Contemplating the Five Aggregates and Eliminating the View of Self (Part I) (Second Edition)

Section Three: The Five Aggregates Are Produced by the Eighth Consciousness

I. The Form Aggregate Is Produced by the Eighth Consciousness

The form aggregate is one of the five aggregates. It is arising and ceasing, illusory, changing, impermanent, suffering, empty, and unreal. It is conjured by the eighth consciousness. The eighth consciousness, based on the karmic seeds and conditions of sentient beings, manifests the form body of sentient beings, thus giving rise to the existence of the form aggregate. The form aggregate does not arise by itself due to some condition alone, nor is it solely produced by parents; parents are merely a supporting condition for the birth of the form aggregate. It is the eighth consciousness, relying on the condition of the parents, that enters the fertilized egg and, according to the karmic seeds of sentient beings, transforms the mother's blood to form the embryo, thus becoming the form aggregate. The form aggregate does not exist naturally or without cause; it is manifested by the eighth consciousness in dependence on conditions and is one of the attributes possessed by the eighth consciousness.

Since form is transformed by the eighth consciousness, it is part of the eighth consciousness and has a relationship of non-duality and non-separation with it. Therefore, form is emptiness, which is the nature of the eighth consciousness, the mind of emptiness. Here, emptiness refers to the eighth consciousness, the mind of emptiness, and form refers to the form aggregate. The form aggregate *is* the eighth consciousness; entirely, it is manifested through the functional activity of the eighth consciousness. The emptiness here is not void space. Void space is a provisional term referring to a place without matter; when matter is placed there, void space ceases to exist. Therefore, void space has no origin, no destination, and no substantiality; it is not a truly existent dharma.

II. The Principle of the Five Aggregates Being Produced by the Eighth Consciousness

Understanding the essence of the seven consciousness minds is extremely important. All activities of the five aggregates are jointly produced and operated through the combined functioning of the seven consciousness minds and the eighth consciousness. When the seven consciousness minds are applied to the form body, the activities of the five aggregates arise. If the seven consciousness minds do not operate within the form body, the form body is a corpse. When the consciousness minds are present in the form body, the form body is the form aggregate. When the internal five sense faculties within the form body contact the internal five sense objects, the mental faculty simultaneously contacts the internal mental objects upon the five sense objects, causing the six consciousness minds to arise. When the six consciousnesses further contact the six faculties and six objects, the consciousness minds can feel, giving rise to the feeling aggregate. The feeling aggregate is primarily the feelings of the mind consciousness, supplemented by the feelings of the first five consciousnesses; without consciousness minds, there is no feeling aggregate.

The six consciousnesses discern the six sense objects; grasping the appearances of the six sense objects is perception (saṃjñā). Subsequent thinking, subtle discrimination, judgment, planning, etc., are all perception. The perception aggregate is primarily the activity of the mind consciousness, but the five consciousnesses also have perceptual activities involving discerning and grasping appearances. The formation aggregate (saṃskāra) is the operation of the consciousness minds, the continuous flow and change of thought-moments; all activities of body, speech, and mind are the formation aggregate. This includes the passage of time, changes in location and direction, the heartbeat, breathing, pulse, blood flow within the form body – as long as it is operating and changing, not static, it is the formation aggregate. The consciousness aggregate (vijñāna) is the discerning functional nature of the consciousness minds.

If the seven consciousness minds are not applied to the form body, there are no activities of the five aggregates, and the form body is not a sentient being; killing it would not constitute killing a living being. However, if the eighth consciousness does not deliver the seeds of the seven consciousness minds, the seven consciousness minds do not arise, let alone the activities of the five aggregates. If the eighth consciousness does not cooperate with the seven consciousness minds, there are no activities of the five aggregates; the form body is a corpse, it is like wood. From this, it can be seen that the activities of the five aggregates are produced by the eighth consciousness under the control of the seventh consciousness.

III. The Meaning of the Emptiness of the Five Aggregates

The five aggregates are suffering, empty, impermanent, and without self. The emptiness of the five aggregates does not mean the absence of the five aggregates or that the five aggregates disappear, leaving no phenomena. Rather, it means that while the five aggregates exist phenomenally, they lack self-nature, like a city conjured by a magician – without substance, without independence; their essence is the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha. All phenomena of the five aggregates are entirely manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha; therefore, the five aggregates are empty.

