VOLUME 4
Then Purnamaitreyaniputra arose from his seat in the midst of the great
assembly, uncovered his right shoulder, knelt on his right knee, put
his palms together respectfully, and said to the Buddha, "The most
virtuous and awe-inspiring World Honored One has for the sake of living
beings expounded the primary truth of the Thus Come One with remarkable
eloquence." "The World Honored One often singles me out as the foremost among
speakers of Dharma. But now when I hear the wonderful and subtle expression
of the Dharma, I am like a deaf person who at a distance of more than
a hundred paces tries to hear a mosquito, which in fact cannot be seen,
let alone heard. "World Honored One, although Ananda and those like him have become
enlightened, they have not yet cast out their habits and outflows. We in the assembly have reached the level of no outflows. Yet, although
we have no outflows, we still have doubts about the Dharma we have now
heard the Thus Come One speak. "World Honored One, if all the sense organs, sense objects, Skandhas,
places, and realms in all the world are the treasury of the Thus Come
One, originally pure, why do there suddenly arise the mountains, the
rivers, and the great earth�all conditioned appearances which cyclically
change and flow, end and then begin again? "Moreover, the Thus Come One said that earth, water, fire, and
wind are by nature perfectly fused, are all-pervasive in the Dharma
realm, and are all tranquil and everlasting. "World Honored One, if the nature of earth is pervasive, how can
it contain water? If the nature of water is pervasive, then fire does
not arise. Further, how do you explain that the natures of fire and
water can each pervade empty space without displacing one another? World
Honored One, the nature of earth is solid; the nature of emptiness is
penetrating. How can they both pervade the Dharma realm? I don�t know
where this doctrine is leading. "I only hope the Thus Come One will compassionately explain in
order to rend the clouds of confusion in me and among the great assembly."
After saying this, he made a full prostration and respectfully and expectantly
awaited the Thus Come One�s unsurpassed compassionate instruction. The World Honored One then told Purna and all the Arhats in the assembly
who had extinguished their outflows and had reached the level of no
study, "Today the Thus Come One will explain in depth the true,
supreme meaning within the supreme meaning in order to cause all of
you in the assembly who are Fixed-nature Sound-hearers and those Arhats
who have not realized the two kinds of emptiness, but are dedicated
to the superior vehicle, as well as the others, to obtain the place
of still extinction, the one vehicle, the true Aranya, the proper place
of cultivation. Listen attentively and I will explain it for you."
Purna and the others revering the Buddha�s expression of Dharma, listened
silently. The Buddha said, "Purna, you have asked why in fundamental purity
the mountains, the rivers, and the great earth suddenly arise. "Have you not often heard the Thus Come One expound upon the wonderful
light of the enlightened nature and the bright wonder of the fundamental
enlightenment?" Purna said, "Yes, World Honored One, I have often heard the Buddha
expound upon this subject." The Buddha said, "You speak of the light of enlightenment; is
it that the natural light is called enlightenment? Or are you saying
that enlightenment is initially without light and that then there is
a so-called brightening of the enlightenment?" Purna said, "If the absence of light is called enlightenment,
then there is no light whatever." The Buddha said, "If there is no bright enlightenment without
light added to it, then it is not enlightenment with it; and it is not
light without it. The absence of light is not the still, bright nature
of enlightenment, either. "The nature of enlightenment is essentially bright. It is false
for you to make it bright enlightenment. "Enlightenment is not something that needs to be made bright,
for once that is done, and object is established because of this light.
Once an object is falsely set up, you as a false subject come into being. "In the midst of what is neither the same nor different, difference
blazes forth. And what is different from that difference becomes sameness,
because of the difference. Once sameness and difference are created
then due to them what is neither the same nor different is further established. "This turmoil eventually brings about weariness. Prolonged weariness
produces defilement. The combination of these in a murky turbidity creates
affliction with respect to wearisome defilement. "Arisal is the world; stillness is emptiness. Emptiness is sameness;
the world is difference. What is neither sameness nor difference is
the actual conditioned Dharmas. "The interaction of bright enlightenment and dark emptiness sets
them in a perpetual rotation; thus there is the pervasiveness of wind
which supports the world. "Because emptiness produces movement, hardened light sets up a
solidity which is the store of metal. Bright enlightenment makes this
hardness; thus there is the pervasiveness of metal, which secures the
lands. "Obstinate attachment to unenlightened awareness results in the
formation of metals, while the vibration of illusory awareness causes
wind to rise up. The wind and metal rub together; thus there is the
light of fire, which is changeable by nature. "The brightness of the metal produces moisture, and from the light
of fire steam arises; thus there is the pervasiveness of water, which
encompasses realms in the ten directions. "Fire rises and water falls, and the combination sets up solidity.
What is wet becomes the oceans and seas; what is dry becomes in continents
and islands. "Because of this, fire often rises up in the oceans, and on the
continents the streams and rivers ever flow. "When the power of water is less than that of fire, high mountains
result, so it is that mountain rocks give off sparks when struck, and
become liquid when melted. "When the power of earth is less than that of water, the outcome
is grasses and trees. So it is that groves and meadows turn to ashes
when burned and ooze water when twisted. "A falseness is produced with interaction as the seeds, and from
these causes and conditions comes the continuity of the world. "Moreover, Purna, the false brightness is none other than the
mistake of adding light to enlightenment. "After the falseness of an object is established, the faculty
of understanding cannot transcend it. Due to this cause and condition,
hearing does not go beyond sound, and seeing does not surpass form. "Forms, smells, tastes, and objects of touch�six falsenesses are
realized. Because of them, there is division into seeing, sensation,
hearing, and knowing. "Similar Karma binds together: union and separation bring about
transformation. "One sees that a bright spot is generated. At the sight of the
bright spot conception comes into being. Differing views produce hatred;
similar views create love. The flow of love becomes a seed, and the
conception is drawn into the womb. Intercourse happens with a mutual
attraction of similar Karma. And so there are the causes and conditions
that create the Kalala, the Arbuda, and the rest. "The womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born, and transformation-born
come about in response: the egg-born come from thought, the womb-born
are due to emotion, the moisture-born arise from union, and transformations
occur through separation. "Emotion, thought, union, and separation go through further changes,
and from all the Karma received one either rises or sinks. From these
causes and conditions comes the continuity of living beings. "Purna, thought and love become bound together so that people
love each other and cannot bear to be apart. As a result, the world
was seen an endless succession of births of parents, children, and grandchildren.
