The Profound Meaning of the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sutra from the Consciousness-Only Perspective (Second Edition)

Chapter 8: The Seventh Division on No Attainment and No Expounding

Original text: “Subhūti, what do you think? Has the Tathāgata attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? Has the Tathāgata expounded any dharma?”

Explanation: Subhūti, what do you think? Has the Tathāgata attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? Has the Tathāgata spoken any dharma?

Anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi is the supreme, perfect enlightenment. Attaining the supreme, true awakening and realization, completely exhausting ignorance, with the mind entirely filled with clarity and awareness, one realizes ultimate bodhi, accomplishes the Buddha Way, and perfects the Buddha fruit. Since there is no fixed dharma called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, there is no truly fixed and unchanging Buddha. All dharmas arise from causes and conditions. The dharma expounded by the Buddha also arises from causes and conditions, adapting to the conditions of sentient beings. When there is the cause of sentient beings seeking Buddhahood, the dharma that enables sentient beings to attain Buddhahood is expounded. As conditions differ, the dharma spoken by the World-Honored One also differs. Therefore, the dharma spoken by the Buddha should ultimately not be grasped, because it is not a fixed, eternal, indestructible, or unchanging dharma. The dharma that can be spoken is not the inherently fixed, unchanging dharma of true suchness, yet it cannot arise apart from the true suchness nature.

Then, who accomplishes the Buddha Way and attains the Buddha fruit? The Wonderful Enlightenment Bodhisattva is the final-body bodhisattva before becoming a Buddha. To attain Buddhahood, he descends to the human world to manifest the eight aspects of a Buddha's life. When entering the mother's womb, the bodhisattva's physical body perishes. The mental faculty (manas) and the ripening consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), the eighth consciousness, enter the womb. At birth, the six sense faculties are complete, the six consciousnesses are complete (humans lack visual consciousness within the first seven days), and the five aggregates are complete. Outwardly, he appears no different from sentient beings. This new set of five aggregates is no longer that of the Wonderful Enlightenment Bodhisattva; the physical body and the six consciousnesses have changed. Only the mental faculty and the ripening consciousness remain the same, continuing from before. Then, after renouncing household life and cultivating the path, upon seeing the morning star and attaining great enlightenment and seeing the nature, the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses is completely severed. The sixth consciousness transforms into the wisdom of wonderful observation, the mental faculty transforms into the wisdom of equality, and then the first five consciousnesses transform into the wisdom of perfect accomplishment. When all seven consciousnesses are transformed, the defiled seeds of the seven consciousnesses stored within the eighth ripening consciousness are exhausted, and it becomes the great mirror wisdom, also called the immaculate consciousness. When all eight consciousnesses are transformed, the Buddha Way is perfected, the Buddha fruit is attained, and one is called a Buddha.

Then we contemplate who becomes the Buddha and who attains the Buddha fruit. Firstly, the Buddha's immaculate consciousness is a mind that attains nothing. It inherently seeks nothing. Even if it were to attain, there is nowhere to place it; nothing is attained. It has no thoughts, no mental activities. It never considers itself real, never thinks "I am the Buddha" or "I am such and such." All names are imposed upon it by others. Concepts of what it is or is not do not exist for it. It also does not grasp any dharma, including good or evil, defiled or undefiled. Because it does not grasp, it is never defiled; it has no ignorance. Because it does not grasp, it does not do anything or become anything. Therefore, it does not take the Buddha fruit, nor does it act as the Buddha. If it is said to be the Buddha, that is a title imposed by others; it is not self-proclaimed or self-acknowledged.

