Platform Sūtra of 6th Patriarch 六祖壇經
Part II (b)
Wong Weng Hon
- 何期自性本自具足
Do not seek your original Self externally. The original Self is intrinsically perfect.
A sentient being or an ordinary worldling usually seeks happiness exoterically or outwardly (心外求法). A sentient being is an exotercist (心外求法者). Every sentient being is endowed with innate great perfection or supremacy known as the Buddha-nature (Buddhadhātu佛性) or the womb of Tathāgata (Tathāgatagarbha如来藏). Innately, the original Self (自性), concealed by ignorance (avidyā) or delusion, is perfect and pure. It is like the metaphor of pure gold obscured by the gold ore. Every sentient being is potentially a Buddha. There is no necessity to perfect the original Self which is already perfect or pure inherently. It is hidden because it is concealed by cankers or mental impurities. What is required is to rediscover and redeem one’s pure Original Nature known as the True Self (真我).
When the wise one or gnostic (jñāni觉者) realizes his or her True Self (Buddha/God), a lay Buddhist does not have to renounce his or her material possessions of life. There is no necessity for a lay Buddhist to go forth from home to homelessness. It is absolutely possible to preserve inner renunciation while a lay person is engaged fully in mundane sensual activities. The challenge is utilize the wisdom of the inner Heart rather than utilizing the intellectual mind. The utility of the inner Heart to direct and empower all sensual activities is the execution of the perfection of wisdom (prjñāpāramitā般若波罗蜜多). It is the execution of the Buddha-mind.
What occurs is that the Gnostic is able to direct and empower all his or her sense activities devoid of self-centric ego (我执). When spiritual wisdom is utilized effectively to execute secular activities free from mental corruptions, this is the middle path(中道). The middle path is not found in a solitary forest nor in a lonely, isolated temple or monastery. It is found in the world of multiplicity. In is the ideal interpenetration between the phenomena and Principle. Human body is the temple of Buddha or God. Tao (Buddha or God) is closer to you that your jugular vein. Religion recommends that the Principle is to be used to unite and harmonize the phenomena.
The metaphor of a woman who has lost his wealthy father illustrates this truth: The father of a wandering poor woman is wealthy. What the impoverished woman ought to do is to return home to meet the wealthy father. Her economic impoverishment will be eradicated instantly. An esoteric return to the original True Self or Buddha-mind called self-redemption (返本还原). Self-redemption is the principle emancipation. It is Man who distances himself from the principle of Tao; the principle Tao never distances itself from Man. The Tao is the Buddha-nature or the Buddha-mind.
- 何期自性本无动摇
Do not seek your original Self externally. The original Self is intrinsically unmoved.
The original Self (本性) is innately nirvāṇic or appeased (寂灭). It is originally imperturbable by any internal and external sense stimuli. Owing to the ignorant superimposition of illusive self-centered ego (我执) upon the five aggregates (五蕴), there arises grasping (执著) upon them. With grasping, the mind falsely conceptualizes and becomes obsessed by object reification(着相). Consequently, the mind is perturbed. When the perfection of wisdom is developed, the original imperturbability (如如不动) of the mind is redeemed. The original True Self or Buddha-mind is imperturbable. It is the unconditioned state of nirvạ̄ṇ̣a (涅盘).
Nirvāṇ̣a is the pure and infinite consciousness transmuted from the ordinary defiled, finite consciousness through the perfection of wisdom. Nirvāṇa is actually the microcosm (小宇宙) – the absolute essence of the Buddha. Nirvāṇic mind is the imperturbable mind which has been silenced by the knowledge of the perfection of wisdom called Chan or Zen.
- 何期自性能生万法
Do not seek your original Self externally. The original Self is intrinsically reproductive of myriad things.
When the original Buddha-nature is concealed by nominal self-centred ego superimposed by the ignorance (無明) and perversion (顛倒) of the worldling, the volitional activities are activated. As a result, karmas (業力) are produced incessantly and accumulated for future karmic rewards or retributions (業報).The karmas may either be wholesome, unwholesome or neutral. The formation and accumulation of karmas generate the endless saṃsāric (生死) worlds of desire, form and formless. Thus, defied human consciousness or karmic formation is the creative force creating the saṃsāric world. The saṃsāric world comprises the diverge forms of sentient beings reproduced through the incessant vicious cycle of birth and death or transmigration (輪回). The world is mind-made by the false mind which fabricates.
When the mind of a sentient being is directed and empowered by nominal self-centred ego, the saṃsāric journey of a sentient being is incessant and endless. When the self-centred ego is obliterated, the Buddha-mind is redeemed and the True Self is manifested. Consequently, the saṃsāric journey of the sentient being ceases. The sentient being is said to be liberated from continuous suffering. Owing to the fabricated self-centric ego of a sentient being, the illusion of world is created mental conceptualization of false imagination. Conversely, a Self-awakened One or Gnostic puts an end to his or her saṃsāric world. Saṃsāra is the concern of life after death. What is most important is to utilize the religious wisdom to rectify the mind to realize self-cultivation. Self-cultivation harmonizes human relationships at all levels of human society.
Editor’s Note:
Four characteristic features of the original Nature or Self of all sentient beings are expounded by Sixth Chan Patriarch, Hui-neng. This original Self is actually the pure, infinite consciousness of a enlightened being characterized by original purity, neither arising nor ceasing, imperturbability and increasing nor decreasing. The Self is the Buddha-mind existing intrinsically in all sentient beings. All sūtras ought to be learnt to rectify one’s mind and refine one’s character. Self-rectification and self-improvement is due to Dharma Intuitive discernment Mere academic studies separate one from the Buddha. Do not sit on raft incessantly and go beyond the shore as rapid as you can and abandon the raft.
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