And the basis for all of this is desire and greed. "Greed and love feed on one another until greed becomes insatiable.
As a result, in the world all the sentient beings born of eggs, wombs,
moisture, and by transformation tend to devour one another for the nourishment
of their bodies to the extent that their strength permits. And the basis
for all of this is killing and greed. "A person eats a sheep. The sheep dies and becomes a person. The
person dies and becomes a sheep, and it goes on that way through ten
births and more. Through death after death and birth after birth, they
come back to eat one another. The evil Karma becomes innate and exhausts
the bounds of the future. And the basis for all of this is stealing
and greed. "You owe me a life; I have to repay my debt to you. From these
causes and conditions, we pass through hundreds of thousands of aeons,
in a sustained cycle of birth and death. "You love my mind; I adore your form. From these causes and conditions
we pass through hundreds of thousands of aeons, in a sustained mutual
entanglement. "Killing, stealing, and lust are themselves the basis roots. From
these causes and conditions comes the continuity of Karmic retribution. "Therefore, Purna, the three kinds of upside-down continuity come
from the light which is added to enlightenment. With this false enlightening
of the knowing-nature, subjective awareness gives rise to objective
appearances. Both are born of false views, and from this falseness the
mountains, the rivers, the great earth, and all conditioned appearances
unfold themselves in a succession that recurs in endless cycles. Purna said, "If this wonderful enlightenment, this basis miraculous
enlightened brightness which is neither greater than nor less than the
mind of the Thus Come One, abruptly brings forth the mountains, the
rivers, and the great earth, and all conditioned appearances, then now
that the Thus Come One has attained the wonderful empty bright enlightenment,
will the mountains, the rivers, the great earth, and all conditioned
habitual outflows arise again?" The Buddha said to Purna, "Consider for example a person who has
become confused in a village, mistaking south for north. Is this confusion
the result of confusion or of awareness?" Purna said, "This person�s confusion is the result neither of
confusion nor of awareness. Why? Confusion is fundamentally baseless,
so how could it arise because of confusion? Awareness does not produce
confusion, so how could it arise because of awareness?" The Buddha said, "If a person who is aware points out the way
to the person who is in the midst of confusion, and makes him aware,
then do you suppose, Purna, that once the person is over his confusion
he could lose his sense of direction again in that village?" "No, World Honored One." "Purna, the Thus Come Ones of the ten directions are the same
way. Confusion is groundless and ultimately empty in nature. There had
basically been no confusion: it merely seemed as if there were confusion
and enlightenment. When the delusion about confusion and enlightenment
is ended, enlightenment does not give rise to confusion. "It is also like a person with an eye-ailment who sees flowers
in space. If he gets rid of his eye-ailment, the flowers in space will
disappear. If he were so stupid as to quickly return to the spot where
the flowers disappear and wait for them to reappear, would you consider
that person to be stupid or smart?" Purna said, "Originally there weren�t any flowers in space. It
was through a falseness in the seeing that they were produced and extinguished.
To see the disappearance of the flowers in space is already upside down.
To wait for them to reappear is sheer madness. Why bother to determine
further if such a person is stupid or smart?" The Buddha said, "Since you explain it that way, why do you ask
if the wonderful enlightened bright emptiness can once again give rise
to the mountains, the rivers, and the great earth? "It is like a piece of ore containing gold and a mixture of other
metals. Once the pure gold is extracted, it will not become an ore again.
It is like wood that has been burned to ashes; it will not become wood
again. "The Bodhi and Nirvana of all Buddhas, the Thus Come Ones, are
the same way. "Purna, you also asked whether the natures of water and fire would
not destroy each other if the natures of earth, water, fire, and wind
were all perfectly fused and pervaded the Dharma realm, and whether
subtle emptiness and the great earth would not be incompatible if both
pervaded the Dharma realm. "For example, Purna, the substance of emptiness is not the myriad
things, and yet it does not prevent the inclusion of all appearances
within it. "Do you know the reason why? Purna, the empty space is bright
on a sunny day, and dark when the sky is cloudy. It moves when the wind
rises up, it is fresh when the sky clears. It is turbid and hazy when
the weather is foul, it is obscure when a dust-storm breaks out. It
casts a bright reflection on a pool of clear water. "What do you think of these conditions which come into existence
at different places? Are they created from these conditions themselves
or do they find their origin in emptiness? If they arise from those
conditions, Purna, then on a sunny day since the sun is bright, all
the worlds of the ten directions should take the form of the sun. Then
how does it happen that on a sunny day one still sees the round sun
in the sky? If emptiness is bright, emptiness itself should shine. How
does it happen that when there is a covering of clouds and fog there
is no light in evidence? "You should know that brightness in not the sun, is not emptiness,
and is not other than the emptiness and the sun. "The truly wonderful enlightened brightness is the same way. If
your Karma finds expression in emptiness, then emptiness will appear.
If your Karma finds expression in one or another of earth, water, fire,
or wind, that one will appear. If your Karma finds expression in them
all, they will all appear. "How can they all appear? Suppose, Purna, the sun�s reflection
appears in a single body of water, and two people gaze at it, both at
the same time. Then one person walks east and the other walks west.
Each person, still looking in the water, will see a sun go along with
him, one to the east, one to the west, seemingly without there being
any fixed direction for the movement of the sun�s reflection. "You shouldn�t belabor the question and say, �If there is one
sun, how can it follow both people? Since the sun is double, why does
only one appear in the sky?� this is just to revolve in falseness, because
it cannot be proved. "Contemplate the fundamental falseness of appearances. They are
just like flowers that are conjured up in space and produce empty fruit.