Secondly, consider the Buddha's five aggregates. The five aggregates of sentient beings are called the five covers (pañca-upādāna-skandha), with "cover" meaning to obscure, blocking sentient beings from recognizing true principles, thereby giving rise to wrong views. The Buddha's five aggregates do not obscure the Buddha's wisdom. Since the Buddha is ultimately enlightened, they are simply called the five aggregates. The five-aggregate body of a Buddha has the thirty-two major marks and eighty minor marks, extremely magnificent. However, it too must perish upon Nirvāṇa. Impermanent, conditioned dharmas are not the Buddha; they cannot take the Buddha fruit nor act as the Buddha. Although the Buddha's aggregate of feeling, aggregate of perception, aggregate of mental formations, and aggregate of consciousness can grasp, they are also impermanent dharmas and must perish upon Nirvāṇa. These four aggregates are not the Buddha; they cannot act as the Buddha. Although the mental faculty can continue forever into future lifetimes, enduring without perishing, it is still of an impermanent nature; it can be extinguished. To perpetually manifest the Buddha's five-aggregate body, it is deliberately not extinguished. Moreover, the wisdom of equality alone, as the mental faculty, cannot act as the Buddha. Therefore, bodhi is without attainment, so there is also no fixed dharma that can be called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Original text: Subhūti said, “As I understand the meaning of what the Buddha has said, there is no fixed dharma called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, nor is there any fixed dharma that the Tathāgata can expound. Why? The dharma expounded by the Tathāgata cannot be grasped, cannot be spoken of. It is not dharma, nor is it non-dharma. All sages and saints differ based on the unconditioned dharma.”

Explanation: Subhūti said, “According to my understanding of the meaning of the dharma spoken by the Buddha, there is no inherently fixed, unchanging dharma that can be called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, nor is there any fixed, definitively unchanging dharma that the Tathāgata can proclaim. Why is this so? Because the dharma spoken by the Tathāgata cannot be grasped or clung to; it cannot be spoken of. The dharma spoken by the Tathāgata is not the unborn, unceasing, unchanging true dharma, not the original unconditioned dharma (asaṃskṛta-dharma), nor is it entirely not the unconditioned dharma. All sages and saints differ based on the unconditioned dharma.”

Anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi is also called the supreme perfect enlightenment, meaning the accomplishment of the Buddha Way. However, the event of becoming a Buddha is not an inherent, fixed, unchanging dharma. It is an accomplishment achieved through cultivation over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas; therefore, it is also impermanent, arising from non-existence, so it is not a fixed dharma nor a truly existent dharma.

The Tathāgata also has no fixed dharma to expound. Why is this so? Because the dharma spoken by the Tathāgata over forty-nine years in the Sahā world, the three baskets and twelve divisions of scriptures, cannot be grasped as truly existent. Even all dharmas spoken by the Tathāgata in the ten directions cannot be grasped as truly existent. Why can they not be grasped as truly existent? Because the dharmas spoken by the Buddha all arise due to various causes and conditions. Without causes and conditions, these dharmas would not exist, and the Buddha would not speak any dharma. Therefore, the dharmas spoken by the Buddha are also impermanent and cannot be grasped as truly existent and unchanging. Even the great matter of the Buddha liberating sentient beings requires mature and complete causes and conditions. It also requires the sentient beings' karmic blessings, roots of goodness, aspiration for liberation, and so on. If one condition is lacking, the Buddha cannot liberate sentient beings. The dharma spoken to liberate sentient beings depends on conditions, varying according to the sentient beings' capacities, blessings, and wisdom. Therefore, there is no fixed dharma to be spoken.

A fixed dharma would be an unchanging, inherently existing dharma, not subject to conditions, not changing due to conditions, a truly substantial, immutable dharma, applied uniformly to all sentient beings regardless of their capacities, regardless of what conditions are present. Clearly, reality is not like this; such a dharma does not exist. Dharmas arising from conditions are not inherently existing dharmas; they are not fixed dharmas. Therefore, it is said that the Tathāgata, in liberating sentient beings, has no fixed dharma to speak. The dharmas spoken by the Tathāgata arise from non-existence, exist, then become non-existent again, like a raft discarded upon reaching the shore. They are also empty dharmas, thus called dharmas nominally. In reality, dharmas have no self-nature, no intrinsic nature to speak of; therefore, they are non-dharma. Yet, they are not entirely non-dharma, for they still have illusory function. False dharmas can be provisionally used and borrowed; sentient beings use them to attain Buddhahood, discarding them after Buddhahood. Therefore, the dharmas spoken by the Buddha are also non-non-dharma; they are not entirely not dharmas.

Since the dharmas spoken by the Tathāgata are all non-dharma, dharmas arising from conditions, without fixed dharma, then the dharmas spoken by the Tathāgata to sentient beings of different capacities, according to different conditions, when cultivated and studied by sentient beings, lead to the realization of different levels of unconditioned dharmas. This includes the unconditioned of the Great, Medium, and Small Vehicles. Even within the same vehicle, the unconditioned dharmas differ. Thus, sages and saints of different levels and distinctions are accomplished. All sages and saints, due to differences in roots of goodness, blessings, and conditions, differ based on the unconditioned dharma they have realized.

