally spoken of are the five supernatural powers: the celestial eye, the celestial ear, powers of transformation (ṛddhi), knowing others' minds, and recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti); all arise from the four dhyānas and eight samādhis. Spirit possession and the like does not count as supernatural power. The functions of the tathāgatagarbha are expediently spoken of as wondrous supernatural functions. When a sentient being's manas opens up in capacity and wisdom, meditative concentration appears, and supernatural powers—great supernatural powers—will appear; this is the tathāgatagarbha manifesting in accordance with the manas. Therefore cultivation mainly means cultivating the manas, and first of all cultivating the mind consciousness.
Ordinary supernatural powers are the result of cultivating meditative concentration; whether or not one has realized the tathāgatagarbha, supernatural powers are worldly dharma, an accomplishment of the study of concentration. For matters of worldly dharma, there is no need to drag in the tathāgatagarbha. For example, if you want to master a skill, just devote yourself to studying that skill; dragging in the tathāgatagarbha is useless. If you want to learn to cook well, dragging in the tathāgatagarbha is also useless and only delays matters. Even with the Small Vehicle's emptiness and the non-Buddhists' emptiness, dragging in the tathāgatagarbha is useless; there is no need to link everything to the tathāgatagarbha. But the great supernatural powers of bhūmi-level bodhisattvas do have a connection with realizing the tathāgatagarbha; that is the combination of meditative concentration and great wisdom—lacking either one, great supernatural powers will not appear.
3. The tathāgatagarbha's attribution shows that the tathāgatagarbha cannot be shared
All dharmas have attribution. Material form can be divided by quantity, but consciousness-minds cannot be divided by quantity. The tathāgatagarbha also has attribution—it belongs to the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates—but is not divided by quantity. Just like the eye consciousness, ear consciousness, mind consciousness, and manas, these consciousness-minds all have attribution, belonging to the five aggregates, but none can be divided by quantity. Consciousness-minds cannot be counted, but they all have attribution; otherwise sentient beings could share them, and everything would fall into chaos. If there were no attribution, wholesome and unwholesome karma would also have no attribution, which would be equivalent to there being no cause and effect: A creates the karmic cause, yet B reaps the karmic fruit—then there would be no correct principle in either the mundane or supramundane world.
Precisely because the tathāgatagarbha has attribution, the Buddha's tathāgatagarbha possesses the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity, while a sentient being's tathāgatagarbha does not possess the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity; because the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses differ, the karmic causes differ and the karmic fruits differ, and so the tathāgatagarbha differs. Even the tathāgatagarbha of bodhisattvas of equal enlightenment and wondrous enlightenment lacks the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity, and the ordinary person's tathāgatagarbha is even further from the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity; therefore the tathāgatagarbha of the Buddha and that of sentient beings differ greatly. An ordinary person must cultivate for three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas before the tathāgatagarbha can become the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. How can the tathāgatagarbha become that Buddha-land nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity? This requires cultivating the seven consciousness-minds, cultivating them to complete purity, without ignorance, with all the defilements stored in the tathāgatagarbha completely removed—then it becomes the nature of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. Therefore, because sentient beings differ in the kalpas and degree of their cultivation, the functions of their tathāgatagarbhas differ.
In fact, the tathāgatagarbha substance of sentient beings and of the Buddha is equal; it is only that the seven consciousnesses and five aggregates are not equal, causing the tathāgatagarbha's functions to be limited, resulting in differences. The seven consciousnesses refer to the first seven consciousnesses; the seven consciousnesses of sentient beings and the Buddha's seven consciousnesses differ enormously, causing the tathāgatagarbha to differ greatly. When the consciousness-nature of the seven consciousnesses is transformed into wisdom-nature, the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, becomes the great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna), and the sentient being becomes a Buddha. The Buddha's tathāgatagarbha is called the great mirror-like wisdom; the ordinary person's tathāgatagarbha is called Ālayavijñāna; because the functions differ, the names differ. Originally, the wondrous supernatural functions of Ālayavijñāna and the great mirror-like wisdom are not two or different; it is only that the karma of the first seven consciousnesses differs, and defiled karma limits the vast functions of Ālayavijñāna, so it cannot display the boundless wondrous supernatural functions of the great mirror-like wisdom.
