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Also See:
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture One)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Two)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Three)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Four)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Five)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Six)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Seven)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Eight)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Nine)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Ten)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Eleven)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Twelve)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Thirteen)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Fourteen)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Fifteen)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Sixteen)
- Ganges Mahāmudrā By Elder Yuan Yin (Lecture Seventeen)
From https://book.bfnn.org/article/0383.htm
English Translation:
Ganges Mahāmudrā (Lecture One) By Master Yuan Yin
Revere the Dharma Treasure, open the Wisdom Eye Dwell in sincerity and reverence, enter the essential gate of the Way
Preface
The Ganges Mahāmudrā is a high-level practice within Esoteric Buddhism; it is practicing without practice, where practice is precisely non-practice. The path of language is cut off, and the place of mental activity is extinguished; one seeks tidings in the place where not a single thought arises yet one is vividly aware—where, although vividly aware, not a single thought arises. Then, one awakens to the fact that afflictions are Bodhi, delusive thoughts are marvellous function, emptiness and existence are not two, essence and function are one alone, and all dharmas are the Buddhadharma.
Master Yuan Yin (Mr. Li Zhongding), at the advanced age of ninety-four, spares no effort in expounding the sutras, preaching the Dharma, and writing books to establish theories. This book is another monumental work following The Essence of Buddhist Practice and Realization; it repeatedly exhorts, revealing everything completely, in a lively and vivid manner that allows one to understand related matters by analogy. It is truly a precious raft for delivering sentient beings and an essential secret for becoming a Buddha. I hope that people of high ideals and benevolence who read this book will open their Wisdom Eye, enter the Signless Gate, exercise great potential and great function, and have endless vows of compassion, so as not to let down the Master’s painstaking efforts!
Respectfully prefaced by the junior student Xu Hengzhi, January 1999.
Lecture One: Essentials of Settling the Mind
◎ Prologue
Here I will speak to everyone about Mahāmudrā. Mahāmudrā is the highest level of dharma in Esoteric Buddhism. Esoteric Buddhism is divided into the sequence of the Nine Vehicles; this belongs to the highest vehicle, known in Tibetan as Atiyoga, which is the Heart-Center Perfect Correspondence Dharma. We have all been cultivating the Heart-Center Dharma for a long time, so we should all have some results. Some have already opened to the Original, seeing their fundamental nature; others, perhaps when the fundamental nature appeared during meditation, did not notice it and let it slip by. Therefore, today I will speak to everyone about what Buddha-nature is, how to see it, and after seeing it, how to further improve and ascend, inspiring marvellous function to perfect the Buddha-fruit, in order to remind and urge everyone to progress together.
Note: Esoteric Buddhism classifies the Buddhadharma into a total of nine vehicles (yanas)—the Three Outer Vehicles, the Three Inner Vehicles, and the Three Secret Vehicles. Now I will briefly explain the contents of these nine vehicles: The Three Outer Vehicles are the Śrāvaka Vehicle, the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle, and the Bodhisattva Vehicle, referring to the Four Noble Truths, Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, and the Six Pāramitās and Ten Thousand Practices practiced by Arhats, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas, generally referring to Exoteric Buddhism. The Three Inner Vehicles refer to the cultivation methods of the three divisions: Kriyā Tantra, Caryā Tantra, and Yoga Tantra. The Kriyā division, also called the Action division, includes methods for increasing, pacifying, magnetizing, and subjugating. These are all dharmas used in accordance with the wishes of sentient beings, and are convenient methods of guidance—"first hooking them with desire, then leading them into Buddha-wisdom"—and are not ultimate. The cultivation of the Caryā division aims at ending birth and death and escaping the sea of suffering, which counts as entering actual practice; it starts with visualization, cultivating qi, channels, and bindu, such as the Phowa practice, etc. Yoga means "correspondence" or "union"; the cultivation of the Yoga division involves correspondence between phenomena and principle, correspondence between speech and action, correspondence above with all Buddhas, and correspondence below with all sentient beings. From here, three levels open up, which are the Three Secret Vehicles. The Three Secret Vehicles are Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga. Mahāyoga means Great Perfection Correspondence, transforming the visualized qi, channels, and other appearing things into emptiness to correspond with the signless Dharmakāya. Anuyoga means Unsurpassed Perfection Correspondence, using the Wisdom of the Sphere (Dharmadhātu-jñāna) as the entry point, further transforming all manifestations into the One Real Mark (Reality). Atiyoga means Incomparable Perfection Correspondence, further combining the three vehicles into one Great Secret Mantra Vehicle.
The Ganges Mahāmudrā is exactly the same as the Zen School. It does not talk about using any method to cultivate; instead, it speaks of non-cultivation, non-attainment, and non-realization, pointing directly at the human mind to become a Buddha. But this non-cultivation, non-attainment, and non-realization refers to the natural wisdom of the True Suchness fundamental nature; we must realize this state before we can speak of non-cultivation, non-attainment, and non-realization, rather than just making empty talk. If one merely understands some doctrinal principles but has not achieved the oneness of mind and environment, remaining unconstrained by favorable or adverse conditions and free in all directions, yet claims non-cultivation, non-attainment, and non-realization, then that completely loses the meaning!
So, we want to explain the Ganges Mahāmudrā to everyone. The so-called Mahāmudrā does not mean there is a hand-seal (mudrā) to be used for practice, unlike when we cultivate the Heart-Center Dharma, where there are six mudrās and one mantra that require forming seals and reciting mantras to practice. This dharma is a direct-pointing method, directly telling us what the True Mind is, how to develop wisdom, and how to inspire marvellous function. Therefore, this dharma is a straightforward, direct-pointing method; it is very useful for people cultivating the Heart-Center Dharma to hear it, because the Heart-Center Dharma also directly realizes the Mind-ground without passing through forms. There are many types of Mahāmudrā, and the Ganges Mahāmudrā is the highest Mahāmudrā method among them; it does not require any visualization, qi, channels, bindu, yidams, and so on, nor does it require reciting any mantra. It points directly beneath to show us our nature to become a Buddha, so it is the dharma of the highest layer.
The so-called Mahāmudrā is simply the One True Dharma-realm. What is the One True Dharma-realm? The One True Dharma-realm is our fundamental nature, the marvellous essence of True Suchness, and it is the root of becoming a Buddha. Why is it called "Great" (Mahā) Mudrā? Because our Buddha-nature is so great it has no exterior, and so small it has no interior; as it is said, "The great image has no form, the great sound has a rare tone." The greatest appearance is the appearance of no-appearance; that which has no appearance to be seen is the greatest appearance. Our fundamental nature is neither empty nor existing, neither blue nor yellow, neither large nor small—it is not anything. Therefore, comparing it to a single object misses the mark; there is nothing that can simulate it, because it is formless, signless, and incomparable. It is incredibly great, exhausting empty space, pervading the Dharma-realm; there is no object it does not contain, no dharma it does not possess. The hand is the mind, and the mind is the hand; the proverb says "what the mind wishes, the hand accomplishes" (efficiency), which illustrates this principle. If it were not for the mind, the hand would not move. The Seal (Mudrā) means our mind and the Buddha's mind seal each other; the Buddha's mind is my mind, and my mind is the Buddha's mind. Thus the sutra says: Mind, Buddha, and sentient beings—these three are without distinction; it also says: A thousand Buddhas and ten thousand Buddhas share one body—this is the meaning. Therefore, Mahāmudrā is our Great Mind, our fundamental nature. All things arise from it, are manifested by it, and are changed by it; this is called Mahāmudrā. The Ganges Mahāmudrā is just this good, just this high; therefore, below we will openly speak about this precious dharma to everyone.
