A Commentary Literature on ‘Faith in Mind’

Chapter 6. Non-Distinction

In oneness and equality,
Confusion vanishes by itself

Commentary by Paramartha

This verse is the sixth portion of the Chan Poem ‘ Faith in Mind’ composed by the Chinese 3rd Chan Patriarch, Sengcan between 6th- 7th century C.E. This Chan Poem mirrors the Perfection of Wisdom of Śākyamuni Buddha through the enlightened mind Sengcan.

The commentary is contributed by Wong Weng Hon, a post-graduate from the Post-graduate Institute of Pāli and Buddhist Studies of Kelaniya University, Colombo, Sri Lanka. He was a former Buddhist Lecturer of the International Buddhist College, Southern Thailand.  

Commentary

Oneness refers to non-discrimination or non-duality. There is no distinction between the perceiver and the perceived, the subject and the object, the subject and the predicate and the substance and the attribute. The Right View is the perception of totality or wholeness of object constituted from its parts. Every part is equally important to contribute to or to constitute the totality or wholeness of the object. The equal importance of all parts is the notion of equality ; the notion of totality is oneness. The Buddha expounds  the notion of equality and oneness in terms of Dependent Co-arising and non-self or Emptiness. Hua-yen Buddhist philosophers or thinkers are experts in elucidating  the notion of totality and equality brilliantly. Oneness and equality mirror the Right View of things as they really are. It is through such a Right View that a worldling or a sentient being  becomes  self-enlightened and enters the Supreme Way. When all things are perceived as oneness and equality, all distinctions vanish by themselves. The Buddha perceives all sentient beings to be the same. The Exalted One perceives that saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are the same.

Chan master Shen-yen compared the Buddha with the metaphor of a camera:

The eyes of the Buddha are akin to a camera and his mind  is akin to its film. A camera takes in all objects, good or bad, long or short, beautiful or ugly, green or yellow and so forth without distinctions.

All images appear clearly on the film without differences. The mind of an Enlightened One is equal. It is equal in the sense that there is no conception of relativity i.e comparison and contrast of objects. When distinctions vanish, there is no more confusion or delusion. Perception of distinctions is delusion or confusion. One enters the Supreme Way when all notions of distinctions vanish