What Is the Knowledge of Pratyakṣa?

The knowledge of pratyakṣa (direct perception) is an intuitive presentation. The moment the dharmas appear, they are immediately known, extremely swiftly. It is known without discrimination and does not require expression through language or thought before it can be known. For instance, the Heart Sutra states: "When the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara was practicing the profound Prajñāpāramitā, he directly perceived that the five aggregates are empty." Here, "directly perceived" refers to the knowledge of pratyakṣa. If one merely uses the conscious mind to see the emptiness of the five aggregates, it is not an immediate realization of their emptiness. Instead, it involves conscious thought and analysis before knowing they are empty, which is not "direct perception" (zhaojian). The term "direct perception" (zhaojian) means the present, immediate manifestation of pratyakṣa — it does not require logical thought, analysis, or organization; what is present is simply what is. This is the knowing of the manas (the seventh consciousness), it is the realization of the manas.

The Sutra of the Questions of Brahma King to the Buddha for Resolving Doubts states: "The secret meaning of all Buddhas cannot be fathomed by words and speech. Why? This Dharma is not to be understood by thought or the sphere of thought. It is only the Buddhas together with Buddhas who exhaustively realize the Dharma." This means that the supremely profound Buddha Dharma cannot be fathomed by the perception, observation, or thought of the conscious mind. Because the Buddha Dharma is not something that can be understood by conscious deliberation; it is the Dharma that only Buddhas together with Buddhas can ultimately comprehend. Whenever there is genuine knowledge of pratyakṣa, it is always without language, without thought — it is known very directly and very quickly, without any intermediate process. Without enduring the bone-piercing cold (i.e., without profound effort), merely using the conscious mind for shallow, coarse understanding cannot attain the Buddha Dharma. Therefore, the ultimate realization of the Buddha Dharma must be the realization comprehended by the manas; it is the knowledge of pratyakṣa.

Chan Patriarchs often say: "To know is to know immediately; to understand is to understand immediately. What is there to deliberate? Deliberation misses the mark." When past Chan masters tested their disciples' wisdom to see if they had seen the Way (jiandao), they did not permit the disciples to deliberate further; they did not allow them to ponder back and forth. For example, the Fifth Patriarch tested the monk Shenxiu, asking him to compose a verse demonstrating his realization of the Way. Shenxiu paced back and forth in his room for a day and a night, thinking, yet could not write it. The Fifth Patriarch thus knew he had not seen the Way, having only cultivated the blessings of humans and devas. If a Chan master questioned a disciple and the disciple hesitated even slightly, the master would know there was no enlightenment (wu), and would then strike with his staff — first as punishment, second to prompt and inspire. When one person asks a question to understand another's attitude, if the other hesitates before answering, one knows the response contains "water" (insincerity), that it is not pure and genuine. All knowledge that comes after conscious thought is not true knowledge.

The knowledge of pratyakṣa is like this: a car approaches at high speed, rushing towards you. You immediately know it is dangerous and dodge aside. This knowing is the knowledge of pratyakṣa. There is no linguistic thought or analysis, no perception or observation. At that moment, the manas immediately knows it is dangerous and thus takes charge to swiftly avoid it — without delay or hesitation. There is no need for the conscious mind to now analyze that this is dangerous and then transmit this analytical result to the manas; doing so would certainly make it too late to dodge. Of course, once the conscious mind contacts this phenomenon, it also knows it is dangerous, but it contacts the phenomenon later than the manas and knows a step later — often realizing the danger only afterward, with a sense of fear upon reflection.

The Buddha knows events from countless eons ago concerning sentient beings, and knows events countless eons in the future concerning sentient beings — all through pratyakṣa knowledge. There is no comparison, conjecture, fantasy, thought, analysis, inference, or reasoning — none of these functions of conscious discrimination are present. Therefore, no person or event can deceive the Buddha; the Buddha knows all dharmas entirely through pratyakṣa. The deeper the wisdom, the greater the degree of pratyakṣa, the less the conscious mind is used, and the more direct and swift the response.

So many people prioritize the conscious mind, taking conscious discrimination and analysis as the method for realizing the Buddha Dharma through practice. This indeed appears to contradict the intent of the Buddha and the Patriarchs, contradict pratyakṣa, and contradict the truth.