How to Continue Investigating the Great Vehicle Dharma After Cutting Off the View of Self

Ru Chun: In recent days, I have been contemplating the principles of the Mahayana in my dreams. Just before waking, I often have a feeling of, "Oh, so that's how it is." Once, upon waking, a thought arose in my mind: "True and false are non-dual!" I felt an overwhelming joy, but after becoming fully awake, I could not recall the specific details. So I tried to search for fragments of memory and continued to contemplate. Often, in a daze or a trance, I seemed to grasp something, yet the specific content felt hazy and unclear. At the same time, I felt a surging in my chest, as if it were about to burst open, as if something were trying to rush out, and an inexplicable joy filled my heart.

Gradually, I feel I can now understand a little of the Dharma principles that were previously incomprehensible. For example: Why does one eat all day yet not touch a single grain of rice? Why does one walk all day yet not touch a speck of dust? This means that the self-nature mind manifests in forms such as walking, standing, sitting, lying down, wearing clothes, and eating, yet in its essence, it is utterly untainted, not stained by a single speck of dust. This refers to the pure and free nature of the true mind, the self-nature.

It is like dreaming: in a dream, there are countless worlds with all kinds of wonders, yet they have no connection whatsoever to the waking self. However, this dream also arises because of oneself; they are neither two nor one, neither identical nor different. The dream world refers to the various mundane appearances manifested by the Tathagatagarbha, while the waking state refers to the essence of the Tathagatagarbha. The mind's appearances have arising, ceasing, gain, and loss, but the mind's essence neither increases nor decreases, neither comes nor goes. The true mind does not arise due to any auxiliary conditions or dharmas; it is inherently independent, naturally existing on its own. Only when spring is warm can flowers bloom; only when the mind arises can appearances manifest. The formless, shapeless spring exists right within that vibrant spring scenery; the spring scenery exists because of spring. Spring and spring scenery are neither identical nor different. The silent, wordless, formless, and shapeless true mind, the self-nature, exists right within that vibrant, diverse, and word-filled realm of false dharmas (majestic conduct). True and false are neither two nor one, both the same and different, neither identical nor different.

Commentary: The Mahayana Dharma closest to the Hinayana is the Prajna emptiness, not the Vaipulya or Vijñaptimātra. After cutting off the view of self, the first Mahayana Dharma that Hinayana practitioners learn and accomplish is the foundational Prajna aspect. Because I have spoken very little about the Prajna aspect and very much about the Vijñaptimātra aspect, many disciples find it difficult to understand and enter the Mahayana Dharma, especially knowing very little about the Prajna emptiness Dharma. After cutting off the view of self, they feel deeply lost and powerless in investigating the Mahayana Dharma. Ru Chun is also like this, unaware of the foundational Dharma principles of the Mahayana, with no sequence in contemplating the Dharma, resulting in a confused logic that seems somewhat irrelevant.

This is a shortcoming in my teaching of the Dharma, and the responsibility lies with me. In recent years, I have focused on teaching the emptiness of the Hinayana, to prevent disciples from practicing without a solid foundation, building castles in the air, shouting empty slogans, and having a reputation without substance. Therefore, I have spoken more about the foundational aspects of practice, to lay a solid groundwork so that one does not become top-heavy and fall while walking. At the same time, to prevent people from analytically interpreting the Dharma, leading to mistaken enlightenment, false enlightenment, and great lies, I have taught much about the actual practice of the mind-base (manas) and its realization. As a result, I have not had the energy to pay much attention to the Prajna aspect. Regarding the Chan (Zen) school, due to concerns that people might merely intellectually understand it, the parts I taught earlier, because of their straightforward language, were not published or released, all out of fear that people would directly interpret them without actual realization. Because the current trend within the Buddhist community is one of superficiality and vanity, with serious phenomena of falsehood, grandiosity, and emptiness, sentient beings do not like to be down-to-earth, and their vanity and competitive minds are very strong. Therefore, the parts I taught in a straightforward manner were not made public.

Under these circumstances, practitioners who have already seen the path in the Hinayana, or are about to see the path, who wish to enter the investigation of the Mahayana Dharma, must self-study the Prajna Dharma principles, the six hundred fascicles of the Great Prajna Sutra, to learn the Mahayana emptiness meaning within. At the same time, they should also explore some ancient Chan (Zen) koans. However, the Chan koans from the Tang Dynasty period contain some verbal entanglements and some suspicion of intellectual understanding. The sharpness of the language can easily cause people to remain stuck in superficial phenomena, entangled by the words and phrases, unable to break free. Therefore, it is not that everything from antiquity is necessarily correct or standard; one must learn to think dialectically. For the Prajna Dharma principles that I have spoken little about, rely temporarily on self-study and self-cultivation to train your self-cultivation ability and reduce dependency. Later, if I have the energy, I may teach more on the Chan school or the Prajna Sutras.