The Profound Meaning of the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sutra from the Consciousness-Only Perspective (Second Edition)
Chapter Eleven Adorning the Pure Land, Tenth
Did the Tathāgata actually obtain any dharma from Dīpaṃkara Buddha?
Original text:佛告须菩提。于意云何。如来昔在然灯佛所。于法有所得不。不也。世尊。如来在然灯佛所。于法实无所得。
Explanation: The Buddha told Subhūti: What do you think of this question? In the past, when the Tathāgata was at Dīpaṃkara Buddha's place, did He obtain anything in terms of the cultivation and realization of the Buddha-dharma? Subhūti replied: The Tathāgata did not obtain any dharma, World-Honored One. When the Tathāgata was at Dīpaṃkara Buddha's place, with respect to the Buddha-dharma He truly obtained nothing.
Our original teacher Śākyamuni Buddha, at the place of the ancient Buddha Dīpaṃkara, realized the stage of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva and was prophesied to become a Buddha. He clearly realized the stage of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, so of course He obtained the dharma of the eighth bhūmi, and He was clearly prophesied as well—all of this involved obtaining something. So why is it said that nothing was obtained? Because these things exist in the phenomenal realm, but in the ground of actual principle such things do not exist; the phenomenal realm is empty, and it is also conjured up by the vajra prajñā mind—existing, yet not existing. On the Tathāgata's mind there is likewise not a single dharma, without any clinging thought; He does not consider that He truly obtained dharma or truly received a prophecy. If the Tathāgata had taken these as real, then there would be dharma in His mind, and He would not have realized the emptiness and illusoriness of the dharma attained; He would not be an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva and would not be qualified to receive a prophecy. Because the Tathāgata had the realization of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, with a mind empty, unconditioned, and without any thing, only then did the ancient Buddha Dīpaṃkara bestow the prophecy of Buddhahood.
Ordinary people can never think this through no matter how they ponder it: the Tathāgata obtained such a great dharma yet said He obtained nothing; being prophesied to become a Buddha, such a momentous event, yet He did not take it seriously, without a trace of obstruction or preoccupation—what kind of mind is this? Ordinary people, upon encountering such an event, would long since have been ecstatic, thrilled to the utmost, and rushing about to tell everyone. Of course, this is the acquisitive mentality of ordinary people who have not realized ultimate reality, which is precisely why such ordinary people cannot obtain the dharma, let alone receive a prophecy. The Buddha's mind is transparent and His eyes are bright; He does not casually bestow prophecies on people.
When the Bodhisattva Śākyamuni met the ancient Buddha Dīpaṃkara, he had just entered the eighth bhūmi. Before that, the Bodhisattva Śākyamuni, life after life, encountered all the Buddhas, serving as a king, a wheel-turning sage king, and a lord of the various heavens, making offerings to the Buddhas with the four requisites of food and drink, clothing, bedding, and medicine, without interruption, even offering his own body to the Buddhas. But not a single Buddha gave the Bodhisattva Śākyamuni a prophecy of when he would accomplish the Buddha-way, because at that time the Bodhisattva's cultivation and realization of the Buddha-dharma was still in the stage of conditioned practice; he cultivated, realized, and made offerings to each World-Honored One with an acquisitive mind, and had not yet reached the unconditioned state of obtaining nothing and seeking nothing. It was only when he met the ancient Buddha Dīpaṃkara, when the Bodhisattva Śākyamuni entered the eighth bhūmi, the unconditioned immovable ground, with nothing done and nothing obtained in his mind, that Dīpaṃkara Buddha prophesied to the Bodhisattva Śākyamuni when he would accomplish the Buddha-way, what his Buddha-land would be like, how many disciples he would have, what his lifespan would be, and how long the Buddha-dharma would remain in the world.
The Buddha's prophecies to bodhisattvas are mostly given when the bodhisattvas have already entered the eighth bhūmi. Eighth-bhūmi bodhisattvas have reached non-retrogression of mindfulness in their cultivation of the Buddha-dharma, and the cultivation pace of all eighth-bhūmi bodhisattvas is roughly the same; the kalpas of their attainment of Buddhahood are fixed and will not change again, so giving a prophecy to a bodhisattva at this time will not go wrong. The cultivation realm of bodhisattvas from the first to the seventh bhūmi is non-retrogression of practice, meaning that their conduct in cultivation and delivering sentient beings does not regress; no matter what, they will cultivate and deliver sentient beings, but sometimes when encountering adverse conditions they may still have retrogression in their mental thoughts. The duration of such retrogression varies—some last a day or two, some a few hours, some a few minutes, some a single instant.
