The Six Faculties Are Fundamentally One Root

By reading the Śūraṅgama Sūtra and observing the results of the cultivation of the twenty-five sages, one knows that the manas can fully substitute for the first six consciousnesses. This is a fact of the sages' cultivation—they need not necessarily be bodhisattvas; arhats can accomplish it as well. The prerequisite is to be endowed with meditative concentration (dhyāna) and to possess the power of meditative absorption (samādhi).

The World-Honored One repeatedly emphasized in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra that the six faculties are fundamentally one faculty, which, due to ignorance and delusive thinking, divides into six. After attaining the Way, the six dissolve and even the one perishes—all are the functions of original enlightenment. Among the Buddhist sūtras, it is still the Śūraṅgama Sūtra that expounds the teachings most profoundly and thoroughly. Everywhere the World-Honored One guides us toward seeing our true mind and awakening to our nature, toward recognizing the essence of all dharmas and finding the road home.

Memorizing the Buddha's sūtras is far, far better than memorizing the bodhisattvas' śāstras. After all, the Buddha's sūtras are more reliable than the śāstras and will not mislead people—except when limited by the translator's level of realization and ability, or when errors creep in through repeated transmission. Moreover, the wisdom of bodhisattvas is far inferior to the wisdom of the Buddha; whatever they say contains discrepancies, and nothing is entirely correct. Even to be eighty percent correct is already rare and precious.