How to Perceive Phenomena and Transcend Them

To perceive phenomena yet detach from them does not mean that upon seeing any phenomenon, one leaves no impression in the mind, empties or discards the phenomenon, and thereby attains mental purity. Rather, it involves minimizing the interference of worldly phenomena upon one's mind; when the mind remains undisturbed, it naturally becomes pure. This is the method of cultivating meditative concentration. Such purity is the state of no-thought, a meditative state. Non-Buddhist practitioners cultivate this concentration, progressing even to the state of neither perception nor non-perception. At life's end, they ascend to celestial realms to enjoy blessings, but once their merit is exhausted, they fall back into lower states.

True detachment from phenomena means that when encountering worldly phenomena, one clearly understands their essential nature within the mind, recognizing that phenomena are not what their surface appearances suggest—their substance is ultimately empty. This emptiness refers both to the Hinayana understanding of phenomena as suffering, impermanent, and devoid of self, and to the emptiness of the Tathagatagarbha. This reveals that without realizing the fruition or awakening to the mind's true nature, genuine detachment is impossible; one can only avoid phenomena. Even if avoidance is possible, it is temporary. In the long run, avoidance is fundamentally unsustainable—one must inevitably confront phenomena.

Only after realizing the Tathagatagarbha can one gradually detach from phenomena in the mind. This is a protracted process that cannot be achieved overnight. This process is one of transforming one's basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti). Successful transformation turns consciousness into wisdom, enabling entry into the Tathagata's family and the attainment of the all-encompassing wisdom of consciousness-only (vijñapti-mātratā). To perceive the Tathagatagarbha, one must first comprehend its essential nature, characteristics, and functions. Then, with a sense of inquiry, one must seek and realize it within the functioning of the five aggregates and eighteen elements. During Chan (Zen) practice, it is essential to know or realize that the functions of the five aggregates and eighteen elements are not real, not the self, and are empty. Only then can one avoid clinging to the five aggregates and eighteen elements as self or real, and thereby negate them. After negating all false dharmas, one then questions the true dharma. Through persistent inquiry, when the conditions of the six paramitas are fulfilled, a bodhisattva may attain realization.