How to Realize the Empty and Tranquil Mind Spoken of in the Dharma Gate of Perfect Penetration through the Ear Faculty of Avalokiteśvara

The Guanyin Ear-Faculty Perfect Penetration Dharma Gate cultivated by Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra involves Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva contemplating emptiness (śūnyatā) within meditative concentration (samādhi), continuously breaking through delusive dharmas. This mode of practice requires extremely deep meditative concentration and extremely strong prajñā wisdom; lacking either one, one cannot accomplish the Guanyin Ear-Faculty Perfect Penetration Dharma Gate. This method of practice consists in continuously eliminating, within extremely deep meditative concentration, all arising-and-ceasing, unreal delusive dharmas, until there remains a so-called thing that truly cannot be eliminated, that truly cannot be emptied—and that is the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha.

This method of practice is excellent, but most people—perhaps everyone—cannot cultivate to this degree. One reason is that they cannot develop such deep meditative concentration; another is that they cannot possess such deep prajñā wisdom of emptiness, and thus cannot realize this mind of emptiness through samādhi. Furthermore, their aspiration is not vast enough, and their roots of goodness and merit are insufficient to support such practice. When realization is not attained, the misunderstanding of prajñā emptiness becomes very great. With the roots of goodness of us sentient beings in this Sahā world, success in cultivation is impossible; even the initial emptiness is very hard to realize. One may have a similar intellectual understanding of prajñā wisdom, but meditative concentration is a hard benchmark—the most actual measure of cultivation skill—and it cannot be achieved through mere understanding.

Therefore, eliminating all delusive dharmas within meditative concentration is something ordinary people cannot do: one must not only empty the self of persons but also empty the self of dharmas. Only after all have been eliminated and emptied does there finally remain an unemptyable, tranquil true mind. Now it is impossible for anyone to cultivate to this degree. When only the tranquil mind remains at the end, one has realized emptiness. Then who is it that realizes this tranquil mind? Who is it that recognizes that tranquil true mind? There still must be a "who"; without this "who" it will not work. This "who" is also empty and is also to be eliminated, yet one must still make use of this empty "who" that ought to be broken through, in order to discover our inherently existing tranquil mind-essence, the tathāgatagarbha. Such practice breaks through delusive dharmas rather than annihilating them—it simply refuses to take them as real—and then uses the delusive, unreal mind consciousness and manas to realize that unbreakable true mind. Without the delusive mind consciousness and manas, one cannot see one's true mind and attain enlightenment.

What does this tranquil mind refer to? It refers to the fact that its essence is tranquil: without form and without marks, invisible to the eyes, inaudible to the ear faculty, unsmellable to the nose faculty, untasteable to the tongue faculty, untouchable by the body, and neither felt nor conceived of by the mind consciousness. What then should be done? Through studying the prajñā sūtras, one comes to understand the essential nature of the true mind and the characteristics of its operation—and the true mind's operation is its functioning within the body of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha). After understanding this, one must undertake the work of meditative concentration and investigation, perseveringly investigating with single-minded focus within the operation of the five-aggregate body; only then can one realize the tranquil mind.

The Ear-Faculty Perfect Penetration Dharma Gate is not a purely concentration-cultivating dharma gate, but one that cultivates samādhi and wisdom equally. On the foundation of the four dhyānas and eight concentrations, it includes the profound Mahāyāna tathāgatagarbha dharma. Within meditative concentration, one relinquishes arising-and-ceasing delusive dharmas all along the way; apart from the tathāgatagarbha, which cannot be relinquished, all mental activities must be relinquished, including the mind that empties, the dharmas that are emptied, and all kinds of emptiness as well. Without wisdom, one simply cannot cultivate this dharma gate. Cultivating this gate can reach Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's thirty-two response bodies; whether in meditative concentration, wisdom, or meditative absorption (samādhi), it rivals that of all Buddhas—of course it is supremely perfect penetration. The closer a dharma approaches the ultimate, the more definitive it is, the more sublime it is—the harder it is to cultivate.

In cultivating non-self, eliminating self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) to attain purity of the Dharma eye, and emptying the five-aggregate body—this samādhi is the simplest and easiest. How many people can guarantee they will realize it before the end of their lives? If I were not spreading the Dharma and devoted myself exclusively to cultivating the Ear-Faculty Perfect Penetration, I could not cultivate it successfully either. Even if one could attain the fourth dhyāna, success would still not be guaranteed; even with the consciousness-only seed-wisdom (唯识种智) realization of a first-bhūmi bodhisattva, success would still not be guaranteed. After cultivating it successfully and becoming an equal-enlightenment bodhisattva like Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva—such a being will no longer appear in the Sahā world. If even the first contemplation in the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life Sūtra cannot be accomplished, then nothing more need be said. Whatever one says is mere spit—what use is it?

As for the first contemplation in the Contemplation of the Buddha of Infinite Life Sūtra, have you all been practicing it for several years now? Not a single person has reported on the results of their practice. Only by accomplishing the third contemplation can one guarantee rebirth in the land of bliss (Sukhāvatī) at the end of life. If even the first contemplation is this difficult, what talk is there of the third contemplation? What talk is there of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's Ear-Faculty Perfect Penetration Dharma Gate? If even cultivating the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) of the desire realm is so difficult, and the first dhyāna is harder still, what talk is there of the fourth dhyāna? Still less of the meditative concentration needed for cultivating the Ear-Faculty Perfect Penetration. If even realizing the first fruit is nowhere in sight, seeing one's true mind is harder still—let alone the consciousness-only seed-wisdom of bodhisattvas on the bhūmis—so what talk is there of cultivating Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's Ear-Faculty Perfect Penetration Dharma Gate? Nearly half the people in the world love to talk grandly about theory, but as for genuine cultivation—cultivating to a certain degree—truly only a few can be found in this world. This is the hallmark of the Dharma-ending age in the Sahā world.