The emptiness of the five aggregates is also not achieved by dividing them into extremely minute parts until they become nothing, becoming void. This is not the principle. The five aggregates cannot be analyzed into atoms because the five aggregates consist of form dharmas and mind dharmas. Mind dharmas cannot be divided into atoms and then become void. Even if the form body can be divided into extremely subtle atoms, it cannot transform from atoms into void; atoms and void space cannot transform into each other because their seeds are different.

The emptiness of the five aggregates means they lack substance; it means illusoriness, and it also means they belong to the emptiness nature of the Tathāgatagarbha. Similarly, the emptiness of the form aggregate does not mean there is no form, but that the form aggregate lacks the substance of an independent entity; it is produced by the Tathāgatagarbha, it is the emptiness nature of the Tathāgatagarbha. The form aggregate lacks the self-nature of form dharmas; it is an illusory dharma, a dharma that arises and ceases; therefore, it is empty. The definition of emptiness: 1) Unreality – lacking self-nature, being an illusory dharma; 2) Void space – meaning complete nothingness; 3) The emptiness nature of the Tathāgatagarbha.

The form aggregate is produced by the Tathāgatagarbha; it cannot be independent, cannot be self-determined; it cannot decide its own existence. Its birth, abiding, change, and cessation are determined by karmic seeds and the Tathāgatagarbha. The form aggregate is produced by the conjuring of the Tathāgatagarbha; its essence is entirely the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha; there is no real nature of the form aggregate itself. Just as clay figures are all of clay nature, their essence is entirely clay; originally, there are no people, hence no nature of the clay figure itself. Therefore, the form aggregate has no self-nature; it is entirely the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha; the whole is the Tathāgatagarbha. Similarly, all dharmas in the three realms are of the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha; all are created by the Tathāgatagarbha; their essence is entirely the Tathāgatagarbha, no different from clay figures.

IV. Failing to Recognize Mount Lu's True Face Because One Is Within the Mountain

If Mount Lu is used as a metaphor for worldly dharmas, sentient beings fail to see the hypocrisy, illusoriness, and unreality of the worldly, fail to see the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and selflessness of worldly dharmas, precisely because their minds are too close to worldly dharmas, even completely dissolved into them without any gap. The mind is then completely obscured by worldly dharmas. As a result, year after year, life after life, they experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness within worldly dharmas, being turned by worldly dharmas, bound by the worldly; their body and mind lack freedom and liberation. To seek liberation, what should be done?

If Mount Lu is used as a metaphor for one's own deluded mind (the seven consciousnesses), how can one recognize the arising, ceasing, changing, and insubstantiality of the deluded mind? To objectively observe one's own mind and recognize one's mental activities, one must extract the mind, then turn back to contemplate one's own mind, creating some distance, standing at a certain height, to objectively observe one's mental activities, or observe them as if they were another's mental activities. This way, it will be more objective and fair.

If Mount Lu is used as a metaphor for the five-aggregate body, having been within the five-aggregate body for countless lifetimes, yet not knowing the five aggregates are without self, not knowing their impermanence, arising, ceasing, and changing, not knowing their suffering and emptiness. To thoroughly recognize the true face of the five aggregates anew, one must observe the five aggregates according to the Four Noble Truths taught by the Buddha. If one wishes to recognize the true face of the five-aggregate body, one must study the Mahāyāna Prajñā (Wisdom) and investigate the Tathāgatagarbha within the five-aggregate body. Then one will realize that the original face of the five-aggregate body is actually the Tathāgatagarbha; the five-aggregate body is an illusory appearance manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha; the truth is hidden within the five-aggregate body, performing tricks, its traces unfathomable to the worldly.