4. Grasping the conventional truth, one does not see the ultimate truth—no Path
With hands holding green seedlings, planting the field full; lowering the head, one sees the sky within the water. Only when the mind-ground is pure is it the Path; stepping backward turns out to be moving forward.
These four lines all embody that special, formless, markless Path, and all reveal the operation of the tathāgatagarbha. But for those not yet enlightened, the mind entirely enters into the scene, pondering its artistic mood—seeing people, seeing scenery, and seeing affairs, feelings stirred by what they encounter, sighing with myriad emotions. In fact, pondering the scene is a great mistake; there is really no scene to ponder. This poem expresses no scene at all: no person, no scene, no affair—it is entirely one word: the Path. Let me ask: where is the Path? In all the affairs where people and scenes connect, and also on the people and on the scenes—nowhere is it absent. But ordinary people do not see the Path; they see only worldly marks. When gold dust fills the sky, falling into the eyes it becomes a film. The gold dust is not seen with the eyes—once seen, it is all sand and dirt; but experienced with the mind, it is all gold.
Someone says: Isn't what you are saying a case of wrongly grasping emptiness? This is not wrongly grasping emptiness. Wrongly grasping emptiness means not even acknowledging that the tathāgatagarbha, this Path, exists, emptying out all dharmas entirely, leaving nothing at all—not even cause and effect, no cause, no effect, no precepts, with no scruples about any bodily, verbal, and mental actions. What these four lines display, however, is no person, no scene, no affair—precisely the non-empty Path, the tathāgatagarbha; whereas grasping at person, scene, and affair is precisely grasping at emptiness. Because ordinary people have not yet realized the Path, no view they hold is correct; while grasping at person, scene, and affair, how could they see the tathāgatagarbha or realize the tathāgatagarbha?
And emptiness is what the Mahāyāna and Small Vehicle teachings point to: the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness—person is empty; the inner and outer six sense-object realms are empty; with no person and no scene, there is no affair. Only by emptying these false dharmas can one see that non-empty tathāgatagarbha. Having grasped at empty dharmas, the wisdom eye is obscured—how could one then see the non-empty tathāgatagarbha?
5. Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas do not see the emptiness of ultimate meaning
Original text of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra: 中道者名为佛性。以是义故。佛性常恒。无有变异。无明覆故。令诸众生。不能得见。声闻缘觉见一切空。不见不空。乃至见一切无我。不见于我。以是义故。不得第一义空。不得第一义空故。不行中道。无中道故。不见佛性。
Explanation: The Middle Way is named buddha-nature; therefore it is said that the buddha-nature is permanent and without change. Because ignorance covers the mind's eye, sentient beings cannot see the buddha-nature. The practice of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas remains only within the phenomenal realm and cannot transcend the phenomenal realm, so they can only see that all dharmas of the phenomenal realm are empty, and cannot see the non-empty buddha-nature beyond the phenomenal realm. Furthermore, śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas can only see that all dharmas in the phenomenal realm are without self, but cannot see the buddha-nature self beyond the phenomenal realm; therefore śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas cannot realize the emptiness of ultimate meaning. Because they cannot realize the emptiness of ultimate meaning, śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are not practicing the Middle Way. Because there is no Middle Way, they do not see the buddha-nature of the Middle Way.
For the Middle-Way nature of the buddha-nature, refer to the Middle-Way nature of the tathāgatagarbha taught by the Buddha in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. Both the tathāgatagarbha and the buddha-nature are existent dharmas, truly existing; their substance is not empty, while their nature is empty. Because of ignorance, sentient beings cling to the phenomenal dharmas of the mundane world and lack the wisdom to investigate the real and true dharma behind the phenomena, and so cannot realize the tathāgatagarbha and the buddha-nature.
Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas also have the ignorance regarding Mahāyāna dharma; they too have not investigated the real and true dharma behind the phenomenal realm and cannot personally realize the tathāgatagarbha and the buddha-nature. They see only the emptiness of the phenomenal realm, not the non-emptiness of the true dharma behind it, not knowing that it is precisely because the true dharma's non-emptiness of ultimate meaning exists that the emptiness of the phenomenal realm can exist. Therefore their practice leans toward emptiness, without the Middle Way. And that true dharma is precisely the substance of sentient beings, their original face—that is, sentient beings' self, the true self. From the true self is derived the false self of the five-aggregate world, and the false self is not self. Therefore the emptiness of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas is not ultimate, and hence not the Middle Way; it is deviated, leaning toward pure emptiness, with emptiness and existence not perfectly fused.
6. What is the relationship between innate seeds and newly perfumed seeds?
"Innate" means existing from before beginningless kalpas, existing without cause or condition—namely the seeds of the seven great elements of earth, water, fire, wind, space, seeing, and consciousness within the tathāgatagarbha; these seeds neither arise nor cease. The innate seeds of the seven great elements exist naturally without being created by the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses; there is no principle to explain, no dharma that produces them, and no dharma that can extinguish them. Pure and intrinsically so, they manifest pervading the entire dharma realm; they are not perfumed, do not mutate, and are forever pure.
"Newly perfumed" means the seeds deposited by the karmic actions of the seven consciousnesses after the five aggregates are born, also called karmic seeds; they are acquired after birth, constantly arising, ceasing, and mutating. Newly perfumed seeds are formed by the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses creating karmic actions after birth; they are dharmas produced by causes and conditions, divided into wholesome, unwholesome, and neither-wholesome-nor-unwholesome karmic seeds. After the seven consciousnesses are purified, the karmic actions they create leave only pure karmic seeds; when all the unwholesome karmic seeds have been eliminated, the tathāgatagarbha transforms consciousness into wisdom and the Buddha Way is accomplished.
The relationship between innate seeds and newly perfumed seeds is this: the innate seeds are born into the three realms, forming the five aggregates, seven consciousnesses, and all the world's dharmas; the seven consciousnesses, by means of conditioned dharmas, create karmic actions, and the seeds of those karmic actions then fall and deposit into the tathāgatagarbha. Without the innate seeds, there would be no acquired newly perfumed seeds.
When there is a doubt in the mind, one need only clarify the concepts in the question and the problem is half solved. If the connotations of the concepts are unclear, even if others answer, one is still easily confused. If the concepts are unclear and the question itself is not clearly posed, most people will find it hard to answer. If A, B, C, and D each have their own understanding of "innate" and "newly perfumed," when they debate together, in what year and month could their views be unified into a consensus?
7. Can the arhat's tathāgatagarbha be called the vipāka-consciousness?
Ālayavijñāna, vipāka-consciousness, and undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna)—these three names all refer to the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha. The names differ because the karmic seeds contained differ. Changes in the karmic seeds indicate that the ignorance that brings birth-and-death has been reduced to a considerable degree, or extinguished entirely. Among them, the name Ālayavijñāna represents the presence of segmented birth-and-death (pariccheda-maraṇa), with unwholesome karmic seeds still heavy and abundant. When there is no more segmented birth-and-death but transformational birth-and-death (parināma-maraṇa) remains—that is, when all afflictive manifestations have been completely severed, unwholesome karmic seeds eliminated, no longer drawing the segmented birth-and-death of the three realms, which is the realm of the arhat of the fourth fruit of the Small Vehicle—the tathāgatagarbha at that time is called the vipāka-consciousness. What the tathāgatagarbha should be called depends on the birth-and-death karmic seeds it contains, on whether the afflictions have been completely severed, and on whether the habitual tendencies have been completely severed. The minimum standard for the vipāka-consciousness is complete severance of afflictions; the maximum standard is not only complete severance of afflictions but also severance of a considerable degree of habitual tendencies, which indicates that at the same time there must also be the eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva's seed-wisdom of consciousness-only.