◎ Main Text
"You should know that the lineage masters are no different from my mind."
We children of the Buddha should know that our minds—Buddha-nature—and the patriarchs of all generations are not two and not different. Here, the patriarchs of all generations are taken to represent all Buddhas, because the Buddhas have already entered Nirvana, and the Buddhadharma is now transmitted by the patriarchs; taking the patriarchs to represent the Buddha, the Buddha and the patriarchs merge into one body. Since our minds are no different from the lineage masters, it is equivalent to being no different from the Buddha. Speaking to this point, some people will inevitably give rise to doubts: "We are ordinary beings, the Buddha is divine and holy; ordinary and holy are not the same, so how can there be no difference?" He simply does not know that the Nature-essence is neither stained nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing; whether ordinary or holy, it is exactly the same. The reason the Buddha has vast spiritual penetrations and boundless marvellous function while we do not is that the filth and accumulated grime on the Buddha's Nature-essence have been washed clean. Because we adhere to the false appearances of things and have inverted delusive thoughts, we have stained our fundamental nature, just like the sun being covered by dark clouds. The sunlight cannot reveal itself, so it cannot display its divine function; but no matter how thick the dark clouds are or how they cover it, the sun is still there, and the sunlight has not diminished by a single bit. Once the dark clouds disperse, the sun will appear with rays shining ten thousand feet. This means that although our minds are filthy (due to adhering to appearances), as long as we wash the filth and accumulated grime clean, we will be as luminous as the Buddha. As it is said, "In the holy it does not increase, in the ordinary it does not decrease"; we do not lose the luminous Nature-essence just because we are ordinary beings. It is just that because of our attachment to inverted delusive thoughts, our habituations and defilements are deep and heavy, covering the fundamental nature so that the luminosity cannot manifest, but the essence itself remains the same.
Why say this sentence? This sentence is extremely important, because now that we want to become Buddhas, to end birth and death and exit reincarnation, and to save sentient beings, we must first know how to cultivate. And when cultivating, the first requirement is that the View (insight) must be correct. The so-called View is the Causal Ground; that is, when starting, one must first know what to use to cultivate and how to cultivate. Only then can one quickly achieve perfection; otherwise, one will take many detours. Therefore, we must first know that our fundamental nature is originally the same as all Buddhas, without distinction. Using it to cultivate and verify is just like needing rice to cook a meal; there is absolutely no chance of failure. Having understood this point, we will not doubt our ability to cultivate Buddhahood; only then will this cultivation gather results quickly. Otherwise, if one thinks "The Buddha is supreme and unsurpassable, unreachable; we are all ordinary beings, how can we become Buddhas? How can we cultivate achievement?"—once there is doubt, one hesitates and does not move forward, and cannot achieve. Because faith is the mother of success; to achieve anything, the first requirement is sufficient faith. Without faith, doing anything will not result in achievement. For example, for a person cultivating the Pure Land school, the first thing is to believe deeply without doubt: "The West truly has a Pure Land; I only need to make a vow to recite the Buddha's name, and at the end of my life, I will certainly receive Amita Buddha's guidance to be born in the West." Then, by diligently reciting the Buddha's name, one can achieve it at the end. If the faith is not deep, half-believing and half-doubting—"Oh my, my obstructions are heavy, can I be born in the West? I'm afraid I can't be born there, right?!"—then it won't work. Because his doubt creates instability, he will be powerless in doing it, unable to strive forward straight ahead, and thus cannot succeed. Therefore, faith is number one; everything is like this, even worldly matters are like this: "I believe this matter can succeed," so I am willing to work hard at it; even if I encounter failure, I am not afraid, I make persistent efforts, and in the end, I will certainly be able to achieve. Otherwise, upon meeting a setback, one becomes disheartened, and inevitably nothing is accomplished.
The opening sentence calls on us to trust that our nature and the Buddha have no distinction. Because the lineage masters represent the Buddha and are the same as the Buddha, and since our nature is the same as the Master's nature, then it is no different from the Buddha-nature. In cultivating the Way, the View is of primary importance; if the View is wrong, the result will definitely be circuitous and winding, taking a detour. If we can truly trust that our nature and the Buddha are exactly the same, without distinction, then as long as we go and cultivate—knowing to cultivate subtly upon the essence itself, transforming inverted delusive thoughts to restore the original face, and not cultivating upon the physical body or seeking externally—then we will certainly be able to become Buddhas. Trusting this, at this moment one does not seek externally. Otherwise, chasing things externally—seeking Buddha here today, seeking Buddha there tomorrow, or exerting effort on the physical body—seeking and seeking, the result is seeking in vain. Because you do not know that the fundamental nature is the Buddha; not seeking inwardly but turning to grasp outwardly, you waste energy. To achieve in cultivation, one should seek within one's own original mind. Wake up our own Master; don't be confused, don't dream anymore. The worldly forms and appearances are all fake, all like flowers in the sky or the moon in the water, unobtainable; do not be confused by your wife, children, wealth, or status, for those are all like the udumbara flower appearing briefly, unobtainable. Therefore, the Lotus Sutra says, "Only this one fact is true; the other two are not real." The only reality is our One True Dharma-realm—the true fundamental nature. What is the Dharma-realm? The Dharma-realm is the Dharma-nature, also called Real Mark (Reality). "Dharma" refers to all dharmas (phenomena); "Realm" refers to boundaries/divisions; encompassing all existence, it is broadly divided into ten, which are the Four Holy States and Six Ordinary States. The Four Holy States are Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Pratyekabuddhas, and Arhats; the Six Ordinary States are the sentient beings of the six paths—humans, gods, asuras, hell-beings, hungry ghosts, and animals—all are manifestations of this nature. Therefore, not only is our nature the same as all Buddhas, but even the six paths of sentient beings are no different from the True Mind of all Buddhas; it is a pity they are confused by sounds and forms and have deep heavy karmic obstructions without knowing it themselves. Thus, the Buddha pitied us and appeared in the world to wake us up: "Do not persist in dreaming anymore; you are all the same as myself-Buddha; wake up quickly and exit the suffering of the cycle of birth and death." When the Buddha saw the morning star and realized the Way on the night of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, he said: "How strange! All sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtuous characteristics of the Tathāgata. It is only because of delusive thoughts, inversion, and attachment that they cannot realize it." This shows that we sentient beings do not lose our Buddha-nature because of birth, death, and reincarnation; as long as we wake up and are not confused by sounds and forms, we can restore our original face. The Ganges Mahāmudrā is extremely high and deep; right from the start, it reminds us: the minds of all lineage masters and our minds are exactly the same, without distinction; do not think they are too high to climb. We are exactly the same mold as all Buddhas, without two different kinds. Affirming this, not doubting that we are Buddhas, and that we only fell into reincarnation because we were confused and not aware, attaching to appearances and being inverted. Now that we are awake, not confused by appearances, and no longer grasping and attaching, then we restore the Original; this is the first essential for becoming a Buddha. Therefore, the opening speaks this crucial sentence; below, it explains this sentence—how it is no different from the minds of all Buddhas, how to restore our Original, how to inspire marvellous function. This sentence is the general outline and is very important.
