What Is the State of Enlightenment?

The first sentence of the Heart Sutra states: "When the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara was practicing the profound perfection of wisdom, he perceived that all five aggregates are empty, thereby transcending all suffering and distress." Practicing the profound perfection of wisdom and perceiving the emptiness of the five aggregates means that at the very moment of realizing the Tathagatagarbha endowed with prajna wisdom, the mind becomes empty. The key word "practicing" (行) signifies investigating the principles of prajna through meditation. "Profound" (深) refers both to the depth of meditative concentration (samadhi) and to the depth and clarity of the wisdom gained through this investigation. Under the condition of this profundity, the sixth and seventh consciousnesses give rise to great wisdom, illuminating the true reality of the dharmadhatu. They realize that all phenomena within the five aggregates arise from the prajna-mind, the Tathagatagarbha, and that the essence of the five aggregates is empty, being merely illusory and transient appearances.

Thus, deep within, one knows there are no real five aggregates, and consequently, there is no suffering. Instantly, one transcends all suffering and distress. All suffering and distress are illusions projected by the Tathagatagarbha; they are false appearances, not real. After perceiving the emptiness of the five aggregates in this way, the mind becomes empty and non-active, and afflictions are eradicated. This is the merit and benefit attained upon realizing the Tathagatagarbha through Mahayana path-seeing (darśana-mārga). This is the path-seeing of the manas (the seventh consciousness), where the manas attains the samadhi state of the Tathagatagarbha, possessing both concentration (samadhi) and wisdom (prajna) in perfect equipoise. The term "perceiving" (照见) implies sudden enlightenment (dunwu). There is no time or gradual effort spent on pondering, analyzing, or thinking to slowly understand. Knowing is knowing; not knowing is not knowing. There is no hesitation or ambiguity.

After perceiving the emptiness of the five aggregates in this way, is there still a need to subsequently "turn towards" (轉依) the Tathagatagarbha to be called enlightened? Absolutely not. This is genuine, unambiguous realization (zhenwu) and sudden enlightenment (dunwu). It is not the gradual, analytical understanding (jiewu) achieved through reasoning and inference. One has already entered the gate of the Mahayana and attained genuine merit and benefit. If one merely uses the sixth consciousness (manovijñāna) to reason, ponder, or speculate about the Tathagatagarbha, such speculation and reasoning yield no merit or benefit. Therefore, gradual turning towards is required. However, no matter how diligently the sixth consciousness tries to turn towards, if the manas has not realized it, turning towards cannot succeed. Consequently, a multitude of unresolved issues remain; afflictions persist as afflictions, and ignorance remains ignorance.

It is like those who mistake stillness (ding) for Chan. They cultivate a samadhi of "not a single thought arising" and mistake this for the true mind's state of no-thought, thus taking the false as real. However, upon emerging from samadhi, false thoughts reappear. Fearing the disappearance of the true mind, they continuously cultivate samadhi, striving to remain in prolonged meditation to avoid emerging, maintaining the samadhi state to "preserve" (保任) and ensure the true mind is not lost, euphemistically calling this "preserving and sustaining" (baoren). Yet, the samadhi state will ultimately fade; one must eventually emerge. Even if one remains in samadhi for immeasurable kalpas, the samadhi state is still not the true nature of the mind. If one is truly enlightened, what is there to "preserve"? If one has truly realized the true mind, what is there to "turn towards"? It is present right now; the mind is instantly empty and pure. It is like a carp leaping through the Dragon Gate. Having leaped through and become a dragon, would it fear leaping back and becoming a carp again? Only if one has never truly leaped through the Dragon Gate, remaining fearful, anxious, and plagued by gains and losses, would one feel the need for "preserving" and "turning towards."