Section Three: The Four Noble Truths and the Four Marks

I. The contents of the Four Noble Truths are: the Truth of Suffering, the Truth of the Origin of Suffering, the Truth of the Cessation of Suffering, and the Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering.

The Truth of Suffering is the principle and truth of suffering. Sentient beings experience the three kinds of suffering, the eight kinds of suffering, and immeasurable suffering. Life after life, they undergo the cycle of birth and death within the six realms, constantly enduring the torment of birth, aging, sickness, death, and immeasurable sorrow, distress, and affliction. The Truth of Suffering is a truth that can only be understood and realized by the holy disciples of the Buddha; therefore, it is called the Noble Truth of Suffering. Only by knowing the Noble Truth of Suffering can one cultivate the path, thereby cutting off the origin of suffering and extinguishing suffering.

The Truth of the Origin (also called the Truth of the Origin of Suffering). The truth that sentient beings, through creating defiled karma over immeasurable kalpas, accumulate the seeds of birth-and-death karma, which will cause them to experience the karmic retribution of suffering in future lives, is the Truth of the Origin of Suffering. How does suffering accumulate? How is it brought about? Because sentient beings possess craving and attachment, this craving and attachment continuously manifest the afflictions and karmic actions of ignorance. The karmic actions of craving and attachment are created and collected as seeds; when these karmic seeds ripen in the future, the karmic retribution of suffering appears. Therefore, the Buddha said: The accumulation of craving and attachment is the accumulation of suffering. Only by cultivating to extinguish craving and attachment can one extinguish immeasurable suffering.

The Truth of Cessation is the method and truth for extinguishing suffering. It means that suffering can be extinguished through specific methods; it is not something that exists permanently and cannot be extinguished. By cultivating the path and severing the view of self, and subsequently attaining the first dhyāna, one can sever craving and attachment to the desire realm, then sever craving and attachment to the form realm and the formless realm. Only then does one gain the ability to transcend the three realms and extinguish all suffering within them.

The Truth of the Path: The path is the Noble Eightfold Path: Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right View, Right Mindfulness, Right Effort, Right Concentration, and Right Thought. Sentient beings, by cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path and completing the provisions for the bodhi of the Śrāvaka vehicle, can, through contemplating the five aggregates, eradicate the view of self, eradicate the clinging to self, thereby extinguishing the five aggregates, transcending the three realms, and entering the remainderless Nirvāṇa.

Before entering the remainderless Nirvāṇa, the four-fruition Arhats abide in the Nirvāṇa with remainder. "With remainder" means there is still a little suffering to endure because, as long as the five-aggregate body exists, there are some unavoidable sufferings. For example, enduring the suffering of hot weather, the suffering of mosquito bites, the suffering of illness, the suffering of physical discomfort, the suffering of being looked down upon by others, and so on. These are all minor sufferings that do not affect their liberation from the suffering of the birth-and-death cycle. As long as the five aggregates exist, there is suffering. Arhats who do not turn their minds towards the Mahāyāna understand this point; they are unwilling to endure even the slightest suffering and fear that after rebirth they might become confused again and create defiled karma. Therefore, they resolutely seek to extinguish the five aggregates, enter the remainderless Nirvāṇa, and upon entering Nirvāṇa, all suffering is extinguished.

II. The Meaning of the Four Marks

The Four Marks: The mark of self, the mark of person, the mark of sentient beings, and the mark of life span. The mark of self is the mark of the five aggregates: the aggregate of form, the aggregate of feeling, the aggregate of perception, the aggregate of mental formations, and the aggregate of consciousness; as well as the mark of the eighteen elements: the six sense bases, the six sense objects, and the six consciousnesses. The aggregate of form arises from nothing, undergoes birth and death, change, transformation (change meaning constantly changing), is impermanent, suffering, and empty; therefore, it is not self. The aggregate of feeling undergoes birth, death, change, is impermanent, dependently arisen, does not last long, is suffering, and empty; therefore, it is not self. The aggregate of perception undergoes birth, death, change, is impermanent, suffering, and empty; therefore, it is not self. The aggregate of mental formations undergoes birth, death, change, is impermanent, suffering, and empty; therefore, it is not self. The aggregate of consciousness undergoes birth, death, change, is impermanent, dependently arisen, suffering, and empty; therefore, it is not self.

