If one cannot understand the scriptures, can one still rely on the Dharma?

When sentient beings have not cultivated to a certain stage and wisdom has not arisen, it is impossible for them to understand the sūtras. Many people think they have understood the Buddhist sūtras, but in fact they are merely interpreting the meaning according to the words, which is far removed from what the World-Honored One intended to express. When a person trusts himself too much, he often misleads himself. The Buddha said in the Sūtra of Forty-Two Chapters: 汝意不可信，证阿罗汉果才可信汝意。This was said to the śrāvaka disciples; if it were said to the Mahāyāna bodhisattva disciples, the Buddha might instead say: your mind is not to be believed; only after realizing the tathāgatagarbha may you trust your own mind, or: only when one possesses the seed-wisdom of Consciousness-Only and has entered the household of the Tathāgata may one trust one's own mind. Because by that time, one has already realized the true reality of all dharmas, and one's wisdom has been unfolded and has become relatively deep and penetrating. Before that, sentient beings should at least cultivate to the point of having the eye of dharma-selection, so that they can discern right from wrong in some dharmas; only with the eye of dharma-selection can one have the eye of teacher-selection, and the two depend on each other. It is evident that most sentient beings have not cultivated to the point of having the eye of dharma-selection, and their judgments of both dharmas and teachers are mistaken. They judge teachers based on reputation and external appearances, not on the teacher's wisdom. Because they themselves lack wisdom in the first place, they cannot see how deep or shallow the teacher's wisdom is. If sentient beings are overly self-confident or overly trusting of their teacher, they will both mislead themselves. One should skillfully contemplate the dharma, skillfully distinguish teachers, and correctly judge one's own level of wisdom. Most important of all is to cultivate more merit; when merit is complete, errors will be few, and wisdom will arise.

The Heart Sūtra is very short, with only a little over 260 characters, yet when ten people read it, there are ten understandings; when a hundred people read it, there are a hundred interpretations. Everyone says to rely on the dharma, not on persons; then in studying the Mahāyāna dharma, one should first rely on the Heart Sūtra. The Heart Sūtra is the general outline of the Mahāyāna dharma; only by understanding the Heart Sūtra can one well realize bodhi. Under the current circumstances, where each person understands it differently, how can one rely on the Heart Sūtra? Everyone thinks they are relying on the dharma, but their understanding of the dharma is mistaken—so how can they truly rely on it? Everyone thinks their own understanding is correct, yet there is only one correct dharma; if a hundred people have a hundred understandings, then perhaps ninety-nine people's understanding is wrong. How can this be called relying on the dharma? The Buddha everywhere taught true emptiness and wondrous existence, yet some people deny true emptiness and some deny wondrous existence. These two kinds of people hold views that are inherently contradictory and opposed, yet they can merge together and mutually affirm each other—isn't that strange? Why does this happen? The reason is that sentient beings do not understand what their own views actually are, and they lack the power of discernment regarding the dharma. That is why wrong views (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) are now so rampant, why wrong dharmas can spread so widely, and sentient beings are unaware and unknowing of this. In the Dharma-ending age, sentient beings have meager merit (alpa-puṇya) and are willing to be misled. If sentient beings do not cultivate their merit, the future of the true dharma is worrisome—it may perish rapidly. At that time sentient beings will be even more immersed in anguish and distress, unable to extricate themselves.

True emptiness refers to the tathāgatagarbha—real yet empty in nature; within its mind-substance not a single dharma exists, yet it can manifest all dharmas. Wondrous existence means that although the dharma-marks of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) and the eighteen realms exist, in substance they do not; they are all illusory dharmas manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. Even illusory dharmas cannot be said not to exist, because sentient beings use them every instant and every moment—using the five aggregates to eat, dress, and walk, using the five aggregates to live. Sentient beings live within the illusory eighteen realms: what they see is false form, what they hear is false sound, what they smell is false scent, what they taste is false flavor, what they feel is false touch, and what they cognize is false dharma. Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching, and cognizing are all functions of the five aggregates, so one cannot deny the surface phenomenon of the existence of the five aggregates. Although the five aggregates are not a real existence, they still have this mode of illusory existence. Everyone clearly uses the five aggregates every day, yet they still say the five aggregates do not exist. If one can genuinely acknowledge in one's mind that the five aggregates are indeed illusory, that would be good—that would be the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and the realization of the fruit of an arhat. May all sentient beings be so. But denying that even the illusory appearance of the five aggregates exists also cannot eradicate the view of self, because if one cannot engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the illusoriness of the five aggregates and the eighteen realms, one cannot realize the fruit.