Why, then, investigate the meaning of their formation and disappearance? "Contemplate the fundamental truth of the nature. It is solely
the wonderful enlightened brightness, the wonderful enlightened bright
mind. Originally, it is neither water nor fire. Why, then, ask about
incompatibility? "Purna, you think that form and emptiness over come and destroy
one another in the treasury of the Thus Come One. Thus the treasury
of the Thus Come One accordingly appears to you as form and emptiness
throughout the Dharma realm. "And so, within it the wind moves, emptiness is still, the sun
is bright, and the clouds are dark. The reason for this lies in the
delusion of living beings who have turned their backs on enlightened
and joined with the �Dust.� Thus, the wearisome defilements come into
being and mundane appearances exist. "With the wonderful brightness that is not extinguished and not
produced, I unite with the treasury of the Thus Come One. Thus the treasury
of the Thus Come One is the unique and wonderful enlightened brightness,
which completely illumines the Dharma realm. "That is why, within it, the one is limitless; the limitless is
one. In the small appears the great; in the great appears the small. "Unmoving in the Bodhimanda, yet pervading the ten directions,
my body contains the ten directions and endless emptiness. On the tip
of a single hair appear the lands of the Jeweled kings. Sitting in a
mote of dust, I turn the great Dharma wheel, destroy the defilements,
and unite with enlightenment, so, True Suchness, the wonderful enlightened
bright nature, comes into being. "The treasury of the Thus Come One is the fundamental, wonderful,
perfect mind. "It is not the mind, nor emptiness, nor earth, nor water, nor
wind, nor fire; it is not the eyes, nor the ears, the nose, the tongue,
the body, or the mind. It is not form, nor sound, smells, tastes, objects
of touch, or Dharmas. It is not the realm of eye-consciousness, nor
any other, up to and including the realm of mind-consciousness. "It is not understanding, nor ignorance, nor the ending of understanding
or ignorance, nor any other, up to and including old age and death and
the ending of old age and death. "It is not suffering, nor accumulation, nor extinction, nor the
way, it is neither knowing nor attaining." "It is not Dana, nor Shila, nor Virya, nor Kshanti nor Dhyana,
nor Prajna, nor Paramita. "Nor any other: it is not the Tathagata, nor the Arhats, nor Samyaksambodhi,
nor Parinirvana, nor permanence, nor bliss, nor true self, nor purity. "Therefore, it is neither mundane nor transcendental, since the
treasury of the Thus Come One is the fundamental brightness of the wonderful
mind. "It is the mind, it is emptiness, it is earth, it is water, it
is wind, it is fire, it is the eyes, it is the ears, the nose, the tongue,
the body, and the mind. It is form, it is sounds, smells, tastes, objects
of touch, and Dharmas. It is the realm of eye-consciousness, and so
forth, up to and including the realm of mind-consciousness. "It is understanding and ignorance and the ending of understanding
and ignorance, and so forth up to and including old age and death and
the ending of old age and death. It is suffering, it is accumulation,
it is extinction, and it is the way. It is knowing and attaining. It
is Dana, it is Shila, it is Virya, it is Kshanti, it is Dhyana, it is
Prajna, and it is Paramita, and so forth, up to and including the Tathagata,
the Arhats, Samyaskambodhi, Parinirvana, permanence, bliss, true self,
and purity. "It is both mundane and transcendental, since the treasury of
the Thus Come One is the wonderful brightness of the fundamental mind. "It is apart from �is� and �is not.� It is identical with �is�
and �is not.�" "How can living beings in the three realms of existence on the
level of worldliness and the Sound-hearers and those enlightened to
conditions on the level of transcendence make suppositions about the
supreme Bodhi of the Thus Come One with the winds that they know of,
or enter the knowledge and vision of the Buddha through the medium of
worldly language and expressions? "For example, lutes, flutes, and guitars can make wonderful sounds,
but if there are no skilled fingers to play them, their music will never
come forth. "You and all living beings are the same way. The precious, enlightened
mind is perfect in everyone. Thus, I press my finger upon it and the
ocean-impression emits light; you move your mind, and the wearisome
defilements spring up. "It is all because you do not diligently seek the unsurpassed
enlightened way, but are fond of the lesser vehicle and are satisfied
with little attainment. Purna said, "I am non-dual and complete with the Thus Come One�s
perfect brightness of the precious enlightenment, the true wonder of
the pure mind. But long ago I was victimized by false thoughts that
have no beginning and I have long endured the turning wheel of rebirth.
Now I have attained the sagely vehicle, but it is not yet ultimate.
The World Honored One has completely extinguished all falseness and
obtained wonderful true permanence. "I venture to ask the Thus Come One why all living being exist
in falseness and conceal their own wonderful brightness, so that they
keep drowning in this deluge? The Buddha said to Purna, "Although you have cast off doubts,
you still have not ended residual delusions. I will now employ a worldly
event in questioning you. "Have you not heard of Yajnadatta in Shravasti who on impulse
one morning held a mirror to his face and feel in love with the head
in the mirror? He gazed at the eyes and eyebrows but got angry because
he could not see his own face. He decided he must be a Li Mei
ghost. Having lost all his bearings, he ran madly out. What do you think?
Why did his person set out on a mad chase for no reason?" Purna said, "That person was insane. There�s no other reason." The Buddha said, "What reason can you give for calling false the
wonderful enlightened bright perfection, the fundamentally perfect bright
wonder? If there is a person, then how can you say it is false? "All your own false thinking becomes in turn the cause for more.
From confusion you accumulate confusion through Kalpa after Kalpa; although
the Buddha is aware of it, he cannot counteract it. "From such confused causes, the cause of confusion penetrates
itself. When one realizes that confusion has no cause, the falseness
becomes baseless. Since it never arose, why would you hope for its extinction?
