The Emptier the Mind, The Greater the Achievement

The entire process from an ordinary being to Buddhahood is the process of realizing the emptiness of all dharmas. It is the continuous process of shattering appearances, shattering views, shattering attachments, emptying the mind, and emptying all dharmas. If the mind is not empty, and dharmas are considered real, this is ignorance (avidyā). If there is any dharma you consider real, that is ignorance; this dharma binds and obstructs you, preventing you from attaining liberation and freedom. Even considering the dharma of attaining Buddhahood as real, not empty, is equally ignorance. Only when ignorance is completely eradicated does one become a Buddha. If there is a mind that desires to become a Buddha, the mind is still not empty; there is still deluded thought, and one cannot become a Buddha. Of course, ordinary beings and bodhisattvas of the Three Virtuous Grounds (Ten Grounds of Faith, Ten Grounds of Wisdom, and Ten Grounds of Virtue) should still have the mind aspiring for Buddhahood; they should still seek Buddhahood, as this is the cornerstone for solidifying their path. Only after passing the Three Virtuous Grounds, when it is time to shatter the view of a real self in dharmas (dharma-ātma-dṛṣṭi) and attachment to dharmas (dharma-grāha), can all deluded thoughts be gradually eradicated. Only after your mind is completely empty and pure, devoid of any mind of contrivance—no appearance, no wish, no action—can you attain true great accomplishment.

Subhūti’s mind was empty and still even in his mother’s womb. After birth, he was named "Empty-Born" (Subhūti). After following the Buddha to leave home and cultivate the path, his mind became even emptier; he even emptied the Buddha with form from his mind, not clinging to the Buddha’s form. When the Buddha returned to the human realm after teaching in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three (Trāyastriṃśa) for forty-nine days, all the disciples went to welcome him. Only Subhūti remained seated in meditation in the forest, contemplating the Dharmakāya Buddha, not clinging to the Buddha with form. Knowing that the Dharma assembly where the Buddha taught was also arising, ceasing, and illusory, he neither went to see the Buddha nor attended the assembly, sitting silently in meditation. The Buddha praised him, saying, “Although you did not come to welcome me, you are the first disciple to see me.” This “me” refers to the formless true Buddha of the Dharmakāya, not the Buddha with form of the Saṃbhogakāya or Nirmāṇakāya. All dharmas are empty; the Saṃbhogakāya and Nirmāṇakāya Buddhas are also empty. All conditioned dharmas (saṃskṛta dharma) produced subsequently are entirely empty, including the Buddha’s great deeds of liberating sentient beings over countless kalpas—all are empty.

Before the eighth ground (bhūmi), bodhisattvas engage in many conditioned activities. Upon reaching the eighth ground, the mind becomes empty. The mind that makes offerings to the Triple Gem, works for sentient beings, or serves the Buddhist teachings becomes empty. Only when one spontaneously performs all deeds that benefit sentient beings without any mind of contrivance (uncontrived action) will the Buddha bestow the prediction of Buddhahood (vyākaraṇa). If the mind is not empty, and one engages in conditioned activities with a conditioned mind—including making offerings to the Triple Gem with a conditioned mind, thinking this brings great merit and great blessings—while inwardly grasping at dharmas without emptiness, the Buddha will not bestow the prediction of Buddhahood. Although some bodhisattvas make offerings to countless Buddhas life after life, renouncing everything of themselves to make offerings, using the jewels of the trichiliocosm to make offerings to the Buddha, the Buddha still does not bestow the prediction. How much less so for engaging in worldly conditioned activities—one will certainly not receive the prediction. However, through these conditioned activities, one can increase blessings (puṇya). As blessings increase, wisdom (prajñā) can grow, and the mind can become increasingly empty, ultimately becoming the One Perfect in Blessings and Wisdom (Sugata). Therefore, one cannot say that since all dharmas are empty, there is no need to cultivate any wholesome dharmas. Without cultivating wholesome dharmas, there is no accumulation of blessings to support one, and the wisdom of emptiness will not arise; the mind certainly cannot become completely empty.