"View, Meditation, and Action: all practices are encompassed within the Mind."
The three elements of View, Meditation, and Action are the three secrets of Mahāmudrā, and also the essentials of practice for all dharma gates. Why say this? Because in cultivation, the first thing is correct understanding and view. The above told us that our mind has no distinction from the minds of all Buddhas; this is called correct understanding and view, or correct View.
If the View is correct, the Causal Ground is correct; if the Causal Ground is correct, the Fruit Ground can be correct. Otherwise, one will inevitably walk a divergent path, mistakenly recognizing a lost road, and cannot realize the true fruit. Thus it is said: "If the Causal Ground is not correct, the Fruit will be crooked." If a practitioner's Causal Ground is not correct, they will definitely take a detour and ultimately fail; therefore, this View is very important. We ordinary beings all have the "Self-view" (Identity View), clinging to this physical body as "me," clinging to death, wanting the body to be maintained well, eating well, dressing well, everything well, all for this shell. Look at the teeming sentient beings—who among them is not busy for this shell? From morning to night, they are all busy for the enjoyment of the shell; all the matters of this world, big and small, are busy for the shell; they always want to maintain this shell in dignity and comfort. Because they want enjoyment, they are not afraid to do things that offend heaven and reason. If they don't have it themselves, they rob others. Wars in this world are for grabbing things; "if you don't give it to me, I'll hit you, destroy your country, and take it all as mine." This kind of bandit behavior is entirely for the enjoyment of the shell. There is no criminal behavior in this society that is not for the shell; he wants to eat well, play well, but what to do without money? So he kills, commits arson, and robs. Actually, if you create a bad cause, you will definitely receive a bad result! The law of cause and effect—plant melons and get melons, plant beans and get beans—is not off by a hair! If you do bad things in the Causal Ground, you will definitely receive bad retribution in the Fruit. But, pity these ordinary beings who are foolish, confused, and unawakened; only for the pleasure before their eyes, they disregard the future bad results. You think of killing; you will be sanctioned by the law, and have your head cut off; you rob other people's things, and you will face a lawsuit and sit in prison. Don't you think about it—can you escape after doing bad things?! Alas, it is all confusion! Receiving retribution before one's eyes is not all; in the future, one will suffer the miserable retribution of hell; it is terrible. Some people just do not understand this principle; you say there is miserable retribution, but how come we see some bad people enjoying great fortune right now? Conversely, some good people suffer instead; this cause and effect does not correspond. He does not know that this cause and effect must be viewed across three lifetimes. There are two lines in the Buddhist sutras: "To know the causes of previous lives, look at what is received in this life; to know the results of coming lives, look at what is done in this life." The fortune he enjoys in this life is obtained from doing good deeds in the past; he does bad things now, and will receive bad retribution in the future; not only will he receive bad retribution in the future, but his current fortune is also reduced, and his lifespan shortened. You see good people suffering now; that is because they did bad things in the past and are now suffering the bitter fruit; they do good deeds now, which imperceptibly reduces their bad retribution; originally they were to suffer much, much bitterness, but now it has been alleviated. These fruit retributions are transformed in the unseen, yet everyone is unaware. The Buddha Eye sees clearly, so it says: "To know the causes of previous lives, look at what is received in this life." The Buddha Eye seeing things is not like our ordinary eyes; what we cannot see, he can see. Thousands of years ago, when the Buddha was in the world, there were neither telescopes nor microscopes, yet he told us: "A person sees a cup of water; the Buddha sees millions of worms." He saw clearly that there were thousands upon thousands of worms in a cup of water, while people could not see them. Now we see with the naked eye that there is only one sun in this world; only with an astronomical telescope can we see stars billions of light-years away. In empty space, there are other planets, suns, and fixed stars, and there are living beings on other planets too. But the Buddha knew this long ago and saw it very clearly. He told us: There are many worlds in empty space, including upright worlds, inverted worlds, inclined worlds, etc.; at the same time, there are many suns, which is exactly what scientists say now, with no difference. So it is said that the Buddha is a foreknower who sees very clearly, while people are very muddled. We should follow the Buddha's teachings to act correctly.
The View must be correct; if the View is not correct, one will "rush about recklessly and encounter disaster." The Buddhist sutras speak of View Delusions and Thought Delusions, which refer to our delusions of incorrect understanding and thoughts attaching to states. We just discussed the Self-view (Identity View), which is the first delusion among our View Delusions. Next is Extreme View. Because of the Self-view, the body cannot remain in the world forever; it will die; where does it go after death? Some say, "After death, there is nothing"; this is Annihilationism (Nihilism). Others say, "It still exists"; this is Eternalism. If one is not grasping Eternalism, one is adhering to Annihilationism; both fall into the two extremes; not departing from the two extremes of annihilation and eternity is called Extreme View. Then there is False View (Wrong View), which is denying cause and effect, saying there is no cause and effect in the world; this harms people deeply, and they will know it when they go to hell to suffer in the future. Not to speak of the future, even the immediate retribution is not off; if you do bad things, you will be shot or imprisoned—can you escape? Therefore, False View is the worst thing and harms people the most.
Below there are also the View of Attachment to Views and the View of Attachment to Precepts and Rituals of outer paths. The View of Attachment to Views means confusedly holding to false views—that is, holding the previous three views as correct views. The View of Attachment to Precepts and Rituals means falsely holding to ascetism—accepting various evil precepts and ascetic practices as the cause for being born into the happy places of humans and gods after this body dies. For example, currently there is a certain cult that falsely claims the end of the world has arrived and everyone should quickly commit suicide to ascend to heaven, causing everyone to commit mass suicide. The above five views—Self-view, Extreme View, False View, View of Attachment to Views, and View of Attachment to Precepts and Rituals—are all incorrect views. If the knowledge and view are incorrect, the fruit will certainly be crooked. We know that the Mind is Buddha, and the Buddha is Mind; in cultivation, do not seek externally and do not attach to the Self-view—this is correct knowledge and view. Our reciting the Buddha's name is reciting the Mind; reciting the Mind is reciting the Buddha. We apply effort to make this mind level, straight, and without curves, without sticky attachments, removing its dwelling-nature and removing its greed-nature, thereby restoring the Original—this is correct knowledge and view. Applying effort in this way, one can have some achievement; therefore, correct View is very important. Chan Master Guifeng Zongmi said: "Because of differences in the knowledge and views of practitioners, the fruits of cultivation and realization have five differences. First, those who cultivate with deviant calculations (seeking dharma outside the mind), delighting in the upper (heavens) and loathing the lower, practice Outer Path Zen. Second, those who have correct faith in cause and effect but also cultivate with delight and loathing practice Ordinary Being Zen. Third, those who realize the principle of the emptiness of self (person) but are partial to the truth (of emptiness) cultivate Small Vehicle (Hinayana) Zen. Fourth, those who realize the truth revealed by the two emptinesses of self and dharmas cultivate Great Vehicle (Mahayana) Zen. Fifth, those who realize that this Mind is originally pure, originally without affliction, that the wisdom-nature without leakage is originally complete, and that this Mind is precisely the Buddha, practice the Zen of the Highest Vehicle. The Zen transmitted under the gate of Bodhidharma is this Zen." From this, it can be seen how important the View, which is the Causal Mind, is in the process of cultivation.
