The Profound Meaning of the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sutra from the Consciousness-Only Perspective (Second Edition)

Chapter Twenty-Three: There Is No Dharma to Be Attained, Twenty-Two

Original text: 须菩提白佛言。世尊。佛得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。为无所得耶。佛言。如是。如是。须菩提。我于阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。乃至无有少法可得。是名阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。

Explanation: Subhūti said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, the Buddha has attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi and become the supremely, perfectly enlightened one; yet even so, there is nothing attained—is that so?" The World-Honored One said: "It is so, it is indeed so. Subhūti, just as you have said, although I have accomplished anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, I have truly not obtained even the slightest dharma—not a single dharma has been attained; I have only exhausted all ignorance. Only when there is no dharma to be attained can one become the supremely, perfectly enlightened one; and even then, one has only attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi in name, for this fruit of attainment is merely a name.

If such a conclusion had not been spoken by the Buddha Himself, sentient beings would be full of doubt and disbelief, and might even slander it. This is because sentient beings all believe that since the Buddha has already become a Buddha, He must have obtained immeasurable, boundless, countless dharmas in order to become a Buddha—that only by obtaining all dharmas of the mundane and supramundane worlds could one become a Buddha, and otherwise one could not. Even becoming a bodhisattva, they think, requires obtaining many dharmas; otherwise one would remain an ordinary person. Even ordinary people, they believe, constantly sway between gain and loss, and do not fail to obtain even a single dharma.

In what respects do sentient beings know that the Buddha, the bodhisattvas, and themselves have obtained something? Of course, sentient beings know at the level of marks that the Buddha has obtained something, that the bodhisattvas have obtained something, and they know the gains and losses of ordinary sentient beings. So what dharmas do sentient beings know have been obtained, in terms of marks, upon becoming a Buddha? First, looking at the Buddha's physical body: at the time of buddhahood, the Buddha obtained the perfect Sambhogakāya, the Nirmāṇakāya, and immeasurable, countless transformation bodies; He obtained the adorned, wondrous form endowed with the thirty-two major marks and eighty minor marks, and thus the Buddha could manifest whatever body was needed to liberate beings, and expound the Dharma for sentient beings in that form.

With regard to lands, the Buddha obtained countless pure and adorned, supremely wondrous Buddha-lands, and had immeasurable, boundless disciples following Him in study and practice. Through His arduous cultivation over three great immeasurable kalpas, the Buddha attained immeasurable samādhis and acquired immeasurable superknowledges and spiritual powers, capable of subduing all māras of the heavens and non-Buddhist paths. Most importantly, the Buddha obtained omniscience (sarvākārajñatā), acquiring the most supremely wondrous great wisdom, such that not a single dharma of the mundane or supramundane worlds was unknown to Him; therefore He could, at will and at any time, expound the Tripiṭaka and the twelve divisions of scriptures for sentient beings, setting forth the entirety of the Buddha's teachings.

These dharmas and merits obtained by the Buddha have been described only in the crudest outline; a detailed account could not be exhausted even in a hundred great kalpas. Yet these merits and these dharmas were not possessed by the Buddha when He was an ordinary person; they were gradually obtained, bit by bit, beginning cultivation from the stage of an ordinary being. That is to say, these dharmas and merits obtained by the Buddha went from nonexistence to existence, from few to many, from incomplete to perfectly complete. What does this show? It shows that these dharmas, going from nonexistence to existence, are subject to arising; what arises does not exist from the beginning; what does not exist from the beginning is illusory and conjured; and what is illusory is not real. Since they are illusory and unreal, they cannot be truly obtained. Just as a stove obtaining ice—it is utterly unobtainable; like flowers in empty space—utterly unobtainable; like a mirage in summer—utterly unobtainable; like objects in a dream—utterly unobtainable; like the son of a barren woman—utterly unobtainable; like bubbles on water—utterly unobtainable…

These dharma-marks can all be known at the level of marks, and all have appearances. But where do these marks come from? They all come from the Buddha's mind of ultimate reality (dharmatā-citta), the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna); they are all manifested and conjured by the undefiled consciousness. The merits of the Buddha's cultivation over three great immeasurable kalpas were stored, bit by bit, without the slightest omission, in the tathāgatagarbha, the cause-ground mind of the Buddha; immeasurable merits were all stored as seeds. When the conditions ripened, their retributive results would continuously manifest; what manifests are all marks, manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, and thus these marks are all false and illusory, subject to arising and ceasing, not real dharmas. There is only one real dharma: the tathāgatagarbha, unborn and unceasing, also called the Buddha's undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna), true permanence, true bliss, true self, true purity; everything else is not real, all being conjured and manifested by the real.