V. Brief Discussion on the Difference Between a Living Person and a Dead Person

When a person is alive, there must be activities of the five aggregates. Regarding the form aggregate: breathing, heartbeat, pulse, blood flow, urination and defecation, temperature, softness, tears, nasal mucus, sweat, peristalsis of the stomach and intestines, and the functioning and actions of the body, etc. Regarding the feeling aggregate: feelings of pleasure, pain, sorrow, joy, and equanimity – happy one moment, distressed the next, then neither pain nor pleasure; mental feelings and sensations are constantly changing. Regarding the perception aggregate: being able to discriminate flowers, plants, trees, people, animals, gold, silver, jewels, a person's cultivation, temperament, knowledge, demeanor, sounds from all directions, fragrant and foul smells, sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, salty tastes, cold, hot, touch, pain, hunger, thirst, fullness, softness, hardness, thickness, thinness, heaviness, lightness, ease, thinking, reasoning, judgment, recollection, planning, etc., and constantly grasping all appearances. Regarding the formation aggregate: being able to run, walk, stand, sit, lie down, raise hands, move feet, laugh, play, get angry, scold, eat, dress, engage in productive work. Regarding the consciousness aggregate: eyes can see, ears can hear, nose can smell, tongue can taste, body can feel touch, mind can think of dharmas.

A living person has activities of the eighteen elements (dhātus): the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty, and mental faculty all have corresponding functioning. When contacting form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, there is eye consciousness discerning form, ear consciousness discerning sound, nose consciousness discerning smell, tongue consciousness discerning taste, body consciousness feeling touch, and mind consciousness thinking of dharmas. These fabricated activities of conditioned dharmas are all sustained and maintained by the eighth consciousness, the Ālayavijñāna.

The eighth consciousness has the function of sustaining the body. From the moment of the fertilized egg, it sustains it. Sperm and egg are originally single cells, not life forms; each can only survive for about seven days. After they meet, the seventh consciousness brings the eighth consciousness to reside within it; then the fertilized egg becomes a life form and has life activities. The earth, water, fire, and wind seeds within the eighth consciousness correspond with the nutrients in the mother's body; the eighth consciousness can then absorb nutrients from the mother's body to transform and produce the fertilized egg, changing every seven days. If the eighth consciousness leaves, the fertilized egg immediately dies. After birth, the eighth consciousness again absorbs the earth, water, fire, and wind elements from milk and food to transform and produce the body; the infant gradually grows, then gradually ages until death. These phenomena are all the result of the eighth consciousness sustaining and transforming; they are produced by the eighth consciousness.

The *Cheng Weishi Lun* (Treatise on the Establishment of Consciousness-Only) states: (The Ālayavijñāna) is able to secretly transform within the body to perform its functions. This means it can cooperate with the functioning of the first seven consciousnesses to produce all activities of the five-aggregate body. At death, when the eighth consciousness leaves and no longer sustains the form body, urine and feces will flow out, the body will become stiff and cold, breathing, pulse, and heartbeat cease, blood flow stops, gastrointestinal peristalsis stops, and all bodily activities cease.

The six faculties no longer contact the six objects; the internal six objects cannot appear; the six consciousnesses no longer arise; the seven consciousnesses depart. Thus, the body becomes a corpse. The corpse has eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear, nose but cannot smell, tongue but cannot taste, body but cannot feel touch; it becomes a piece of wood, a corpse, unmoved by any beating, scolding, crying, or shouting. From this, it can be seen that the difference between a dead person and a living person lies in the presence or absence of the eighth consciousness. The principle that sentient beings are created by the eighth consciousness can be glimpsed here. From this, we should know the starting point for Chan meditation.

VI. The Difference Between the Form Body and Material Form Dharmas

The form body belongs to one type of material form dharmas. Like material form dharmas, it is generated by the seeds of the four great elements (earth, water, fire, wind). The differences are: 1. The form body has eight consciousnesses, hence activities of the five aggregates, whereas material form dharmas have no consciousness minds and no activities of the five aggregates. 2. The form body is individually produced and sustained by the Tathāgatagarbha of an individual sentient being, whereas material form dharmas are collectively produced and sustained by the Tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings sharing collective karma. On the form body, the activities of the eight consciousnesses produce feelings; all feelings are the functional activity of consciousness minds, coming from nowhere and going nowhere. Consciousness minds arise from the eighth consciousness; when feelings cease, they also have no destination; the consciousness seeds cease and return to the eighth consciousness. If the eighth consciousness is likened to the ocean, the body and all material form dharmas are the waves on the ocean.

