One True Dharma Realm

The consciousness-only nature realized by post-bhūmi bodhisattvas is precisely the nature of suchness (tathatā). The nature of suchness is the true reality, the suchness, and the immovability manifested on all dharmas. In some dharmas, what we see is only the surface appearance of the dharma. But what is the substance of this dharma? The substance is all the seed-functions of the tathāgatagarbha. Bodhisattvas at the first bhūmi and above can observe a small portion of the operation of these seeds, including karmic seeds and the seeds of the seven great elements. The operation of these seeds is extremely, extremely subtle; bodhisattvas at the three stages of wisdom (tridaśa-bhūmi) cannot yet realize it, much less observe it.

Only the great bodhisattvas who have entered the household of the Tathāgata at the first bhūmi and above can observe the seed-functions of the tathāgatagarbha. Once observed, they know that all dharmas possess the attributes of the tathāgatagarbha, that is, the nature of suchness. Viewed from the seed-functions behind them, all dharmas possess true and such-like reality, that is, the nature of suchness, which is also called the consciousness-only nature. We then know that every dharma is a true dharma-realm, called the one true dharma-realm (eka-tattva-dharmadhātu). Therefore, when one realizes the one true dharma-realm, at what level is this wisdom? At the level of the consciousness-only seed-wisdom. From the first and second bhūmis all the way to buddhahood, the dharmas realized become ever deeper, ever broader, ever more extensive, and ever more subtle. Bodhisattvas at the first bhūmi and above possess the consciousness-only seed-wisdom, the wisdom of the varieties of paths, the wisdom of suchness, and the wisdom of the one true dharma-realm.

Some say that enlightenment is equivalent to realizing the samādhi of suchness. This statement has some problems, because at the moment of initial enlightenment one cannot yet realize, nor attain, the suchness-nature of all dharmas. Only after cultivating for one immeasurable kalpa, passing beyond the three stages of wisdom and reaching the first bhūmi, can one realize the suchness-nature of all dharmas. This is the wisdom of the patience with the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti), which surpasses the wisdom of the patience with non-arising. Whether it is the Mahāyāna or the Hīnayāna patience with non-arising, both lay the foundation for the later realization of the patience with the non-arising of dharmas; without the earlier patience with non-arising, there would be no later patience with the non-arising of dharmas.

There is a considerable difference between these two levels of wisdom. The wisdom of the patience with the non-arising of dharmas can only be obtained after attaining the patience with non-arising, passing through the three stages of wisdom and the three checkpoints of the Chan school, and while in the state of nirvāṇa with remainder, when one has the ability to take nirvāṇa without remainder but does not take it. This level of wisdom is extremely deep. With the wisdom of the patience with the non-arising of dharmas, in any field in the world, with just a little bit of effort, the problems of every worldly field can be readily solved. Because every aspect of the mundane world is of the consciousness-only nature, and all can be resolved with the consciousness-only dharma.

Observing from the seed-functions of the tathāgatagarbha, one knows that all dharmas are of the consciousness-only nature, all are dharmas within the one true dharma-realm, and therefore all these dharmas are empty and selfless. At this point one possesses the wisdom of the selflessness of dharmas. The patience with non-arising belongs to the wisdom of the selflessness of persons, and has not yet reached the level of the wisdom of the selflessness of dharmas; only by realizing the patience with the non-arising of dharmas does one have the wisdom of the selflessness of dharmas. When all dharmas are exhausted in their ultimate emptiness, when not a single dharma of the mundane or supramundane remains unrealized, and not a single dharma remains unknown, all problems can be readily solved, with no problem that cannot be answered. At that point, the four wisdoms are all perfectly luminous, and one becomes a Buddha.