Furthermore, from another perspective, by whom are these illusory dharma-marks obtained? Let us examine of what parts the Buddha is composed. The Buddha is also composed of two parts: body and mind. The Buddha's body is also a composite of the four great elements; although it possesses immeasurable major and minor marks (lakṣaṇa-vyañjana-sampad), it is without awareness or cognition; when the conditions are exhausted, the four great elements disintegrate and the physical body vanishes. Since the physical body itself lacks self-mastery (avaśatā), how could it obtain dharmas from outside? And it is not mind, so how could it obtain dharmas? The Buddha's mind has eight: great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna) (the eighth consciousness), wisdom of equality (the seventh consciousness), wondrous observing wisdom (the sixth consciousness), and accomplishing-actions wisdom (the first five consciousnesses). The Buddha's great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna), the eighth consciousness, is a mind that attains nothing, obtaining no dharmas, because it is inherently complete with all dharmas in itself, lacking nothing whatsoever; all dharmas are produced by itself and come from itself, so it would not obtain itself again; moreover, everything has always belonged to itself—what would there be to obtain?

The Buddha's seven consciousnesses, although minds that do attain, have already reached pure nonaction; His inner mind is utterly empty and pure, and would no longer crave to obtain any dharma, nor does it feel that its own mind has obtained any dharma. Moreover, although the Buddha's seven consciousnesses have been transformed into wisdom, with their seeds thoroughly purified and without a trace of ignorance, they are still generated by the flowing forth of consciousness seeds from the Buddha's undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna); therefore they are illusory and possess the nature of arising and ceasing. Since they arise and cease, they are dharmas lacking self-mastery (avaśatā). Since the seven consciousnesses themselves lack self-mastery and are unobtainable, how could they obtain other dharmas? If the Buddha's seven consciousnesses believed there were dharmas to be obtained, the mind would not be empty and pure; if the mind were not empty and pure, buddhahood could not be attained; therefore the Buddha's seven consciousnesses also do not obtain any dharmas.

Although the Buddha accomplished anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi and obtained immeasurable supremely wondrous dharmas, with regard to dharmas, He truly attained nothing. As for the dharma of accomplishing the Buddha-way, both the intermediate process and the result were brought to perfect completion in all dharmas by the Buddha's tathāgatagarbha, the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna); every dharma was conjured and manifested by the tathāgatagarbha undefiled consciousness in coordination with the seven consciousnesses, all accomplished by the tathāgatagarbha undefiled consciousness, all being the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, inherently not real existence. Therefore the dharma of accomplishing the Buddha-way was given the name anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Thus anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi is merely a name; in substance, it is what the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) has conjured.

In summary, the Buddha became a Buddha because of attaining nothing; only by not obtaining a single dharma could one become a Buddha; if one believes there is a dharma to be obtained, one cannot become a Buddha. Why is this said? The Buddha became a Buddha by means of great wisdom, supreme wisdom. How was the Buddha's wisdom obtained? The Buddha began cultivation as an ordinary being, and over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas gradually exhausted all ignorance. Each time a kind of ignorance was broken through, a kind of illumination was revealed; as part of the darkness of the mind-ground disappeared, a portion of light appeared, and this light is wisdom. When all ignorance is extinguished, omniscience (sarvākārajñatā) appears. Therefore the Buddha's supreme wisdom, wisdom without equal, was not acquired or obtained; it was revealed by extinguishing ignorance and removing obscurations. That is to say, becoming a Buddha is not obtaining any dharma, but rather not obtaining even a single dharma—by removing all obscurations, the light of the mind-ground naturally manifests. Therefore, for each of us studying Buddhism and cultivating practice, the purpose is to break through ignorance, not to obtain something. A mind that seeks attainment is ignorance; it is an obscuration, obstructing the manifestation of wisdom.