Miscellaneous Discussions on Buddhism (Part One)

Chapter Fourteen: Miscellaneous Discussions on the Buddha-Dharma

1. Only with the Eye of Dharma-Selection Can One Make Correct Judgments About Certain Dharmas

Our field of vision is limited; we cannot see the Earth. Yet although we cannot see the Earth, we still know that our own feet stand upon the Earth, that we live on the Earth, and that we rely on the Earth's support and nourishment. Is this knowing a direct perception (pratyakṣa) or an inference-based cognition? It is certainly an inference-based cognition, because by understanding this principle, one can judge that we are indeed on the Earth. It is the same with many of the principles the Buddha taught: they are very difficult to realize in the present moment, but relying on wholesome roots accumulated over many lifetimes, when one cultivates to the point of having the eye of Dharma-selection, through reasoned deliberation and judgment one can know that the Buddha-Dharma is correct, that relying on it one can attain liberation and accomplish the Buddha-way.

For example, the arhats had not yet entered nirvāṇa, but through studying the Dharma and deliberating, they could know that by eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and exhausting craving for the three realms, liberation could be attained, and in their minds they affirmed that this method could lead to liberation and entry into nirvāṇa. Although they had not yet entered it, they did not need to wait until entering nirvāṇa to know that this practice could lead to nirvāṇa. This is deliberating and judging based on the principles the Buddha taught, and arriving at a correct conclusion. Many things do not require our personal experience to know whether they exist or not, whether they are right or wrong; with cognition grounded in wisdom, many principles become clear. Without wisdom, even personal experience does not reveal why things are as they are. I earnestly advise all fellow practitioners: regarding matters and principles you yourself do not know, do not lightly say "not so," "wrong," "nonexistent," or "erroneous." Always weigh what level your wisdom has reached, and whether you are capable of correct deliberation, reasoning, and judgment. The conclusions you reach are not necessarily correct—especially concerning the Dharma spoken by the Buddha: to judge it wrongly is slander. Slandering the Buddha and the Dharma has very serious consequences.

2. The Focus of the Dharma Teacher Is Very Important

Teaching the Dharma must not only match sentient beings' faculties (indriya); it should also transcend their faculties, leading and elevating their faculties. Because sentient beings' faculties vary in a thousand different ways, one cannot teach only low and shallow levels of Dharma; profound Dharma and even more profound Dharma should all be taught. Teaching it is not necessarily for the sentient beings present; it is also for sentient beings of later generations, for those of great faculties (indriya). Those whose faculties are insufficient may listen and let it pass; if they do not understand, they should hold it in doubt, but should not lightly draw conclusions.

When I teach the Dharma, I must first lay the groundwork, attending to beings of every grade—high, middle, and low—and attending to both this life and future lives; more importantly, I must consider the development of Buddhism as a whole. Therefore I cannot fully attend to each sentient being's particular circumstances. Naturally some people, even many people, will not resonate with it; this is a normal phenomenon. Even when the Buddha was in the world, not every teaching he gave suited the faculties of all sentient beings. In all matters, the Buddha has His own arrangements. Śākyamuni Buddha has an overall, holistic arrangement for the Buddha-Dharma in the Sahā world, supervising it from behind the scenes. We do not know this, but as long as we abide peacefully, that is fine—for now, absorb the Dharma that resonates with you, and set aside the profound Dharma for the time being.

When the World-Honored One had just attained the Way in the Sahā world, He taught the Avataṃsaka Sūtra to bodhisattvas of great resolve. The immeasurable hosts of devas and the disciples among humans—especially the śrāvaka disciples—were as if deaf and mute. The World-Honored One knew this, yet He still had to teach the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, laying out the entire Buddha-Dharma of the Sahā world and explaining the path to buddhahood clearly, so that the disciples would understand the entire sequential stages of Buddhist practice and have a clear picture in mind. Only after finishing the Avataṃsaka Sūtra did the World-Honored One begin to teach the disciples the coarsest, most elementary Buddha-Dharma, leading the assembly in practicing the four Āgamas, starting from eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and attaining the first fruit.

3. If One Has No Scale, or One's Ruler Is Too Short, Can One Measure Others and Other Things?

In worldly affairs, to serve as a judge, one must thoroughly understand what one is judging—that is, one must know the field. For example, to evaluate the teaching level of a university professor, one's own level of learning must be higher than, or at least equal to, that professor's; to evaluate the quality of a university student's thesis, one must be a university teacher. In the cultivation and realization of the Buddha-Dharma, to judge whether someone has awakened or has seen the nature, one must first be a person who has seen the mind and seen the nature. Only by having walked that path and being familiar with it can one know whether the path others walk is correct, and also know what position they have reached.

For judging the Buddha-Dharma, the minimum requirement is to have the eye of Dharma-selection; better still is to have few remaining doubts about the main body of the Buddha-Dharma; best of all is to have realized that Dharma oneself—only then can one make relatively accurate judgments. People who have cultivated to this level are very few. To judge whether another person has attained a fruit of realization, one must first attain that fruit oneself. Only by attaining the first fruit can doubts be severed: not doubting whether oneself has attained a fruit, not doubting whether one's teacher has attained a fruit, not doubting whether the Dharma can enable sentient beings to eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and self-grasping. Otherwise one cannot judge others. When one has no scale of one's own, one cannot measure other things.

