All dharmas are bodhi, without two marks

Original text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: 佛告文殊及诸大众。十方如来及大菩萨。于其自住三摩地中。见与见缘。并所想相。如虚空华。本无所有。此见及缘。元是菩提妙净明体。云何于中有是非是。

Explanation: The Buddha told Mañjuśrī and the great assembly: The Tathāgatas of the ten directions and the great bodhisattvas, within the profound meditative absorption (samādhi) in which they themselves abide — the seeing nature that perceives all dharmas, the conditions upon which this seeing nature relies, and their marks, all the marks of the six sense-objects (dharmas) manifested in their minds — are all like flowers in empty space; originally there are no worldly dharma-marks whatsoever. This seeing nature and the conditions that give rise to it are originally the wondrous, pure, luminous essence of bodhi. How could there be, within all these dharma-marks, such dual aspects as "is bodhi" and "is not bodhi"?

What needs further explanation here is that all Buddhas and bodhisattvas constantly abide in their respective samādhi. This samādhi is a state of the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā — meditative concentration combined with the seed-wisdom of Consciousness-Only — which those lacking wisdom cannot fathom. The Buddhas and bodhisattvas abiding in samādhi also see dharmas; they see the realms of the six sense-objects of the mundane world. This is the seeing of the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses, not the seeing of the Buddha-nature. Of course, the seeing of the seven consciousnesses cannot be separated from the seeing of the Buddha-nature; otherwise, there would be no seeing at all. And the seeing of the seven consciousnesses also arises only through various conditions; without conditions, there can be no seeing. Seeing that arises in dependence on conditions is, of course, illusory and unreal seeing.

After the Buddhas and bodhisattvas see the dharma-marks of the six sense-objects, images of those dharma-marks appear in their minds. This is the object and result of seeing, the function of the aggregate of perception (saṃjñā) among the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), the cognition and confirmation of various dharma-marks. The Buddha said that the seeing nature of the seven consciousnesses of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, the conditions that give rise to this seeing nature, and the dharma-marks manifested in their minds — these three are all like flowers in empty space, originally nonexistent; there are no worldly marks of these three: seeing, conditions, and marks. Then what exactly are this seeing nature and these conditions? They clearly exist, yet it is said they do not. The Buddha said this is originally the pure, wondrous, luminous fundamental mind of bodhi, also called the true mind and self-nature, also called the tathāgatagarbha. How could one say that seeing and conditions are themselves the self-nature of bodhi, or that they are not the self-nature of bodhi?

It is like gold being fashioned into gold objects — gold plates, gold bowls, and gold bracelets. One cannot say these gold objects are not gold, nor can one say these gold objects are gold itself. After all, the gold has changed shape and acquired mundane uses. Yet even so, the gold objects still carry the value and image of gold. Ordinary beings, however, completely take the gold objects to be mundane things, clinging to the functions of the plates, bowls, and bracelets. Every day they carry a gold bowl to beg for food, to hold food, and to eat, unwilling to give up the mundane use of the bowl. Thus the gold is entirely taken as a mundane thing, obscuring the intrinsic value of the gold itself. Once the intrinsic value of the gold is concealed, its owner turns from a greatly wealthy elder into a begging beggar, homeless, destitute, overwhelmed by suffering and bitterness. Clutching a golden bowl and starving to death on the street — how unfortunate, how foolish! Once ordinary beings open the eye of wisdom, the dharma eye, and the Buddha eye, and recognize the gold, they instantly return from being ordinary beings to their original identity as Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Then, as for how we should investigate Chan and investigate ultimate reality — is it all now clear?

Original text: 文殊吾今问汝。如汝文殊。更有文殊是文殊者。为无文殊。如是世尊。我真文殊。无是文殊。何以故。若有是者。则二文殊。然我今日非无文殊，于中实无是非二相。

Explanation: Mañjuśrī, I now ask you: taking you, Mañjuśrī, as an example — is there another Mañjuśrī who is the original Mañjuśrī, or is there no other Mañjuśrī who is the original Mañjuśrī? The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī replied: It is so, World-Honored One. I am the true Mañjuśrī; there is no other Mañjuśrī who "is" Mañjuśrī. Why is this said? Because if there were another Mañjuśrī who is Mañjuśrī, then there would be two Mañjuśrīs. Yet I now am not without a Mañjuśrī who is the original Mañjuśrī; in this matter, there truly are no two dharma-marks of "is" and "is not."

How could the original Mañjuśrī give rise to the two aspects of "is" and "is not"? Mañjuśrī is simply Mañjuśrī; there is no other "is" or "is not" — this is a false proposition, conceptual proliferation (prapañca). By the same principle, all dharmas are bodhi; there are no other dual aspects of "is" and "is not." The whole is tathatā. Realizing this principle, one returns to one's original identity as the honored one of the three realms, no longer a begging beggar. May all sentient beings quickly wipe away the dust from their eyes, remove the thick blindfold, recognize the treasure, and return to the home of their self-nature!