Because of this retrogression of mental thoughts, the pace of cultivation is not fixed, and prophecies inevitably have temporal deviations; moreover, it can cause bodhisattvas to give rise to laxity. Before seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment up to the first bhūmi, there is non-retrogression of stage: the fruit of cultivation and realization does not regress, but there is still retrogression in conduct and mental thoughts. Sometimes one is obstructed by worldly dharmas, busy with worldly affairs, or obstructed by adverse conditions, or obstructed by illness, and thus unable to cultivate. But whether one cultivates or not, the seventh abode of seeing the mind, the ten practices, and the ten dedications do not regress.
Why, when the Bodhisattva Śākyamuni was at the eighth bhūmi, the immovable ground, did he truly obtain nothing with respect to dharma? An eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva has not only severed afflictions but also severed the habitual tendencies of afflictions. His blissful enjoyment of liberation also surpasses that of the great arhats with the three knowledges and six superknowledges. The self-grasping of persons was long since completely severed, and the self-grasping of dharmas has also been largely eliminated; the wisdom of tolerance of the non-arising of dharmas is also very deep and sharp, doubly realizing the emptiness of persons and the emptiness of dharmas. In his mind there is no thought of "I have cultivated a dharma, realized a dharma, obtained a dharma," and at the same time he does not consider that there are dharmas to be cultivated, realized, or obtained; his inner mind is a purely unconditioned realm. Because he is unconditioned and his mind is empty, without needing to apply intentional effort he can manifest everything that sentient beings need, and can even manifest a trichiliocosm, a Buddha-land. A mind that obtains nothing has an immensely vast capacity, and therefore has extremely many functions; whereas an acquisitive mind has a narrow capacity, and the mind's functions are limited and cannot be fully brought forth.
Why do bodhisattvas not adorn Buddha-lands? Let us first look at how a Buddha-land is formed: it is produced and manifested by the Buddha's undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) and its great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna). Sentient beings who have affinities with the Buddha will be reborn there, and the sentient beings' tathāgatagarbhas are also manifesting that Buddha-land. The land manifested by the Buddha is summoned and conjured by the Buddha's cultivation over three incalculable eons. Throughout those three incalculable eons, the bodhisattva made great pure vows, cultivated the myriad practices of the six pāramitās and the ten pāramitās, practicing what is hard to practice and enduring what is hard to endure. The seeds of the wholesome dharmas cultivated are all stored in his own tathāgatagarbha; after accomplishing the Buddha-way, the Buddha's undefiled consciousness can transmit the seeds of wholesome dharmas cultivated, fashioning the pure Buddha-land, and thus a trichiliocosm is established.
The mark of bodhisattvas adorning Buddha-lands is also empty
Original text:须菩提。于意云何。菩萨庄严佛土不。不也。世尊。何以故。庄严佛土者。即非庄严。是名庄严。
Explanation: Subhūti, what do you think about this matter? Do bodhisattvas adorn Buddha-lands? Subhūti replied: Bodhisattvas do not adorn Buddha-lands. Why is this said? Because so-called adorning of Buddha-lands is not an actual or true event; it is merely adorning in terms of names and marks—the events are illusory conjurations.
Speaking in terms of worldly dharma-marks, all of a bodhisattva's cultivation, the cultivation of the six and ten pāramitās, is adorning Buddha-lands; all of a bodhisattva's enterprises of delivering sentient beings are adorning Buddha-lands. The seeds of cultivation and the seeds of delivering sentient beings are retained in one's own tathāgatagarbha; when the seeds accumulate to their maximum, the causes and conditions for attaining Buddhahood ripen, and then these seeds are used to conjure and manifest an adorned Buddha-land. Therefore all bodhisattva practices are practices of adorning Buddha-lands. So do bodhisattvas adorn Buddha-lands? Of course they adorn Buddha-lands.
