An Explanation of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's Dharma Gate of Perfect Penetration through the Ear Faculty

(2) "Once what is entered has become silent." The conscious mind flows back inward, falling to the place where sound arises; yet at that place of arising, there is no sound and no clamor—it is silent. First, in terms of principle, the tathāgatagarbha is silent; second, this is a state within meditative concentration (samādhi), which is silent, without the sense-object of sound. Here there is both principle and phenomenon, with principle and phenomenon perfectly fused.

"The two marks of movement and stillness are clearly not arising." First, this refers to principle: after entering samādhi, one observes that the tathāgatagarbha fundamentally does not possess the two marks of movement and stillness—it belongs neither to movement nor to stillness, having no two sense-object marks of sound, moving or still, and is therefore silent. Second, this refers to phenomenon—meditative concentration: within this state of meditative concentration, there are no two marks of movement and stillness; one neither knows the mark of movement nor the mark of stillness. This is entering a state of concentration at the second dhyāna or above. Without the five consciousnesses, the ear-consciousness does not arise, and so one cannot hear the two kinds of sound sense-objects, movement and stillness. Although it is said that movement and stillness are clearly not arising, in reality the two marks of movement and stillness do exist; it is only that there is no ear-consciousness to discern them, and the mind consciousness cannot discern them on its own. Therefore it is said that in states of concentration at the second dhyāna and above, the two marks of movement and stillness are clearly not arising.

"Thus gradually increasing, what is heard and the hearing both come to an end." First, this refers to the wisdom realm on the level of principle gradually deepening; second, it refers to the state of meditative concentration on the level of phenomenon gradually deepening. After the wisdom realm of principle advances, it becomes clear that the conscious mind-self which can hear sound sense-objects is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha; there is no true conscious mind-self that hears sound sense-objects. At the same time, it also becomes clear that the sound sense-objects that are heard are also the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, transformed by the tathāgatagarbha; there are no true sound sense-objects. In this way, the mind no longer has the obstruction of subject (the conscious mind) and object (sound sense-objects), the sense of reality of hearing and the heard is extinguished, and the mind becomes empty and pure. After the state of meditative concentration on the phenomenal level advances, the ear-consciousness that hears ceases, the sound sense-objects that are heard cease, and one enters a profound state of meditative concentration at the second dhyāna or above.

"When hearing is exhausted, one does not dwell there." Although by this point, both in principle and in actual practice, the hearing and the heard have both been extinguished, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's realm of wisdom and realm of meditative concentration did not stop there; he did not remain at this point and halt his progress. Through deep practice, he would further enter an even deeper samādhi.

"Both awareness and what is aware become empty." At the second dhyāna and above, the five consciousnesses no longer exist, and thus one does not know the realms of the five sense-objects. But the mind consciousness still exists, and it too cannot discern the five sense-object realms on its own; it can only correspond to the dharma sense-objects of the state of concentration. At this time the mind consciousness is extremely subtle, and one can hardly perceive the existence of the six sense-object realms. However, after emerging from concentration, the mind consciousness will know that one had just entered the second dhyāna, know that one entered a certain meditative concentration, and there will be mental joy—the mind is very delighted and the spirit is full. Since within the states of the second dhyāna and above there is the mind consciousness, and the mind consciousness is the aware mind, at this point, on the level of principle, one will recognize that this aware mind consciousness is not real, has no real dharma, is transformed by the tathāgatagarbha, and is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. And the state of meditative concentration and the mental joy that are aware-of also lack reality; they are the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, transformed by the tathāgatagarbha.

On the phenomenal level, the state of meditative concentration will advance from the second dhyāna to the fourth dhyāna and above, reaching the purity of equanimity with mindfulness (upekṣā); the mind consciousness has no deep, subtle awareness, emptying out the awareness of the mind consciousness as well as the state of meditative concentration that is aware-of, and one can enter the four formless absorptions.

What has been discussed above is a rough understanding. Without actual practice and without experiential realization, it cannot actually guide students in real practice; it serves only as rough reference material, in order to satisfy the requests of many people.