4. At What Stage of Cultivation Can One Achieve Non-Discrimination?

The very existence of sentient beings' seven consciousnesses is to perform the function of discrimination. If one wants non-discrimination, then when the consciousness-mind is extinguished, there can be no discrimination; after entering meditative concentration (samādhi), discrimination becomes slight. As long as there is a knowing nature, an object known and a result of knowing, discrimination has been accomplished. What ordinary people call non-discrimination means not treating good and bad, wholesome and unwholesome, you, me, he, or she differently, but treating all alike; yet treating all alike is also discrimination—otherwise one could not treat all alike. Only when the mind feels everyone is equal can it treat all alike. There is awareness and there is viewing—this is precisely discrimination. Treating all alike is both the result and the process of discrimination.

The Buddha's wisdom of equality (samatā-jñāna) treats all sentient beings equally, without distinguishing wholesome from unwholesome; as long as conditions mature, He goes to teach and transform them. The Buddha would not say, "I only liberate good people, not evil people," nor would He only pity good people and not pity evil people. Perhaps it is rather the opposite: the Buddha may pity evil people even more, fearing they will undergo more suffering, and so devote even more care to transforming them, observing when the conditions for their transformation will mature. This is the effect of the Buddha's great compassion and wisdom of equality (samatā-jñāna). The Buddha is not like us, who care about, sympathize with, and pity only good and wholesome people while loathing evil and bad people. The Buddha has no such discriminating mind; the Buddha treats all sentient beings alike. Moreover, He often looks only at sentient beings' buddha-nature; because sentient beings' buddha-nature is equal, the Buddha regards all sentient beings with perfect equality.

5. When People Asked the Buddha About the Dharma While He Was in the World, Why Did He Not Answer?

With some questions, when sentient beings' wisdom is insufficient, no matter how the World-Honored One explained, sentient beings could not understand, so the World-Honored One would not proclaim it; saying it would be meaningless and would only increase sentient beings' confusion, and so the World-Honored One would not proclaim it. For example, when non-Buddhists asked the World-Honored One questions, if He observed that their faculties could not understand the answer, He would say that the question was indeterminate (avyākṛta), and would not answer. There were also disciples who asked about the world's earliest arising, how the first Buddha cultivated to buddhahood, how the last Buddha could become a Buddha when there were no sentient beings to liberate, and so on. To all these questions the World-Honored One gave no answer.

The Buddha-Dharma is vast and boundless; the World-Honored One taught only a small portion in the Sahā world—the rest is not suited for beings of this world to study and practice. Sentient beings' capacity to receive it is truly limited; what they cannot understand, they will slander. So with the immeasurable, countless Buddha-Dharmas, it is not that the World-Honored One was unwilling to teach them; it lies in sentient beings' own karmic obstructions being too heavy, their merit too meager, their wisdom too shallow. We should sincerely repent our karmic obstructions; regarding principles we cannot yet understand, we should not comment or make assertions, lest we create karmic actions of slander and reap evil retribution in future lives.

6. When Sentient Beings' Minds Are Crooked, the Buddha-Dharma Turns Into Poison

When amṛta is poured into a poisoned cup, it immediately becomes poison, because the vessel is not pure. When the amṛta of the Buddha-Dharma enters sentient beings' minds, they give rise to crooked interpretations, because their wisdom is not pure. The seeds of wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) lie in the field of sentient beings' eighth consciousness; upon encountering conditions, they produce crooked interpretations. The amṛta-Dharma-object is distorted by sentient beings' consciousness-mind, and the inner object-aspect (nimitta) produced is no longer amṛta. When the consciousness-mind contacts the distorted inner object-aspect, wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) arises; the seeds of wrong view are then planted back into the field of the eighth consciousness, and in the future what blooms will still be the flower of wrong view, bearing the fruit of wrong view. How lamentable! Removing the defiled nature of the manas is the most urgent task for learners of Buddhism. This requires the mind consciousness to constantly deliberate correctly on correct Dharma principles, constantly perfuming the manas. One day, after the manas's wrong view (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) has been transformed, cultivation can proceed onto the right path.

7. The Reason the Mind Turns With Conditions

External conditions can influence the inner mind, stirring up waves. One reason is insufficient power of meditative concentration (samādhi); another is insufficient wisdom, an inability to correctly and reasonably cognize and analyze the conditions one faces. What people love most is to go along with their own mind—whether that mind is wholesome or unwholesome, if things accord with it they are happy, if they oppose it they feel suffering. Because a person attends too much to inner feelings, their judgments of people, matters, and things are often incorrect. The same person may sometimes seem very good and at other times seem very bad—this proceeds entirely from one's own mental feelings, not from an objective and fair standpoint. This shows the falsity of our mind consciousness and the falsity of conditions: they are always in a state of constant change, not eternal and unchanging. That means they are unreal dharmas, unreliable dharmas. We cannot rely entirely on these things; otherwise, when these things perish, we will feel at a complete loss.

8. What Symptoms Does Imbalance of the Four Great Elements Produce?

When the four great elements are out of balance, a hundred illnesses arise; all illnesses of the material body are caused by imbalance of the four great elements. The causes of this imbalance are one, karmic obstructions, and two, the environment acquired after birth. When the four great elements fall out of harmony, the composition of the four great element seeds has changed, and the body must change accordingly, giving rise to various illnesses. An imbalance of a single element can cause the corresponding illness. For example, imbalance of the water element: the water in the body is either too much or too little, and whether the water's proportion is too much or too little, it causes illness—such as edema, dry skin, kidney disease, eczema, dermatitis, thick blood, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and other water-related illnesses.