VII. The Five-Aggregate Body Comes from the Tathāgatagarbha

When we look up at the white clouds in the sky, we see that the clouds can continuously transform into various patterns. Sometimes the clouds transform into the shape of flowers, sometimes into the shapes of cats, dogs, etc. Do these transformed flowers and cats/dogs have self-nature and reality? Are those beautiful patterns flowers/cats/dogs or are they clouds? What should we regard these floating things in the sky as to accord with reality? What is the true nature of the flowers and cats/dogs? As long as we contemplate and compare, it is not difficult to know that those things are essentially all clouds; there are no flowers or cats/dogs. All the material is clouds; therefore, cats/dogs are of the nature of clouds.

Similarly, it can be proven that the five-aggregate bodies of sentient beings are all of the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha. All the material comes from the Tathāgatagarbha; the whole is the true suchness (tathatā), it is the one true dharma realm (dharmadhātu). Cats/dogs metaphorically represent the five-aggregate body; clouds represent the Tathāgatagarbha. By analogy, through careful contemplation, one can clearly understand this principle. Many people only recognize cats/dogs and flowers, not the clouds. Even more people only recognize the five-aggregate body, not the Tathāgatagarbha. If one recognizes the Tathāgatagarbha, one can both realize the mind (明心) and sever the view of self (断我见), achieving two goals at once.

The Buddha Dharma is readily present, simple, clear, and bright; it is actually just like a layer of window paper. As long as the finger points to the right spot and gives a poke, everything is accomplished. Those with insufficient merit point where they shouldn't and don't point where they should. In the end, with no way back, they finally point to that last spot. Ultimately, there is no one who cannot become a Buddha; it's only a matter of sooner or later. Some are willing sooner, some don't mind later.

VIII. It Is the Tathāgatagarbha That Operates All Dharmas

With insufficient concentration power (śamatha) and merit, severing the view of self and realizing the mind are both very difficult; seeing the Buddha-nature is even more difficult. The contemplative practice (觀行) for severing the view of self must first contemplate the falsity of one's own form body, contemplate the arising, ceasing, and changes of the form body, and then contemplate the arising, ceasing, and changes of the consciousness minds. The functions produced by the consciousness minds are feeling, perception, formation, and discernment; all these functions must be contemplated. Contemplate the arising, ceasing, impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and selflessness of these functions; the scope of contemplation should be as comprehensive as possible.

The scope of the eighteen elements must be fully covered, carefully observing the arising, ceasing, and impermanence of each one. Contemplate the point of contact between the faculties and objects; if this contemplation is penetrated, one can attain realization in the future. If this place is not penetrated by contemplation, at best it is intellectual understanding (解悟), not realizing the crucial point, not realizing the fundamental. The six consciousnesses also have contact; the six consciousnesses contact the six objects. If all these dharmas are contemplated, severing the view of self can be thorough, and realizing the mind will also be swift.

In the world, it is actually the Tathāgatagarbha itself that operates everything. The faculties are It, the objects are It, the consciousnesses are also It. Apart from this, there is nothing; all dharmas are Itself. After attaining the first bhūmi (初地), one will discover: all realms are It, all form dharmas and mind dharmas are It; apart from It, there is nothing else.

IX. How to Understand the Nature of the Five Faculties

The five faculties refer to the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, and body faculty. The five faculties are divided into the outer five faculties and the inner five faculties. The outer five faculties are the gross material faculties (浮塵根); the inner five faculties are the subtle material faculties (勝義根). Each has its own organizational structure and functional role, but all are generated and sustained by the Tathāgatagarbha. The nature of these five faculties is fundamentally the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha; they are all produced and transformed from the Tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, they are arising, ceasing, changing, impermanent, empty, suffering, and without self. We observe the birth of these five faculties – from non-existence to existence, and after existence, returning to cessation. We observe the composition of the five faculties, then observe their changes, and finally observe their destruction. Then we can know that the five faculties are arising, ceasing, changing, and impermanent.

This is observation from the Hīnayāna perspective before realization. After realization, one must also observe the five faculties from the Mahāyāna perspective: observe the Tathāgatagarbha moment by moment outputting the seeds of the four great elements to form the five faculties; observe the moment-by-moment variability of the five faculties, how the Tathāgatagarbha maintains and changes the five faculties according to various conditions – when conditions change, the five faculties change. The functional role of the five faculties is to apprehend the external five sense objects. The five faculties are like a camera, a tool responsible for receiving and transmitting. How they specifically receive, transmit, and work depends on the consciousness minds to control. The consciousness minds are like the person operating the camera; without a person, the camera is just a pile of materials, utterly useless. Without the Tathāgatagarbha and the mental faculty (manas), the five faculties are just a pile of dead flesh, without the slightest value.

