An Exposition on the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara's Dharma Gate of Perfect Penetration through the Ear Faculty

(1) Original text: 尔时观世音菩萨。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。世尊。忆念我昔。无数恒河沙劫。于时有佛。出现于世。名观世音。我于彼佛。发菩提心。彼佛教我。从闻思修。入三摩地。初于闻中。入流亡所。所入既寂。动静二相。了然不生。如是渐增。闻所闻尽。尽闻不住。觉所觉空。空觉极圆。空所空灭。生灭既灭。寂灭现前。忽然超越。世出世间。十方圆明。获二殊胜。一者上合。十方诸佛。本妙觉心。与佛如来。同一慈力。二者下合。十方一切。六道众生。与诸众生。同一悲仰。

Explanation: "As numerous as the sands of the Ganges kalpas" means countless kalpas, innumerable great kalpas. This shows that Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva attained the fruition of cultivation already countless great kalpas ago, which means he is an ancient Buddha returning again, sailing back on the ship of compassion.

"From hearing, reflection, and cultivation, entering samādhi." Samādhi here involves two things: one is the realm of wisdom, and the other is the ground of meditative concentration. When the two are combined, it is the fruition of a bodhisattva on the bhūmis of the Mahāyāna—at least a fourth-bhūmi bodhisattva. The realm of wisdom refers to realizing the tathāgatagarbha, awakening to the true mind and seeing one's nature; the ground of concentration means the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis, reaching the first and second dhyānas and above, ideally the fourth dhyāna and above. The realm of wisdom is entry through principle; the realm of meditative concentration is entry through practice, also called entry through cultivation—it is the gate of practice, belonging to practical cultivation, and is also gradual cultivation. On this point there must be absolutely no adulteration. Thus hearing, reflection, and cultivation comprise two parts: entry through principle and cultivation of principle, and entry through practice and practical cultivation. Neither of the two can be lacking; only with their close coordination can one cultivate to a very high bodhisattva fruition and enter very deep samādhi. Neither can be omitted—both meanings are present.

"Initially within hearing, entering the flow and losing the object." This part of entry through principle is still fairly easy to explain. Through hearing and reflecting on the Buddha's Dharma, one enters the stream of the noble path and realizes the true reality of all dharmas. "Losing the object" means that in the mind the realms of the five aggregates, the eighteen realms, and the six sense objects are extinguished, no longer taking these worldly dharmas as real. As for the part of entry through practice and practical cultivation, one must have concrete foundations in meditative concentration and have actually practiced dhyāna. This concentration is entered by means of hearing a sound. Just at the moment of hearing a sound, one follows the flow of the sound and turns back inward, and the appearance of external sounds disappears. This part still cannot be separated from the part of entry through principle: from where does the sound flow out? Turn the hearing back toward the source of the sound.

"Entering the flow and losing the object" means entering the stream of the noble path and losing the location of the sound. Because all sounds are produced by the tathāgatagarbha, once one realizes the tathāgatagarbha, one gradually knows that all sounds are the nature of the tathāgatagarbha, and no longer takes sounds as truly existent. This is entry through principle, coordinated with practical cultivation. Because the ear faculty grasps at sense objects, once the mind's thought becomes unified, meditative concentration arises, and the ear consciousness and mind consciousness gradually turn back toward the place where the sound arises. From outward hearing turning to inward hearing, the external sound objects gradually become inaudible.