Imbalance of the wind element can cause wind-related illnesses, such as respiratory diseases, urticaria, rheumatism, and so on. Imbalance of the fire element can cause fire-related illnesses, such as chills and fever of the body, cold ailments, high fever, low fever, and so on. Imbalance of the earth element can cause illnesses related to the earth's hardness and support, such as calcium deficiency, weakness of the limbs, frailty, hunching of the back, aches all over the body, and so on. When one element is out of balance, a hundred illnesses sprout; how much more so when all four elements are out of balance—the obstructions of illness are then layered upon layer. In sum, these are all retributive results drawn by sentient beings' karma created over beginningless kalpas; only in rare cases are they caused by occasional changes in the external environment to which the body temporarily fails to adapt; most are illnesses of karmic obstruction.

Whether it is an illness of karmic obstruction or one occasionally triggered by environmental discomfort, the change is all accomplished by the tathāgatagarbha. The four great element seeds are transmitted out from the tathāgatagarbha; when their proportions change, the material body undergoes corresponding changes. The change in the composition of the four great element seeds is decided by the tathāgatagarbha as master. Upon what does the tathāgatagarbha base its decision to change the output of the four great element seeds? One is karmic seeds: the tathāgatagarbha can discern karmic seeds, and its operation must proceed in accordance with karmic seeds. The other is the environment contacted by the material body, because the tathāgatagarbha can discern the body faculty and the environment of the material world (bhājana-loka); relying on these, it constantly adjusts the structure of the four great element seeds in accordance with the environment and the body faculty. Thus the body is constantly in various states of change. Every sentient being's material body changes moment by moment in this way—none does not change; it is all the doing of one's own tathāgatagarbha.

9. Is Clinging to the Buddha-Dharma Good or Bad After All?

Regarding clinging: clinging to the self's five aggregates (pañca-skandha) exists in everyone before the fourth-fruit arhat; clinging to the Buddha-Dharma exists in all bodhisattvas who have not cultivated to the beyond-training (aśaikṣa) stage of the Great Vehicle. Only when the dharma-grasping is extinguished does one become a Buddha. An eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva's cultivation has reached no-mind and non-action, yet there are still many dharmas to cultivate in the Buddha-Dharma's realization, and the dharma-grasping is not yet exhausted.

The Buddha-Dharma is a miraculous elixir, the guiding lamp for sentient beings to escape the sea of suffering, the maṇi jewel, the great heap of treasures, the ship on the ocean of saṃsāra and karma, the life-saving straw—every good expression can be applied to the Buddha-Dharma. The various Buddhist sūtras have already said much, said it well, and said it clearly, with extremely many similes: the Buddha-Dharma is the boat for crossing the river; only upon reaching the shore may one abandon the boat. Sentient beings drifting on the ocean of saṃsāra and karma—if they do not grip the boat tightly, falling into the sea means drowning. Ordinary beings who have not attained the Way should all the more grip the Buddha-Dharma tightly to save their own lives, hoping to leave suffering and attain bliss.

The vast majority of ordinary beings do not cling to the Buddha-Dharma; those who cling to the Buddha-Dharma are few—far too few. If one could cling to the Buddha-Dharma, one would no longer cling to the self and to worldly dharmas, which cause saṃsāra to continue unbroken. Clinging to the Buddha-Dharma is a good thing: once one has studied it to thorough understanding and complete penetration, and then exhausts the dharma-grasping, one can ascend to the other shore. If one is still an ordinary being of saṃsāra and does not cling to the Buddha-Dharma, then one certainly clings to worldly dharmas, and becomes lax in cultivating the Buddha-Dharma. A person whose body is lax and whose mind is lax certainly does not cling to the Buddha-Dharma—practicing or not practicing makes no difference, what to practice makes no difference, how to practice makes no difference. Without doubt it is so.

At the very beginning of studying and practicing Buddhism, clinging to the Buddha-Dharma still brings many benefits. Craving the Buddha-Dharma is wholesome craving; it brings benefit, and can transfer one's clinging to self and to the worldly over into the Buddha-Dharma. By turning the craving for the five aggregates, the self, and worldly five desires and six sense-objects around—clinging to and craving the Buddha-Dharma—the mind-ground can attain liberation. Once the Buddha-Dharma has been thoroughly understood and fully penetrated, one can then step by step remove the craving for and clinging to the Buddha-Dharma, and only then accomplish the Buddha-way.

10. Conquering One's Own Mind Is Conquering the World

The world is established within empty space, and empty space is within the tathāgatagarbha, just as a single cloud appears in the great sky. The Sahā world and the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) are the closest, yet still separated by a hundred thousand buddha-lands—how vast the great-thousand sand-worlds must be. Conquer your own mind, and you have conquered the universe, conquered the worlds of the ten directions, conquered the one true dharma realm. Pull your mind out, understand all the dharmas within it, and immeasurable worlds belong to you. In fact, conquering the world is conquering one's own mind; outside the mind there are fundamentally no dharmas.

Yet every day we still cling to petty worldly dharmas, stirring thoughts over trivial matters—how small and insignificant that appears. Observed from within the cosmic void, what worldly matter could count as a matter? Whenever you expand your mind's capacity to be the same as the tathāgatagarbha, that is when you possess the ocean of worlds of the ten directions. The Buddha said: “譬如澄清百千大海弃之。唯认一浮沤体。目为全潮。穷尽瀛渤。汝等即是迷中倍人。” Hearing these words spoken by the Buddha, we truly should wake up quickly and no longer remain lost in deluded clinging.