X. The Four Nutriments Are All the Meritorious Function of the Tathāgatagarbha

Sentient beings in the desire realm nourish themselves with physical food (段食). Food must be chewed into morsels, then swallowed, digested, and absorbed for the form body to sustain life activities; therefore, the form body is illusory and unreal. Sentient beings in the desire realm need the six faculties to contact the six objects for the form body to be nourished and enhanced; otherwise, they cannot survive. Therefore, the five aggregates are illusory and unreal. Sentient beings in the desire realm need the seven consciousnesses to continuously think and operate for them to survive; therefore, the five aggregates are illusory and unreal. Sentient beings in the desire realm need the seven consciousnesses to continuously discern the six objects to survive; therefore, the five aggregates are illusory and unreal.

Sentient beings in the first dhyāna heaven of the form realm have no physical food; they have contact nutriment (觸食). They need contact objects to survive; otherwise, they perish. The eye, ear, body, and mental faculties need to contact four objects (form, sound, touch, dharmas?); eye consciousness, ear consciousness, body consciousness, and mind consciousness also need to contact these four objects – this is contact nutriment. They have mental volition nutriment (思食): the mind consciousness and mental faculty need mental activities, thinking about all contacted dharmas, to continue functioning. First dhyāna devas have no nose consciousness or tongue consciousness; the eye, ear, body, mind consciousnesses, and mental faculty need to mentally engage with dharmas to survive in the first dhyāna heaven; otherwise, they cannot survive. They have consciousness nutriment (識食): the five consciousnesses need to discern and distinguish the four objects in the heavenly realm. With these three nutriments, sentient beings in the first dhyāna heaven can survive and maintain the existence of the form body; therefore, the five aggregates of first dhyāna devas are illusory.

From the obtaining of physical food to the nourishment of the form body, it is all the meritorious function of the Tathāgatagarbha; it is the Tathāgatagarbha that nourishes and maintains the form body. Contact nutriment, mental volition nutriment, and consciousness nutriment are also the meritorious function of the Tathāgatagarbha. Ultimately, all sentient beings depend on the Tathāgatagarbha to survive; separated from the Tathāgatagarbha for even a moment, they cannot exist. The six faculties, six objects, and six consciousnesses are all manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha; the four nutriments are also manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha; everything needed by sentient beings is manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, sentient beings are illusory, unreal, empty, and not-self. Deeply contemplating the abiding of the four nutriments can also sever the view of self and attain liberation.

XII. The Form Body Is an Attribute of the Tathāgatagarbha

Breaking down the body to its smallest cellular components, cells contain various particles. Particles are composed of the four great elements in minute form. The minute particles of the four great elements are formed from the seeds of the four great elements within the Tathāgatagarbha. The seeds of the four great elements are formless and signless, coming from the Tathāgatagarbha. The Tathāgatagarbha outputs the seeds of the four great elements, forming minute particles. The minute particles aggregate to form the smallest matter, then aggregate further to form somewhat larger matter visible to the naked eye, then gradually aggregate to form the initial form body, and finally, when the form body is complete, it emerges from the mother's womb.

From this, it is known that the form body is empty, arising and ceasing, without self; it is produced by the Tathāgatagarbha, sustained by the Tathāgatagarbha, entirely of the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha. This body is merely transformed by the functional activity of the seeds of the Tathāgatagarbha; it is part of the function of the Tathāgatagarbha, an attribute of the Tathāgatagarbha; it has no attribute or self-nature of the form body itself. Ordinary people can only think about this content; they cannot observe it directly (現量觀行) because they lack the corresponding concentration power, their wisdom power is insufficient, and their mental faculty cannot engage; they cannot personally participate in deep and subtle contemplation and mental engagement, cannot realize this principle, and thus cannot sever the view of the body and the view of self from this point, nor can they realize the Tathāgatagarbha.