Because arhats have completely severed afflictions, they no longer have segmented birth-and-death—that is, no more transmigration through the six paths of the three realms. Though no longer transmigrating in the six paths, they still have the sage identity beyond the six paths and a training ground for cultivating the Path, and with that identity they continue cultivating in the three realms until buddhahood, without leaving the three realms. Therefore, when the arhat has completely severed afflictions, he is freed from the segmented birth-and-death of transmigration in the six paths, and Ālayavijñāna is renamed the vipāka-consciousness; his liberation realm is equivalent to that of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, except that his habitual tendencies have not yet begun to be severed. The eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, though severing habitual tendencies, has not yet severed them completely; not completely severed, there is still transformational birth-and-death, and his tathāgatagarbha is also called the vipāka-consciousness.
From this we can see that birth-and-death comes from afflictions and afflictive habitual tendencies, and the aim of cultivation is to sever afflictions and sever habitual tendencies—whether Mahāyāna or Small Vehicle cultivation, the goal is the same. The only difference is that Small Vehicle cultivation can only reach the level of completely severing afflictions but cannot sever habitual tendencies; one must then continue to cultivate the Mahāyāna, hoping to sever all ignorance and attain the fruit of buddhahood. Because the Small Vehicle's doctrine is not deep enough and not ultimate, it cannot guide practitioners to sever habitual tendencies, whereas the Mahāyāna's teachings gradually deepen, subtle to the finest degree, omitting nothing, and can guide practitioners to sever all ignorance and habitual tendencies and finally become a Buddha. Having understood this principle, in studying Buddhism and cultivating, one must constantly examine and introspect on one's own mental nature: have the afflictions lessened? Has the mind become a bit purer? Do not take the theories one has learned as ultimate; theory serves the severing of afflictions and habitual tendencies. Once habitual tendencies are completely severed, all theories have no further use.
After the arhat emerges from nirvāṇa without remainder, among the bodhisattva's six perfections, apart from lacking the wisdom of the Mahāyāna tathāgatagarbha, his merit is also insufficient, and the Mahāyāna's precept practice is also incomplete; but if he were to cultivate them, he should quickly complete them. Once an arhat becomes enlightened and realizes the tathāgatagarbha, his stage would no longer be the seventh abode stage but around the first bhūmi; entering the first bhūmi could be very fast—after all, he has already completely severed afflictions, and his meditative concentration is at first dhyāna or above, so reaching the first-bhūmi bodhisattva's fruit is not too difficult. Bodhisattvas above the first bhūmi have not yet completely severed afflictions and are inferior to arhats in liberation wisdom and meditative concentration, but their merit is enormous, which arhats are far from matching; as for who ultimately attains buddhahood first, that is hard to say.
In summary, the ultimate fruit of the Small Vehicle corresponds to the liberation-wisdom realization of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva of the Mahāyāna, but without the eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva's profound seed-wisdom of consciousness-only, nor the transformation of consciousness into wisdom. In wisdom, the arhat differs enormously from the eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, and also enormously from the first-bhūmi bodhisattva; even the Mahāyāna wisdom of non-arising differs greatly from that of bodhisattvas at the three virtuous stages. If a practitioner cultivates only the Small Vehicle's liberation and not the Mahāyāna, his liberation is still not ultimate; the great matter of birth-and-death is ultimately not truly resolved—though he can attain nirvāṇa, birth-and-death still remains.
8. Why can sentient beings not eat pork?
A student asked: "How can one not fall into stages?" Chan Master Huangbo said: "终日吃饭未曾咬着一粒米，终日行未曾踏着一片地，与么时无人我等相，终日不离一切事，不被诸境惑，方名自在人。更时时念念不见一切相，莫认前后三际，前际无去，今际无住，后际无来，安然端坐，任运不拘，方名解脱，努力努力！此门中千人万人，只得三个五个，若不将为事，受殃有日在，故云着力。今生须了却，谁能累劫受余殃！"
"Stages" here refers to the sequential stages of cultivation; "not falling into stages" means directly arriving at the most fundamental and ultimate place of the dharma. What counts as directly realizing emptiness (śūnyatā)? Chan Master Huangbo replied: If you can do it—eating all day as if not having eaten a single grain of rice, the mind empty without grasping a self; walking all day as if not having trodden a single patch of ground, the mind empty without grasping a self, not falling into the marks of your own eating and walking. Reaching this state, there is in the mind no mark of person and no mark of self; all day not apart from all affairs, yet not confused by any realm, not bound by any marks—only then is one called a person of freedom. One must also, at every moment, in every thought, see no marks at all, not hold that dharmas have a prior limit, a present limit, and a later limit, because the prior limit has not departed, the present limit does not stay even for a thought-moment, and the later limit has not come. Sitting calmly at all times, moving freely without being bound by dharmas—this is called liberation.