11. There Are Imperfect Points in Hīnayāna Treatises

For Hīnayāna cultivation, one should still take the Āgama sūtras spoken by the Buddha—especially the Saṃyukta Āgama—as the standard. Other people's treatises all contain more or less incorrect points, their details inconsistent with the Buddha's words. Even treatises composed by fourth-fruit arhats diverge from what the Buddha taught, and cannot be accepted in full.

The errors and disputes in those Hīnayāna treatises are even more numerous than the disputes among the ancient Yogācāra masters. Such a simple Dharma, yet they still argue back and forth with differing opinions—one can see that cultivating the Buddha-Dharma is not easy. Because the Hīnayāna path of liberation is cultivated at a relatively low level, there are many people writing books and treatises, and the content is rather disorderly, with many each speaking their own version. All this is drawn forth by the karma of sentient beings in the Sahā world; in other worlds there is no such situation.

The sūtras say that after the first fruit, one must cultivate the first dhyāna before one can sequentially eradicate afflictions such as greed, hatred, and delusion, and only then become an arhat liberated by wisdom (prajñā-vimukti). But those Hīnayāna treatises say that an arhat liberated by wisdom need not have the first dhyāna, nor even preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi)—that without cultivating any meditative concentration at all one can eradicate afflictions and attain the fourth fruit. This is pure fantasy.

If in this life we do not cultivate diligently, lay a solid foundation, and achieve some accomplishment, then in future lives, as the Buddha-Dharma evolves into ever greater confusion, it will become simply impossible to distinguish right from wrong, and we can easily fall into the pits set by the māra king and never get out. The māra king's tricks are extremely numerous—impossible to guard against fully. So we should still vow to take refuge in the Three Jewels, rely on the Buddha's power for protection, and walk the right path of liberation. In this world, māra-obstructions are everywhere; if one's merit is slightly deficient, one gets obstructed without knowing it, and even knowing it, one lacks the power to break free. Cultivating more merit, strengthening the power of meditative concentration (samādhi), and subduing karmic obstructions is most crucial. Then, when karmic obstructions manifest, one will have the ability to break through them.

12. When Meditative Concentration Is Weak, the Mind Is Coarse

We must deliberate upon, analyze, and study the meanings of Chinese characters more deeply before we can understand their true import. Only those without obstacles with respect to language can easily understand the Buddha-Dharma correctly and have wisdom arise continually. Those with linguistic obstacles, upon reading a passage, cannot truly grasp its essential meaning and often misinterpret it, so their wisdom cannot advance. In interactions among sentient beings, if there are obstacles with language, causing mutual misunderstanding and failure to communicate, then interaction becomes distressing and frustrating. People who are good at understanding others' minds have few obstacles with language, are skilled at seeing through others' psychology, communicate easily, and encounter fewer obstacles in dealing with people.

Each person's level of understanding language differs greatly. Why do some people understand language at such a low level? A coarse, unrefined mind, lacking meditative concentration, lacking wisdom, deficient in merit—this is the main problem. The text clearly does not contain a certain meaning, yet some people, in understanding it, find that meaning there, unwilling to turn back and reflect on themselves, unwilling to turn the light inward. Many people only shine the light on others, not on themselves—that is a manifestation of heavy self. Then they believe their own understanding is correct and, without hesitation, go on to negate others and debate with them. This impulsiveness is precisely a sign of lacking meditative concentration (dhyāna); without wisdom, unable to introspect, unable to correctly evaluate oneself and others—such is the result. A wise person is one whose mind is very refined, who can both observe others as they truly are and genuinely introspect upon themselves. Lacking the power of observation and the power of introspection (pratyavekṣā-bala) shows that meditative concentration is weak and wisdom insufficient.

13. Time Differs in Each Buddha-Land

The Qi Shi Yin Yuan Sūtra (Sūtra on the Causes and Conditions of the World's Arising) within the Āgamas says that one great kalpa contains four intermediate kalpas, one intermediate kalpa contains twenty minor kalpas, and one minor kalpa is 16.8 million years. One cycle of the Earth's formation, abiding, decay, and emptiness is 80 × 16.8 million years, and this is one day in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī); one great kalpa in the land of bliss equals one day in another world; one great kalpa in that other world again equals one day in yet another world, and so on without end—the time in each buddha-land is different.

The Sūtra on the Manifestation of the Boundless Pure Land's Merit and Virtue says that among the buddha-lands of the worlds of the ten directions, the kalpa of the Sahā world is the shortest, and cultivating in this land is the fastest. One cycle of the Sahā world's formation, abiding, decay, and emptiness—one great kalpa—is only one day in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī). Comparing one day with one kalpa, the latter allows an enormous amount of cultivation; progress on the path is extremely rapid compared with other worlds. Cultivating in each world has its advantages and disadvantages: in worlds of suffering the kalpa is short and cultivation is fast; in worlds of bliss one enjoys greatly, but the kalpa is long and cultivation is relatively slower.

14. Hardships in Cultivation Are Unavoidable

Every person who studies and practices Buddhism will experience various hardships—this is inevitable. Contending with the karmic force accumulated over beginningless kalpas is extremely difficult; even bodhisattvas who have come again are like this, for adverse conditions abound. Cultivation is like rowing a boat against the current: it requires the courage to fight through great winds and waves and tenacious perseverance, and it requires the bodhisattva's great vows, so as not to be pressed down by wind and wave.