What is Meditation (Samādhi)? Practitioners all know that to become a Buddha and attain the Way, one must sit in meditation and enter samādhi to develop wisdom and perfectly realize Bodhi. But there are many types of samādhi; for instance, the Tathāgata Chan speaks of the Four Dhyānas and Eight Samādhis. Practitioners gradually ascend from the First Dhyāna Samādhi to the Second Dhyāna, Third Dhyāna, up to the peak of the Fourth Dhyāna Heaven, which are the Four Dhyāna Samādhis. Going higher, from the Sphere of Infinite Space to the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness, the Sphere of Nothingness, and entering the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception, these are the Four Empty Heaven Samādhis. Adding the previous Four Dhyāna Samādhis makes eight kinds of samādhi; this is the samādhi of the gradual method of cultivation and realization. Patriarch Chan is not like this; Patriarch Chan involves sudden cultivation, sudden awakening, and sudden realization. They do not cultivate this kind of samādhi; instead, they open to the Original with extremely high wisdom, personally realizing Buddha-nature and fitting closely with samādhi. They say: A samādhi that has entry and exit is not Great Samādhi (Mahā-samādhi); not being confused by states is true samādhi. When the mind does not waver in the face of any state, and is not confused or disturbed by it, that is called Great Samādhi. It is not about being able to enter samādhi when sitting in meditation—only to be moved when seeing beauty or greedy when seeing gold. Furthermore, some people think that being able to sit for a few days and nights, or many years without moving, is Great Samādhi. Actually, they are wrong; that is not Great Samādhi; it is merely the Samādhi of the Cessation of Perception and Feeling. Their Seventh Consciousness's dharma-attachment manifestation is not extinguished; it is just that by not grasping the external six dust-spheres, they falsely calculate that consciousness is extinguished. Once out of samādhi, when encountering states, the reaction is even stronger than before entering samādhi; this kind is not ultimate and is not considered Great Samādhi, so the Zen School does not advocate cultivating this kind of samādhi. I will cite an example to prove this. In the past, the Sixth Patriarch met Chan Master Wolun. Chan Master Wolun said: "Wolun has a skill / Can cut off a hundred thoughts / Facing states the mind does not rise / Bodhi grows day by day." Chan Master Wolun boasted about his profound Chan samādhi skill, saying he could keep his thoughts from moving all day long, remaining unshaken by any state that came, and that his Bodhi wisdom was growing day by day. It looks like this samādhi skill is truly amazing, but actually, it is incorrect. Why? You dwell on samādhi without moving; you have died there. We become Buddhas to become living Buddhas, not dead Buddhas. There is lively marvellous function, not sitting there dead and immobile; so this is not Right Samādhi. Right Samādhi has no entry or exit yet can inspire marvellous function; if you have a dwelling attachment to "samādhi skill" there, sitting without moving and unable to function, what use is this samādhi?
So the Sixth Patriarch saved him by saying: "Huineng has no skill." You have ability; I have no ability. Speaking of ability, many practitioners today cling to "ability": "I have spiritual powers," "My 'ability' is great," "You have no spiritual powers, so you have no 'ability' at all." He just doesn't know that by clinging to spiritual powers, he has long ago fallen into a cliché and died there. Whenever a practitioner has a dwelling place, the fundamental nature's luminosity is obstructed by the object dwelt upon, and he cannot see the nature and become a Buddha. So, even if you have spiritual powers, not only can you not become a Buddha, but in the future, you will have a share in becoming a demon. To become a Buddha, the mind must be empty and pure, without the slightest attachment. So the Sixth Patriarch said: "Huineng has no skill"; I, Huineng, have no tricks, meaning you have ability, I have no ability. Why say this? Because saying one has skill means there is already a place of falling (attachment). The fundamental nature is starkly clean and thoroughly exposed, not establishing a single dharma, not stained by a single speck of dust; to say "have" is already not it. "Huineng has no skill" is precisely picking out Wolun's place of falling. "Do not cut off a hundred thoughts"; I do not cut off all thoughts. Why? I want to inspire marvellous function to save sentient beings! The Buddha is lively and has boundless marvellous function; he is not dead sitting there immobile. When the Buddha appeared in the world to speak the Dharma, he also had to use thought; if his thought did not move, could he speak it out? So it says: "Do not cut off a hundred thoughts." No thought needs to be cut off, because we still need to put them to use! The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment says: "Dwelling in all times, do not give rise to delusive thoughts," and immediately continues: "With regard to various delusive minds, do not extinguish them either." If you extinguish the delusive mind, right mindfulness is gone too, and you are dead, because the delusive mind comes from the True Mind, just like waves rise from water; if the waves are extinguished, the water is gone too. If we extinguish the delusive mind, we become soil, wood, metal, and stone; can you still attain the Way? Then you become a big rock, a big log, a big clod of dirt. So, do not look at someone entering samādhi for a week, a few months, a few years, or even hundreds or thousands of years; that is useless. To realize the Great Way, one must open to the Perfect Sudden Understanding, cultivate according to reality, and train unremittingly within states, staying far away from the delusional illusory realms appearing from one's own mind; only then can one correspond. The skill of dull sitting will not do; that is dead samādhi and cannot lead to the Way.
I will cite another koan to prove that this statement is not false. Once, when Shakyamuni Buddha was in the world, a woman sat near Shakyamuni Buddha and entered samādhi. Manjusri Bodhisattva came over and saw this: How could this woman be so ignorant of the rules, entering samādhi right beside Shakyamuni Buddha? She should retreat far behind the Buddha. So he snapped his fingers in front of the woman to call her out of samādhi, but the woman remained completely motionless and did not exit samādhi. Seeing that the woman did not exit samādhi, Manjusri Bodhisattva displayed spiritual powers and lifted her to the Thirty-Three Heavens, but the woman still did not exit samādhi. Seeing this wouldn't work, Manjusri Bodhisattva knocked her down into the eighteen layers of hell, but still could not make her exit samādhi. Shakyamuni Buddha said: "You cannot call her out of samādhi; below, there is a Bodhisattva named Jālinīprabha (Net-Light) who can call her out of samādhi." As soon as the words were spoken, Bodhisattva Jālinīprabha from below arrived; the Buddha said: "You have come just in time; you call this woman out of samādhi." Bodhisattva Jālinīprabha snapped his fingers once in front of the woman, and the woman exited samādhi. This koan is very confusing to people, because Manjusri Bodhisattva is the teacher of Seven Buddhas—the master of seven Buddhas—and his wisdom is incredibly great; how could he not call this woman out of samādhi? Yet Bodhisattva Jālinīprabha is just a Bodhisattva from below; how could he call this woman out of samādhi with a single snap of his fingers? This koan should be viewed from its substance; this woman grasping appearance to enter samādhi was already a big mistake. We just said, if you dwell on the appearance of samādhi and have a dwelling place, it is incorrect. To become a Buddha, one must not stick or dwell in the slightest, functioning marvellously and lively; one must not dwell dead in samādhi. The woman dwelling in samādhi was the first error; subsequently, what about Manjusri Bodhisattva? He represents Great Wisdom; isn't Great Wisdom very good? But what we call wisdom is worldly intelligence and debating skill, not Prajñā Great Wisdom. To become a Buddha, one must remove this delusive wisdom completely. If you have cleverness and wisdom, that is the Obstruction of Knowledge, the folly of knowledge, blocking your gate to awakening to the Way, preventing enlightenment. When Confucius went to see Laozi in the past, Laozi told him: "Strike down your wisdom"; that is, telling him to cancel and strike down cleverness and wisdom, so the mind is empty and possesses nothing, dwelling nowhere; only then can one awaken to the Way. So we should not boast of our own cleverness; playing with petty cleverness is a major obstacle. One must be like "great wisdom appearing as stupidity," with the mind unmoving and dwelling nowhere; not like wood or stone knowing nothing and understanding nothing, but vividly aware and clearly distinct, without rejecting or grasping, without love or hate—the unmoving mind.