This is the realm after the Chan school's prajñā enlightenment, the realm of the five aggregates being empty. Why are they empty? Because they are produced by the tathāgatagarbha—therefore said to be empty. This realm is one step further than the Small Vehicle's realm of emptiness, and immeasurably higher than ordinary people's realm of existence, but still not as ultimate as the consciousness-only realm of emptiness. The Small Vehicle and prajñā levels are the emptiness of person; the consciousness-only level is the emptiness of dharmas. The emptiness of dharmas, on the basis of the emptiness of person, is more minute and detailed, with a broader and deeper scope.
For example, take eating: at the prajñā level, there is no self eating, no eating self; I do not grasp the mark of an eating self. At the consciousness-only level, even the mark of the food is absent. For example, take the matter of eating pork, which everyone finds interesting: it is said that the five aggregates cannot touch the actual pork of the external object-aspect (nimitta), and can only touch the pork of the inner object-aspect inside the back of the head. Yet after eating the pork, not only is the inner object-aspect pork gone, the external object-aspect pork is gone too—why is that?
Not eating actual pork is the same as not having eaten pork. Then what is it that enters the mouth and is swallowed into the belly? The mouth eats, but the food is the food inside the back of the head; the mouth, teeth, and tongue are also inside the back of the head, and the you who eats is also empty. Would you say you have eaten food? Replace food with pork—would you say you have eaten pork? What you ate was the inner object-aspect pork, yet the external object-aspect pork is gone—how did it disappear? A secret, a huge secret, worth investigating for a lifetime, worth investigating for several great kalpas.
This dharma is very deep; even with the foundation of the Small Vehicle's eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and the Mahāyāna's seeing the mind, it is not easy to investigate. The arising and ceasing of both inner and outer object-aspects are the tathāgatagarbha functioning; the functions of the six consciousnesses are also the result of the tathāgatagarbha's functioning. Every dharma is the tathāgatagarbha; without enlightenment, one simply cannot investigate it.
Since beginningless kalpas, sentient beings have never touched even one of the six sense-object realms of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma, yet at every moment they appropriate the six sense-object realms as their own, their mouths murmuring: this is mine, that is mine—my body, my family, the words I speak, the sounds I hear, the meat I eat, the water I drink, the bed I sleep in, my power, status, fame, and so on; this fragrance, that flavor—you cannot touch any of them—which one is yours? Pursuing and chasing life after life, it turns out it was all wrestling with emptiness, contending with emptiness, playing games with emptiness—and oneself is also empty; emptiness contending with emptiness, with no protagonist in the game, and the so-called contention is also empty. Rather than wasting time on the games of worldly dharma, we would truly do better to explore these truths, so as to avoid playing games in vain life after life. Can the truth really not attract you?
Someone takes a wooden stick and knocks on the table bang bang, then firmly believes: Look, I knocked the table, I showed my authority, I vented my anger. In reality, the stick is the stick inside the back of the head, the hand is the hand inside the back of the head, the table is the table inside the back of the head, the action is the action inside the back of the head; seeing this action is seen inside the back of the head, hearing the sound is heard inside the back of the head, feeling that anger was vented is felt inside the back of the head—all the activities of the five aggregates are created inside the back of the head.
How big is the back of the head, that it can contain so many dharmas? Far more than these—hundreds of millions of dharmas, countless dharmas all occur inside the back of the head. Only empty dharmas, dharmas without substantial nature, can land inside the back of the head; substantial dharmas with marks cannot land inside the back of the head. Not one dharma in the world has substance; all are empty, all images, all shadows—that is why they are all dharmas inside the back of the head. Pork is like this, eating pork is like this, my eating pork is likewise like this—there is no such person and no such affair. What is there still to cling to, what to pursue? Fools!
