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

Chapter 24: Cultivating Good Deeds with a Pure Mind, Twenty-Three

Original text: 复次。须菩提。是法平等。无有高下。是名阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。

Explanation: Continuing on, Subhūti, all dharmas in the world are equal, without any distinction of high or low; realizing such a state is called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, that is, the attainment of the unsurpassed Buddha Way.

"These dharmas" refers to all dharmas within the three realms of existence. Whatever is called a dharma, whatever dharmic marks exist, without missing even a single drop, are all equal and uniform, without high or low, without distinction; the whole is precisely suchness (tathatā). Observed from the perspective of the principle-body of suchness, all dharmic marks are the equal, true mind-principle, without a second mark. Giving birth to such great wisdom is provisionally named the attainment of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Why does the World-Honored One speak thus? Because when the Buddha attained the Way, the Buddha's seventh consciousness had already been completely and thoroughly transformed into the wisdom of equality (samatā-jñāna); His cognition of all dharmas, mundane and supramundane, had reached ultimate and thorough equality, without even a trace of an unequal mind. First, taking the Buddha's most ultimate and unsurpassed wonderful observation wisdom (pratyavekṣaṇā-jñāna) of the sixth consciousness: He observes that all the myriad dharmas of the three realms of existence are dharmic marks produced based on the functioning of the mind of ultimate reality, the tathatā; their essence is all the suchness of the fundamental basis.

It is just like all the gold articles crafted from gold, including all ornaments, all daily utensils, and various portraits of people and figures—whatever items are made of gold, their essence is gold, nothing else. Whether gold ornaments or gold-cast portraits of various figures, they are all gold and can all be used and circulated as gold. If there is a person who does not see the gold but only sees the appearance of the objects, such a person is one who clings to false appearances and does not recognize true worth. Not knowing the preciousness of true gold, he abandons the gold and grasps the false appearance; such a person is called one without wisdom. Worldly ordinary beings are likewise: they only see all the illusory appearances of the world, not the essence of those illusory appearances; they cling to names and marks and do not recognize the essence. Therefore, out of foolishness and attachment to appearances, they cycle endlessly through birth and death in the six realms, suffering without cease—truly worthy of compassion.

The Buddha's wonderful observation wisdom not only sees that all dharmas are suchness, but can also directly perceive how suchness perfuses the seeds within the mind-basis, accomplishing the appearance of all the myriad dharmas of the three realms of existence. Therefore, the Buddha's seventh consciousness, the wisdom of equality, can treat all sentient beings of the three realms equally, without discriminating the differentiated marks of high or low, noble or base. The Buddha views all sentient beings equally as all possessing the wisdom and virtues of the Tathāgata's marks, all being Buddhas at the causal stage, who in future days will all perfectly accomplish the realization of the fruition stage. Therefore, the Buddha gives rise to unconditional great compassion toward sentient beings, broadly benefiting sentient beings: whenever beings' faculties ripen, regardless of whether beings are wholesome or unwholesome, He equally bestows the food of Dharma, delivering them to attain the Way and liberation.

Original text: 以无我无人无众生无寿者。修一切善法。即得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。

Explanation: When sentient beings, within their minds, do not abide in the mark of self, the mark of person, the mark of sentient being, or the mark of life span, and cultivate all wholesome dharmas of the mundane and supramundane worlds with the mental conduct of no mark of self, no mark of person, no mark of sentient being, and no mark of life span, they will attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Not long after the opening of the Diamond Sutra, the World-Honored One already broke the four marks for sentient beings. Only a bodhisattva who has broken the four marks can accord with the principle-body of the vajra prajñā, can accord with the ultimate reality of all dharmas, can accord with suchness, and will ultimately accord with anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Because sentient beings, since beginningless kalpas, have constantly clung to the four marks and not accorded with the principle-body of emptiness (śūnyatā), for the sake of the four marks they have extensively created immeasurable and boundless evil karma, sinking for accumulated kalpas in the ocean of saṃsāra and karma, suffering immeasurably with no prospect of emergence—the root lies in the disease of clinging to the four marks. The World-Honored One, with great compassion, in order to dig out the root of beings' disease of attachment to and clinging to appearances, skillfully established various expedient means to break beings' four marks, because once without the four marks, one can escape the great pit of fire of birth and death.