Therefore, we must understand that Right Samādhi is being unconfused by states, without entry or exit, not sitting dead and immobile. Then why could Bodhisattva Jālinīprabha call her out of samādhi? Jālinīprabha (Net-Light/Delusion-Clear) means cancelling out your worldly intelligence and debating skill; "Net" (Wang) implies having no knowing and no attaching, then the Prajñā Great Wisdom manifests. So this koan is metaphorical; it is not that Manjusri Bodhisattva truly could not make her exit samādhi, nor is it that Jālinīprabha is higher than Manjusri Bodhisattva. Therefore, if we want to attain the Way, we must remove this worldly intelligence and debating skill, constantly having the mind empty as if washed, inwardly not turning with thoughts, outwardly not being pulled by states, diligently training, "diminishing it and diminishing it again," only then can we achieve. The Sixth Patriarch said: "Who would have expected that the self-nature is originally pure in itself! Who would have expected that the self-nature is originally non-arising and non-ceasing! Who would have expected that the self-nature is originally unmoving! Who would have expected that the self-nature is originally complete in itself! Who would have expected that the self-nature can give rise to the ten thousand dharmas!" Since the self-nature is complete with everything and lacks nothing; originally pure and no different from the Buddha, if we can truly make the mind empty and unstained, what is there that cannot be achieved?
Later, Dahui Zonggao wrote a verse to praise this koan of exiting samādhi; he said: "To be able to exit or not be able to exit / Is samādhi but not Right Samādhi." You make a fuss about entering and exiting samādhi here; this is not Right Samādhi, it is dead samādhi. True samādhi has no entry or exit; it is the same in movement and the same in stillness; it is not sitting there dead and immobile, but is boundless marvellous function. It is not that speaking and working are not within samādhi, but that the mind dwells nowhere, not seeing movement when moving. If you dwell on the appearance of stillness, it is not Right Samādhi. The two great Bodhisattvas, Jālinīprabha and Manjusri, by making an issue of entering and exiting samādhi, inevitably departed from the Original Position. The Chan School says: "Being absent for a split second is the same as a dead person." Departing from the Original Position is losing one's life. Therefore, Chan Master Dahui Zonggao's verse concluded by saying: "Jālinīprabha and Manjusri / Have lost their infinite life." These two great Bodhisattvas, the Buddha, and the woman performed a play for us to see, just to let us know how to apply effort; this point is very important. In applying effort, we must never grasp at dead samādhi; we must be lively and unobstructed in everything.
Chan Master Lanrong said: "Just when using mind / It is precisely no-mind being used / No-mind is precisely used / Often using, precisely nothing." This means that just when doing things or speaking, our mind is still unstained and rests unmoving; it is not that one can be in samādhi only when sitting there immobile, but becomes chaotic as soon as things come up; only when movement and stillness are one is it true samādhi.
What is Action? It is all conduct, our cultivation, and our behavior and fabrication. The three elements of View, Meditation, and Action are of utmost importance to us practitioners, so they are the three elements of the Ganges Mahāmudrā. The View discussed above is that when we first begin to apply effort, we should first align our understanding and view correctly so as not to take a detour, knowing how to act, how to apply effort, and what to use for cultivation; therefore, the View is the practice of the Causal Ground. What we call becoming a Buddha is the Mind becoming a Buddha, not the body becoming a Buddha; if the Causal Ground is mistaken, the Fruit will suffer twists and turns. We know that cultivating any dharma gate is cultivating the mind; the mind must be empty and pure, without sticky stains, to attain the Way. Therefore, correct knowledge and view are required, choosing a dharma gate suitable for one's own capacity to cultivate; this training is Action. Only by deeply entering meditation and opening Great Wisdom through a dharma suitable to the capacity can one verify and perfect the Buddha-fruit.
This Mahāmudrā speaks of the Great Dharma of non-cultivation, non-attainment, non-realization, non-arrangement, and non-scattering. It points out to us that the faculty capable of speaking, acting, knowing, and feeling is precisely the Buddha; it calls us to directly open to enlightenment and see the nature, an unsurpassed marvellous method that does not use gradual cultivation. We have many dharma gates for cultivation, including the Partial, the Perfect, the Sudden, and the Gradual. The practice method of the Ganges Mahāmudrā is the Direct Pointing method within the Perfect Sudden; it calls us to see the nature instantly without cultivating any dharma. However, regardless of whether there is a cultivation method or not, it is all upheld by our True Mind, so it is said that all practices are encompassed within the Mind; all are contained and encompassed by our mind. Therefore the sutra says: "Nothing does not flow from this Dharma-realm; nothing does not return to this Dharma-realm." Although the Ganges Mahāmudrā directly points us to see the nature instantly without using any cultivation method, after seeing the nature, the delusive habits of many lifetimes cannot be eliminated instantly. Therefore, it also speaks of Action, which means that after seeing the nature, one must still maintain it closely and densely, removing old habits, entering the unconditioned Original Position, and then dissolving the traces to become a unified whole, perfectly fused and unobstructed.
"View is realizing the One True Dharma-realm, the Fundamentally Natural Tathāgatagarbha Mind, the boundless manifestation of defiled and pure dharmas, fully possessing the meaning of the natural nature of equality."
As for View, seeing what? Understanding the Mind and seeing the Nature. It requires us to know that to become a Buddha, the View must first be clear, recognizing this One True Dharma-realm, the Fundamentally Natural Tathāgatagarbha Mind, which shines right at the gates of our six senses; then, by diligently protecting it, one can perfectly realize the Buddha-fruit. The One True Dharma-realm is our True Mind and fundamental nature. The so-called One True means that only this fundamental nature is real, while everything else is illusory; the Dharma-realm is the ten dharma-realms mentioned above, which are the Four Holy States and Six Ordinary States. The One True Dharma-realm discussed here is the essence of the Four Holy States and Six Ordinary States; it has no holy and no ordinary, so it is called the One True Dharma-realm. Our fundamental nature is neither ordinary nor holy, hangs not by a single thread, and does not establish a single dharma. The Fundamentally Natural Tathāgatagarbha Mind means it is originally so, without any fabrication; the so-called "Buddha-nature is a matter of natural innocence," not something achieved through postnatal fabrication. "Fundamentally so" (Dharmatā) means originally like this. The meaning of Tathāgatagarbha Mind has two layers: first, at the stage of an ordinary being, it is the Tathāgatagarbha (storehouse), meaning the nature of the Tathāgata is hidden inside; second, after you awaken to the Way, it is the Tathāgata-Treasury, a treasure trove, complete with all marvellous functions inside, like the Mani Jewel that can rain down all treasures—all marvellous functions are contained within. Possessing all marvellous functions is the Tathāgatagarbha; once the treasure trove is opened, it is inexhaustible in extraction and endless in use. Such a great treasure is originally by our side, yet we do not know it; look, isn't that pitiful! Isn't that unjust! The Lotus Sutra says: "There is a Mani Jewel in the person's own inner pocket, but sadly people do not know and instead go outside to beg for food." truly foolish to the extreme. Alas, this is the sentient beings of the six paths! Reincarnation in the six paths is begging for food; originally one is a very wealthy person of supreme honor and nobility possessing everything, yet now one has fallen to begging on the street; isn't this too unjust?