To realize this principle, one must first eradicate the view of self, then see the mind. Eradicating the view of self and realizing the emptiness of the five aggregates is very important; the question of inner and outer object-aspects should be investigated after enlightenment—only when meditative concentration and wisdom are both very deep can one gain some clue. Only by investigating from the angle of the tathāgatagarbha can there be any prospect, because the substance of all dharmas is precisely the functions of the tathāgatagarbha.
Neither the tathāgatagarbha nor the five aggregates of "I" has ever touched or possessed any dharma in the world, yet the external and internal object-aspects of all the world's dharmas are thus constantly arising and ceasing, being evolved, being constantly created. This phenomenon is indeed hard for people to accept; empty dharmas are hard for worldly people to believe—they are too used to clinging to existence. But Buddhism, whether Mahāyāna or Small Vehicle, all points to emptiness. Emptied to the end, with nothing left—emptied thoroughly and completely—one becomes a Buddha.
9. The relationship between the Sixth Patriarch's sudden enlightenment and Shenxiu's gradual cultivation
The Southern School of the Tang dynasty, led by the Sixth Patriarch, advocated sudden enlightenment. The Sixth Patriarch's famous verse: "Bodhi originally has no tree, the bright mirror is also not a stand; originally there is not a single thing—where could dust alight?" The Northern School, led by Shenxiu, advocated gradual cultivation. Shenxiu's verse: "The body is the bodhi tree, the mind like a bright mirror stand; at all times diligently wipe it—do not let dust alight." The Sixth Patriarch's verse shows that he was still only at the Small Vehicle's realm of emptiness, not yet enlightened to the Mahāyāna; Shenxiu's verse shows that he was still at the stage of repairing body and mind. People of the time and later generations mostly praised the Sixth Patriarch and disparaged Shenxiu, not knowing that each had his own rationale: with different faculties (indriya) and different conditions, the dharmas they cultivated should not be the same; the two are in a relationship of sudden enlightenment and gradual cultivation, and one cannot force them to be identical.
Regarding the relationship between gradual cultivation and sudden enlightenment, I once gave an example: it is like sawing a large tree—felling the tree is a metaphor for sudden enlightenment, and the work before the tree is felled is a metaphor for gradual cultivation. Only after gradual cultivation can there be sudden enlightenment, and after sudden enlightenment gradual cultivation is still needed. The dharma cultivated before and after differ; cultivation after enlightenment and cultivation before enlightenment are certainly not the same. The gradual cultivation Shenxiu spoke of is gradual cultivation before sudden enlightenment, at the foundation-laying stage; without such gradual cultivation there could be no subsequent sudden enlightenment. As for the Sixth Patriarch's "originally not a single thing," though not yet the Mahāyāna's sudden enlightenment, because his prior cultivation was already completed in past lives—perhaps who knows how many lives and kalpas ago—his mind in this life was already empty; he no longer needed to repair body and mind, diligently wiping at all times.
Standing from the Sixth Patriarch's position, with his faculties he could go directly to emptiness; though he had not reached the Mahāyāna's emptiness and it did not count as the Chan school's sudden enlightenment, the Sixth Patriarch after all had the ability to be empty. This realm was indeed much higher than Shenxiu's; he had already passed the stage of gradual cultivation, and when conditions arrived, he could reach sudden enlightenment at any time. Shenxiu, however, was still far from sudden enlightenment; he had to cultivate gradually, had to diligently wipe at all times and clear away the filth on his mind; otherwise he could not attain sudden enlightenment—not even the Small Vehicle's emptiness would be possible.
Speak according to the place you are in; cultivate the dharma appropriate to the stage you are at. Since each person's realm differs, the dharma they cultivate cannot be the same. Elementary students have the dharma elementary students cultivate; university students have the dharma university students cultivate; you cannot require everyone to study university courses. Almost everyone must pass through the preceding elementary and middle school stages; the road must be walked step by step, and the intermediate process cannot be skipped. The length of time varies from person to person, but the process must be there—even a process of a single instant must be there. Only after all these processes have been walked through can one reach that final realm of sudden enlightenment. This is the dialectical relationship between the Sixth Patriarch's sudden enlightenment and Shenxiu's gradual cultivation.
