What is the Perfect Harmony of Principle and Phenomena, and of Phenomena and Phenomena?

The highest realm of Buddhist cultivation and realization is the Buddha's perfect integration of principle and phenomena, and the perfect integration of all phenomena without obstruction, all according with principle—principle can manifest phenomena, and phenomena can manifest principle, with principle and phenomena never falling out of step. To achieve this, one must begin from the very first seeing of the Way in Buddhist cultivation and realization, and continue until the final seeing of the Way and attainment of buddhahood. The Way seen gradually deepens from beginning to end; that is, the principle seen becomes ever more profound and subtle, and phenomena likewise become ever more perfectly integrated and complete. From the moment of the first seeing of the Way, phenomena follow principle in their conduct: wherever principle goes, phenomena follow, never falling out of step, until the Buddha's final seeing of the Way—awakening upon beholding the morning star—when principle is perfected and all phenomena are instantly perfected along with it. Neither principle nor phenomena need any further cultivation, and He becomes the supreme and venerable Dharma King.

Seeing the Way is divided into seeing on the level of principle and seeing on the level of phenomena. What is the difference between seeing principle and seeing phenomena? Seeing on the level of principle is going from principle to principle: the mind consciousness fully understands and comprehends the principle on a conceptual level, but phenomena do not follow along—at this time phenomena and principle are out of step. Because the manas has not seen it, the samādhi state in which meditation and wisdom are complete and perfectly integrated does not appear, and phenomena do not follow along with it. Phenomena are controlled by the manas; the mind consciousness cannot make phenomena follow along and become perfectly integrated.

Seeing the Way on the level of phenomena, however, means investigating principle and realizing principle through phenomena. In such seeing of the Way, phenomena necessarily accord with principle, phenomena necessarily follow principle, and principle and phenomena can necessarily merge together without falling out of step. Only from this point can one be truly transformed—washed in mind and remade in substance. Outwardly, one is still the same person, but in terms of mental conduct, one no longer has the old patterns of behavior; one's character and disposition are completely renewed, the mind is empty of self. The unconditioned is manifested within the conditioned, and the conditioned again serves the unconditioned—empty yet not empty, not empty yet empty.

Therefore, true seeing of the Way is seeing and entering into principle through thorough investigation carried out on the level of phenomena; it is the realization of principle in which phenomena follow principle and principle is manifested through phenomena, with principle and phenomena inseparable and samādhi following along. When principle and phenomena merge, they are not necessarily perfectly integrated, and not necessarily without obstruction, because the principle is not yet thorough; when the principle is thorough, one becomes a Buddha. Seeing principle through phenomena is realization; if one does not see principle through phenomena, it is not realization. If principle remains merely principle and does not merge with phenomena, that principle cannot resolve matters of phenomena—and a principle that cannot resolve phenomena has no practical use. Therefore, merely knowing principle, without seeing and manifesting principle through phenomena, is not genuine realization.