One who obtains Bodhi is like a person who awakens to realize the events
of a dream; even though his mind is awake and clear, he cannot get hold
of the things in the dream and physically display them. "How much the more is that the case with something is without
a cause and basically non-existent, such as Yajnadatta�s situation that
day in the city? Was there any reason why he became fearful for his
head and went running about? If his madness were suddenly to cease,
it would not be that he had obtained his head from someplace outside;
and so before his madness ceases, how can his head been lost? "Purna, falseness is the same way. How can it exist? "All you need do is not to follow discriminations, because none
of the three causes arises when the three conditions of the three continuities
of the world, living beings, and Karmic retribution are cut off. "Then the madness of the Yajnadatta in your mind will cease of
itself, and just that ceasing is Bodhi. The supreme, pure, bright mind
originally pervades the Dharma realm. It is not something obtained from
anyone else. Why, then, labor and toil with marrow and joint to cultivate
and be certified? "This is to be like the person who has a wish-fulfilling pearl
sewn in his clothing without realizing it. Thus he roams abroad in a
state of poverty, begging for food and always on the move. Although
he is indeed destitute, the pearl is never lost. "Suddenly, a wise person shows him the pearl: all his wishes are
fulfilling, he obtains great wealth, and he realizes that the pearl
did not come from somewhere outside." Ananda then bowed at the Buddha�s feet, arose in the great assembly,
and said to the Buddha, "The World Honored One now explains that
when the three conditions of the Karma of killing, stealing, and lust
are cut off, the three causes for them do not arise, then three causes
for them do not arise. Then the madness of Yajnadatta in the mind ceases
of itself, and just that ceasing is Bodhi. It is not something obtained
from anyone else. These clearly are causes and conditions; why, then,
does the Thus Come One abruptly reject causes and conditions? "It was through causes and conditions that my mind became enlightened,
World Honored One, and that is not only true of us who are young in
years, of us Sound-hearers who still have to study. Mahamaudgalyayana,
Shariputra, and Subhuti, who are now in this assembly and who followed
the elder Brahmans, became enlightened and obtained the state of no
outflows upon hearing the Buddha expound upon causes and conditions. "Now you say that Bodhi does not come from causes and conditions.
So the spontaneity that Maskari Goshaliputra and others advocated in
Rajagriha then becomes the primary meaning! I only hope you will let
fall great compassion and break through my confusion." The Buddha said to Ananda, "Let us take the case of Yajnadatta
in the city: if the causes and conditions of his madness cease, the
nature that is not mad will spontaneously come forth. The entire principle
of spontaneously and causes and conditions is nothing more than that. "Ananda, Yajnadatta�s head was spontaneously there, it was a spontaneously
part of him. There was never a time when it was not. Why, then, did
he suddenly fear that he had no head and start running about madly?" "If he naturally had a head and went mad due to causes and conditions,
would it not be just as natural for him to lose his head due to causes
and conditions? "Basically his head was not lost. The madness and fear arose from
falseness. There was never and change that took place. Why, then, labor,
the point about causes and conditions? "If the madness were spontaneous, the madness and fear would be
fundamental. Before he went mad, then, where was his madness hidden? "If the madness were not spontaneous, and his head were in fact
not lost, why did he run about in a state of madness? "If you realize that you have a head and recognize the madness
of your pursuit, then both spontaneity and causes and conditions become
idle theories. That is why I say that the three conditions� ceasing
to be is itself the Bodhi mind. "The Bodhi mind�s being produced and the mind subject to production
and extinction�s being extinguished is simply production and extinction. "The ending of both production and extinction is the effortless
way. If there is spontaneity, then clearly it must be that the thought
of spontaneity arises and the mind subjects to production and extinction
ceases: that, then, is still production and extinction. "To call the lack of production and extinction spontaneity is
the same as to say that the single substance formed by the combination
of all mundane appearances is a mixed and united essence, and that whatever
is not mixed and united is basically spontaneous in nature. "When spontaneity is devoid of spontaneity, and mixing and uniting
are devoid of their unifying quality, so that spontaneity and unity
alike are abandoned, and both the abandonment of them and their existence
cease to be�that is no idle theory. "Bodhi and Nirvana are still so far away that you must undoubtedly
pass through Kalpas of bitterness and diligence before you cultivate
them and are certified. "You can hold in memory the twelve divisions of the sutras spoken
by the Buddhas of the ten directions and their pure, wonderful principles
as many as the sands of the river Ganges, but it only aids your idle
theorizing. "You can discuss causes and conditions and spontaneity and understand
them perfectly clearly, and people in the world refer to you as the
one foremost in learning. You have spent aeons upon aeons saturating
yourself with learning, yet you could not avoid the difficulty of Matangi. "Why did you have to wait for me to use the spiritual Mantra of
the Buddha�s Summit? The fire of lust in Matangi�s daughter�s heart
died instantly, and the attained the position of an Anagamin. Now she
is one of a vigorous group in my Dharma assembly. The river of love
dried up in her, and she was able to set you free. "Therefore, Ananda, your ability to keep in mind the Thus Come
One�s wonderful secret teachings of aeon after aeon is not as good as
a single day of no outflow cultivation that is intent upon getting far
away from the two worldly sufferings of love and hate. "In Matangi�s daughter, a former prostitute, love and desire were
dispelled by the spiritual power of the Mantra. Now her name in Dharma
is Bhikshuni �Nature.� "She and Rahula�s mother, Yashodhara both became aware of their
past causes and knew that for many Kalpas they had endured the suffering
of greed and love. Because they single-mindedly became permeated with
the cultivation of the goodness of no outflows, they were both freed
from their bonds and received predictions. Why, then, do you cheat yourself
and still remain caught up in looking and listening? When Ananda and the great assembly heard the Buddha�s instruction,
their doubts and delusion were dispelled. Their minds awakened to the
actual appearance, they experienced "light ease" both physically
and mentally, and they obtained what they had never had before. Once again he wept, bowed at the Buddha�s feet, knelt on both knees,
placed his palms together, and said to the Buddha, "The Unsurpassed,
Great, Compassionate, Pure, and Precious King has instructed me well,
so that, by means of these various causes and conditions, expedients,
and encouragements, all of us who were immersed in the sea of suffering
have escaped it." "World Honored One, having heard the sound of Dharma like this,
I know that the treasury of the Thus Come One, the wonderful, enlightened,
bright mind, pervades the ten directions and includes the Thus Come
One, the lands of the ten directions, and the pure, precious adornments
of the land of the wonderfully enlightened King. Yet, the Thus Come
One once again admonishes that erudition is of no merit and is not as
good as cultivation. "So now I am like a wanderer who suddenly encounters a reigning
king who bestows upon him an elegant house. He has obtained a mansion,
but there needs to be a door in order for him to enter it. "I only hope the Thus Come One will not withhold his great compassion
in instructing those of us in the assembly who are covered over by darkness,
so that we may renounce the small vehicle and attain at last the Thus
Come One�s Nirvana without Residue, the fundamental path of resolve,
and that he will enable those who still must study to know now how to
subdue the age-old seeking of advantage from conditions, to obtain Dharani,
and to enter into the knowledge and vision of the Buddha." Having
said this, he made a full prostration, and together with the members
of the assembly, he single-mindedly awaited the Buddha�s compassionate
instruction. The World Honored One then took pity on the Sound-hearers and the Condition-enlightened
Ones in the assembly�all those who were not yet at ease with the Bodhi
mind�and on all living beings to come after the Buddha�s extinction
during the Dharma-ending age. He revealed the wonderful path of cultivation
of the Unsurpassed Vehicle. He proclaimed to Ananda and to the great assembly, "If you want
to have decisive resolve for Bodhi and not grow weary of the wonderful
Samadhi of the Buddha, the Thus Come One, you must first understand
the two resolutions regarding initial resolve for enlightenment. What
are the two resolutions regarding initial resolve for enlightenment? "Ananda, the first resolution is this: if you wish to renounce
the position of Sound-hearer and cultivate the Bodhisattva Vehicle,
and to enter the knowledge and vision of the Buddha, you must carefully
consider whether the resolve on the cause-ground and the enlightenment
on the ground of fruition are the same or different. "Ananda, it is impossible while on the cause-ground to use the
mind subject to production and extinction as the basis for cultivating
in quest of the Buddha Vehicle, which is neither produced nor extinguished. "For this reason, you should realize that all existing Dharmas
in the material world will decay and disappear. Ananda, contemplate
the world: what thing is there that will not waste away? "But, has anyone ever heard of the disintegration of the void?
