Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, Volume 34 (70)

Original text:由能知智。与所知境。和合无乖。现前观察。故名现观。如刹帝利与刹帝利和合无乖。现前观察。名为现观。婆罗门等当知亦尔。此亦成就众多相状。谓证如是谛现观故。获得四智。谓于一切苦行。若住诸作意中。善推求故。得唯法智。得非断智。得非常智。得缘生行如幻事智。

Explanation: When the wisdom that knows the true dharma of truth unites with the knowable object—the principle of the Four Noble Truths—and the two are without divergence, such direct present observation is called direct realization (abhisamaya). For example, when a kṣatriya and a kṣatriya unite without divergence and observe directly in the present, it is called direct realization; the same should be understood for brahmins and so on. Direct realization also accomplishes many characteristics: by realizing such direct realization of truth, one obtains four wisdoms. Regarding all suffering formations, if one dwells within all the various attentions (manaskāra) and skillfully investigates through contemplative practice, one obtains the wisdom that there are only dharmas, the wisdom of non-annihilation, the wisdom of non-permanence, and the wisdom that conditioned formations arising through conditions are like an illusion.

The wisdom that knows refers to the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, which are able to see, know, and realize the dharma, possessing the wisdom of true observation; the knowable object refers to the principles that the sixth and seventh consciousnesses observe, such as the principle of the Four Noble Truths and the dharma of prajñā, and so on. When wisdom and object unite together without contradiction, such direct present observation is called direct realization.

"Uniting without divergence, without mutual contradiction" mainly lies in the wisdom realm—or the level of wisdom—of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. When the wisdom is sufficient to correctly observe and cognize the dharma, it does not diverge from the principle of the dharma, and it is direct present observation—not conjecture, inferential imagination, or analysis. As for dharmas existing in the present, whatever the facts are, that is what they are; direct perception observes and direct perception cognizes—this is called direct realization. At the moment of direct realization, one realizes the dharma and obtains the wisdom of the dharma and the wisdom of the category. Without direct realization, there is no wisdom of the dharma or wisdom of the category, and no fruit of realization.

How does one distinguish whether the observation of the dharma is direct present observation or not? For example, in observing the truth of suffering, one feels that the five aggregates are suffering. After directly observing in the present that the five aggregates are suffering, one's inner cognition of suffering becomes very profound; at all times and in all places, with every thought, one perceives the suffering of the five aggregates, and with every thought one wishes to escape suffering and extinguish suffering. This mental state forms uninterrupted attention (manaskāra), without interruption. Uninterrupted attention is the attention that arises from the manas; it is the manas that has perceived the suffering, not merely remaining on the surface of the mind consciousness—this is the result of direct present observation.

Suffering that is not directly observed in the present does not form uninterrupted attention; it is intermittent, sometimes present and sometimes absent. One often forgets suffering and still pursues pleasure; the mind of renunciation is not strong, the capacity for awakening is not high, and the power of action is even weaker. When a pleasurable state appears, one loses oneself, sinking deep into the pleasurable state and no longer knowing suffering; one still has great hopes for the future, fantasizing about obtaining pleasure and maintaining pleasure. In this way, feeling suffering on one side while pursuing pleasure on the other—a state in which the mind and actions contradict each other—is not direct present observation of suffering. Because those who have not realized direct realization lack the discriminating power of wisdom, they often mistake this situation of theirs for direct perception and for having realized the dharma in practice; in fact, they are still quite a long distance from realization.

The common characteristics of those who do not directly observe in the present are: afflictions are not removed, ignorance is not severed, words and deeds do not match, the exterior and interior do not match—saying one thing and doing another, pointing east while heading west. The mouth speaks of emptiness, yet in behavior one clings everywhere to existence, with nothing that is empty; the mouth speaks of no-self, yet at all times and in all places it is all self, and it cannot be concealed even when one tries. Because there is no realization, they do not know the state of body and mind after realization, nor do they know that what they think and do is contrary to the state of realization; therefore they simply cannot conceal their characteristics as ordinary beings (pṛthagjana).