Why does the Tathāgata have no fixed dharma to speak?

When the Buddha comes to the world to expound dharma, he always speaks according to conditions. The Buddha observes the conditions of sentient beings and speaks the dharma appropriate to those conditions, teaching according to the audience. Immediately after attaining enlightenment, the Buddha first spoke the Avataṃsaka Sūtra in various heavens, liberating the great bodhisattva disciples who had followed him for kalpas. However, the Śrāvaka disciples in the Sahā world were like the deaf and mute. The Buddha then returned to the human world and taught the Āgama sūtras of the Small Vehicle to the Śrāvaka disciples seeking liberation, enabling them to achieve results before turning them back to cultivate the Great Vehicle. Because sentient beings in the Sahā world have shallow capacities, all seeking liberation, wishing to leave suffering and attain happiness, the Buddha taught the Three Vehicles in the Sahā world.

In other Buddha lands, the Buddha only teaches the One Vehicle, the Buddha Vehicle, liberating sentient beings with bodhisattva capacities to accomplish the Buddha Way. When the Buddha expounds dharma, it is always based on a condition, arising from an event or circumstance. Sometimes a disciple asks a question; there is always a premise before a dharma is spoken. Dharma spoken without a specific cause is extremely rare, reserved for particularly important teachings, but even then, it is tailored to the capacities of sentient beings. Therefore, the Buddha's teaching of dharma is not fixed; dharma is formed by causes and conditions; it is not fixed. All dharmas, regardless of which Buddha land they are spoken in, are used to cure sentient beings' illnesses of ignorance and delusion. When a particular ignorance exists, the Buddha speaks the corresponding dharma to counteract it. When the ignorance is exhausted, the dharma becomes useless. Therefore, the Buddha's dharma is like a raft used to cross a river, discarded upon reaching the shore.

Dharma exists based on conditions; thus, it is illusory and empty. It is used for a time and then discarded, so it should not be grasped as real. As long as ignorance exists, one must hold onto it, using it as a tool. For example, the dharma of the Four Noble Truths becomes useless to an Arhat after attaining the fruit of liberation. Then one cultivates the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination for the Pratyekabuddha path. After attaining the fruit of Pratyekabuddhahood, the dharma of dependent origination also becomes useless, and one needs to cultivate the Six Pāramitās of the Bodhisattva path. After realizing the mind and seeing the nature, the external Six Pāramitās become useless, and one cultivates the internal Six Pāramitās to enter the First Ground (Bhūmi). After entering the Grounds, the internal Six Pāramitās become useless, and one cultivates the Ten Pāramitās. After becoming a Tenth Ground Bodhisattva, even the Ten Pāramitās must be relinquished. After cultivating the dharma of the Equal Enlightenment and Wonderful Enlightenment stages and perfecting the Buddha Way, all dharmas become unnecessary and are completely relinquished; the mind is empty, without any dharma.

Because all dharmas have been perfectly cultivated, only after becoming a Buddha can one expound them for sentient beings. Therefore, all dharmas spoken by the Tathāgata are not inherently existing, fixed, unchanging dharmas; they are all empty, not true dharmas. However, they are also not entirely not true dharmas, because sentient beings rely on these dharmas to realize the true dharma, the unconditioned dharma. Moreover, when the Buddha expounds these dharmas, he never departs from the true dharma of true suchness; precisely because the true suchness dharma functions here, the Buddha is able to expound them. These dharmas all originate from the Buddha's own mind of true suchness, flowing forth from true suchness; they are part of true suchness, having a relationship of neither identity nor difference with it.

Why do all sages and saints who have realized the unconditioned dharma still have differences?

Sages and saints include Śrāvaka Arhats from the first to the fourth fruition, Pratyekabuddhas who have realized the dharma of dependent origination at various levels, and Bodhisattvas from the seventh abode of mind-realization to the Wonderful Enlightenment stage. Śrāvakas of the first and second fruition are sages (śreṣṭhin); those of the third and fourth fruition and Pratyekabuddhas are saints (ārya); Bodhisattvas before the first ground are sages (śreṣṭhin); from the first ground onwards, they are all saints (ārya). What they realize is all unconditioned dharma, yet the content and level of these unconditioned dharmas differ greatly. A first-fruition Śrāvaka realizes the emptiness of the five aggregates, the absence of self, severs the three fetters, and henceforth does not fall into the three evil destinies. For the three evil destinies, his actions become non-active (anābhoga); this is the preliminary unconditioned state regarding the five aggregates.