Why not? It is because the void does not exist, and so it can never
be destroyed. "While you are in your body, what is solid is of earth, what is
moist is of water, what is warm is of fire, and what moves is of wind.
Because of these four bonds, your tranquil and perfect, wonderfully
enlightened bright mind divides into seeing, hearing, sensation, and
cognition. From beginning to end there are the five layers of turbidity. "What is meant by �turbidity?� Ananda, pure water, for instance,
is fundamentally clear and clean, whereas dust, dirt, ashes, silt, and
the like, are basically solid substances. Such are the properties of
the two; their natures are not compatible. Suppose, then, that an ordinary
person takes some dirt and tosses it into the pure water. The dirt loses
its solid quality and the water is deprived of its transparency. The
cloudiness which results is called �turbidity.� Your five layers of
turbidity are similar to it. "Ananda, you see that emptiness pervades the ten directions. There
is no division between emptiness and seeing. However, although emptiness
has no substance and your seeing has no awareness. The two become entangled
in a falseness. This is the first layer, called the turbidity of time. "Your body appears in full, with the four elements composing its
substance, and from this, seeing, hearing sensation, and cognition become
firmly defined. Water, fire, wind, and earth fluctuate between sensation
and cognition and become entangled in a falseness. This is the second
layer, called the turbidity of views. "Further, the functions of memory, discrimination, and verbal
comprehension in your mind bring into being knowledge and views. From
out of them appear the six defiling objects. Apart from the defiling
objects there are no appearances. Apart from cognition they have no
nature. But they become entangled in a falseness. This is the third
layer, called the turbidity of afflictions. "And then day and night there is endless production and extinction
as your knowledge and views continually wish to remain in the world,
while your Kamic patterns constantly move you to various places. This
entanglement becomes a falseness, which is the fourth layer, called
the turbidity of living beings. "Originally, your seeing and hearing were not different natures,
but a multitude of defiling objects has divided them until suddenly
they became different. Their functions are in opposition. Sameness and
difference arise and they lose their identity. This entanglement becomes
a falseness, which is the fifth layer, called the turbidity of a lifespan. "Ananda, you now want to cause your seeing, hearing, sensation,
and cognition to return to and tally with the permanence, bliss, true
self, and purity of the Thus Come One. "You should first decide what the basis of birth and death is
by relying on the perfect, tranquil nature which is neither produced
nor extinguished. "By means of this tranquility, turn the empty and false production
and extinction so that they are subdued and return to the source of
enlightenment. The attainment of this source of bright enlightenment,
which is neither produced nor extinguished, is the mind on the cause-ground. "Then you can completely accomplish the cultivation of and certification
to the ground of fruition. "Its is like purifying muddy water by placing it in a quiet vessel
which is kept completely still and unmoving. The sand and silt settle,
and the pure water appears. This is called the initial subduing of the
of the guest-dust affliction. "The complete removal of the mud from the water is called the
eternal severance of fundamental ignorance. "When clarity is pure to its essence, then no matter what happens
there is no affliction. Everything is on accord with the pure and wonderful
virtues of Nirvana. "The second resolution is this: if you definitely wish to bring
forth the resolve for Bodhi and to be especially courageous and dedicated
in your cultivation of the Bodhisattva Vehicle, you must decisively
renounce all conditioned appearances. "You should carefully consider the origin of affliction and the
beginningless creation of Karma and perpetuation of rebirth�who creates
it and who endures it? "Ananda, if in your cultivation of Bodhi you do not carefully
consider the origin of affliction, you cannot realize the empty falseness
of the sense-organs and sense-objects or the location of delusion. If
you don�t even know its location, how can you subdue it and reach the
level of the Thus Come One? "Ananda, consider the ordinary person who wants to untie a knot.
If he can�t see where the knot is, how can he untie it? "But I have never heard that one can obliterate empty space. Why?
It is because emptiness has no form or appearance; therefore there are
no knots to untie. "But now your visible eyes, ears, nose and tongue, as well as
your body and mind, are like six thieving matchmakers who plunder the
jewels of your household. "And, thus, from beginningless time living beings and the world
have been bound up together, so that the material world cannot be transcended. "Ananda, what is meant by the time and space of living being?
�Time� refers to change and flow; �Space� refers to location. "You should know by now that north, east, south, west, northeast,
northwest, southeast, southwest, above and below are space. Past, present,
and future are periods of time. There are ten directions in space and
three periods of time. "All living beings come into being because of false interaction.
