All Dharmas Are Bodhi, Without Dual Marks

Original text of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: 佛告文殊及诸大众。十方如来及大菩萨。于其自住三摩地中。见与见缘。并所想相。如虚空华。本无所有。此见及缘。元是菩提妙净明体。云何于中有是非是。

Explanation: The Buddha told Mañjuśrī and the great assembly: The Tathāgatas of the ten directions and the great bodhisattvas, abiding in the profound samādhi in which they themselves dwell—the seeing nature that perceives all dharmas, and the conditions upon which this seeing nature relies, as well as their characteristics, all the six sense-object dharmas manifested in their minds—are like flowers in empty space; originally there are no such worldly dharmas at all. This seeing nature and the conditions that give rise to it are originally the wondrous, pure, luminous essence of bodhi. How could there arise within all these dharma-marks the two aspects of "being bodhi" and "not being bodhi"?

What needs further explanation here is that all Buddhas and bodhisattvas constantly abide in their own samādhi. This samādhi is a state of the equal cultivation of samādhi and prajñā—meditative concentration combined with the seed-wisdom of Consciousness-Only—which those lacking wisdom cannot fathom. The Buddhas and bodhisattvas abiding in samādhi also see dharmas; they see the six sense-object realms of the worldly sphere. This is the seeing of the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses, not the seeing of the Buddha-nature. Of course, the seeing of the seven consciousnesses is never apart from the seeing of the Buddha-nature; otherwise, there could be no seeing at all. And the seeing of the seven consciousnesses also arises only by relying on various conditions; without conditions, there can be no seeing. Seeing that arises in dependence on conditions is, of course, illusory and unreal seeing.

After the Buddhas and bodhisattvas see the dharma-marks of the six sense objects, images of those dharma-marks appear in their minds. This is the object and result of seeing, the function of the aggregate of perception (saṃjñā) among the five aggregates—the recognition and confirmation of various dharma-marks. The Buddha said that the seeing nature of the seven consciousnesses of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, the conditions that give rise to this seeing nature, and the dharma-marks manifested in the mind—these three are like flowers in empty space, originally nonexistent; there are no worldly marks of these three: seeing, conditions, and marks. Then what exactly are this seeing nature and its conditions? They clearly exist, yet the Buddha says they do not exist—because this is originally the pure, wondrous, luminous fundamental mind of bodhi, also called the self-nature of the true mind, also called the tathāgatagarbha. How could one say that seeing and conditions are themselves the self-nature of bodhi, or that they are not the self-nature of bodhi?

It is like gold being fashioned into golden vessels—golden plates, golden bowls, golden bracelets. One cannot say these golden vessels are not gold, nor can one say these golden vessels are gold itself. After all, the gold has changed its form and acquired worldly uses. Yet even so, the golden vessels still carry the value and the shadow of gold. Ordinary beings, however, take the golden vessels entirely as mundane objects, clinging to the functions of the plates, bowls, and bracelets. Every day they carry a golden bowl to beg for food, to hold food, and to eat, unwilling to give up the mundane use of the bowl. Thus the gold is completely treated as a mundane object, and the intrinsic value of the gold itself is obscured. Once the intrinsic value of the gold is covered over, its owner turns from a great wealthy elder into a begging beggar—displaced, destitute, overwhelmed by suffering and misery. Clutching a golden bowl, starving to death on the street—how unfortunate, how foolish! Once ordinary beings open the eye of wisdom, the eye of dharma, and the Buddha eye, and recognize the gold, they instantly return from being ordinary beings to their original identity as Buddhas and bodhisattvas. Then, as for how we should investigate Chan and investigate true suchness—has this all now become clear?

Original text: 文殊吾今问汝。如汝文殊。更有文殊是文殊者。为无文殊。如是世尊。我真文殊。无是文殊。何以故。若有是者。则二文殊。然我今日非无文殊，于中实无是非二相。

Explanation: Mañjuśrī, I now ask you: taking you, Mañjuśrī, as an example—is there another Mañjuśrī who is the true Mañjuśrī, or is there no other Mañjuśrī who is the true Mañjuśrī? The bodhisattva Mañjuśrī replied: It is so, World-Honored One. I am the true Mañjuśrī; there is no other Mañjuśrī who "is" Mañjuśrī. Why is this said? Because if there were another Mañjuśrī who "is" Mañjuśrī, then there would be two Mañjuśrīs. Yet I now am not without a Mañjuśrī who is the true Mañjuśrī; in this matter, there truly are no two dharma-marks of "is" and "is not."

How could the true Mañjuśrī give rise to the two aspects of "is" and "is not"? Mañjuśrī is simply Mañjuśrī; there is no other "is" or "is not"—this is a false proposition, conceptual proliferation (prapañca). By the same token, all dharmas are bodhi; there are no other two aspects of "is" and "is not." The whole is itself suchness (tathatā). Realizing this principle, one returns to one's original identity as the true lord of the three realms, no longer a begging beggar. May all sentient beings quickly wipe away the dust from their eyes, remove the thick blindfold, recognize the treasure, and return to the home of their own self-nature!