The Distinction Between Genuine Realization and False Realization

From the saying "The palest ink is better than the best memory," I contemplate the differing functional influences of consciousness (vijñāna) and the mental faculty (manas) on body, mind, and the world. Regarding worldly matters—when consciousness speculates, deduces, or analyzes about a person or event, how does that differ from the inner feeling and impact of truly seeing with one's own eyes, hearing with one's own ears, or personally experiencing? Concerning the dharmas of the five aggregates (skandhas) and the eighteen elements (dhātus), and concerning the dharma of the Tathāgatagarbha (Buddha-nature)—if consciousness arrives at a result through textual deduction, speculation, or analysis, what impact does it have on body, mind, and the world? If the mental faculty personally verifies it, what impact would that have on body, mind, and the world?

If consciousness speculates that someone might be insulting me, compared to personally hearing someone insulting me, what different reaction will the mental faculty have? What different repercussions will there be for body, mind, and the world? If consciousness deduces that a certain matter is thus, compared to personally experiencing that a certain matter is thus, what difference will there be in the mental faculty's perception and reaction? What difference will there be for body, mind, and the world?

If consciousness deduces from texts that the five aggregates and eighteen elements are empty and not-self, compared to personally proving that the five aggregates and eighteen elements are empty and not-self, what different reaction will the mental faculty have? What different wisdom will arise? How great is the difference for body, mind, and the world?

If consciousness deduces, judges, and analyzes from texts that the Tathāgatagarbha functions in such a way, that it operates approximately thus, compared to personally, diligently investigating through meditation (dhyāna), finally truly seeing the location of the Tathāgatagarbha and how it specifically operates—what difference do these two have on the influence upon the mental faculty? What difference is there in the wisdom of the mental faculty? How great is the difference in the impact on body, mind, and the world?

Does that which is deduced, inferred, speculated, or analyzed count as actual realization (pratyakṣa)? Is there a process of actual practice within it? What is called actual practice? And what is called actual realization?

What difference is there in the inner stirring when imagining a murder scene compared to personally witnessing a murder scene? What difference is there in the inner feeling and perception when imagining a kind and amiable face compared to personally seeing a kind and amiable face? What difference does it make to a person? What difference is there for body, mind, and the world between deducing that one's parents have died and personally seeing one's parents die? How great is the difference in the impact on oneself?

How great is the difference in effect between imagining the Buddha preaching at the Vulture Peak assembly and personally sitting at the Vulture Peak assembly listening to the Buddha preach? How great is the difference in the influence on body and mind? Do things imagined, inferred, judged, deduced, or analyzed possess the realization-power (pramāṇa) of samādhi? Do they belong to the samādhi that opens wisdom? Is imagining the scene of the Vulture Peak assembly a samādhi state? What difference is there compared to the samādhi of Master Zhiyi (Zhi Zhe Da Shi) participating in the Vulture Peak Dharma assembly within his meditation?

What difference is there between the Buddha-Recitation Samādhi (nianfo sanmei) imagining the Buddhas of the ten directions standing before one, and the samādhi of personally witnessing the Buddhas of the ten directions standing before one? What difference is there between an imagined Contemplation on Impurity (White Skeleton Visualization, báigǔ guān) and the samādhi where the White Skeleton Visualization truly manifests?

The entire Buddhist world is a chaotic mess, it cannot be more disordered. Therefore, the Buddhist world needs rectification, it needs contraction; it cannot expand or spread further, otherwise Buddhism will surely be destroyed. Every individual and every group claims they are engaged in actual practice and realization. But where is the actuality? Who is practicing diligently and earnestly? All are using the conscious mind to play clever, to play word games, all are playing with the self—where is there genuine non-self?

How many people have deduced that the world of the five aggregates is like a dream, like an illusion, and claim they have realized it is like a dream, like an illusion? Is it truly so? Genuine realization of the view of like-an-illusion belongs to the Tenth Abiding Stage (daśa-vihāra). Genuine realization of the view of like-a-dream belongs to the Tenth Dedication Stage (daśa-pāramitā), immediately before entering the First Ground (bhūmi). Are there so many great-capacity Bodhisattvas on the verge of entering the Grounds in the Sahā world? Are there so many long-practicing, reborn Bodhisattvas? If so, where is their samādhi? Do afflictions (kleśa) still exist? Do they have the first dhyāna? Have they eradicated afflictions? If you ask like this, there will still be people who claim they have the first dhyāna, have eradicated afflictions, and are in the state of remnantless nirvāṇa (nirupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa). No one can do anything about these beings; they simply believe they can.

How many people have deduced the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) from texts? How many have guessed the eighth consciousness? How many have analyzed the eighth consciousness? How many have heard about the eighth consciousness? How many have been told the general function of the eighth consciousness? What use is this? Has wisdom been developed? Is there genuine merit (puṇya) and benefit? Is there the actual realization-power (pramāṇa) of the purified Dharma-eye (dharmacakṣus)? Have they truly severed the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi)? How many people, having had an awakening (kenshō, "seeing nature") for years, still have not severed the view of self, and are still quite far from severing it, perhaps lacking the qualification and conditions to sever the view of self in this lifetime? If one has not attained the severance of the view of self at the Sixth Abiding Stage, can one then attain the realization of the Mind (mingxin) at the Seventh Abiding Stage?

The process of investigating Chan (kōan practice) can enable consciousness and the mental faculty to gradually recognize the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self nature of the five aggregates. It can gradually recognize the false and unreal nature of the five-aggregate body. It can gradually subdue the view of the body (kāyadṛṣṭi) and the view of self (satkāyadṛṣṭi). Without this process, merely deducing from texts that the eighth consciousness operates thus within the five-aggregate body—whether deduced, analyzed, heard about, or told—cannot subdue the view of the body and the view of self, let alone sever them. So what meaning does knowing this conclusion about the eighth consciousness have for one's own body, mind, and world? What merit and benefit does it confer? Without merit and benefit, what use is knowing about the eighth consciousness? If it were announced to all Buddhist practitioners on banners and billboards in the streets that everyone has a true mind, the eighth consciousness, functioning thus, could those who hear it thereby sever the view of the body and view of self, sever the three fetters (trīṇi saṃyojanāni)? Could they eradicate the karma for the three evil destinies (durgati)? If they could, since this is such a good thing, why didn't the Buddha adopt this method?