Thought and No-Thought of True Suchness

The mind without any thought is the Suchness mind, not the delusional mind of the seventh consciousness. Only Suchness is without thought, not thinking of any dharmas. The delusional mind of sentient beings possesses thought because as long as the six consciousnesses exist, they must face the objects of the six dusts, inevitably giving rise to thoughts. Although the Buddha is the unsurpassed enlightened one, His seventh consciousness mind also possesses thought. The Buddha observes which world's sentient beings have ripened conditions, enabling Him to manifest a response body to deliver them. This observation and contemplation constitute thought. Without thought, He would not observe the faculties and conditions of sentient beings; without thought, the Buddha would not teach according to their capacities, expounding immeasurable dharmas. Even when Shakyamuni Buddha delivered beings in the Saha world, He never departed from thought, except when entering samadhi, during times of non-activity, or when not engaged in delivering beings; only then was there no thought.

However, from another perspective, Suchness also possesses thought. Apart from not thinking of the objects of the six dusts perceived by the six consciousnesses, Suchness thinks of everything else. After enlightenment, one gradually comprehends the thought and thoughtlessness of Suchness; this is content that can only be known through the subsequently attained wisdom, the wisdom of distinctions, and the wisdom of the path. Therefore, one must not mistake the thoughtlessness of Suchness for the thoughtlessness of the conscious mind, nor mistake the thoughtlessness of the conscious mind for the thoughtlessness of Suchness. Before enlightenment, people often misinterpret the words of the Buddha and the patriarchs. Nowadays, it is common to fail to distinguish the true from the delusional, mistaking the nature of the delusional mind for the nature of Suchness, while expecting the delusional mind to attain the nature possessed by Suchness through cultivation. How could this possibly be achieved? In short, sentient beings today harbor too many inverted views and knowledge. They neither recognize the true nor identify the delusional, instead conflating them in their discourse.

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