"When the Way rises a foot, the māra rises ten feet." As long as one has the aspiration to advance, one must undergo hardships; whenever there is obvious progress in cultivation, karmic obstructions will certainly manifest. One's resolve for the Way and one's courageous diligence are inconceivable, and the Buddha's power is equally inconceivable. As long as one generates a long-term, diligent mind, there will surely be the Buddha's power protecting and blessing, and the māra-obstructions can do nothing to us. Believe this, and one can overcome ten thousand difficulties. "A person without long-term concerns will have near-term worries." As long as we look far ahead and fix our gaze on the future, the road beneath our feet becomes easier to tread, and the difficulties before us become easier to overcome.

15. Judgments Without Wisdom Are All Misjudgments

Genuine right faith requires the wisdom of direct perception (pratyakṣa) and observation; otherwise, faith inevitably degenerates into biased belief and blind belief. Even with the Buddhist sūtras, a person of genuine wisdom should still hold doubts and find ways to actually verify them in practice—how much more so with teachings not spoken by the Buddha.

On the internet there are many people who say the Sixth Patriarch was a Buddha come again, that what he taught carries the Buddha's realization, that the Sixth Patriarch had already cultivated to become a Buddha. I truly do not know on what basis these people so definitively judge the Sixth Patriarch. To certify someone as being at the level of a university professor, one should be at a level even higher than that professor; at the very least one's level must be equal, before one can certify the other. Nowadays, sentient beings of the Dharma-ending age seem all to have already cultivated to buddhahood, and then, with the Buddha's wisdom, certify that the Sixth Patriarch had become a Buddha and possessed the Buddha's wisdom and realization. The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a thin little volume—I estimate not one of these people can understand it; otherwise none would dare draw such a conclusion.

16. Only by Resolving the Mind Can Karma Be Resolved

Sentient beings' karma must still be resolved by the sentient beings themselves; the main thing is to resolve the mind—only when the mind is resolved can karma be resolved. To resolve the mind, relying solely on the Buddha's power of blessing is not enough; one must actively cooperate oneself, transform one's own mind, and break through ignorance (avidyā)—only thus can karma be resolved. If you have the karma of killing and the Buddhas and bodhisattvas resolved it for you, yet you still have the mind of killing, you will create evil karma again in the future—so what karma was resolved? The karma of poverty—who can resolve it for you? Merit is cultivated by the individual; others cannot cultivate it in your place. Meditative concentration (samādhi) is cultivated by oneself; others cannot cultivate it in your place. Precepts are kept by oneself; others cannot keep the precepts for you. Seeing the mind is done by oneself; others cannot see the mind and see the nature for you. Buddhahood is achieved by one's own cultivation; others cannot become a Buddha in your place.

17. Who Is Capable of Following Conditions?

If an ordinary being follows conditions, then every day, every year, every life, every world—whatever conditions predominate—where can following conditions lead? "Following conditions yet unchanging; unchanging yet following conditions"—only the eighth consciousness can fully accomplish this. Bodhisattvas before the bhūmis cannot do it; it is impossible for them not to change. Bodhisattvas after the bhūmis, before the eighth bhūmi, also cannot fully do it. As long as the minds of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses are still subject to perfuming, it is impossible to be unchanging while following conditions. No matter what conditions the Buddha follows, His mind does not change, because His sixth and seventh consciousnesses are no longer subject to perfuming.

The non-Buddhists' meditative concentration was so good—entering samādhi for eighty thousand great kalpas, afflictions all subdued—yet because they had not eradicated the afflictions, they were reborn in the desire realm, and following conditions they again created karma of greed, hatred, and delusion, once more transmigrating in evil karma and suffering. The arhats, fearing they would be perfumed by the worldly conditions of the three realms, avoided the three realms and entered Nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa). As for the ordinary being's mind, once it follows conditions, it will certainly change—it is extremely unreliable. Whoever places all hope in an ordinary being will surely regret it.

18. The Liberation Body of All Buddhas

When an arhat attains liberation and leaves the three realms, the body of the five aggregates perishes and no longer appears—liberated, yet without a body. Although the Buddha has already attained ultimate great liberation, He still retains a material body of the five aggregates, using it to benefit and bring joy to immeasurable sentient beings; therefore the Buddha's body of the five aggregates is called liberated form (mokṣa-rūpa). What the Buddha realized is nirvāṇa without abode (apratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa): He will never extinguish the body and annihilate wisdom, never abandon sentient beings and disregard them while enjoying bliss alone. The Buddha universally liberates beings in immeasurable worlds according to conditions, with not a single dharma abiding in His mind. When the conditions in one world are exhausted, He manifests another material body in another buddha-land and again extensively benefits sentient beings—hence it is called nirvāṇa without abode (apratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa).

No matter which world the Buddha is in, He manifests a transformed material body; that body is manifested for the benefit of others and is called the enjoyment body for others (parasaṃbhogakāya). The Buddha's body of the five aggregates has attained great liberation and great ease, without any clinging or bondage, and is therefore also called the liberation body. After sentient beings become Buddhas, they all have immeasurable emanation bodies and transformation bodies, able to establish immeasurable buddha-lands at will. Śākyamuni Buddha's emanation Buddhas are immeasurable and boundless in number, and their names are all different. The Buddha has only one Sambhogakāya Buddha (saṃbhoga-kāya-buddha) body, while Nirmāṇakāya Buddha (nirmāṇa-kāya-buddha) bodies are immeasurable and boundless in number. An emanation Buddha must descend into the human world and accomplish the way through the eight marks—birth from the mother's womb, appearing the same as worldly people; a transformation Buddha, however, is not bound by form, manifesting at will, without the eight marks, and may also appear like an ordinary person. According to the sūtras' records, Śākyamuni Buddha had one hundred emanation bodies serving as emanation Buddhas in one hundred buddha-lands, and Amitābha Buddha was one of them; in reality there may be even more than this. Śākyamuni Buddha's transformation bodies are countless, dispersed throughout the worlds of the ten directions, extensively liberating immeasurable sentient beings.