Why can being without the four marks enable one to escape the great pit of fire of birth and death? From the perspective of the Hīnayāna teachings, as long as sentient beings can break the mark of self, they will escape the three evil paths; when they cultivate to the point of being able to eradicate attachment to their own five-aggregate body and to the dharmas of the three realms of existence, they will have the ability to escape the birth-and-death cycle of the six realms, thereby escaping the pit of fire of segmented birth-and-death (pariccheda-maraṇa) and temporarily gaining rest. When sentient beings continue advancing along the bodhisattva path and the Buddha path, they will gradually break various attachments to dharmas, sever various forms of transformational birth-and-death (parināma-maraṇa), and realize the true purity of nirvāṇa; from then on there will be no more birth and death, and only then will the great pit of fire of birth and death be truly and thoroughly escaped.

And the starting point for entering the bodhisattva path and the Buddha path is to realize the vajra-prajñā tathatā mind-basis that inherently has no four marks. Cultivating in reliance on this principle-body without the four marks, the mind becomes increasingly purified, and one will break all conditioned dharmic marks of the world, not even clinging to the mark of suchness; the mind becomes empty and pure to the utmost, without the slightest remainder of any dharmic mark existing or being clung to. Only thus can one thoroughly and completely accord with the tathatā mind-basis, and ultimately perfectly accomplish the Buddha Way, attaining anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Therefore the World-Honored One said: with no self, no person, no sentient being, no life span, cultivating all wholesome dharmas and according with the nature of the suchness-basis, one can accomplish anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Original text: 须菩提。所言善法者。如来说即非善法。是名善法。

Explanation: Subhūti, the wholesome dharmas I speak of—the wholesome dharmas that sentient beings acknowledge—the Tathāgata says are also not wholesome dharmas; there is no wholesome dharma in any actual sense; they are all merely a superficial appearance; therefore they are provisionally named wholesome dharmas.

Wholesome dharmas are divided into many levels and contents: there are worldly wholesome dharmas and supramundane wholesome dharmas; there are small wholesome dharmas and great wholesome dharmas, and moreover wholesome dharmas in the ultimate sense. Worldly wholesome dharmas are the five precepts and ten good deeds. When the World-Honored One first came to the Sahā world, He first taught the wholesome dharmas of humans and gods, letting sentient beings cultivate in accordance with them and gain worldly merit—this is the small good. After sentient beings gained worldly merit, they could then follow the World-Honored One to study the Āgama path of liberation, escaping the suffering of the three realms of existence—this is the middle good. Then the World-Honored One spent more than twenty years proclaiming the principle of prajñā, letting sentient beings cultivate in accordance with it, all realizing the ultimate reality of prajñā and becoming bodhisattvas of true meaning, then giving rise to various profound prajñā wisdoms—this is the superior good. Afterward, the World-Honored One further proclaimed the profound principles of the vast Yogācāra teachings, gradually bringing the Mahāyāna bodhisattvas to possess profound wisdom of the varieties of paths—this is the great good. Finally, the World-Honored One proclaimed the ultimate meaning of the One Buddha Vehicle such as the Lotus Sutra and the Nirvāṇa Sutra, delivering all sentient beings to enter the path to Buddhahood, cultivating the dharma of becoming a Buddha, so as to reach the ultimate and perfect Buddha fruition—this is the ultimate good.

These wholesome dharmas all have corresponding dharmic marks, and these dharmic marks are all manifested and conjured forth in reliance on the markless mind-basis, the tathāgatagarbha, which has no four marks. These dharmic marks are all accomplished by the tathāgatagarbha perfusing forth seeds in accordance with various conditions. Superficially they exist and sentient beings can see them, but the existence is not real existence, the marks are not true marks; their essence is the tathatā tathāgatagarbha; they are all things within the one true dharma realm of suchness, not outside of suchness. All the marks of wholesome dharmas are like vessels of gold, all coming from gold, their essence all being the gold of the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore they are all one true dharma realm—the suchness-basis. Thus, all these false appearances of wholesome dharmas, which are not really existent dharmas, are named wholesome dharmas; although the name is "wholesome dharmas," the essence is the principle-body of suchness.