Now I want to let you know to see your own original True Nature and not be a ghost who died of injustice. So the Mahāmudrā tells us directly and clearly: not only humans but all sentient beings possess the Tathāgata Buddha-nature; it is just obscured by ignorance, attachment, delusive thoughts, inversion, and afflictions, so it cannot be seen. If we can refrain from attaching to external appearances and extinguish all delusive thoughts and inversions, we can restore the luminosity of the original face, and the lost great treasure will return to our hands. This treasure is not outside; everyone, do not go outside to seek and search; it shines right at your own six sense gates. Just reflect the light inward; when the previous thought has ceased and the next thought has not yet arisen, glance at it with a cool eye, and you will understand that you are originally the Buddha. Therefore, Mahāmudrā is a direct-pointing method, directly pointing us to see the nature, not telling you to investigate a huatou (critical phrase) or generate a sensation of doubt before being able to open to enlightenment.
The so-called Seeing is not seeing something with the eyes, but realizing/experiencing. But how to see this One True Dharma-realm? It is when you do not think of good and do not think of evil, and no delusive thoughts arise, reflect the light back to inspect: who is this that is vividly aware yet not like wood or stone when not a single thought arises? Now everyone can test it immediately; when not a single thought arises, look—is it vividly aware? Is it without perception like wood or stone? Obviously not; it is still vividly aware (hearing clearly, seeing clearly), reflecting brightly like a mirror reflecting things, only without giving rise to discrimination (without the slightest heart of love or hate, or thought of grasping or rejecting). This vividly aware spirit-knowing that does not give rise to discrimination is our fundamental nature—the One True Dharma-realm! So Seeing is realizing the One True Dharma-realm, the Fundamentally Natural Tathāgatagarbha Mind, which is the treasure everyone originally possesses; it is not elsewhere, it shines right at the person's six sense gates. But all sentient beings just do not know it, only knowing to grasp external appearances and thereby covering their own luminosity, falling into becoming sentient beings of the six paths; is this not lamentable? Now we only need to reflect the light back to illuminate, recognizing that this vividly aware spirit-knowing when not a single thought arises is originally our fundamental nature, the root of becoming a Buddha, and also the root of accomplishing all things and worlds. So it says: "The boundless manifestation of defiled and pure dharmas, fully possessing the meaning of the natural nature of equality."
Now let's first discuss "The boundless manifestation of defiled and pure dharmas." This means all men, women, old, and young, mountains, rivers, the great earth, grasses, woods, thickets, and so on are all manifested by this Mind (True Mind) of mine. "Defiled" means pollution, bad things; "Pure" means clean and beautiful things. For example, this Saha world of ours is a Defiled Land, filthy; the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss is a Pure Land, clean. Whether Pure Land or Defiled Land, what are they formed by, what are they manifested by? They are all formed and manifested by our One True Dharma-realm. So the Buddhist sutra says: "Nothing does not flow from this Dharma-realm; nothing does not return to this Dharma-realm." From this, it can be seen that the current mountains, rivers, great earth, men, women, old, and young are also manifested by this One True Dharma-realm; without this One True Dharma-realm, how could there be mountains, rivers, great earth, men, women, old, and young? Someone might raise a doubt: "How can mountains, rivers, great earth, men, women, old, and young be manifested by the One True Dharma-realm?"
This story is long to tell; before the mountains, rivers, and great earth were formed, our ancient language called it "Universal Wilderness," also called "Chaos not yet opened"; the Buddhist sutras call it "Awareness, brightness, emptiness, and dimness." "Awareness" is our intrinsic awareness; any person, any sentient being has this perception, has this nature of perception. Nature is energy, the instinct of perception, the function capable of giving rise to perception. Awareness originally has no fault, but the fault lies in identifying with this awareness, determining that "I truly have perception"; this is called "giving rise to brightness upon awareness." "Brightness" means clearly having perception, understanding that one has perception; this is adding knowing upon knowing, placing a head on top of a head; this "brightness" then becomes ignorance. Awareness is originally brightness, brightness is originally awareness; by giving rise to brightness upon awareness, they separate and oppose each other; thinking "I have the ability to be aware, so there should be something being covered by my awareness, there should be things for me to be aware of." In that era of empty wilderness and dimness, there were no things, which is called "Emptiness"; because things could not be found, everyone was in a chaotic confusion, which is called "Dimness." The more dim and confused, the more they moved chaotically; extreme movement generated wind, so the Great Wind Wheel arose. Friction with the Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, Space, Root (Sense-organ), and Consciousness—the seven great seed natures originally possessed by our One True Dharma-realm—occurred. Earth and Wind rubbing together created the Fire Element; the Fire Element burned upward; the turbid parts sank down, the clear parts floated up, so the world composed of Earth, Water, Fire, Wind, and Space was generated. The earth we currently inhabit was generated in this way.
Therefore, this world, whether it is the earth, trees, sun, or moon, is formed by the four elements of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. And Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind are the components possessed by our fundamental nature, just like the elements spoken of by chemists. Look at this earth: the earth has a crust, which is the Earth Element; there is water underground and above ground, which is the Water Element; the earth's core has fire, hence volcanic eruptions, which is the Fire Element; the earth rotates ceaselessly, having rotation and revolution, which is the Wind Element. Therefore, the earth is completely composed of Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. Even a big tree cannot depart from Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind; the trunk of the big tree is hard, that is the Earth Element; there is moisture inside the tree, that is the Water Element; the body of the tree is wood, which has a fire nature and can produce fire, that is the Fire Element; the movement of the big tree absorbing nutrients and swaying in the wind is the Wind Element. So a big tree is also composed of the four elements. Humans are also like this: the body's skin, muscles, and bones are the Earth Element; blood and fluids are the Water Element; the Fire Element is the heart—everyone has a body temperature of 37°C; the Wind Element is our breathing, blood circulation, digestion circulation, etc.—ceaseless turning belongs to the Wind Element. So everything, absolutely everything, is manifested by our True Mind, called "The boundless manifestation of defiled and pure dharmas." All worlds, Pure Lands and Defiled Lands, are manifested by our mind.