19. What Buddhas Do After Attaining Buddhahood

After all Buddhas enter nirvāṇa, will there still be worlds? There will be no worlds, nothing at all—not even emptiness. Worlds exist because of people, because of people's karma, because of people's conditions, because of people's power of vows; if there are no people, there is no karma, no conditions, no power of vows—how could worlds exist independently? Sentient beings are the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) and eighteen realms (aṣṭādaśa-dhātu); without the five aggregates there would be no eighteen realms. When there is no world, it is empty and still—and even that empty stillness does not exist, because "empty" represents the world and "still" represents a state; with no world, there is no space and no state.

After sentient beings become Buddhas, there are no sentient beings left to liberate—what do the Buddhas do in their lands and worlds? There is nothing to do, no mind to use; there is only entering meditative concentration (samādhi). And entering samādhi long-term is not as good as entering nirvāṇa—the result is the same, no difference. The arhats no longer engage in any worldly enterprises—what else could the Buddha do? Entering samādhi all day long—what use is entering samādhi? Whatever the Buddhas do is of no use, and doing nothing is even more useless; samādhi and nirvāṇa are no different. Sentient beings together can still squabble with one another; after becoming a Buddha, the mind is absolutely at peace, with nothing to do.

After becoming a Buddha, there is only one thing to do: liberate sentient beings. If there are no sentient beings to liberate, there is nothing at all; after buddhahood, everything is superfluous. So why do we now do so many things? It is equally meaningless. Gathering together now to fight and contend with one another—what is the point? What is there to fight or contend over? Nothing is of any use. We should, from now on, restrain ourselves: do not do even one unwholesome dharma as far as possible; wholesome dharmas may be done, but in the end even doing wholesome dharmas is superfluous, and wholesome dharmas too will not be done. Only thus can the mind become ever more non-active (asaṃskṛta-like), and buddhahood come faster.

20. Why Does the Buddha Watch the Suffering of Sentient Beings in the Sahā World Yet Not Intervene?

When my mother passed away, I was just passing through the mirage gate. Many years before, I had prepared myself for how to face my mother's death. My mind kept pondering: of what is my mother composed? Is there really such a person as my mother? During the process of handling my mother's funeral, I observed each person's sixth and seventh consciousness-minds, observing everyone's mental states, and thereby realized the mirage contemplation. All people appeared so empty and illusory in my mind; I responded to everything like a walking corpse, though my heart was still very sad.

Then, viewed with the Buddha's immeasurable wisdom, what are sentient beings? The universe and worlds, people, matters, things, and principles—what are they all? Sentient beings' material bodies are particles of the four great elements; their consciousness-minds are consciousness seeds. When the Buddha looks at sentient beings, there are no sentient beings, nor their affairs and principles. That is one point. Secondly, sentient beings have their own karmic conditions and karmic force for suffering; if the conditions have not arrived, rescuing them is useless—one can only watch sentient beings drift on the ocean of saṃsāra and karma, bobbing up and down; only when conditions mature can one reach out to save them.

21. Can All Sentient Beings Be Fully Liberated?

One tathāgatagarbha corresponds to one sentient being and gives birth to one sentient being; therefore the tathāgatagarbha is also called the realm of sentient beings. The Heart Sūtra says the tathāgatagarbha is neither born nor extinguished, and the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases. Neither increasing nor decreasing means never varying; neither born nor extinguished means never needing to be born and never able to be extinguished. Therefore the number of tathāgatagarbhas is forever fixed and unchanging, and moreover infinitely and inexhaustibly many. Because sentient beings are so many and tathāgatagarbhas so many, they cannot be counted clearly—hence they are said to be immeasurable in number.

With so many tathāgatagarbhas corresponding to so many sentient beings, can all sentient beings be fully liberated? As long as the realm of sentient beings no longer increases and the Buddhas and bodhisattvas grow ever more numerous, sentient beings will sooner or later all be liberated. However many there are, there will come a day when all are liberated—only the time is undetermined, infinitely distant, unspeakably, unspeakably long. When all sentient beings have become Buddhas, there are no sentient beings left to liberate, and the Buddhas' abiding in the world would no longer be necessary or meaningful; they would all presumably go to nirvāṇa. The Buddhas have no need to manufacture business where there is none, and the worlds of the ten directions would also have no need to exist. For those sentient beings who become Buddhas last, cultivation is extremely effortless: one Buddha protects one sentient being, and cultivation is like riding a rocket. That final batch of sentient beings never again has the opportunity to create evil karma; the seeds of ignorance (avidyā) and karma are eliminated extremely fast, and they become Buddhas without needing to liberate sentient beings—for when there is no ignorance, one has already become a Buddha.

