Commentary:
When the wise men are self-wakened to the eternal Truth of Unity, he apprehends the ultimate Truth about himself, the world around him and the entire universe. Having intuitively discerned the Truth, he also discerns the illusive multiplicity of all phenomena. When One is comprehended, the all is also known. The former is the Essence or Absolute from which multiplicity is manifested externally. The all refers to the multiplicity. The One is hidden or unmanifest while the All is manifest. The All is the reflection of the One. The perfection of wisdom arises when the seer (one with a Dhamma eye) is able to distinguish between the One and the all. The One is the ultimate Truth; the all is the conventional truth.
The ordinary worldlings only comprehend a portion of the knowledge of the conventional truth (saṃvṛti satya). They are doubtful about the transcendental knowledge of the ultimate Truth of Unity or Non-duality. In short, the knowledge of the worldlings is very limited. The knowledge of a saint is comprehensive and all-encompassing or all knowing.
The mind is corrupted by the superimposition of the illusive self or ego.When self or ego is obliterated, the mental consciousness is purified as the grasping upon the five aggregates as this is I; this is Mine; this belongs to me ceases.
By ‘externals’, Yung Chia utilized it to refer to one’s methods of cultivation, progress and attainments. Yung Chia advised us not to take pride in one’s methods of cultivation, and progressive attainments. All these do not matter much. If one is attached to the externals, the spiritual development will be impeded. As a result, a reverse gear is erroneously applied. A cultivator must execute right mindfulness and clear awareness so that he or she is not attached to one’s progressive attainments. Attachment retards progressive vertical spiritual development. Even the notion of emptiness must not be grasped upon. One must finally practise the emptiness of emptiness to self-actualize full-self awakening and effect complete purity of mind. It is in this manner that the perfection of wisdom is developed after the illusive self or ego is totally obliterated.