But applying the World-Honored One's universal golden phrase, it is: so-called adorning is not adorning; it is merely called adorning. This means that when bodhisattvas adorn Buddha-lands, there is no true mark of adorning; all of the bodhisattvas' practices are empty and illusory—marks exist but the principle does not; the existence is false existence, and the marks are also empty. There is no substantial, true event of adorning; in substance everything is true suchness, the one true dharma-realm, the vajra prajñā mind of ultimate reality; everything else is empty, illusory, and unreal. All dharmas, apart from the never-destroying vajra mind, are name-marks and false marks, and must not be grasped as truly existent. Bodhisattvas perform great Buddha-deeds within a dream, all done with an empty mind, a mind that obtains nothing—doing yet not doing, never clinging, never coveting fame and offerings, never seeking reward. Ordinary people are just the opposite: their minds always have acquisition, seeking, and expectation; their minds are not empty and they cling to marks.
How adorned a Buddha's land is depends on what the great vows the Buddha made during His cultivation specifically were, and what His conduct and actions were during the process of cultivation—that is, what seeds are contained in the Buddha's undefiled consciousness. Thus the bodhisattva's cultivation over three incalculable eons is precisely the adorning of his own future Buddha-land. This method of adorning is fundamentally not a worldly method of adorning, and therefore bodhisattvas do not adorn Buddha-lands. This method of adorning does not truly exist; it is merely giving this method a provisional name, calling it "adorning."
Why is this adorning not real? Because the pure great vows made by bodhisattvas are made by the manas and the mind consciousness, which are illusory dharmas; after being made they cease and vanish. Therefore making vows is a dharma of arising and ceasing, not a dharma that is originally existent and never perishing. All the conduct and actions of bodhisattvas while practicing the bodhisattva-path are dharmas of arising and ceasing and have all already vanished and perished; the creations of the deluded minds of the seven consciousnesses, life after life, have all perished. All the bodhisattva's myriad practices of the six and ten pāramitās are done by the deluded minds of the seven consciousnesses and are dharmas of arising and ceasing; the bodhisattva's actions are dharmas of arising and ceasing and have all perished. Because these ways and methods of adorning through the bodhisattva practices of the six and ten pāramitās are not real dharmas, not dharmas that exist forever without perishing, not dharmas that are originally existent, they are not true adorning.
What does it mean to give rise to the mind that abides nowhere?
Original text:是故须菩提。诸菩萨摩诃萨。应如是生清净心。不应住色生心。不应住声香味触法生心。应无所住而生其心。
Explanation: Therefore, Subhūti, all bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should give rise to the pure mind in this way: they should not give rise to the mind by abiding in material form; they should not give rise to the mind by abiding in sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas; they should give rise to their mind abiding nowhere.
This passage is a summary of the preceding ten chapters, telling all bodhisattva-mahāsattvas how to give rise to the pure mind—they should give rise to the pure mind as described earlier. What was said earlier? It said to practice the pāramitās by emptying all dharma-marks: empty the mark of cultivating blessings through generosity, empty the marks of self, person, sentient being, and life span, empty the mark of the Tathāgata's bodily form, empty the marks of dharmas and non-dharmas, empty the mark of the Buddha-dharma, empty the mark of the Tathāgata preaching dharma, empty the mark of making the bodhi resolve, empty the mark of stages of attainment, empty the mark of realizing bodhi, empty the mark of obtaining dharma, empty the mark of adorning Buddha-lands, and so on.
After emptying these marks, the mind obtains nothing and seeks nothing, does not abide in the marks of material form to give rise to various mental activities, does not abide in the marks of sound to give rise to various mental activities, does not abide in the marks of smell to give rise to various mental activities, does not abide in the marks of taste to give rise to various mental activities, does not abide in the marks of touch to give rise to various mental activities, does not abide in the marks of dharmas to give rise to various mental activities. In short, one should not abide in the realm-marks of the six sense objects to give rise to various mental activities. Not abiding in the marks of the six sense objects is abiding nowhere; abiding in the marks of the six sense objects is having an abode, and having an abode is non-abiding, an unwholesome abiding—the mind is impure and great wisdom has not arisen. Because the marks of the six sense objects are in fact non-marks; they are called the six sense objects but are actually empty—how can the empty be abided in? Being unable to abide is non-abiding, and abiding is also empty. Therefore one should give rise to the bodhi resolve and practice the bodhisattva practices without abiding in form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas; one should give rise to the bodhi resolve and practice the bodhisattva practices abiding nowhere.