A second-fruition Śrāvaka, having realized the emptiness of the person, finds mental activities reduced, defilements attenuated, the mind somewhat purified, becoming more unconditioned. A third-fruition Śrāvaka further realizes the illusoriness of the five aggregates; the meditative state of the form realm appears; he attains the first dhyāna, extinguishes greed, severs hatred, severs defilements, purifies the mind, ceases creating evil karma, and the seventh consciousness begins to be truly unconditioned. A fourth-fruition Śrāvaka becomes further unconditioned, extinguishing conceit, severing attachment to the form and formless realms, exhausting all defilements, attaining liberation through wisdom, becoming unconditioned regarding the three realms, able to transcend the three realms with the wisdom of liberation. An Arhat with liberation through concentration can enter the fourth dhyāna, cease breathing and pulse, realize the immovable unconditioned, enter the state of no-perception, realize the cessation of the aggregate of consciousness, and the mind attains unconditionedness. An Arhat with both liberations (through wisdom and concentration) can enter the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti) at any time and place, extinguishing the mental factors of feeling and perception of the mental faculty, realize the unconditioned state of the cessation of perception and feeling, and attain Nirvāṇa at any time, transcending the three realms. Because Śrāvakas realize the absence of self in the five aggregates, their mental activities become progressively more unconditioned and purified; there are great differences in the unconditioned state among them.

Pratyekabuddhas include solitary enlightened ones (Svayambhū) and those enlightened through conditions (Pratyekabuddha). Solitary enlightened ones, due to roots of goodness cultivated over many lifetimes, when there is no Buddha and no dharma present in the world, see a phenomenon of birth and death in the world, which provokes deep contemplation. They go alone to a quiet place to cultivate the path, investigate the root cause of these phenomena of birth and death, deduce the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination and the Ten Links of Dependent Origination, find that the root of sentient beings' birth and death is ignorance, and the source is the eighth consciousness mind, thereby attaining the fruit of Pratyekabuddhahood. Those enlightened through conditions follow the Buddha in cultivation, hear the Buddha expound the dharma, awaken to the Twelve Links and Ten Links of Dependent Origination, and attain the fruit. Their wisdom regarding the unconditioned dharma is deeper than that of Śrāvaka Arhats, and the fruition level, wisdom, and spiritual powers of Pratyekabuddhahood also have differences in depth and level, meaning the degree of unconditionedness in their mental activities differs.

Bodhisattvas realize the eighth consciousness, realizing the unconditioned of true suchness, while simultaneously realizing the emptiness of the person. They know the eighth consciousness has never been born or ceased since beginningless kalpas; within the mundane dharmas of the three realms, it also does not engage in mental activities; it is unconditioned and without self. The five aggregates are produced by the eighth consciousness; their essence is empty. In subsequent cultivation, the mind gradually becomes purified. Cultivating to the tenth abode, they realize the view that the five aggregates are like illusions, all dharmas are like illusions. In the ten practices, they realize the mirage-like view, seeing all dharmas as unreal like a mirage. In the ten transferences, they realize the dream-like view, seeing the activities of the five-aggregate bodies over countless lifetimes as if in a dream; the cultivation and practice of the Bodhisattva path over countless lifetimes is also like in a dream. A first-ground Bodhisattva realizes that all dharmas are like reflections in a mirror, unreal. Up to the tenth ground, Equal Enlightenment, and Wonderful Enlightenment, the realization of the unconditioned dharma becomes progressively greater, wisdom becomes deeper, and spiritual powers and wayfaring become increasingly vast. The ultimate unconditioned of the Buddha ground, needless to say, surpasses that of all Śrāvakas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas.

From the above, because practitioners cultivate different dharmas, the unconditioned dharma they realize differs. The degree and essence of the unconditioned differ; mental activities and mental capacity differ; blessings differ; wayfaring differs; states of spiritual powers and samādhi differ; wisdom differs even more. If cultivation is not stopped, upon reaching the Buddha ground, the final destination, everything becomes perfect and complete. The spiritual powers, wisdom, and blessings of all Buddhas are without difference; it can be said that Buddhas are identical in their way.