Even Clinging to the True Mind Is a False and Illusory Dharma

If, in the course of cultivating the path, one has realized the true mind, then at the very beginning, for the sake of calming the mind, one may concentrate on and guard the true mind, taking the true mind as one's refuge. As one's cultivation deepens, one will come to know that guarding the true mind is also a delusive dharma, and is also superfluous; the mental action of guarding is a mental action of the deluded mind, which means a delusive thought has arisen. Why guard the true mind? It is still because one takes the true mind as self and as belonging to self that one guards it; thus the mind of "mine" has not ceased, and the mind is still not empty enough. At this point the mind is more tranquil (praśama) than before, seemingly like the true mind, with no other thoughts—this is a state of meditative concentration (dhyāna and samādhi). One could also say it resembles the state of the true mind without thoughts, and one could say that the true mind of nirvāṇa has manifested—this is passable, but rather forced. Because the true mind of nirvāṇa is manifest at all times, as everyone who has realized the true mind knows.

If it is said that concentrating on and guarding the mind is acceptable, then this "guarding the mind" means not letting the deluded mind engage in deluded activity, and above all not creating karma of greed, hatred, and delusion, but returning to purity, or returning to the self-nature of the true mind. The expression "guarding the true mind" is open to question, because the true mind does not need to be guarded. For one who has realized it, guarding the true mind is superfluous and only adds afflictions and attachments, so that one cannot pass the final barrier (laoguan). For one who has not realized it, one wishes to guard it but cannot find Him—how could one guard Him? Yet the single word "guard" indicates the presence of a thought: whether guarding the true mind or guarding the deluded mind, as long as there is guarding, it is a delusive thought. At this point it is only that the delusive thoughts of the mind consciousness do not arise; the manas absolutely has thoughts. When there are no thoughts, the mind is empty, nothing is guarded, nothing can be guarded, and there is no longer the mental action of guarding. When there are thoughts and a mind, both the true mind of nirvāṇa and the deluded mind exist—which one is the manifested nirvāṇa mind? Since there is the mental action of guarding, the mental action does not cease, and what is guarded is "mine" (mama-kāra); no matter what is guarded, it is guarding "mine," so the mind of "mine" has not ceased at all.

The state of the Chan school and that of Yogācāra cannot be compared. At the stage of cultivating the Chan school, the mind is not yet empty enough; even after passing the third gate of Chan, the mind has not reached the emptiness of those whose cultivation has reached the Yogācāra stage. As long as a single mental action is not empty, one cannot pass the third gate of Chan, nor even reach the third gate. Only when the mind is empty can one realize nirvāṇa with remainder (sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa) and have the ability to pass the third gate of Chan, the firm barrier of birth and death. Guarding a true mind means being bound by the true mind; there is still the karma of birth and death, and one cannot attain nirvāṇa. Guarding is the karma of birth and death; guarding is making trouble, and the mind is not tranquil. The fourth dhyāna is called the purity of equanimity and mindfulness (upekṣā-smṛti-pariśuddhi): only by abandoning thoughts is there purity; with thoughts abandoned there is no guarding, and the mind is empty, without guarding and without abiding. With guarding, one cannot enter the concentration of no-perception (asaṃjñā-samāpatti), still less the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti). Why can one not enter the cessation of perception and feeling? Because the manas still has feeling and perception, and guarding is perception. In the concentration of no-perception there is likewise no guarding by the mind consciousness, for the mind consciousness cannot function. Guarding is similar to the cultivation of samādhi by fixing the mind on one point; "fixing" means placing, which is counteracting—there is action, there is operation.

What we are discussing now is the final result of cultivation, not the process of cultivation. In the process of cultivation, one should do whatever needs to be done; one may adopt all kinds of methods and measures, all of which are needed for making effort and are unavoidable. But when it comes to the final result, the mental action must have ceased into quiescence. For example, keeping the precepts only reaches the point where they no longer need to be kept is freedom with respect to the precepts, without transgressing them; it becomes entirely a habit, a tendency of the manas, so that the mental action naturally accords with the precepts, without needing to think, supervise, or regulate.