Why Is Guanyin's Ear-Root Perfect Penetration Practice Method Difficult to Cultivate?

Question: In the Guanyin ear-faculty perfect penetration method, one empties all dharmas within meditative concentration, and finally enters a state of tranquil stillness that cannot be emptied—this is the true mind. Since the true mind is tranquil stillness, then how does a flash of inspiration occur, whereby one awakens to this tranquil-still mind?

Answer: The Guanyin ear-faculty perfect penetration method practiced by Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra—in this method, Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara contemplated emptiness (śūnyatā) within meditative concentration, continuously breaking through false dharmas. This mode of practice requires extremely deep meditative concentration and extremely strong prajñā wisdom; lacking either one, the Guanyin ear-faculty perfect penetration method cannot be accomplished. In this method of practice, within meditative concentration one continuously and unceasingly eliminates all arising-and-ceasing, unreal false dharmas, until there remains something so-called that truly cannot be eliminated and truly cannot be emptied—that is the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha.

This method of practice is excellent, but most people—perhaps everyone—cannot cultivate to this degree. One reason is that they cannot attain such deep meditative concentration; another is that they cannot possess such deep prajñā wisdom of emptiness (śūnyatā), and thus cannot realize this mind of emptiness through meditative concentration. When one cannot realize it, the misunderstanding of prajñā emptiness is very great. With the wholesome roots of us sentient beings in this Sahā world, we cannot cultivate it successfully. One may have a similar understanding of prajñā wisdom, but meditative concentration is a hard benchmark—the most actual cultivation skill—and it cannot be achieved through mere understanding.

Therefore, eliminating all false dharmas within meditative concentration is something ordinary people cannot do: one must not only empty the self of persons but also empty the self of dharmas. After all have been eliminated and emptied, what finally remains is a tranquil-still true mind that cannot be emptied. At present, no one could possibly cultivate to this degree. When only the tranquil-still mind remains, one has realized emptiness. Then who is it that realizes this tranquil-still mind? Who is it that recognizes that tranquil-still true mind? There still must be a "who"—without this "who" it will not work. This "who" is also empty and is also to be eliminated, yet one must still make use of this empty "who" that ought to be broken through, in order to discover our inherently possessed tranquil-still mind-substance, the true mind tathāgatagarbha. Such practice is breaking through false dharmas, not annihilating them—simply not taking them as real. Then one uses the false, unreal mind consciousness and manas to realize the true mind that cannot be broken through; without the false mind consciousness and manas, one cannot see the mind and attain enlightenment. Many people do not understand how realization is attained, or who it is that needs to attain realization.

Then, in our study of Buddhism, why do we need enlightenment? Because we are deluded and confused, with ignorance (avidyā). Now, who does this "we" refer to? This must be seen clearly and understood: this "we" refers to the two minds of the mind consciousness and the manas. Because these two minds are deluded and confused, having ignorance and not being enlightened, they have not awakened to the ultimate reality of the dharmadhātu, have not awakened to the true mind, and do not know this thing—the true self, the Ālayavijñāna tathāgatagarbha, the eighth consciousness. Therefore, the mind consciousness and manas, through cultivation, need to awaken to this true self, and only then can they realize the falsity of all dharmas and exhaust all ignorance. Only after realizing the eighth consciousness can this ignorance be exhausted through the three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas of cultivation stages. If the sixth and seventh consciousnesses remain deluded and unenlightened, and do not realize this inherently possessed, true self, the eighth consciousness, then ignorance cannot be exhausted.

Then who is it that needs enlightenment? It is the sixth and seventh consciousnesses; the sixth and seventh consciousnesses need to be enlightened so as to realize the eighth consciousness. Through what is it realized? Through contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) within meditative concentration. One needs to understand the nature of the prajñā tranquil-still mind, to have the wisdom of contemplative practice, and to understand the coarse, superficial characteristics of prajñā; the characteristics of the eighth consciousness, the Ālayavijñāna tathāgatagarbha, must be understood clearly, and then one must engage in contemplative practice and contemplative observation of this tranquil-still mind within meditative concentration.

What does this tranquil-still mind mean? It means that His substance is tranquil and still, without form or appearance: the eyes cannot see Him, the ears cannot hear Him, the hands cannot touch Him, the body cannot contact Him, the nose faculty cannot smell Him, and the mind consciousness can neither feel Him nor think of Him. Then what should be done? Through studying the prajñā sūtras, one comes to understand the characteristics of the true mind and the features of the true mind's operation—and the true mind's operation is precisely its functioning within the five-aggregate body. After understanding this, one must, within meditative concentration, investigate within the operation of the five-aggregate body, and thereby realize the true mind, the eighth consciousness.

The substance of the tathāgatagarbha, the eighth consciousness, simply cannot be found, because He is a tranquil-still mind, a mind without any appearance—of course He cannot be found. He can only be realized through the functions and operations of the true mind. In the operations of this five-aggregate body, one discovers that these modes of operation are precisely the modes of the eighth consciousness. How does the eighth consciousness operate? It operates in this way within the five-aggregate body, operating thus. At this point, you have realized the eighth consciousness. But is not the eighth consciousness tranquil and still? Although His substance is tranquil and still, His operations are by no means tranquil and still; His functions and operations have modes of appearance and can be observed through contemplation. When one observes them, that is enlightenment and realization.

In Explaining the Tathāgatagarbha in Detail, I once used wind as a metaphor: the tranquil-still mind, like the wind, is invisible, yet we can still know of the wind's existence. Wind is also empty—why is it empty? We cannot see the wind, hear the wind, touch the wind, feel the wind, or smell the wind. But how do we know the wind has come? When the wind comes, there are certainly all kinds of operations, and these operations act upon objects and upon the air. The wind's operations on objects and its operations in empty space will manifest various signs and phenomena. Seeing these phenomena, we realize the wind—whether a gentle breeze, a great wind, a small wind, a fierce gale, or a tornado—from the phenomena appearing on objects we can determine which kind of wind it is.

The tathāgatagarbha, like the wind, is without form or appearance, but He can be found only through His operations upon the five-aggregate body. Then, when we find the wind, who is it that finds it? It is the minds of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses. Knowing that wind has appeared, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses together devise ways to take shelter from and guard against the wind disaster. Likewise, when we realize the eighth consciousness, it is also realized jointly by the sixth and seventh consciousnesses, through the operations arising from the eighth consciousness and the modes of its functioning within the five-aggregate body. What are the eighth consciousness's operations? All myriad dharmas are generated and sustained by Him, and all myriad dharmas have His distinctive operations within them. How exactly the tathāgatagarbha operates needs to be investigated through Chan investigation; once investigated, one will clearly understand the five "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)" statements spoken by the Sixth Patriarch.