22. What Result Should Liberating Sentient Beings Achieve?

Liberating sentient beings does not mean one must, in one stroke, transform beings heavy with afflictions and karmic obstructions into noble ones—that is what liberating beings means. Rather, it means raising beings' cultivation correspondingly to a certain degree, a substantial improvement compared with before—that is enough; it is impossible to make them noble ones all at once. The result of pulling up seedlings to help them grow is to liberate beings to death—liberating them into the three evil paths, with Buddhism destroyed. When the conditions for becoming a noble one are not mature, one can only perfume them over a long period, until they approach a noble one's character, and only then liberate them beyond the ordinary. Liberating people with eager haste for quick results can only liberate their heads off, while the mind remains that of an ordinary being—head and body split apart.

23. How Does the Bodhisattva Nature Arise?

When sentient beings possess only the seventh and eighth consciousnesses and no body of the five aggregates, which sentient being has the bodhisattva nature? If there were no bodhisattva nature, no one could become a Buddha—where, then, did the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the worlds of the ten directions come from? The manas, before beginningless kalpas, had no innate bodhisattva nature; but after acquiring a body of the five aggregates and being perfumed by the environment acquired after birth, upon seeing its own suffering and the suffering of sentient beings, the bodhisattva nature arises, and ultimately one can become a Buddha. Being able to generate the bodhisattva nature—this action is most precious; being able to see sentient beings' suffering and give rise to compassion is most precious. This is the bodhisattva lineage-nature.

24. Is the Buddha's Compassionate Mind Also False and Illusory?

The Buddha's compassionate mind is of two kinds. One is the great compassionate mind innately possessed, benefiting beings with compassion and loving-kindness since beginningless kalpas, benefiting humans all the more. Although this mind does not actively generate feelings of compassion, and does not know that sentient beings are worthy of pity and sympathy, its conduct is nonetheless selfless and in accord with sentient beings, and its result is to benefit sentient beings and care for sentient beings. This is the compassionate mind possessed by the Buddha's tathāgatagarbha, the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna).

The Buddha's other kind of compassionate mind is cultivated after birth through practice; it is the compassion toward sentient beings manifested by the Buddha's mind consciousness—that is, the wonderful observing wisdom (pratyavekṣaṇā-jñāna). This mind arises with the arising of the Buddha's mind consciousness's wonderful observing wisdom, and does not appear with the temporary cessation of the wonderful observing wisdom; it is subject to arising and ceasing, not forever present. Since it is not an enduring mind, it is produced and illusorily manifested by the Buddha's undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna), and is therefore false and illusory.

Neither of the Buddha's two compassionate minds is moved or swayed. The bodhisattva's mind consciousness's compassion still has movement and swaying; the ordinary being's mind consciousness's occasional compassion entirely turns with conditions—it is not present at all times, cannot exist constantly, is not ultimate, and still less possesses the nature of wisdom. When the Buddha gives rise to compassion, He does not flow along with conditions, does not take conditions as real, makes no distinction of objects—truly the great loving-kindness without conditions and the great compassion of the same essence, without the discriminating treatment of you, me, he, or it, regarding all sentient beings with perfect equality.

Sentient beings' treatment of people is often unequal: with the self as the center point, expanding outward bit by bit—the more peripheral the person, the less compassion arises, or there is no compassion at all. Some people do not give rise to even a thread of compassion even toward their own closest relations. Therefore sentient beings are rather heavy with selfishness and self-regard, rarely considering others, or not considering them at all, unable to consider problems from others' standpoint—far removed from the Buddha's great loving-kindness without conditions.

25. On the Question of Becoming a Buddha in This Very Body

Whether becoming a Buddha in this very body or becoming a Buddha in this very life, both are matters for the bodhisattva of the final body, the wondrous-enlightenment bodhisattva—ordinary beings have no share in it. Becoming a Buddha in this very body is possible only for a wondrous-enlightenment bodhisattva like Maitreya Bodhisattva, and even then the season and conditions must be chosen. Apart from this, there is no other case of becoming a Buddha in this very body.

Sentient beings' cultivation always proceeds by stages; it is impossible to leap over very high levels, jumping from ordinary being straight to Buddha—unless one is already a Buddha demonstrating the Dharma; but such demonstration would not occur in a buddha-land where a Buddha is present in the world, because one land does not have two Buddhas. Ordinary sentient beings should first cultivate the principles of liberation in the Āgamas and attain the fruits of liberation, then study the principles of the Great Vehicle's prajñā and Yogācāra, progressing step by step. To see the mind and see the nature within one lifetime is already a quite excellent faculty (indriya). For ordinary sentient beings, even eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and attaining the first fruit is already extremely difficult—they cannot even find the thread. Do not even think about becoming a Buddha in this very body. Ordinary sentient beings cannot even study the tathāgatagarbha dharma and understand it; it is impossible for them, within one lifetime, to realize all the seeds, functions, and powers within the tathāgatagarbha and become an omniscient one with the wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā). Ordinary sentient beings cannot even cultivate preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), which precedes the four dhyānas and eight absorptions—let alone cultivate the four dhyānas and eight absorptions and the cessation attainment (nirodha-samāpatti), and obtain immeasurable superknowledges and powers of the way, immeasurable countless emanation bodies—utterly impossible.

Ordinary sentient beings can hardly liberate even themselves—how could they liberate immeasurable, boundless multitudes of sentient beings, who would serve as disciples in their own buddha-land? That is even more impossible. Without liberating sentient beings, one cannot have immeasurable numbers of disciples; without disciples, one person cannot establish a buddha-land. Even a king has assisting ministers and armies by the thousands to build and maintain the nation; to be a Buddha requires even more great bodhisattvas to assist in propagating the Dharma and liberating beings. Without having liberated sentient beings, there will be no great-bodhisattva disciples to serve as one's right and left arms in assisting the propagation of the Dharma. Therefore sentient beings of the Sahā world should still cultivate in a down-to-earth manner, one footprint at a time, not aiming too high and thereby delaying their own progress on the path.