Below it says: "Fully possessing the meaning of the natural nature of equality." What is "fully possessing the meaning of the natural nature of equality"? It means that regardless of Pure Land or Defiled Land, they are manifested by the True Mind, and are all equal, equal, and again equal. Do not think that our Defiled Land is induced by the karma created by sentient beings, while the Pure Land is induced by the pure minds of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, thus giving rise to a sense of inequality due to the difference between pure and defiled. At the same time, one must know that all material appearances are illusory appearances; whether good, bad, beautiful, or ugly, they are unobtainable; therefore, they are equal. Now, although we have fallen into being sentient beings, the One True Dharma-realm is equal; it is just temporarily covering the luminosity of the fundamental nature because of ignorance. But the Essence is still neither stained nor pure, unmoving and unchanging; the Essence is not polluted just because the luminosity is covered.
For example, if a pearl is temporarily buried in mud and its light is covered and invisible, has the light been lost? No! You dig it out and wipe off the mud; the pearl is just as luminous. The luminosity of its Essence will not be lost because it is wrapped in filth. So it is said that the fundamental nature does not increase in the holy and does not decrease in the ordinary; it is equal, equal, and again equal. We have grasping and rejecting, love and anger, precisely because we do not know this meaning of equality. "This is good, pure; that is filthy, bad"—actually, they are all manifested by our True Mind. So a person who truly sees the Way has no grasping or rejecting, no love or hate.
After we apply effort to remove ignorance and extinguish all pollution, attachment, affliction, and inversion, we can restore the luminosity of the fundamental nature and manifest the originally pure Dharma-body; at that time, the Pure Land is right in the present moment. The Pure Land has "Principle West" and "Phenomenal West." "Principle West" is our pure mind, called the Mind-only Pure Land. Speaking from "Phenomena": there is a Western Land of Ultimate Bliss ten trillion Buddha-lands away from our world. However, although this Western world is distant, it is not separated from us, because our True Mind pervades empty space and encompasses the Dharma-realm; let it be the Pure Lands of the ten directions, none go beyond our True Mind. It just depends on whether your mind is pure or not. If the mind is pure, the Pure Land has no barrier from you and is right in front of you; if the mind is not pure, it is inevitably separated, ten trillion Buddha-lands away from you. Our mind is complete with everything; "all practices are encompassed within the Mind." The sutra says: "The three realms are Mind only; the ten thousand dharmas are Consciousness only"; apart from the mind, there is nothing. So, we said above that the delusive mind is not easily extinguished. Why is the delusive mind not easily extinguished? The delusive mind is manifested by the True Mind; where there is no True Mind, how can there be a delusive mind? For example, without water, how can there be waves? Waves represent the delusive mind, water represents the True Mind; if you cancel the waves, the water is gone too. Therefore, the delusive mind cannot be extinguished; one can only let it rest. So it is said that resting the mad mind is precisely True Suchness; all dharma gates merely tell us to let the delusive mind rest. Do not grasp at holiness, just rest the mind; resting the delusive mind is it. The Mahāmudrā is a direct-pointing method, telling us that to see the One True Dharma-realm, we must let the delusive mind rest; when not a single thought arises, reflect the light back, and seeing the luminosity of the fundamental nature—this is one's own original face. Do not go seeking any other magical or mysterious things anymore. Once there is seeking and attaining, that is attaching to appearances; not only will one never attain the Way, but one will have a share in becoming a demon. Why? Because our fundamental nature is originally complete with everything and lacks nothing, so it is the Tathāgatagarbha, a treasure trove; as long as you open it, you can use it endlessly without needing to seek from outside. Once there is seeking, the mind is not empty and pure; dwelling on appearances, one becomes a Skandha Demon. Therefore, after seeing the Way, we must maintain it closely and densely, diligently removing the old habits of attachment; this is called cultivating the Way. Why must we do this? Because after seeing the Way, one has merely recognized one's own original face; the habits of beginningless attachment have not been wiped out. These habits have been accumulated from beginningless vast kalpas of being accustomed to attaching to appearances; to ask you to suddenly not stick at all and be pure and unconditioned is hardly possible. For example, a dark room has been sealed for many years; once the windows and doors are opened or the electric light is turned on, the darkness is cancelled, and although there is light in the room, the smell of mold from being sealed for years cannot be eliminated at once. It must pass through long ventilation, sweeping, and scrubbing to gradually eliminate the moldy smell accumulated over many years.
Also, for example, a stinking manure bucket has held manure for many years; immediately after pouring out all the manure, the stink still cannot be extinguished because the stink has penetrated deep into the wood and cannot be eliminated immediately. It requires soaking, steeping, washing, and scrubbing over a long period before the stink can be slowly exhausted. By the same reasoning, even if we suddenly see the original face and recognize our own True Mind, and know that all things and boundless phenomena are manifested by our True Mind, it is still very difficult to immediately wipe out habits and not stick in the slightest within states, remaining completely unmoved. Therefore, after enlightenment is merely the Path of Seeing; one must still pass through the Path of Cultivation, diligently training and applying effort within states to completely wipe out one's habits of attaching to appearances and sticking to realms; only then can one verify and perfect the Buddha-fruit. At that time, one enters the Path of Verification. At the time of Seeing the Way, one is only like a tiny baby just born, an infant just born who cannot yet walk, speak, or work; he must grow slowly into an adult before he can gradually speak, walk, work, and even become a hero, a person of outstanding talent, or a great person. Therefore, after Seeing the Way, we must pass through Cultivating the Way before we can Verify the Way. However, the first and most important thing is Seeing the Way. If one does not See the Way, one does not know what the original face is or what the True Mind is; there will always be doubts in the mind, always seeking outwardly, with no master in the mind, inevitably being inverted and attaching to appearances, so ultimately one cannot attain the Way. Therefore, a practitioner must first see the fundamental nature and understand what the fundamental Truth is before he can set about sweeping away illusory delusive habits. It is like turning on the electric light in a room; seeing clearly where the filth is, where it is dirty, and where there is trash; only then can one set about sweeping. If the electric light is not turned on and the room is pitch black, not only is there no way to start, but even if one forces oneself to sweep, one will inevitably bump east and crash west, ending up with a bruised nose and swollen face, still unable to sweep clean. Therefore, to attain the Way, one must first open the Buddha-Knowledge and View, realizing that this One True Dharma-realm is originally possessed by all sentient beings and is not achieved through cultivation! The Chan School says: "The Way belongs to awakening, not to cultivation"; this is the principle. If we truly understand this principle, the practice of the Dharma is on the road. As mentioned above, although the Truth is realized suddenly, the old habits of grasping at appearances over many lifetimes cannot be eliminated immediately; one must still protect it at all times—being aware as soon as a delusive thought arises; once aware, it transforms into emptiness; and not dwelling in emptiness either—only then can one be perfectly fused and unobstructed. The skill goes from shallow to deep, from raw to ripe; when it is ripe to the extreme, one can forget; after forgetting, one can dissolve; at that time, one can change and transform without obstruction. So we must first have Awareness-Illumination (Awareness), slowly progressing to Quiescent-Illumination. Awareness is perception; knowing when a thought arises and not running with it—this is function with effort. If you see the mind's thoughts moving and cannot let go, meaning your own samādhi power is insufficient to stop and cut off the continuity, this will not do; you must quickly borrow the Buddha's power to bless and hold it, in order to cut it off. Buddha reciters quickly raise the holy name of Amita Buddha, dwelling the delusive mind upon the Buddha's name, and the delusive thought cannot continue. Mantra holders raise the mantra, and the delusive thought is transformed. Chan practitioners look after the huatou at all times, and delusive thoughts naturally do not arise. If a delusive thought arises and you don't know it, running after the thought, then it's over. Therefore, after Seeing the Way, one must protect it closely and densely. When protection becomes ripe, protection is no longer needed; one can advance from Awareness-Illumination to Quiescent-Illumination. Quiescence is not moving, no longer using Awareness; at the same time, Illumination is forgotten too; naturally illuminating without attaching to illumination—if there is an illumination remaining, there is still dwelling and still function with effort; no illumination and no non-illumination, only then does one enter the unconditioned. The function of no-effort has extremely great merit. Arriving here, only then can one enter the Stage of Non-Retrogression.