Specifically, how does one practice the path without abiding in form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas? One must understand form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas clearly: which dharmas belong to material form, which dharmas belong to sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, what dharmas the realms of the six sense objects include, which dharmas one is more attached to and craving for, what mental thoughts one holds when cultivating blessings through generosity, what one seeks, on what basis one makes choices, and what the aims and wishes are when one makes the resolve and cultivates the dharma—whether one is craving certain worldly dharmas. One must deeply observe one's own mind and dig deep into one's own thoughts; only then can one master one's own mind and purify one's thoughts, be without desire and without seeking, so that one's conduct is pure, and one can gradually accord with emptiness and gradually accord with tranquility, thereby swiftly realizing the nirvāṇa of both the Great and Small Vehicles.
The World-Honored One said: therefore all bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should give rise to the pure mind; they should not give rise to the mind by abiding in form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas; they should give rise to the mind abiding nowhere, not abiding in any dharma. Bodhisattvas live in the world, practice the bodhisattva-path in the world, and interact with sentient beings; the deluded minds of the seven consciousnesses arise ceaselessly, producing various actions and creations, constantly discriminating the realms of the six sense objects. The essential nature of these consciousnesses is precisely to discriminate and cognize the six sense objects. To cognize the six sense objects, one must necessarily give rise to discriminating nature with respect to the six sense objects, must confront the six sense objects and contact them, and thereby abides in the six sense objects. Therefore, as long as there is discriminating activity of the deluded seven consciousnesses, one is abiding in the six sense objects—it is not a mind abiding nowhere. But through cultivation, when the bodhisattva contacts the realms of the six sense objects, after discriminating he does not give rise to feelings and experiences, and thus can not abide in the six sense objects; the mind has no attachment, no thoughts, no deliberations; his mind gradually becomes empty and pure—without marks, without wishes, without doing.
The bodhisattva also has another mind, the tathāgatagarbha, which is the truly non-abiding mind, the mind that abides nowhere from the very beginning without needing cultivation. It constantly gives rise to the mind and operates, yet knows not a single dharma; it appears dull and foolish, but in reality its capacity is vast and its wisdom incomparable. The tathāgatagarbha manifests moment after moment without interruption in the bodhisattva's bodily, verbal, and mental actions, constantly cooperating with the operation of the seven consciousnesses, yet there is not a single dharma in its mind: it does not discriminate the six sense objects, does not know the six sense objects, and does not abide in the six sense objects. Therefore the tathāgatagarbha is a non-abiding mind. When the eye faculty contacts form and the eye consciousness discriminates form, abiding in form to discriminate, the tathāgatagarbha does not see the appearance of form, does not discriminate the beauty or ugliness of form, and does not abide in form; when the ear hears sounds, the nose smells scents, the tongue tastes flavors, the body feels touches, and the manas cognizes dharmas, the tathāgatagarbha does not hear, does not smell, does not taste, does not touch, does not deliberate, does not discriminate—completely not abiding in these dharmas. Therefore the tathāgatagarbha mind is precisely a non-abiding mind. So for the deluded seven consciousnesses to attain purity, they should learn from the tathāgatagarbha, reduce abiding and reduce cognizing, and thereby give rise to fewer mental activities and thoughts.
When the Sixth Patriarch became enlightened, it was while listening to the Fifth Patriarch lecture on the Diamond Sutra; when the lecture reached "give rise to the mind abiding nowhere," he awakened, realizing that tathāgatagarbha mind which originally abides nowhere, and knowing the meritorious functions of the tathāgatagarbha, he uttered the five "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)": How unforeseen—self-nature is originally pure in itself; how unforeseen—self-nature is originally unborn and undying; how unforeseen—self-nature is originally complete in itself; how unforeseen—self-nature is originally unmoving and unshaken; how unforeseen—self-nature can give rise to the myriad dharmas.
Original text:须菩提。譬如有人。身如须弥山王。于意云何。是身为大不。须菩提言。甚大。世尊。何以故。佛说非身。是名大身。
Explanation: Subhūti, suppose there is a person whose body is as towering as the king of Mount Sumeru. What do you think—is this body great? Subhūti said: Extremely great, World-Honored One. Why? The Buddha said it is not a real material body; only then is it called a great body.
If there is a "great," there is a measurable quantity; as long as there is a number, it is not unlimited, and thus it is small. A body with a quantity, no matter how towering, is subject to arising and ceasing—arising and perishing life after life, perishing and arising again; it is not real in nature, not permanently abiding. But the non-arising-and-ceasing tathāgatagarbha has no quantity whatsoever, no length or shortness of time, no largeness or smallness of form, no marks at all, yet can contain all marks; the worlds of the ten directions are all within it. Therefore it is the unlimited great, the truly great—nothing can compare with Him.
