眾生無邊誓願度
煩惱無盡誓願斷
法門無量誓願學
佛道無上誓願成

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Dharma Teachings

31 Mar 2020    Tuesday     1st Teach Total 2242

What is Seeing One's True Nature?

What is seeing one's true nature? Seeing one's true nature is the capacity to see dharmas. The eighth consciousness has the nature of seeing, the seventh consciousness has the nature of seeing, the sixth consciousness has the nature of seeing, and each of the first five consciousnesses has its own nature of seeing; the dharmas seen by the seeing nature of the eight consciousnesses each differ. After the seeing nature, the nature of consciousness emerges; once the nature of consciousness emerges, dharmas begin to move, and the cycle of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing begins to flow.

The Buddha said: King Prasenajit, when you saw the Ganges River at the age of three, and the seeing when you saw the Ganges River at the age of thirteen—is there any difference? King Prasenajit replied: There is no difference; even the seeing when I now see the Ganges River at the age of sixty-two has no difference—the seeing nature does not change. The Buddha said: This unchanging seeing nature is that undying you; whether you see or not, that seeing nature always exists and never perishes.

Then what kind of seeing is the seeing of the Ganges River? Does the eighth consciousness see the Ganges River? If the eighth consciousness does not see the Ganges River, how could the fifth, sixth, and seventh consciousnesses see the Ganges River? If the eighth consciousness sees the Ganges River, what need is there for the fifth, sixth, and seventh consciousnesses to see it? Which is it, exactly?

From the similar image transformed and manifested after the eighth consciousness sees, all the way into the supreme faculty, and then all the way to the fifth and sixth consciousnesses seeing the image, the seventh consciousness has been seeing all along, never shifting away. If the seventh consciousness did not see, there would be no fifth and sixth consciousnesses, let alone the seeing of the fifth and sixth consciousnesses. And the eighth consciousness, from beginning to end, has not had a single instant of not seeing; otherwise, how could the fifth, sixth, and seventh consciousnesses see?

——Master Sheng-Ru's Teachings
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