Their bodies go through changes and they are caught up in time and space. "However, although there are ten directions in space, those known
in the world as north, south, east, and west are the only ones that
can be clearly fixed. Above and below have no position; the intermediates
have no definite direction. Determined clearly to be four in number,
they are then combined with the three periods of time. Three times four,
or, alternately, four times three, make twelve. "Increase it three times: itself multiplied by ten and again by
ten, to reach the thousands: one thousand two hundred is the greatest
possible efficacy of the six organs. "Ananda, you can thereby establish their value. For example, the
eyes see darkness behind and light in front. The front is totally light;
the back is totally dark. With your peripheral vision included, you
can see two thirds around at most. Therefore, its capacity can be expressed
as an efficacy, which is not complete. One third of its efficacy is
without virtue. Know, then, that the eyes have an efficacy of only eight
hundred. "For example, the ears hear everywhere in the ten directions,
without loss. They hear movements, whether far or near, and stillness
without bounds. Know, then, that the organ of hearing is complete with
an efficacy of twelve hundred. "For example, the nose smells odors with each inhalation and exhalation
of the breath. It is deficient at the point between the inhalation and
exhalation. The organ of smell can be considered to be deficient by
one third. Know, then, that the nose has an efficacy of only eight hundred. "For example, the tongue can proclaim the entirety of worldly
and transcendental wisdom. Although language varies according to locality,
the principles go beyond boundaries of any kind. Know, then, that the
organ of the tongue is complete with an efficacy of twelve hundred. "For example, the body is aware of touch, registering it as pain
or pleasure. When it makes contact, it is aware of the thing touched;
when in isolation, it has no tactile knowledge of other things. Isolation
has a single and contact has a dual aspect. The organ of the body can
be considered as deficient by one third. Know, then, that the body has
an efficacy of only eight hundred. "For example, the mind silently includes all worldly and transcendental
Dharmas of the ten directions and the three periods of time. Regardless
of whether it be sagely or ordinary, everything is included in its boundlessness.
Know, then, that he organ of the mind is complete with an efficacy of
twelve hundred. "Ananda, now you wish to oppose the flow of desire that leads
to birth and death. You should turn back the flow of the organs to reach
a state pf neither production nor extinction. "You should investigate all of these six functioning organs to
see which are uniting, which are isolated, which are deep, which are
shallow, which will penetrate perfectly, and which are not perfect. "Once you have awakened to the organ which penetrates perfectly,
you should thereupon reverse the flow of its beginningless involvement
in false Karma. Then you will know the difference between one that penetrates
perfectly and one that does not. Then a day and an aeon will be one
and the same. "I have now revealed to you the fundamental efficacy of the tranquil
perfect brightness of these six. This is what the numbers are; it is
up to you to select which one to enter. Will explain more to aid your
progress in it. "The Thus Come Ones of the ten directions cultivated by means
of all of the eighteen realms and obtained perfect, unsurpassed Bodhi.
All of them were generally adequate. "But you are at an inferior level and are not yet able to perfect
comfortable wisdom among them, therefore, I shall give you an explanation,
so that you will be able to enter deeply into one door. "Enter one without falseness, and the six sense-organs will be
simultaneously pure." Ananda said to the Buddha, "World Honored One, how do we oppose
the flow, enter deeply into one door, and cause the six organs to simultaneously
become pure?" The Buddha told Ananda, "You have already obtained the fruition
of a Shrotaapanna. You have already extinguished the view-delusions
of living beings in the three realms, but you do not yet know that your
organs have accumulated habits that are without beginning. It is through
cultivation that one severs not simply these habits, but also their
numerous subtleties as they pass through arisal, dwelling, change, and
extinction. "You should now contemplate the six organs further: are they one
or six? If you say they are one, Ananda, why can�t the ears see? Why
can�t the eyes hear? Why can�t the head walk? Why can�t the feet talk? "If the six organs are definitely six, then as I now explain this
subtle, wonderful Dharma-door for you in this assembly, which of your
six organs is receiving it?" Ananda said, "I hear it with my ears." The Buddha said, "Your ears hear by themselves; what, then does
it have to do with your body and mouth? And yet you ask about the principles
with your mouth, and your body displays veneration. "Therefore, you should know that if they are not one, then they
must be six. And if they are not six, they must be one. But you can�t
say that your organs are basically one and six. "Ananda, you should know that these organs are neither one nor
six. It is from being upside-down and sinking into involvements throughout
time without beginning that the theory of one and six has become established.
As a Shrotaapanna, you have dissolved the six, but you still have not
done away with the one. "It is like emptiness fitting into differently shaped vessels.