10. The true meaning of the third chapter of the Diamond Sutra
Original text of the third chapter: 大乘正宗分
佛告须菩提。诸菩萨摩诃萨。应如是降伏其心。所有一切众生之类。若卵生。若胎生。若湿生。若化生。若有色。若无色。若有想。若无想。若非有想非无想。我皆令入无余涅盘而灭度之。如是灭度无量无数无边众生。实无众生得灭度者。何以故。须菩提。若菩萨有我相人相。众生相寿者相。即非菩萨。
The central idea of the third chapter of the Diamond Sutra is the Buddha teaching bodhisattvas how to subdue their minds. Why subdue their minds? Because in bodhisattvas' minds there are the marks of self, person, sentient being, and life span; those with the four marks are not true bodhisattvas. How can bodhisattvas subdue their minds and extinguish the four marks? The Buddha said: Even if you lead all sentient beings of the four births and nine existences into nirvāṇa without remainder and liberate them, you must not think that you liberated sentient beings, that there were sentient beings liberated. Because in the dharma realm there truly are no sentient beings, and no self either; because there is no self, you must not think "I liberated sentient beings"; because there are no sentient beings, you must not think there are boundless, countless beings liberated by you. Thus the four marks are extinguished, the mind is pure, and it has been subdued. The whole text does not emphasize making sentient beings enter nirvāṇa without remainder; rather, it supposes that you really did liberate so many sentient beings into nirvāṇa without remainder. In fact it is not so.
If a person has the mark of self, he will think "I am such and such," "I shall do such and such," "I must do such and such"; the emphasis is all on that self of his, taking himself as the center and starting point everywhere, and the nature of self will inevitably manifest.
If a person has the mark of person, he will cling to people's wholesomeness and unwholesomeness, true and false, and cannot leave the crowd, everywhere depending on the crowd to gain worldly benefits; apart from the crowd he would not know how to settle himself. If a person has the mark of sentient beings, he will hope to be surrounded and chased by sentient beings, to be the head of sentient beings, chasing fame, gain, and offerings. If a person has the mark of life span, he will hope to live a hundred years, to be immortal, with a long, extended lifespan.
But these four marks are all false marks, illusory and unreal marks, not truly existent. With the four marks in mind, one cannot eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) or sever the bonds, and the cycle of birth-and-death cannot cease. Therefore bodhisattvas should first eradicate the view of self and break the four marks. Only after breaking the four marks can the bodhisattva's mind be empty, can he be unconditioned, can his merit be vast and boundless, and can he, with this boundless merit, accomplish unsurpassed perfect bodhi.
Someone asks: Why did the Buddha have boundless, countless sentient beings enter nirvāṇa without remainder? From the whole text, the Buddha did not have sentient beings enter nirvāṇa without remainder; the purport of the whole text differs greatly from any single sentence or word. The Buddha told sentient beings that in studying the dharma and reading sutras one should rely on the meaning, not on the words. The meaning can only be faithfully embodied in a complete book, chapter, section, or paragraph; if one extracts some part of it, will its meaning not be distorted? In reading sutras, one must fully and thoroughly understand the whole picture and purport of the sutra; one must not take passages out of context, or take meaning from isolated sentences—one must rely on the meaning, not the words; otherwise one wrongs the Buddhas of the three times.
11. All dharmas are bodhi, without the two marks
Original text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: 佛告文殊及诸大众。十方如来及大菩萨。于其自住三摩地中。见与见缘。并所想相。如虚空华。本无所有。此见及缘。元是菩提妙净明体。云何于中有是非是。
Explanation: The Buddha told Mañjuśrī and the great assembly: The Tathāgatas of the ten directions and the great bodhisattvas, within the profound meditative absorption (samādhi) in which They themselves abide—the seeing and the conditions relied on by that seeing, together with the marks They perceive, all the six sense-object dharma-marks manifesting in the mind—are like flowers in empty space, originally having no worldly dharma-marks at all. This seeing-nature and the conditions that give rise to it are originally the wondrous, pure, bright substance of bodhi; how could there arise within all these dharma-marks the two marks of "is bodhi" and "is not bodhi"?
