東海若解

During the Tang dynasty, the eminent Confucian scholar Liễu Tử Hậu observed that students of Buddhism differed in their understanding. Regarding the Dharma-gate of Buddha-recitation, some believed in it while others disparaged it, without any settled view. Consequently, the resulting benefit or harm was as far apart as heaven and earth. Wishing to help practitioners discern what should be adopted and what should be rejected so that they might attain the highest realization of mind-nature, he composed this essay. Students of Confucianism do not investigate Buddhist principles, while students of Buddhism pay no attention to literary expression.

Among them, intelligent people mostly lack faith, while those who possess faith lack wisdom. Consequently, the profound and wondrous meaning of the text remains concealed within fragmentarily compiled books, and no one can fully comprehend it. Is this not deeply regrettable? For this reason, I shall elucidate and explain its meaning, in the hope of inspiring those who have newly entered the path.

Đông Hải Nhược came inland and ascended the mound of Mạnh Chư to wander about, whereupon he found two gourds. He hollowed them out, shook out all their seeds, and then used the gourds as playthings. Afterward, Nhược mixed seawater with excrement and worms, stuffed the gourds full until their stench became unbearable, sealed their mouths tightly with soft stone, and cast them into the sea. After a long time had passed, he returned there and asked, “By this means, can the filthy excrement be discarded?”

Explanation: Đông Hải Nhược is the deity of the sea. The sea deity represents a Great Being who propagates the Dharma. Because the sea deity presides over the great ocean, while the Great Being presides over all dharmas, this analogy is employed.

Coming inland means leaving the ocean of the Pure Land and drifting onto the shore of the Sahā world, just as the sea deity leaves the ocean and wanders upon the land.

The mound of Mạnh Chư is the name of a region. A mound is uneven ground, with places high and low, and represents the perilous path of the three realms. The meaning is that, after transcending birth and death, one returns to the three realms to rescue sentient beings from suffering; hence it is said that he ascended the mound of Mạnh Chư.

The two gourds represent the two kinds of faculties: faith and disparagement. Sentient beings composed of the five skandhas are called gourds. Because causes and conditions brought them together, it is said that he found them.

Hollowing them out and shaking out all their seeds means that the Great Being exercises spiritual powers in playful freedom without clinging to the characteristics of sentient beings. To hollow out is to make empty, and to shake is to cast away; thus it is said that all the gourd seeds were discarded.

Using the gourds as playthings represents abandoning the characteristics of sentient beings and taking the liberation of beings as one’s play.

Seawater represents the exposition of the Dharma.

Mixing it with excrement means that when sentient beings hear the Dharma, wisdom and ignorance mingle together.

Excrement and earth represent afflictions. Worms represent the causes and effects of the afflictions of birth and death, which do not extend beyond the five turbidities. The kinds of birth and death do not extend beyond the twelve classes of beings. The foul stench represents suffering. Birth, death, and afflictions are sufferings difficult to endure; hence it is said that the stench was unbearable.

Soft stone represents fundamental ignorance. Not even a single thought is awakened; hence it is said that the mouth was tightly sealed.

Casting them into the sea means entering birth and death. Although sentient beings heard the Dharma in the past and planted a few roots of virtue, they are obscured by ignorance and remain for a long time within birth and death; therefore, they cannot attain liberation. Even when they encounter a spiritual teacher who exhorts and guides them, because their roots of virtue differ in maturity, some awaken while others do not. Those who awaken follow the teaching and practice, while those who do not awaken oppose the teaching and cling to principle. Thus, finding the two gourds is used as an analogy.

Yet when a Great Being liberates sentient beings, it is like parents teaching their children: they do not teach everyone only because one child is filial, nor do they cast everyone aside because one child is disobedient. Therefore, even toward those who do not believe, the Great Being still expounds the Dharma and constantly observes their faculties in order to awaken them.

After a long time had passed, he returned there: this means observing their faculties. Because they have wandered in cyclic existence for a long time, it is said that a long time had passed. Because conditions were planted in the past, it is said that he returned there.

“By this means, can the filthy excrement be discarded?” This is a statement intended to awaken them: Since you planted roots of virtue in the past, have you now also cast off birth and death? Wishing to help sentient beings bring forth the resolve to practice Buddha-recitation, he asked in this way.

Main text: They raised their voices and cried aloud, “We are the great ocean!”

Explanation: This represents those who oppose the teaching and cling to principle. Raising their voices and crying aloud signifies a state of doubt and disbelief. “We are the great ocean” is the declaration of those who cling to principle while rejecting phenomena.

Main text: Đông Hải Nhược opened his mouth, laughed, and said, “How strange! In this great ocean, east has no east, west has no west, north has no north, and south has no south. At dawn, the sun rises from it; at night, it is filled with the stars. It further contains the sun, emits lunar fire[2], and shines with the light of precious pearls, while dust and haze intermingle without dwelling together with it. Surely the western shore is unfathomably deep; thus it is great, profound, clear, and radiant. How could I possibly be like this!”

Explanation: This passage represents the Great Being’s exposition of the Buddha’s true ocean of nature[3] in order to reveal ultimate truth.

“How strange!” is an expression of self-reproach.

“In this great ocean…” fully sets forth the correct principle. Because the ocean of nature has no shore, it has no east, west, south, or north. Because the ocean of nature is radiant, externally it encompasses the sun, moon, and stars, while internally it is replete with every treasure.

Externally, it encompasses spiritual powers; internally, it is replete with wisdom. This is called the perfect fullness of the myriad virtues. Moreover, the sun represents the response-body; the moon and stars represent transformation-bodies manifested according to the various kinds of beings.