The emptiness is said to be whatever shape the vessel is. But if you
get rid of the vessel and look at the emptiness, you will say it is
one and the same. "But how can that emptiness become alike and different at your
convenience? Even less can it be one or not one. Therefore, you should
understand that the six receptive functioning organs should be the same
way. "Seeing occurs because the two appearances of darkness and light,
and their like, firmly adhere to quietude in what originally was wonderful
perfection. The essence of seeing reflects form and combines with form
to become an organ. In its pure state the organ of the eye is the four
elements. And yet it takes the name �Eye-organ� and is shaped like a
grape. Of the superficial sense organs and the four defiling objects,
this one races out after form. "Hearing occurs because the two reverberations of movement and
stillness, and their like, firmly adhere to quietude in what originally
was wonderful perfection. The essence of hearing reflects sound and
re-sounds with sound to become the organ of the ear. In its pure state,
the organ of the ear is the four elements. It takes the name �Ear-organ�
and is shaped like a fresh, curled leaf. Of the superficial sense organs
and the four defiling objects, this one is loosed upon sound. "Smelling occurs because the two appearances of penetration and
obstruction, and their like, firmly adhere to quietude in what originally
was wonderful perfection. The essence of hearing reflects scents and
takes in scent to become the organ of the nose. In its pure state, the
organ of the nose is the four elements. It takes the name �Nose-organ�
and is shaped like a double hanging claw. Of the superficial sense organs
and the four defiling objects, this one probes out after scents. "Tasting occurs because the two blends of blandness and variety,
and their like, firmly adhere to quietude in what originally was wonderful
perfection. The essence of tasting reflects flavors and becomes entwined
with flavors to become the organ of the tongue. In its pure state the
organ of the tongue is the four elements. It takes the name �Tongue-organ�
and is shaped like a crescent noon. Of the superficial sense organs
and the four defiling objects, this one pursues flavors. "Sensation occurs because the two frictions of separation and
union, and their like, firmly adhere to quietude in what originally
was wonderful perfection. The essence of sensation reflects contact
and seizes upon contact to become the organ of the body. In its pure
state, the organ of the body is the four elements. It takes the name
�Body-organ� and is shaped like a table. Of the superficial organs and
the four defiling objects, this one is compelled by contact. "Knowing occurs because the two continuities of production and
extinction, and their like, firmly adhere to quietude in what originally
was wonderful perfection. The essence of knowing reflects Dharmas and
grasps Dharmas to become the organ of the mind. In its pure state, the
organ of the mind is the four elements. It takes the name �Mental cognition�
and resembles seeing in a dark room. Of the superficial sense organs
and the four defiling objects, this one chases after Dharmas. "Ananda, in this way the six organs occur, because that bright
enlightenment has brightness added to it, thus they lose their essence
and adhere to falseness and create light. "Therefore, apart from darkness and light there is no substance
to seeing for you now; apart from movement and stillness, there, basically,
is no disposition of hearing; without penetration and obstruction, the
nature of smelling does not arise; in the absence of variety and blandness,
tasting does not occur; lacking separation and union, the sensation
of contact is fundamentally no-existent; without extinction and production,
knowing is put to rest. "You need only not follow the twelve conditioned appearances of
movement and stillness, union and separation, blandness and variety,
penetration and obstruction, production and extinction, and brightness
and darkness. "Accordingly, extract one organ from adhesion, free it, and subdue
it at its inner core. Once subdued, it will return to inherent truth
and radiate its innate brilliance. When that brilliance shines forth,
the remaining five adhesions will be freed to accomplish total liberation. "Do not follow the knowing and seeing that arise from the objects
before you. True brightness does not comply with the sense organs. Yet,
lodged at the organs is the revelation of the brightness that permits
the mutual functioning of the six organs. "Ananda, don�t you know that now in this assembly there is Aniruddha,
who is blind and yet can see; the Dragon, Upananda, who is deaf and
yet can hear; the spirit of the Ganges River, who has no nose and yet
smells fragrance; Gavempati, who has an unusual tongue and yet senses
flavor; and the spirit, Shunyata, who has no body and yet is aware of
contact? In the light of the Thus Come One, this spirit is illumined
temporarily as an ethereal essence without any substance. In the same
way, there is also Mahakashyapa in this assembly, dwelling in the Samadhi
of extinction, having obtained the stillness of a Sound-hearer. He has
long since extinguished the mind-organ, and yet he has a perfectly clear
knowledge, which is not due to the mental process of thinking. "Then, Ananda, after all your organs are completely freed, you
will glow with an inner light. All the ephemeral, defiling objects and
the material world will thereupon change their appearance like ice,
which is melted by hot liquid. In response to your mind, they will transform
and become the knowledge and awareness, which is unsurpassed enlightenment. "Ananda, it is like an ordinary person who has confined seeing
to his eyes. If you suddenly have him close his eyes, he will see darkness
before him. The six organs and his head and feet will be enveloped in
total darkness. If the person traces the shape of external things with
his hands, then even though he cannot see, he will recognize someone�s
head and feet if he feels them. This knowledge and awareness are the
same way. "If light is the condition requisite for seeing, then darkness
brings the absence of seeing. But to perceive without light means that
no dark manifestation can obscure the seeing. "Once the organs and objects are eradicated, how can the enlightened
brightness not become perfect and wonderful?" Ananda said to the Buddha, "World Honored One, as the Buddha has
said, �the resolve for enlightenment on the cause-ground which seeks
the eternal must be in mutual accord with the ground of fruition.� "World Honored One, the ground of fruition is Bodhi; Nirvana;
True Suchness; the Buddha-nature; the Amala-consciousness; the Empty
Treasury of the Thus Come One; the Great, Perfect Mirror-wisdom. But
although it is called by these seven names, it is pure and perfect,
its substance is durable, like royal Vajra, everlasting and indestructible. If the seeing and hearing are apart from light and darkness, movement
and stillness, and penetration and obstruction and are ultimately devoid
of substance, they are then like thoughts apart from sense-objects:
they do not exist at all. "How can what is ultimately destroyed be a cause by which one
cultivates in the hope of obtaining the fruition of the Thus Come One�s
sevenfold permanent abode? "World Honored One, when it is apart from light and darkness,
the seeing is ultimately empty, just as when there is no sense-objects,
the essence of thought is extinguished. "I go back and forth in circles, minutely searching, and basically
there is no such thing as my mind or its objects. Just what should be
used to seek the unsurpassed enlightenment? "The Thus Come One previously said it was a tranquil essence,
perfect and eternal. His present contradiction defies belief and is
a resort to idle theorizing. How can the Thus Come One�s words be true
and actual? "I only hope the Buddha will let fall his great compassion and
will instruct us who do not understand and who are holding on tightly." The Buddha told Ananda, "You study and learn much, but you have
not yet extinguished outflows. In your mind, you know only the causes
of being upside down. But when the true inversion manifests, you really
cannot recognize it yet. "Lest your sincerity and faith remain insufficient, I will try
