What is the Dharma-Selecting Eye?

The second of the seven factors of enlightenment is the factor of investigation of dharmas (dharma-pravicaya). When one cultivates to this point, one gains the eye for discerning dharmas, able to know whether the dharmas one encounters are correct, and whether the Dharma teachers one encounters possess the Way; only then can one make correct choices and not go astray. This is the awakened awareness one should possess before attaining realization of the fruits and enlightenment; otherwise one cannot attain the fruits, cannot become enlightened, and cannot attain the Way.

When one has not yet cultivated the factor of investigation of dharmas and has not gained the eye for discerning dharmas, one's practice is still ineffective, lacking in merit, meditative concentration, and wisdom. One does not know whether a teacher has wisdom or how great that wisdom is; one does not know whether a dharma is right or wrong, true or false. One's mind is muddled and unenlightened: upon encountering the true Dharma one does not know to learn it, and upon encountering false dharmas one does not know to avoid them, so that one cannot gain right view and right knowledge. For some people who lack the eye for discerning dharmas, the hindrance of doubt is not removed—they doubt the Dharma and doubt the teacher, unable to be certain about either the Dharma or the teacher; practicing and studying in this way, they will not progress or succeed. Heavy doubt is not a wholesome dharma; it arises only when merit is deficient. Only when one has the ability to discern can doubt be removed and one's cultivation of the Path advance.

Only after truly mastering Yogācāra (Consciousness-Only) can one reach the level of Bodhisattva Maitreya—and this is by no means something achievable in a day. At the very minimum, one must realize the eighth consciousness; afterward, one must also pair this with the cultivation and realization of meditative concentration (dhyāna), and must eradicate afflictions and the habitual tendencies of afflictions. Gradually, all dharmas can be realized, and ignorance can be completely broken through. All the dharmas in the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra require actual realization: if the foundational dharmas are not realized, the dharmas of the next level cannot be realized, and the dharmas of the level above that even less so.

Therefore, in studying Yogācāra, one must make the great vow to see the mind and realize one's nature, and walk the bodhisattva path in a down-to-earth manner, bringing to perfection the bodhisattva's six perfections both within the inner gate and the outer gate. One must vow to become a great-vowed bodhisattva who can truly benefit sentient beings; only with the blessing of the Buddha's power can one complete the study of Yogācāra and reach the bhūmi of the wondrous-enlightenment bodhisattva (samyak-saṃbuddha-to-be), awaiting nothing but buddhahood. Studying Buddhism is not merely studying theory; one must also learn the Buddha's pure great vows, learn the Buddha's heart of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity toward sentient beings, learn the Buddha's precepts, concentration, and wisdom, learn the Buddha's profound meditative concentration—learning and accomplishing all the merits the Buddha possesses—only then can we ourselves become buddhas.