The Supremacy of the Dharma Gate of Perfect Penetration through the Ear Faculty

The Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's Dharma gate of perfect penetration through the ear faculty, when cultivated to the very end, relinquishes everything that can be relinquished and empties everything that can be emptied—even relinquishment itself is relinquished, even emptiness itself is emptied. The one who relinquishes and that which is relinquished, the one who empties and that which is emptied, as well as the emptiness of emptiness—all are completely emptied, and there is nothing left that can be emptied. Only the solitary tathāgatagarbha remains, which cannot be relinquished and is not to be relinquished, which cannot be emptied and is not to be emptied. There is no longer anyone who relinquishes, no one who empties Him. At that point, one has arrived home, accomplishing the thirty-two response bodies, and is called the greatly compassionate and greatly loving Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. 

One may ask: can an ordinary being (pṛthagjana) cultivate and accomplish such a sublime state? It simply cannot be accomplished. Because it is already very difficult for ordinary beings to even attain the first dhyāna, let alone the four dhyānas and eight concentrations, and the various kinds of meditative absorption (samādhi). For ordinary beings, it is extremely difficult even to eliminate self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), to realize the tathāgatagarbha, to empty the body of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha), or to relinquish greed and desire. How could they empty all dharmas and relinquish all dharmas? How could they empty even emptiness itself and relinquish even relinquishment itself? Let alone speak of emptying the tathāgatagarbha or relinquishing the tathāgatagarbha? This Dharma gate is extremely difficult to cultivate even after enlightenment, and is not easy to cultivate even after attaining the bhūmis. How could sentient beings still at the stage of ordinary beings possibly cultivate it to accomplishment? Therefore, the practice of ordinary sentient beings must proceed in proper sequence, from the shallow to the deep, step by step. One cannot, while still unable to fly, already wish to pluck the moon. Even great bodhisattvas who have attained enlightenment must also cultivate in sequence, from the shallow to the deep, step by step; they cannot practice in a leaping, skip-ahead manner.