The six sense bases: The six sense bases of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. The first five sense bases undergo birth and death, change, are impermanent, dependently arisen, suffering, and empty; therefore, they are not self. The mental faculty (manas) has no birth but has death, undergoes momentary birth and death, change, is impermanent, suffering, and empty; therefore, it is not self. The six sense objects: Forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and mental objects. The six sense objects undergo birth and death, change, are impermanent, dependently arisen, suffering, and empty; therefore, they are not self. The six consciousnesses: Eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, and mental consciousness. The six consciousnesses undergo birth and death, change, are impermanent, dependently arisen, suffering, and empty; therefore, they are not self.

The mark of person: The five aggregates and eighteen elements of human beings are similarly false, subject to birth and death, change, impermanent, suffering, empty, and dependently arisen; therefore, they are not self, not other than self, not different from self, and not intermingled with self. The five aggregates are not self (the mental faculty that undergoes birth and death), nor are they something belonging to a self outside of self. Self does not exist within what belongs to self; what belongs to self does not exist within self; self and what belongs to self do not intermingle in existence. From the perspective of Mahāyāna Dharma, the five aggregates and the true eighth consciousness are neither identical nor different; they neither intermingle nor are they separate, yet they have an extremely close connection.

The mark of sentient beings: All sentient beings in the ten directions, whether holy or ordinary, regardless of which realm they belong to, their five aggregates and eighteen elements are all subject to birth and death, impermanence, change, are dependently arisen, suffering, and empty; they are not self, nor do they belong to self; self and what belongs to self do not intermingle in existence. However, from the perspective of Mahāyāna Dharma, the five aggregates and the eighth consciousness are neither identical nor different; they are not mixed together with the eighth consciousness, yet the two also have an extremely close relationship.

The mark of life span: The manifestation of the length of lifespan on sentient beings, the wheel of life, ranging from the lifespan of bacteria lasting a few hours to the lifespan of the Long-Life Heaven lasting eighty thousand great kalpas, and even the lifespan of eighth-ground Bodhisattvas and above who have ended segmented birth and death—all are false, unreal, impermanent, and empty; they are not self, nor are they possessed by self.

III. How to Attain the Absence of the Four Marks

The absence of the four marks means no self, no person, no sentient being, and no life span. This false self of the five aggregates and eighteen elements is produced by the eighth consciousness dependent on various conditions; it is false, changing, impermanent, empty, and characterized by suffering; therefore, it is without self. This requires profound and meticulous contemplation (guānxíng) to arrive at such a conclusion; only then can the mind inwardly confirm that the five aggregates are truly not self. Since self is false, by the same reasoning, others are also false, and all sentient beings are false and not self. Then, the mark of life span, which depends on the five aggregates of sentient beings, is naturally unreal and false as well. It is crucial to cultivate concentration and contemplate these principles well. This requires cultivating many dharmas; the Noble Eightfold Path and the Thirty-Seven Aids to Enlightenment must all be well-cultivated to realize that all these dharmas are empty. Merely speaking of emptiness is useless; it is merely lip service.

All marks are false; they are all illusions projected by the eighth consciousness. All marks lack a real intrinsic nature of their own existence, including the mark of self, the mark of person, the mark of sentient beings, and the mark of life span. To attain liberation, one must depart from the false four marks and not grasp at them. Departing from the four marks means to disengage, to not accept them; inwardly, one does not accept the four marks as truly existing, realizing through direct experience that the four marks are illusory and unreal, existing only as false combinations.

Departing from the four marks is not destroying the four marks. If the four marks were destroyed, sentient beings would disappear, leaving only the Tathāgatagarbha; without sentient beings, there would be nothing more to accomplish from then on. Departing from the four marks is the same principle as severing the view of self. Severing the view of self is not destroying the false self of the five-aggregate body; rather, it is no longer recognizing the five aggregates as self, correcting the mistaken view. The "severing" spoken of in Buddhism refers to changing one's view, changing the cognition of the conscious mind, correcting inverted views, thereby attaining correct views. We who study Buddhism cannot destroy the false self of the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses. Moreover, without attaining the fruition of a fourth-stage Arhat, no one can destroy the false self and the four marks.

Sentient beings all have the four marks in their minds. Some recognize the physical body as self, some recognize the mind that feels as self, some recognize the mind that thinks as self, some recognize that which walks, stands, sits, lies down, speaks, and laughs as self, and some recognize that which discriminates the six sense objects as self. Since they recognize these dharmas as self, they recognize those like themselves as persons, recognize those like themselves and others as sentient beings, and recognize the lifespan of a single existence on themselves, others, and sentient beings as the mark of life span. Thus, the four marks are complete.