What needs further explanation here is that the Buddhas and bodhisattvas constantly abide in their respective samādhi; this samādhi is the realm of the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā—meditative concentration plus the seed-wisdom of consciousness-only—which those with insufficient wisdom cannot fathom. The Buddhas and bodhisattvas abiding in samādhi also see dharmas, seeing the six sense-object realms of the mundane world; this is the seeing of the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses, not the seeing of the buddha-nature—though of course the seven consciousnesses' seeing cannot be apart from the buddha-nature's seeing, otherwise there could be no seeing. And the seven consciousnesses' seeing also relies on various conditions to appear; without conditions there can be no seeing. Seeing that arises in dependence on conditions is of course an illusory, unreal seeing.
After the Buddhas and bodhisattvas see the six sense-object dharma-marks, images of the dharma-marks present themselves in their minds; this is the object and result of seeing, the function of the aggregate of perception among the five aggregates, the cognition and confirmation of various dharma-marks. The Buddha said that the seeing-nature of the seven consciousnesses of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, the conditions that give rise to that seeing-nature, and the dharma-marks presented in their minds—these three are all like flowers in empty space, originally nonexistent; there are no worldly marks of these three: seeing, conditions, and marks. Then what exactly are this seeing-nature and the conditions? They clearly exist, yet are said not to exist. The Buddha said this is originally the pure, wondrous, bright mind of bodhi, also called the true mind and self-nature, also called the tathāgatagarbha. How could one say that seeing and conditions are themselves the self-nature of bodhi, or are not the self-nature of bodhi?
It is like gold fashioned into gold vessels—gold plates, gold bowls, gold bracelets. One cannot say these gold vessels are not gold, nor can one say these gold vessels are gold itself; after all, the gold has changed shape and acquired worldly uses. But even so, the gold vessels still have gold's value and shadow. Ordinary people, however, take the gold vessels entirely as worldly objects, clinging to the functions of the plates, bowls, and bracelets, daily carrying gold bowls to beg for food, to hold food, and to eat, unwilling to give up the bowl's worldly use.
By this point the gold has been completely taken as a worldly object, its own value obscured. Once the gold's own value is covered, its owner turns from a wealthy elder into a begging beggar, displaced and destitute, beset by misery. Starving to death on the street while clutching a gold bowl—how unfortunate, how foolish! Once ordinary people open the wisdom eye, the dharma eye, and the Buddha eye, and recognize the gold, they instantly return from being ordinary beings to their original identity as Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Then, as for how we should investigate Chan and investigate ultimate reality—is it all now clear?
Original text: 文殊吾今问汝。如汝文殊。更有文殊是文殊者。为无文殊。如是世尊。我真文殊。无是文殊。何以故。若有是者。则二文殊。然我今日非无文殊，于中实无是非二相。
Explanation: Mañjuśrī, I now ask you: taking you, Mañjuśrī, as an example—is there additionally another Mañjuśrī who is the Mañjuśrī original, or is there not another Mañjuśrī who is the Mañjuśrī original? The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī replied: It is so, World-Honored One; I am the true Mañjuśrī; there is no other Mañjuśrī who "is" Mañjuśrī. Why say this? Because if there were another Mañjuśrī who is Mañjuśrī, there would be two Mañjuśrīs. Yet I now am also not without a Mañjuśrī who is the Mañjuśrī original; in this matter there truly are not the two dharma-marks of "is" and "is not."
How could the Mañjuśrī original give rise to the two marks of "is" and "is not"? Mañjuśrī is just Mañjuśrī; there is no other "is" or "is not"—this is a false proposition, conceptual proliferation (prapañca). Likewise, all dharmas are bodhi, without the additional two marks of "is" and "is not"; the whole is precisely suchness (tathatā). Realizing this principle, one returns to one's original identity in the three realms and is no longer a begging beggar. May all sentient beings quickly wipe the dust from their eyes, remove the thick blindfold, recognize the treasure, and return to the home of their self-nature!
