The Mind-Body Problem and Buddhist Practice and Realization

Question: The Yuánjué jīng (Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment) says that all sentient beings wrongly take the four great elements as their own body-image and the conditioned shadows of the six sense objects as their own mind-image. Once this riddle is solved, the Buddha's teachings would be complete. But how can the seeds of love and hatred accumulated over many lifetimes and many kalpas be removed?

Answer: When the problem of body and mind is solved, the Buddha's teachings are not yet complete. There are still the extremely numerous and extensive issues of Yogācāra seed-wisdom that require study and practice. After eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa), and then seeing the mind and one's nature, and possessing the Yogācāra seed-wisdom to attain the first bhūmi, the defiled seeds will gradually be cleansed away. When the seeds of love and hatred are completely severed, one becomes a Buddha. One needs to, when the conditions manifest, clear away the afflictive habitual tendencies within the mind, and thereby the defiled seeds are severed.

However, when the problem of body and mind is completely, thoroughly, and ultimately solved, one has already become a Buddha. The Buddha's teachings are precisely for solving the problem of body and mind. The body includes the inner body, the material body, and also the outer body, the cosmic receptacle-world, the living environment; the mind refers to the seven consciousnesses. When all seven consciousnesses are transformed into wisdom, the world of body and mind completely drops away and is transformed; both the Sambhogakāya Buddha (saṃbhoga-kāya-buddha) and the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha (nirmāṇa-kāya-buddha) are accomplished, and the world becomes a pure Buddha-land.