Practicing the Buddha's Dharma in Proper Sequence, So That One's Efforts Will Not Be in Vain

In studying the Dharma and cultivating practice, regardless of what level of Dharma one studies, those who have not eliminated the self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) should contemplate and practice contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) that all dharmas are impermanent, subject to change, arising and ceasing, that all are born and manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, that none of them is the self, and none belongs to the self. Those who have not awakened to the true mind and seen their nature should contemplate and practice that all these dharmas are born and sustained by the tathāgatagarbha, all are brought into operation by the tathāgatagarbha, and consider how to seek out the traces of the tathāgatagarbha and personally realize that all dharmas are born and operate through the tathāgatagarbha. Bodhisattvas who have awakened to the true mind after enlightenment should contemplate and practice how the tathāgatagarbha gives birth to all these dharmas, how it makes all these dharmas operate, how it cooperates intimately with the five aggregates (pañcaskandha), and how it works in harmony with the seven consciousnesses, so that wisdom becomes ever deeper and broader.

In this way, no matter what level of Buddhist Dharma we encounter, it can provoke deep reflection in us and bring us benefit; our study of the Dharma will not be made for nothing—all efforts are not made for nothing—and the wisdom of various contemplative practices can all arise and grow, so that later we can gradually achieve the perfect integration of principle and phenomena. Principle usually refers to the mind-substance of the tathāgatagarbha, and since the tathāgatagarbha is without knowledge of the six sense objects, He is not a mind-substance that knows the six sense objects, and thus does not know phenomena. Yet phenomena themselves are rootless; the source of phenomena is the principle-substance of the tathāgatagarbha, so the root of phenomena is precisely the principle-substance of the tathāgatagarbha.

After seeing one’s true mind, when one sees the Buddha-nature and attains the illusion-like contemplation, the body, mind, and world feel illusory and conjured, unreal. Observing that all dharmas are conjured forth by the tathāgatagarbha, one feels that the body, mind, and world are not real—this is an actual feeling, not imagined—and therefore the mental activities change, and one’s view of self and world changes. The change regarding one’s own body and mind is that the manas recognizes the truth that the Buddha-nature is real and that one’s own five aggregates are illusory and unreal; therefore it relaxes its control over the physical body, body and mind loosen, and there appear sublime states such as tranquility and joy. In this contemplative practice, because the mind consciousness directly realizes the Buddha-nature through direct perception/valid direct cognition, and directly feels the sublimity and wonder of the Buddha-nature, the manas knows and acknowledges that the Buddha-nature is real and can manifest the realms of the six sense objects, and that one’s own five aggregates are conjured forth; thus it no longer binds the five-aggregate body, and the physical body thereby gains a certain liberation, giving rise to a whole series of transformations and changes such as tranquility and comfort. The manas’s acknowledgment is direct realization; at this time the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion are all slight, but they are not eliminated—this corresponds to the attenuated greed, hatred, and delusion of the second fruit of the Small Vehicle. Those who study the Great Vehicle, having not seen the Buddha-nature and not attained the illusion-like contemplation, cannot attenuate greed, hatred, and delusion, and are not once-returners (Sakṛdāgāmin; Pali Sakadāgāmin); if they feel that their greed, hatred, and delusion are slight, that is merely a feeling, not the direct realization of the second fruit.

After the first dhyāna, one contemplates and practices upon one’s own and others’ seven consciousnesses as being like a mirage—like an illusory river formed by heat rising from a beach under the intense shining of the sun, unreal. This is an actual contemplative practice personally experienced, not imagined. After attaining the mirage contemplation, one can directly observe that each person’s consciousness is extremely false, and thus one removes a portion of the grasping mind and greedy attachment toward self and others; the feeling of the consciousness is extraordinary, because it has stirred the manas. Without meditative concentration (samādhi), this contemplative practice cannot be brought forth as an actual present contemplative practice, and one cannot personally realize it.

After passing the three barriers of the Chan school, one can personally contemplate and practice that all worldly human affairs, persons, and principles are just like in a dream, all so unreal, and one can also contemplate that one’s experiences in past lives were all like things in a dream. Regarding matters of past lives, one can come to understand some of them, knowing something of one’s identities in past lives, the deeds one did, the people one encountered, and so forth. This too is a realm of personal realization, not imagined, not merely understood. All principles and dharmas that are merely understood are pale and powerless, lacking the merit and benefit of liberation. If one wishes not merely to understand and imagine, one must contemplate and practice and realize within meditative concentration; apart from this there is no other path.