26. There Is No Present Moment

Cultivation does not mean only living in the present moment, attending only to the present; what is most important is to consider the future—so that in the future one no longer suffers the suffering of saṃsāra, is no longer lost and ignorant, no longer has ignorance (avidyā). If one only lives in the present moment with no future in one's mind, one cannot see clearly what lies ahead and easily goes astray. Moreover, this present moment arises and ceases thought after thought: by the time you say "the present moment," it has already become the past. Where is the present moment? The countless past present-moments have already vanished; this present moment is perishing; the future present-moments have not yet come. Which present moment do you want? The past consciousness-mind has already perished; the present consciousness-mind perishes thought after thought; the future consciousness-mind has not yet come—which mind do you want to obtain? The three minds cannot be obtained. What cannot be obtained is the consciousness-mind, the impermanent and false mind. How could something subject to arising and ceasing be obtained? How could it be grasped?

But there is one mind that is not acquired later—it is innately present. Even if you do not want Him, He does not abandon you. You ascend to heaven—He follows you up; you descend into hell—He follows you there. Wherever you go, He follows. You undergo suffering and evil retribution—He does not despise you. From beginningless kalpas, He has never left you. How wonderful is this mind! Cultivation is precisely to realize this mind, to understand this mind, to explore the mysteries within it—only then can great wisdom be developed, and only with great wisdom can one become a Buddha and a patriarch.

27. Feelings Are Illusory Transformations

The so-called world is nothing but a feeling. Different states of mind have different feelings; different people have different feelings. Then what are all these feelings? They are nothing at all—mere illusory transformations. What, then, is to be done? Change the feelings that are not real and not reasonable into feelings that are real and reasonable—then return to the real, return to the nature of awakening, return to the one true, return to nirvāṇa, return to tranquility (praśama).

28. For Restless Sentient Beings, One Must Certainly Teach About the Manas

For those who genuinely practice, there is no need to specifically teach about the manas—they can realize it themselves. For those who do not genuinely practice, one must tell them the difference between intellectual understanding and realization, so that everyone does not settle for understanding but must actually realize. This is a special treatment for the restless sentient beings of the Dharma-ending age. Sentient beings' minds are extremely restless; they refuse to exert hard effort, refuse to keep the precepts, refuse to cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi). Even if they want to keep the precepts and cultivate samādhi, due to environmental factors they cannot manage it; therefore they cannot carry out contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and cannot realize. They can only read books every day and have the mind consciousness "understand" a bit; after understanding to a certain point, they go around telling others they have realized enlightenment. Therefore, in this special period it is necessary to teach some special dharmas. For special sentient beings, one must teach in a special way—only this matches sentient beings' faculties (indriya) and resolves their actual and fundamental problems.

29. The Most Fundamental and Crucial Dharma Must Not Contain Errors

Anyone may misinterpret the sūtras and the Buddha's intent; but as long as one does not assert one's own views definitively, there is no great fault, and one will not necessarily mislead others. In the process of studying Buddhism, one certainly errs again and again—no one is immune. The key is what attitude one holds toward one's own views, and to what degree one may be confident that one's views are correct—this measure must be well grasped. The only one without error is the Buddha alone. Even when Maitreya Bodhisattva teaches the Dharma, the Buddha would not affirm it one hundred percent.

Enlightened bodhisattvas can also err when teaching the Dharma; before enlightenment, errors in teaching are even more numerous. Ordinary errors do not matter; the key is that at the most crucial points there must be no error, because the crucial points concern the great question of whether the sentient beings who follow and study can realize enlightenment. This is the turning point of sentient beings' lives; at this turning point there must be no error. As long as the goal and direction are not problematic, everything else is a minor issue that can be corrected and turned around. In studying Buddhism, we must strive diligently to seek realization; after realization, following the dharmas we study, we gain as we learn, and often achieve twice the result with half the effort.

30. Only Through Constant Introspection and Self-Reproach Can One Progress Continually

A person who studies and practices Buddhism should be good at reproaching his own mind, should constantly introspect upon the mind within; upon discovering what is not in accord with the Dharma, he should reproach his own mind, guide the mind back to correctness, toward the right path, away from the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, away from ignorance (avidyā). He should constantly deliberate: is it his own progress on the path that is important, or his own unreasonable initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra), or the karmic actions of greed, hatred, and delusion in worldly dharmas? He should constantly deliberate: are the so-called benefits he gains in worldly dharmas long-lasting? Are they truly real? Are they going to vanish? Is there really any benefit at all? A practitioner should frequently question himself; only after questioning himself can he awaken, can he have the power of meditative concentration (samādhi), can wisdom be born, can he liberate himself from worldly dharmas.

Having engaged in worldly dharmas for immeasurable kalpas, what has each person, over immeasurable kalpas, actually gained in worldly dharmas? Immeasurable kalpas of craving and love—what have they brought in exchange? Besides the suffering of birth and death, what else is there? Those with wisdom should truly often reflect and examine themselves; only afterward can they see through the essence of birth and death, no longer crave the delusive karma of saṃsāra, and have the strength to walk out of the wheel of the suffering of birth and death.