Analysis of the Exact Meaning of Actual Realization

Actual realization (实证) means having genuinely experienced and directly perceived something, while personal realization (亲证) refers to having personally undergone and directly encountered it oneself. It is not the exercise of imagination, not scratching an itch from outside the boot, not watching a fire from across the river, and certainly not mental fabrication.

For example, to personally realize electricity is not merely knowing of its existence, but actually touching it, feeling the flow of electric current, directly experiencing the process and manner of its operation, having personally made contact with it. The characteristics, properties, states, and forms of existence of electricity become clear; even its influence is genuinely felt. There is no longer any vagueness or ambiguity about electricity; one can recount it as fluently as telling a familiar story.

Hearing this, someone might immediately exclaim in surprise: "But wouldn’t that mean getting electrocuted?" Exactly! Being shocked or electrocuted is what constitutes personal realization; otherwise, wouldn’t it be like scratching an itch from outside the boot? Only what one has personally experienced can be called personal realization. How could mere thoughts or beliefs be considered personal realization? How could realizing a fundamental truth be bland and devoid of any sensation? Having undergone such a significant event, how could the heart remain indifferent? Wouldn’t one be so shocked and excited as to jump up?

Another might ask: "But wouldn’t that kill you?" Exactly! To actually realize the Tathagatagarbha (如来藏) is to undergo a complete transformation, to be reborn anew; the former self dies and ceases to exist. Is there any problem with that? If one remains the same person, with an unchanged mind, unchanged body, nothing altered at all, then what has been realized? What has been experienced? Nothing has been attained. You say that seeing a washing machine running means you know electricity is operating, but did your eyes see the electricity? Did they witness the flow of current? Did your hands touch the sliding current? Did your body feel the stimulation of the current? None of these occurred. You merely saw the washing machine operating; you did not witness the flow of electricity. Without seeing with the eyes or touching with the body, how can it be called personal realization? You don’t know how electricity operates, what form or state it takes, what characteristics it possesses—you know nothing. What meaning does your so-called realization hold? What function does it serve? What can it change? What difference is there between realization and non-realization?

The "electricity" in actually realizing electricity refers to electric current, representing flow; it is not a nominal concept. What is there to realize about a nominal concept? The spinning of the washing machine is not electricity, not the flow of current; it is the machine’s own rotation. Seeing the washing machine spin and inferring that electric current is passing through is not the same as personally witnessing the flow of current, nor is it equivalent to personally touching the current.

Personal realization means the six sense faculties (六根) have genuinely made contact, and the seventh consciousness (七识) has genuinely perceived it. If the six sense faculties have not made contact, how can it count as personal realization? It’s like never having been to Beijing but claiming personal realization of Beijing after seeing pictures and videos of it. When looking at those images, did you personally experience Beijing’s local customs, dialects, cultural and geographical features, or the living environment of its people? Did you experience its bustling crowds? Did you feel the busy rhythm of people’s lives? None of these were experienced. What difference is there between realizing and not realizing Beijing? At most, you can say you personally realized the Beijing in pictures and videos, not the actual Beijing.

Another example: seeing smoke rising beyond a distant wall and saying you know there’s a fire, claiming realization of fire. But you did not personally see the fire; seeing smoke is not the same as seeing fire, and inferring fire is not equivalent to actually seeing or truly witnessing fire. To genuinely see the fire, you must go to the site where the smoke is rising, personally look beneath the smoke to see if there are flames, how intense the fire is—only then can it be called personally realizing and seeing the fire. Imagination and inference won’t do; even if you imagine or infer correctly, it still doesn’t count.

At least one of the six sense faculties must make contact with the object of realization for it to be considered personal or actual realization. For realizing material phenomena (色法), besides the mental faculty (意根) making contact, at least one of the five physical sense faculties (五根)—seeing with the eyes, hearing with the ears, smelling with the nose, tasting with the tongue, touching with the body—must also make contact. Sometimes two, three, four, or even all five faculties must make contact for it to count as personal realization. For realizing immaterial mental phenomena (无色心法), the mental faculty must personally make contact and realize it. Relying purely on the imagination and inference of the mental consciousness (意识) is not actual realization. If the faculties do not reach the actual scene, it cannot be considered personal realization.