IV. Tathatā and the Seven Consciousnesses of Sages Do Not Grasp the Four Marks

Arhats and Bodhisattvas, through cultivation, have eliminated the four marks; they have no four marks in their minds, no longer recognizing the four marks as true or real within their hearts. If the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses do not cultivate or contemplate the Dharma, do not realize selflessness, they cannot achieve the absence of the four marks. Tathatā, however, does not need to cultivate; it inherently has no four marks, no mark of the five aggregates, no mark of the eighteen elements. It also does not regard itself as a real self, does not act as a controller, has no self-centered mental activity, and does not grasp at the mark of self. Thus, it also does not grasp at the mark of person, the mark of sentient beings, or the mark of life span. It also has no lifespan, because it has always been unborn and unceasing.

The Diamond Sūtra says: "If the mind grasps at marks, it is attached to the four marks; if it grasps at the mark of dharmas, it is attached to the four marks; if it grasps at the mark of non-dharmas, it is attached to the four marks." Tathatā does not grasp at a single mark; it has no mental activity of grasping, not even grasping at itself. Conversely, the deluded mind, the seven consciousnesses, are always grasping, constantly grasping at the four marks and the six sense objects, grasping at all marks. Therefore, birth and death are continuous, and suffering, affliction, and calamity are endless. In short, the mind that grasps is false; Tathatā does not grasp and has no four marks.

V. The Meaning of Selflessness (Anātman)

Selflessness has two meanings: First, impermanence and non-identity (not eternally one); second, inability to be the master, lack of autonomy. The first meaning is easy to understand: the so-called self undergoes birth, death, and change without cease; it cannot remain eternally one and unchanging. The second meaning is somewhat more difficult to grasp: the five aggregates cannot be their own master; they cannot determine their own birth, growth, and death. They cannot control birth, nor can they control death; instead, they are controlled by their own karma and determined by the Ālayavijñāna. Therefore, the five aggregates are not autonomous; they are controlled by karma and the Ālayavijñāna.

As for some minor matters, they are still controlled by one's own mental faculty (manas). For example, when eating, one can choose to eat or not eat; under existing conditions, one can choose what to eat. However, looking at the underlying causes and conditions, this is also determined by one's own merit (puṇya). If merit is very meager, whether one eats, what one eats, is not up to oneself to decide. In every era, there are people who starve to death, people who have food for one meal but not the next. When karmic force manifests, there truly is no room for one's own choice. Matters that seem controllable on the surface all have underlying causes, conditions, and karmic forces supporting and influencing them. When merit is insufficient, wanting to be the master and escape birth and death cannot be achieved; one is still bound by karmic seeds and conditions, suffering the karmic retribution of birth and death. At this time, the mental faculty cannot be the master.

VI. Why is the Five-Aggregate Body Not Autonomous?

The "I" that cannot be the master refers to the five-aggregate body that is not free in birth and death. The five-aggregate body cannot exist autonomously; it must depend on the Ālayavijñāna to exist. The five aggregates also cannot cease autonomously; they must depend on the Ālayavijñāna and karmic conditions to cease. Having birth and death means lacking autonomy and freedom. The Ālayavijñāna, however, is always autonomous and free because it is neither born nor ceases, not determined by other dharmas. On the other hand, the five-aggregate body also has a certain degree of autonomy; it does not completely follow the flow of birth-and-death karmic conditions. Otherwise, our study of Buddhism would be useless and unnecessary. The seventh consciousness within the five aggregates is the master consciousness among the eight consciousnesses; it masters the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the five aggregates, deciding the creation of bodily, verbal, and mental actions. If the mental faculty ceases to be the master, the five aggregates would have no bodily, verbal, or mental actions, and the Ālayavijñāna would rest.

Regarding karmic actions, the mental consciousness and mental faculty can work together to change the karmic retribution of birth and death, diligently cultivate to remove ignorance and afflictions, and liberate themselves from the bonds of birth and death. This is all proactive; one can be the master and have the final say. The ultimate result is the ability to eradicate all ignorance. The mental consciousness, through cultivating the Buddha Dharma, constantly influences the mental faculty, enabling the mental faculty to gradually break free from the bonds of karmic force, remove the fetters of ignorance and afflictions, and choose to create wholesome karma and pure karma. Thus, future karmic retribution will become increasingly sublime, culminating in becoming a Buddha or Patriarch.