While cultivating blessings, the mind should also strive to be as empty as possible. Cultivating blessings with a mind of non-attainment (anupalambha) yields even greater blessings. For example, when liberating sentient beings, do not think that liberating more beings means gaining more merit and blessings for oneself. In reality, it is through the act of liberating sentient beings that blessings are continuously increased. Then, the merit of an empty mind manifests; the mind becomes increasingly empty. When emptiness reaches a certain degree, accomplishment in practice is achieved. The measure of how much blessing one accumulates depends crucially on the degree of emptiness of mind attained during the process of liberating sentient beings, and the degree of non-action (anābhoga) achieved. The emptiness and non-action of the mind determine a bodhisattva’s level of wisdom realization and fruition (bhūmi).

Therefore, do not focus on external appearances. If you revolve in appearances, clinging to them, even if you write a hundred books in a year, guide hundreds of thousands of sentient beings in a year, or give alms amounting to hundreds of millions, these are all conditioned activities. If within them there is evident self-attachment (ātma-grāha) and attachment to dharmas (dharma-grāha), clinging to appearances with a mind that is not empty, you will not attain the wisdom realization and the corresponding bodhisattva fruition. Only when great blessings are fully accumulated can one attain realization. After realizing the Tathāgatagarbha, observing one’s various actions, including meritorious actions, one will understand how these actions are all impermanent and unreal, how they are all merely the functional manifestations of the Tathāgatagarbha. In the ultimate truth, there are no real conditioned phenomenal appearances. Thus, the mind becomes increasingly empty, and the accomplishments in practice grow ever greater.

The path to shattering attachment to dharmas is extremely long, spanning from the first ground (bhūmi) all the way to Buddhahood—two great asaṃkhyeya kalpas of practice—continuously shattering attachment to dharmas. Before this, during the first great asaṃkhyeya kalpa, one shatters self-attachment. Therefore, the path of practice to completely eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) is also very long. The ignorance (avidyā) of the mental faculty (manas) is extremely deep-rooted and possesses great clinging. To shatter the clinging of the mental faculty, one must first shatter its views and thoughts—that is, eradicate the view of self held by the mental faculty. After the view of self is eradicated, self-attachment is gradually eliminated. Then, one shatters the mental faculty’s view of a real self in dharmas (dharma-ātma-dṛṣṭi) and attachment to dharmas (dharma-grāha). The view that all dharmas are real must be shattered bit by bit. Finally, when ignorance is extinguished and the mind is completely empty, Buddhahood is attained. The magnitude of accomplishment in practice depends on the degree to which ignorance is shattered and the mind is emptied. To empty the mind and shatter appearances, one must directly realize the Tathāgatagarbha and then observe the unreality of all dharmas.

The Buddha eliminated the negative karma of King Ajātaśatru, who committed the evil deed of killing his father, by using the principle of emptiness, enabling him to understand the principle, empty his mind, and thereby extinguish the sinful karma. King Ajātaśatru killed his father and later felt deep remorse, believing he would certainly fall into hell after death, suffering immense mental anguish. Why was he so tormented? Because he considered his father real, considered himself real, considered the act of killing his father real, and considered hell real. These so-called real dharmas bound his mind, preventing him from freeing himself from guilt, and ensuring he would suffer the retribution after death. Therefore, the Buddha explained to King Ajātaśatru the emptiness of the three spheres (emptiness of giver, receiver, and the act of giving) regarding the act of killing his father: the father as a person is empty, oneself as a person is empty, the act of killing the father is empty—there is no such person or event. Ultimately, King Ajātaśatru developed faith in emptiness, the sinful karma of killing his father was extinguished, and upon death, he was reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss (Sukhāvatī), not falling into hell to undergo retribution.

Similarly, attaining fruition (phala) and enlightenment (bodhi) are also empty, including the act of liberating sentient beings—none are real. Seeing all dharmas as empty, with no such person or event in the mind, one attains liberation. It is like killing someone in a dream and, after waking up, still thinking one has killed a person—the mind is still in the dream, not yet awakened. As long as dharmas exist in the mind, these dharmas will bind and obstruct you. Only when there are no dharmas in the mind can nothing become an obstruction, and nothing can affect you. The power of emptiness is immense; it can shatter all ignorance and karmic obstacles, shatter all suffering and the bonds of birth and death. Only with an empty mind can one attain liberation and become the King of Emptiness, the Dharma King.