The Significant Gap Between Understanding and Realization

If one sees that all appearances are not appearances, then one sees the Tathagata. If someone understands in this way — that everything they perceive (like the content displayed on a television screen) is, at all times and in all places, merely the illusory manifestation of the substance and function within the Tathagatagarbha (like the television screen itself) — then has this person realized the Tathagatagarbha? Absolutely not; they are far from it. Hearing about and imagining are still vastly distant from actual realization; the gap between them is precisely the practice of the six paramitas of a Bodhisattva.

All the above content represents the most rudimentary understanding of the conscious mind, akin to hearsay. It is merely heard from Buddhist scriptures or some book, not actually realized. It is not directly perceived through immediate experience. No matter who says it, it remains conceptual understanding. When one truly realizes it, one would be a Bodhisattva of an unknown stage (bhumi). Those contents are spoken of in the sutras, others also speak of them; things spoken by others do not constitute personal realization. Personal realization entails knowing very specifically and precisely, not vaguely, generally, or ambiguously. To realize what specific role the Tathagatagarbha plays in relation to the five aggregates, one must engage in Chan meditation, genuinely exerting effort to investigate. The intermediate process requires step-by-step exploration and inquiry. Without doing the work, relying solely on one's own feelings and guesses, understanding only a little bit — one remains fundamentally ignorant of the specific function of the Tathagatagarbha, utterly bewildered. Thus, all ignorance remains intact, and no wisdom is born.

To consider that all dharmas are like what's inside a television screen is merely an opinion; it is not equivalent to realization or direct experience, nor is it called realization, because there is no evidence. To consider that all dharmas are created by the Tathagatagarbha and that we all live within the One True Dharma Realm — this is not called enlightenment. If the Buddha's words could cause sentient beings to become enlightened so easily, then the Buddha Dharma would be far too simple. A three-year-old child hearing this phrase could roughly grasp a little bit and be considered enlightened; then attaining Buddhahood would be so effortless. Immeasurable kalpas upon immeasurable kalpas of karmic obstacles from birth and death would pose no hindrance whatsoever, and so much ignorance would amount to nothing. In reality, such an easy thing does not exist.

Without engaging in Chan meditation, without investigation and verification, without gathering data and evidence, how can the manas (seventh consciousness) confirm these statements as truth and accept them? True enlightenment requires knowing the detailed workings of the eighth consciousness (Alayavijnana), specifically how it gives rise to all dharmas and how it gives rise to the five aggregates and eighteen dhatus of sentient beings. One must understand all of this, know all of it; the six paramitas of a Bodhisattva must be cultivated. It is not merely understanding some parts of the content — parts spoken by the Buddha or others — no matter how much one understands or elaborates, it is not personally investigated, contemplated, and realized through one's own effort. Without direct perception, the mind remains unsettled, feeling very insecure. The distance between this kind of understanding and actual realization might be one year, perhaps thirty years, maybe a hundred years, perhaps ten thousand years, or maybe an immeasurable kalpa — it is impossible to say for sure. Understanding derived from the conscious mind (manovijnana) is useless; it can vanish in an instant. Even the conscious mind does not know or realize the details, so how could the manas possibly know and realize them? At critical moments, it is the manas that takes charge. If the manas has not confirmed it, ignorance remains. All understanding held by the conscious mind becomes like child's play at the time of death, vanishing like a bubble, unable to determine the destination of future lives.

Frequently ask yourself "why" in your mind, and resolve all the "whys" — perhaps this may come close to realization, but it still may not necessarily be realization. The Buddha Dharma is precisely this sacred and beyond conjecture.