Only by Perfecting the Bodhisattva's Six Pāramitās Can One Attain Realization

In the kōan of the World-Honored One holding up a flower and smiling, the Buddha held up a flower and smiled, and Mahākāśyapa understood. What Mahākāśyapa understood was not that the flower is subject to arising and ceasing, illusory and false; rather, Mahākāśyapa understood the tathāgatagarbha—he found the mode of operation of the Buddha's undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) in the Buddha's body, and thus he awakened to the true mind and attained enlightenment. The kōan serves to guide one toward enlightenment, to seeing the true mind and realizing the tathāgatagarbha. As for the flower the Buddha held and all the myriad dharmas, they are all conjured forth by the tathāgatagarbha; they are illusory and false appearances of arising and ceasing. Yet from within these false appearances, we can awaken to a truth—when we find that truth, we awaken to the true mind and attain enlightenment. 

To attain enlightenment and realize the true mind of the tathāgatagarbha, how should one cultivate? One must cultivate the six pāramitās of the bodhisattva: generosity (dāna), precepts, patience, diligence, meditative concentration (dhyāna), and wisdom. Generosity is the cultivation of merit; we must plant merit within the Mahāyāna Dharma. Only when merit has accumulated sufficiently can one become a bodhisattva endowed with a bodhisattva's merit, capable of seeing the true mind and perceiving its nature. Therefore merit must be cultivated; without merit, one cannot attain meditative concentration and wisdom either—merit is the foundation for cultivating all dharmas. After generosity comes keeping the precepts, because keeping the precepts can gather in the mind and prevent it from scattering; by keeping the precepts the mind becomes pure and does not create unwholesome karma. Once the mind is tranquil, meditative concentration can arise; when the power of concentration arises, one can abide in a state of concentration to contemplate the Dharma and engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the Dharma. Only in this way can one investigate the Buddha's teachings thoroughly, attain the fruits of the path, and awaken to the true mind and perceive its nature.

What other conditions are needed for seeing the true mind and perceiving its nature? One needs prajñā wisdom—one must understand the nature of the tathāgatagarbha in order to know how to search for the tathāgatagarbha in the operation of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) and the myriad dharmas. One needs to clarify the nature of prajñā and the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. To search among the five aggregates and the myriad dharmas, one must understand the five aggregates clearly—how they operate—and clarify the veins and channels of their functioning. In this way, once the five aggregates are understood, the tathāgatagarbha is understood, and the six consciousnesses and seven consciousnesses are understood, then in a state of meditative concentration, one investigates the tathāgatagarbha through the operation of the conscious mind and upon the five aggregates; when the causes and conditions are complete, one can realize the tathāgatagarbha.

Generosity, precepts, patience, diligence, and meditative concentration—studying prajñā wisdom—when these conditions are complete, one can see the true mind and perceive its nature. The Buddha's teachings have already pointed out the path and direction for us; all that remains is for us to actually practice it ourselves. What does one cultivate in practice? Cultivate generosity and merit, cultivate diligent practice, cultivate meditative concentration, cultivate prajñā wisdom, and cultivate patience to transform the mind's dispositions. When these contents are well cultivated, one can attain enlightenment.