Does the True Mind Need to Be Guarded?

The Fifth Patriarch said: Guard the true mind of your own nature, and deluded thoughts will naturally not arise. What the Fifth Patriarch meant is for us to recognize the self-natured pure mind as the unborn and unceasing true mind, and not to take the illusory five aggregates body as ourselves, nor to take the arising-and-ceasing deluded mind as ourselves. As long as we can do this, we are truly people who have awakened to the true mind and realized the Way, and only then can we be freed from the cycle of birth and death.

Moreover, after realizing the true mind, there is no need to guard or watch over Him, because regardless of whether you guard Him or not, He is always functioning; He neither runs away, nor gets lost, nor perishes—so why would you guard Him? As long as our mind consciousness takes refuge in the nature of the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha, and transforms ourselves, the mind can become ever more tranquil (praśama). It does not mean we should watch over and grasp hold of Him. This "guarding" means taking refuge in and acknowledging Him; taking Him as true, one no longer greedily seeks outwardly. The bodily, verbal, and mental actions of our six consciousnesses should be carried out in reliance upon the pure nature of the tathāgatagarbha; relying on the tranquil nature of the tathāgatagarbha, we should also purify our own deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses—this too is guarding.

After enlightenment, there is no need to constantly watch over the true mind or become attached to it; doing so would only increase bondage and deepen attachment. Once the mind no longer clings to the true mind, nor clings to the dharmas of the three realms, one can reach the heavy gate (the final barrier), and then pass through the heavy gate of birth and death. Some people say that after enlightenment one needs to preserve and sustain the realization, but what needs to be preserved and sustained is the mind consciousness—keeping the mind consciousness from giving rise to deluded thoughts. They believe that once deluded thoughts arise, it is no longer the true mind, and therefore they need to make themselves remain without thoughts for as long as possible, thinking this is guarding the true mind. In reality, what they are guarding is the deluded mind consciousness. The true mind needs no guarding—He is originally just like that, originally thus, neither running away nor getting lost, never changing or mutating, much less disappearing. But what does need guarding is this: before seeing the true mind, one should know that the true mind is the true self and acknowledge the true mind as one's self-nature; after seeing the true mind, one should rely on the nature of the true mind to transform one's own mental actions, subdue one's afflictions such as greed, hatred, delusion, and arrogance, so that the mind gains tranquility and no selfishness or arrogance arises. This is the method of guarding.