to make use of an ordinary happening to dispel your doubts. Then the Thus Come One instructed Rahula to strike the bell once, and
he asked Ananda, "Did you hear that?" Ananda and the members of the great assembly all said, "We heard
it." The bell ceased to sound, and the Buddha again asked, "Do you
hear it now?" Ananda and the members of the great assembly all said, "We do
not hear it." Then Rahula struck the bell once again. The Buddha again asked, "Do
you hear it now?" Ananda and the great assembly again said, "We hear it." The Buddha asked Ananda, "What do you hear and what do you not
hear?" Ananda and the members of the great assembly all said to the Buddha,
"When the bell is rung, we hear it. Once the sound of the bell
ceases, so that even its echo fades away, we do not hear it." The Thus Come One again instructed Rahula to strike the bell, and he
asked Ananda, "Is there sound now?" Ananda and the members of the great assembly all said, "There
is a sound." After a short time the sound ceased, and the Buddha again asked, "It
there a sound now?" Ananda and the great assembly answered, "There is no sound." After a moment, Rahula again struck the bell, and the Buddha again
asked, "Is there sound now?" Ananda and the great assembly said together, "There is sound." The Buddha asked Ananda, "What is meant by �sound,� and what is
meant by �no sound?�" Ananda and the great assembly told the Buddha, "When the bell
is struck there is sound. Once the sound ceases and even the echo fades
away, there is said to be no sound." The Buddha said to Ananda and the great assembly, "Why are you
inconsistent in what you say?" The great assembly and Ananda then asked the Buddha, "In what
way have we been inconsistent?" The Buddha said, "When I asked you if it was your hearing, you
said it was your hearing. Then, when I asked you if it was sound, you
said it was sound. I cannot ascertain from your answers if it is hearing
or if it is sound. How can you not say this is inconsistent?" "Ananda, when the sound is gone without an echo, you say there
is no hearing. If there were really no hearing, the hearing-nature would
be extinguished. It would be just like dead wood. If then the bell were
sounded again, how would you know? "What you know to be there or not there is the defiling object
of sound, but could the hearing-nature be there or not be there depending
on your perception of its being there or not? If the hearing could really
not be there, what would perceive that is was not? "And so, Ananda, the sounds that you hear are what are subject
to production and extinction, not your hearing. The arising and cessation
of sounds cause your hearing-nature to be as if there or not there. "You are so upside-down that you mistake sound for hearing. No
wonder you are so confused that you take what is everlasting for what
is annihilated ultimately, you cannot say that there is no hearing-nature
apart from movement and stillness and from obstruction and penetration. "Consider a person who falls into a deep sleep while napping on
his bed. While he is asleep, someone in his household starts beating
clothes or pounding rice. In his dream, the person hears the sound of
beating and pounding and takes it for something else, perhaps for the
striking of a drum or the ringing of a bell. In the dream he wonders
why the bell sounds like stone or wood. "Suddenly he awakens and immediately recognizes the sound of pounding.
He tells the members of his household, �I was just having a dream in
which I mistook the sound of pounding for the sound of a drum.� "Ananda, how can this person in the dream-state remember stillness
and motion, opening and closing, and penetrability and obstruction?
Yet, although he is physically asleep, his hearing-nature is not drowsy. "Even when your body is gone and your light and life move on,
how could this nature leave you? "But because living beings, from time without beginning, have
pursued forms and sounds and have followed their thoughts as they turn
and flow, they still are not enlightened to the purity, wonder, and
permanence of their nature. "They do not accord with what is eternal, but chase after things
which are subject to production and extinction. Because of this they
are born again and again and become mixed with defilement as they flow
and turn. "But if they reject production and extinction and uphold true
permanence, an everlasting light will appear, and with that, the sense-organs,
defiling objects, and consciousnesses will disappear. "The appearance of thought becomes defilement; the emotions of
the consciousness become filth. If you stay far away from these two,
then your Dharma-eye will accordingly become pure and bright. How could
you fail to accomplish unsurpassed knowledge and enlightenment?" "World Honored One, I and all the other Sound-hearers in the great
assembly who are not beyond study are the same way. From time without
beginning we have been accompanied in birth and death by ignorance.
We have obtained these good roots of erudition and are said to have
left the home-life, yet in fact we act like someone with a recurrent
fever. "I only hope that you, the greatly compassionate one, will take
pity on us. We are sinking and drowning so that to this very day we
do not know how our bodies and minds are in knots or how to go about
untying them. Your explanation will also enable future living beings
who are in suffering and difficulty to avoid the turning wheel and not
fall into the three realms of existence." After saying this, he and the entire great assembly made full prostrations.
He wept profusely, and with sincere anticipation awaited the unsurpassed
instruction of the Buddha, the Thus Come One. Then the World Honored One took pity on Ananda and on those in the
assembly with something left to study, as well as on living beings of
the future, in order to help them transcend the world and become eyes
for the future. He rubbed the crown of Ananda�s head with his Jambunada purple-golden
bright hand. Instantaneously, all the Buddhalands in the ten directions
quaked in six ways. Thus Come Ones as numerous as fine motes of dust, each dwelling in
his respective world, emitted a precious light from the crown of his
head. At one and the same time, their light went from their own countries
to the Jeta Grove and anointed the crown of the Thus Come One�s head.
All in that great assembly obtained what they had never had before. Then Ananda and everyone in the great assembly heard the Thus Come
Ones as numerous as fine motes of dust throughout the ten directions
speak to Ananda with different mouths but in a single voice. "Good indeed, Ananda! You wish to recognize your innate ignorance
that causes you to turn on the wheel. The origin of the knot of birth
and death is simply your six sense organs and nothing else. "You also want to understand unsurpassed Bodhi, so that you can
quickly realize bliss, liberation, tranquility, and wonderful permanence.
It, too, is your six sense organs and nothing else." "Ananda heard these sounds of Dharma, but he did not yet understand
in his mind. Bowing his head, he said to the Buddha, "How can that
causes me to revolve in the cycle of birth and death and what enables
me to gain bliss and wonderful permanence be the six sense organs in
both cases and nothing else?" The Buddha said to Ananda, "The sense organs and the objects are
of the same source. The bonds and the release are not two. The nature
of the consciousnesses is empty and false; it is like strange flowers
in space. "Ananda, sense-awareness arises because of the sense objects:
the appearance of objects exists because of the sense organs. The appearance
and the perception, both devoid of a nature, support each other like
intertwining reeds. "Therefore, you now base your knowledge on awareness and perception;
but that is fundamental ignorance. The absence of a view regarding awareness
and perception is Nirvana�the true purity of no outflows. How could
there by anything else in the midst of it?" Then the World Honored One, wishing to restate this meaning, spoke
verses, saying:
When Ananda and the great assembly heard the unsurpassed, compassionate instruction of the Buddha, the Thus Come One, this harmonious and brilliant Geya verse with its clear and penetrating wonderful principles, their hearts and eyes were opened, and they exclaimed that Dharma such as this had never been before. |