VII. The Concepts of Self-Grasping and Dharma-Grasping

Self-grasping (ātma-grāha) is the attachment to the self of the five aggregates, clinging to the five-aggregate body as self and as belonging to self. Severing this clinging is the achievement of the fourth-stage Arhat; the mental faculty no longer covets or clings to the dharmas of the threefold world. At the end of their lifespan, they have the ability to extinguish themselves and enter the remainderless Nirvāṇa, liberated from the suffering of the three realms. Dharma-grasping (dharma-grāha), also called grasping at dharmas as self, is when the mental faculty clings to the dharmas that arise from the combination of the aggregates, bases, and elements, or to certain dharmas, as self or belonging to self. Only Bodhisattvas who have reached the preliminary stage of transforming consciousness into wisdom (on the Bodhisattva grounds) have the ability to gradually eradicate this kind of dharma-grasping.

VIII. The Meaning of Contemplation (Guānxíng)

Contemplation (guān) means observation, contemplation, thinking, investigation, reflection, consideration, pondering, thought, reasoning, inference. It is divided into contemplation based on direct perception (pratyakṣa), inference (anumāna), and erroneous cognition (abhūta-parikalpa). Hypothetical or imaginary contemplation based on erroneous cognition can also be used. If the result is direct perception, it is correct contemplation. If the result is erroneous cognition, not conforming to facts and truth, it belongs to wrong contemplation, commonly called wild thoughts, random thoughts, or fanciful speculation without basis or logical thinking.

Correct contemplation is contemplation that accords with facts, contemplation with the correct direction, contemplation with reasonable and practical methods. For example, contemplating an image while reciting the Buddha's name: having a Buddha image as a guide provides a reference point, ensuring the direction of contemplation is correct. The result of the contemplation depends on whether conditions such as meditative concentration power, contemplative wisdom, and merit are sufficient. Another example is the sixteen contemplations in the Contemplation Sūtra (Amitāyurdhyāna Sūtra); each contemplation has the Buddha's guidance and explanation, has a correct reference point, and clear goals and direction. The result of the contemplation depends on whether the individual's conditions of concentration, wisdom, merit, etc., are met.

Activity (xíng) means movement, action, change, flow, flux. Anything that is moving, not static, belongs to the category of activity. It can also be said to be the process of a thing's development, not yet ended, still changing and progressing; all this belongs to activity. The "xíng" in guānxíng primarily refers to the movement and functioning of mental activities, the operation of mental factors (caittas). The "consideration" (cetanā) mental factor also contains the meaning of activity; it not only has the meaning of choosing, deciding, and creating but mainly also has the nature of deliberation, calculation, commonly called pondering, measuring, inferring, weighing.

The "perception" (saṃjñā) mental factor also belongs to the scope of activity; it is not a static state. Perception has the function of discerning, discriminating, grasping marks, and clinging. After grasping a mark, the consideration mental factor functions, deliberating on the grasped dharma mark, weighing the pros and cons, importance and urgency, and then making a choice. When deliberation temporarily yields no result, it is called being unable to make up one's mind; the mental faculty temporarily has no opinion, no decision. Compared to perception, deliberation differs in depth. Perception is a slightly more superficial level of discernment of marks, closely revolving around the perceived aspect (nimitta). After grasping the perceived aspect, feelings arise. Afterwards, deliberation is still needed; the final deliberation also revolves around the perceived aspect, considering how to handle and respond to it, weighing the pros and cons, and then deciding on the action.

Contemplation and activity combined are the functional roles of the mental consciousness and the mental faculty. Of course, contemplation using the mental consciousness can occur in shallow concentration or even without concentration, in scattered thought. This level of contemplation is relatively shallow, not ultimate, and may lack logic. Even if it has logic, it cannot replace the contemplation of the mental faculty; it merely serves to guide the mental faculty's contemplation. Ultimately, the mental faculty itself must contemplate for it to be trustworthy, because the mental faculty is the master, the controlling consciousness. Only what the mental faculty sees directly is considered truly seen. However, the mental faculty's contemplation requires meditative concentration; the deeper the better. Otherwise, with too many objects of focus, one cannot contemplate single-mindedly, and there will be no true contemplative wisdom.