"Fully possessing the meaning of the natural nature of equality" means that all good and bad, defiled and pure, long and short are equal, equal, and again equal, without difference, because all sentient beings are Buddhas. Do not look down on livestock like cows and horses; they are also Buddhas; it is just because they did much evil and have heavy karmic obstructions that they fell into the lower three paths. We must give rise to great compassion and vow to save all sentient beings so they ascend the shore of awakening together; only this accords with the Buddha's original cherishing in appearing in the world to save sentient beings. Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva adorns hell in hell, saving sentient beings of hell, broadly exercising dharma power to wake them from their delusive dreams, making them know that for those suffering here, the Buddha-nature has not decreased by a single bit; it is only because of non-awakening, attaching to appearances, and creating karma that they fell into hell to suffer for their crimes. If they quickly wake up, repent, and restore the luminosity of their own fundamental nature, they will immediately fly up and transcend.
From this, it looks like the first thing for a practitioner is to Understand the Mind and See the Nature; only after Seeing the Nature will one not create karma and receive retribution. Without seeing the fundamental nature, blind cultivation is unavoidable; only after seeing the fundamental nature is it Right Cultivation. After truly seeing the fundamental nature, you will understand that the Western Pure Land and the Defiled Land we are in are the same and equal. The sutra says: "According to the purity of one's mind, the Buddha land is pure." If your mind is pure and unstained, the immediate moment is the Pure Land; because the mind is pure, there is no grasping or rejecting, so where are the distinctions of good, bad, beautiful, and ugly? Once the mind gives rise to discrimination, it is ruined; good, bad, beautiful, and ugly are produced accordingly, and people then love, hate, grasp, and reject accordingly, inevitably creating karma and receiving retribution. To cultivate the Way is to exit reincarnation and transcend the three realms, so one must first rectify knowledge and view, recognizing this mind of equality originally possessed by everyone, and understanding the meaning of the equality of things; only then can one set about removing habits and transforming consciousness into wisdom. For a practitioner to perfectly realize the Buddha-fruit, they must transform consciousness into wisdom. Consciousness is knowledge and the discriminating mind; this is the delusive mind of ordinary beings attaching to states and creating karma; through diligent effort and transformation, the Great Wisdom of Perfect Enlightenment is obtained, and wishes are fulfilled. In the process of transformation, first transform the Sixth Consciousness into the Wisdom of Marvellous Observation, transform the Seventh Consciousness into the Wisdom of Equality, and only then can the First Five Consciousnesses be transformed into the Wisdom of Accomplishing Action, and the Eighth Consciousness into the Great Round Mirror Wisdom. It is not that one can transform delusive consciousness into the Great Wisdom of Perfect Enlightenment all at once; so the Sixth Patriarch said: "The Six and Seven transform in the cause; the Eight and Five perfect in the fruit"—this is the meaning. "You should know that the lineage masters are no different from my mind"—since the person who Sees the Way deeply knows that my mind is the Buddha mind, and the Buddha mind is my mind, then my mind is not only no different from the lineage masters, but also has no distinction from all things and states. In this state of mind, what love, hate, grasping, or rejecting is there? If there is still discrimination—"this is beautiful, I want to take it; that is ugly, I want to discard it"—then your mind is still not equal, and you have not yet truly Seen the Way.
Therefore, we must understand that the One True Dharma-realm is originally unborn and undying, neither stained nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing, and complete with everything. In other words, originally one is a Buddha; as long as we are not confused and foolish, do not run with delusive thoughts, and do not attach to states or chase things, we can return home right along the road and restore the fundamental nature. Therefore, the Ganges Mahāmudrā tells us: You do not need to cultivate; you originally possess the True Suchness Buddha-nature; as long as you reflect the light back, attach to nothing at all, be aware as soon as a thought arises, and do not follow the thought, that is Right Cultivation and Right Action. But first, the knowledge and view must be correct; this is the practice of the Causal Ground; if the knowledge and view are not correct, the fruit will suffer twists and turns; so the Mahāmudrā says right from the start that the knowledge and view must be correct. Only after seeing the fundamental nature can one be in samādhi at all times. Why? Because after enlightenment, one deeply knows that all appearances are unobtainable, are flowers in the sky and moons in the water, ungraspable and unattachable; only the fundamental nature is real; one responds to capacities and follows conditions, yet the mind does not move. The Diamond Sutra says: "Give rise to the mind that dwells nowhere." Being able to do this is the Great Samādhi that is lively and has boundless marvellous function; practicing like this is the true conduct of a practitioner. Therefore, a practitioner's mind must be equal and unbiased, without the distinction of intimacy or distance when dealing with people and things; if there is still the view of difference, then you have not yet reached the realm of true equality.
View, Meditation, and Action are all encompassed by the mind and fully possessed in the mind; therefore, in learning Buddhism, we should learn the Mind-Ground Dharma Gate; it is the Prince of Birth, just like a crown prince born to the emperor will definitely become emperor in the future—one will definitely become a Buddha in the future. Cultivating other dharma gates leads to peripheral positions of merit; no matter how good the skill, one can only be enfeoffed as a king or marquis, but cannot become the emperor—become a Buddha. Especially those who do qigong nowadays all attach to the flesh body, engaging in the Small Microcosmic Orbit or Large Microcosmic Orbit, or even playing with sorcery and blinding methods to show off and fool ignorant people; they think they have a clever scheme, but actually they are just playing with ghost spirits. No matter how great your spiritual powers or how good your body, it will eventually decay and cannot last long. Thus the Chan School says: "Outer paths training the body will eventually perish."
Therefore, in applying effort, the knowledge and view must be correct, knowing what the root of becoming a Buddha is, and then refining cultivation based on that, before one can cultivate the Right Fruit. Master Hanshan said in Direct Pointing to the Heart Sutra: "The reason cultivating Prajñā succeeds quickly is that everyone possesses this True Suchness Marvellous Nature. The Buddhas realize it and take it as spiritual power and marvellous function; sentient beings are confused by it and take it as delusive thinking and dust-labor; so they use it daily without knowing it, obscured to this fundamental truth, suffering hardship in vain—is this not lamentable! If one can suddenly awaken to what is originally possessed, instantly reflect the light back, and cultivate subtly upon a single thought, then the emotional barrier of birth and death will suddenly be smashed, just like a single lamp can break the darkness of a room dark for a thousand years; there is no need to seek other convenient methods!"
From this, it is clear that as long as we wake up, are not confused by material appearances, constantly reflect the light back, and cultivate subtly on the mind-thought without using other dharma gates, we will definitely become Buddhas in the future.