XIII. The Form Body Composed of Particles Is Illusory

Within the cells of a sentient being's form body, bioelectrical energy can also be generated; physiology calls this bioelectricity. Bioelectricity continuously releases energy to sustain the needs of the form body. Within the cells are various particles composed of the four great elements: nuclei, neutrons, protons, atoms, electrons, ions, etc. The arising, ceasing, and metabolism of these particles can generate energy needed by the form body, including thermal energy, kinetic energy, electrical energy, etc. When energy is released, it consumes the material components of the four great elements within the body, requiring constant replenishment; hence, food is needed. To consume less food, one must have fewer activities of the consciousness minds, enter deep meditative absorption (dhyāna), have inner tranquility, have fewer activities of the consciousness minds, so that energy consumption is reduced.

Devas in the form realm and formless realm, however, take meditative joy (dhyāna-sukha) as food; they do not need physical food or material form dharmas. If sentient beings in the desire realm continuously crave food, are attached to food and flavors, and cannot generate form realm dhyāna, they will not attain form realm absorption. Those who are particular about food, whose appetite is not subdued, cannot possibly have the arising of the first dhyāna absorption.

Living beings are life forms; life forms are the five-aggregate body. The five-aggregate body is composed of seeds of the four great elements and seeds of consciousness. When consciousness seeds act upon the form body of the four great elements, activities of the five aggregates arise. Among these, the seeds of the four great elements arise, cease, and change moment by moment; the form body is empty and illusory. The seeds of consciousness arise, cease, and change moment by moment; they are empty and illusory; all are of the nature of the Tathāgatagarbha. The five-aggregate body thus arises, ceases, and changes moment by moment, unreal like flowers in the sky (空花). Starting from this point, after the view of self becomes faint, one can then practice the Hīnayāna path and easily sever the view of self.

XIV. The Five Aggregates and Their Supporting Conditions Are All Conjured by the Tathāgatagarbha

External form is conjured collectively by numerous Tathāgatagarbhas. The form body and internal form are conjured individually by one's own Tathāgatagarbha. The eye faculty is produced by the Tathāgatagarbha; the eye consciousness is produced by the Tathāgatagarbha. The function of eye consciousness seeing form is the combined action of the Tathāgatagarbha, the seventh consciousness, the sixth consciousness, and the eye consciousness, manifesting the internal form within the eye consciousness and mind consciousness. Among these, the four consciousnesses each have their functions and also have combined functions. The faculties, objects, and consciousnesses are all manifested, sustained, and directed by the Tathāgatagarbha. Apart from these three, there are no sentient beings, no five aggregates. Then what are the five aggregates and sentient beings? Where is the 'I'? Where are the five aggregates? Which one is the 'I'? Seeing form, hearing sound, smelling fragrance, tasting flavor, feeling touch, thinking of dharmas – all seeing, hearing, feeling, knowing, all feeling functions, all thoughts and emotions – what are they?

Find all the dharmas upon which the five aggregates depend. Contemplate what these dharmas are. What do these dharmas themselves depend on? Having dependence means being non-real, non-independent, non-autonomous, suffering, empty, impermanent, arising and ceasing, conjured, illusory, and without self. Following this line of thought, enter concentration and contemplate, clarify the reasoning, let the mental faculty perceive, awaken, and touch realization. Finally, a voice will arise within: "All these dharmas truly have no reality; it's all a farce. Where is the 'I'? Which one is the 'I'? None are." Then one will weep bitterly, body and mind falling away, completely free from attachment.

There is a process in this. When the mental faculty gradually begins to recognize this fact, the mind will be very painful and sorrowful. Having clung to this 'I' for such a long time, seeing it about to disappear, the mind naturally feels empty and fearful, like standing on the edge of a cliff, very worried about falling down, hesitant, worried, afraid, knowing there is nothing, yet worried about having nothing to grasp; that mental state is very agitated, very turbulent. After a period of time, one can accept it, become peaceful, and return to normal. This is the process that someone about to sever the view of self for the first time in this life must undergo. Those who have severed the view of self over many lives and many lifetimes in the past will find it very easy, joyful, and happy.

What each person can contact is privately owned; private ownership represents a second conjuring, illusion upon illusion. Whether externally public or internally private, all are conjured illusions, without reality; all are images reflected in a mirror. Of course, truly realizing the mirror-image contemplation (鏡像觀) occurs at the full perfection of the first bhūmi (初地滿心), by which time the dharmas to be cultivated at the first bhūmi have all been completed.