What Is the Dharma-Selecting Eye?

The second of the seven factors of enlightenment is the enlightenment factor of dharma-investigation. When one has cultivated to this point, one gains the eye of dharma-investigation, able to know whether the dharmas one encounters are correct and whether the Dharma teachers one encounters possess the Way; only then can one make correct choices and not go astray. This is the awakened awareness one should possess before realizing the fruits and attaining enlightenment; otherwise, one cannot realize the fruits, cannot attain enlightenment, and cannot attain the Way.

When one has not yet cultivated the enlightenment factor of dharma-investigation and has not gained the eye of dharma-investigation, one's practice is still ineffective—merit, meditative concentration, and wisdom are all lacking. One does not know whether a teacher has wisdom or how great their wisdom is, nor whether a dharma is right or wrong, true or false. The mind remains muddled and unenlightened: encountering the true Dharma, one does not know to learn it; encountering false dharmas, one does not know to avoid them, and thus cannot gain correct knowledge and views. For some people who lack the eye of dharma-investigation, the hindrance of doubt is not removed: they doubt the Dharma and doubt the teacher, unable to feel certain about either the Dharma or the teacher, and with such a state of study and practice there will be no progress or success. Heavy doubt is not a wholesome dharma; it arises only when merit is deficient. Only when one has the ability to discern can doubt be removed and one's progress on the Path advance.

Only after truly mastering Consciousness-Only can one reach the level of Bodhisattva Maitreya—and this is by no means something achievable overnight. At the very minimum, one must first realize the eighth consciousness; afterward, one must also complement this with the cultivation and realization of meditative concentration (dhyāna), and must eliminate afflictions and eliminate the habitual tendencies of afflictions. Gradually, all dharmas can then be realized, and ignorance can be completely broken. All the dharmas in the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra demand actual realization: if the foundational dharmas are not realized, the dharmas of the next level cannot be realized, and the dharmas of the level above that even less so.

Therefore, in studying Consciousness-Only, one must make the great resolve to see the true mind and realize one's nature, and walk the bodhisattva path in a down-to-earth manner. The bodhisattva's six perfections, both within the inner gate and from the outer gate, must all be cultivated to completion. One must vow to become a great-resolve bodhisattva who can truly benefit sentient beings; only with the Buddha's blessing and support can one complete the study of Consciousness-Only and reach the fruition of a Wonderful Enlightenment Bodhisattva, awaiting nothing but buddhahood. Studying Buddhism is not merely studying theory: one must also learn the Buddha's pure great vows, learn the Buddha's heart of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity toward sentient beings, learn the Buddha's precepts, samādhi, and wisdom, and learn the Buddha's profound meditative concentration. Only by learning all the merits the Buddha possesses and putting them all into practice can we ourselves attain buddhahood.