The response-body’s appearance in the world is called dawn, while nirvana is called night. Although the manifested traces of response appear to undergo arising and cessation, the Dharma-essence is eternally quiescent in itself. When the faculties of sentient beings mature, the Buddha-body appears to liberate them; when the conditions are exhausted, it enters cessation.

Transformation-bodies appropriate to the various kinds of beings are also manifested to guide them. Although many bodies are displayed, none lie outside the ocean of nature. This is what is externally encompassed.

Lunar fire represents spiritual powers, while precious pearls represent samadhi and wisdom. All three arise from the nature; this is what is internally complete.

Because the ocean of nature is pure, dust and haze do not dwell together with it. Dust and haze refer to the afflictions of the five abiding grounds, meaning that all evil karma is entirely extinguished. The great yin is the moon. The firelight emitted from the great ocean is called lunar fire. Because the great ocean does not dwell together with dust, it necessarily drives the dust toward the shore. Likewise, because the Buddha’s ocean of wisdom does not dwell together with afflictions, they must be completely eradicated before it ceases. The four words profound, vast, radiant, and clear summarize the preceding text. Not perceiving the four directions means profound and vast; externally encompassing and internally complete means radiant; being free of dust and haze means clear.

“How could I possibly be like this!” is an expression of praise, meaning that apart from the Buddha, no one has yet attained the great functioning of profundity, vastness, radiance, and clarity. Even if others possess it, they possess only a small portion and not its entirety.

Main text: Now a single drop of water from your great ocean is of one substance with excrement and earth, belongs to the company of putrefaction, dwells together with worms, and remains with them within mere inches. Moreover, being as dark as this yet claiming sameness with the ocean—is this not shameful and truly pitiable! Is this what you desire? Then, for your sake, I shall remove the stones, break open the gourds, and wash away their filth upon a desolate island so that they may accord with what you declared before. Would that be acceptable?”

Explanation: This is an analogy for rejecting biased views and pointing out the true path of cultivation. Although sentient beings and the Buddha share the same mind, sentient beings are deluded and inverted: they abandon the great ocean and grasp at a bubble, pointing to the bubble and calling it the great ocean. When they hear of the real ocean, they say it is not so; therefore, they are said to be truly pitiable!

Now those who cling to emptiness likewise take the false mind, one square inch within the body of the five skandhas, to be their original face, neither two nor different from the Buddha. This is like taking the excremental water in a gourd to be the great ocean, no different from seawater. Yet they do not know that the essence of mind is vast, encompassing the worlds throughout the empty space of the ten directions.

Sentient beings and all Buddhas gather everything within a single thought; they are not confined within the one-square-inch heart, just as the great ocean is not confined within a gourd. When they hear of the Pure Land in the west and Amitabha, the Ocean of the Nature, they cling to the notion that these are outside the mind and even give rise to doubt and slander, just as, upon hearing of the real ocean, they say that it does not exist.

Although Amitabha never abandons sentient beings, sentient beings abandon him themselves, just as the great ocean does not reject a drop of water, but the drop of water abandons the great ocean itself. Therefore, it is said that the drop of water abandons the great ocean. The five skandhas of sentient beings take afflictions as their substance; therefore, they are said to be of the same substance as excrement and earth.

Decay means suffering, and decomposition means impermanence.

Companions: This means that this body is impermanent and takes suffering as its companion; therefore, it is not real. Worms are parasites within the body. The analogy of the twelve kinds means that this body dwells together with the twelve kinds and cannot attain liberation. It is only six feet in size; therefore, it is said to measure merely a span. Being obscured and devoid of wisdom, it is said to be dark. Is it not inverted to regard this false mind, one square inch in size, and this delusive body, six feet tall, as identical with the wondrous functioning of all Buddhas? Therefore, it is reproached as “shameful and pitiable.”

Question: The sutra states, “The liberation of all Buddhas should be sought within the mental activities of sentient beings.” It also says, “Contemplate the true characteristic of the body; the contemplation of the Buddha is likewise.” Does this not mean that the body and mind of sentient beings are no different from the Buddha? Yet you wish to distinguish delusion from awakening and discuss sages and ordinary beings. Is this not like seeing illusory flowers in empty space?

Answer: As the sutra states, “This means contemplating the true directly within the delusive; it does not mean clinging to the delusive as the true. It is like using one drop of water to contemplate the ocean, without clinging to the drop as the ocean. How could the wetness of one drop of water differ from the wetness of the water in the great ocean?

Yet once it has left the great ocean and become mixed with filthy excrement, how could it still be regarded as the ocean? To contemplate the true directly within the delusive without clinging to the delusive carries this same essential meaning. Therefore, one should know that although the nature of water does not differ, it is still acceptable to regard the drop as aspiring to return to the ocean; but one should not cling to the view that a drop of water is the great ocean.

Please reflect carefully upon this!

Is this what you desire?...: This passage briefly presents the benefits of cultivation as an exhortation.

I shall do this for you: This sentence means that it is not for the sake of that practitioner that one claims the merit of teaching and transforming as one’s own; rather, the benefit reaches the practitioner.

Picking up the stone is an analogy for eliminating fundamental ignorance.

Breaking the gourd is an analogy for leaving the three realms.

Washing away the filth is an analogy for departing from the five turbidities.

The wilderness is an analogy for the boundless vastness of the true realm of tranquil light[4]. The island is an analogy for the Land of Ultimate Bliss where ordinary beings and sages dwell together, which rises above the ten directions.

What was previously revealed refers to the deep, vast, luminous, and pure functioning of all Buddhas described above. Knowing that they would not believe, yet still striving to teach the Dharma, demonstrates the Great Being’s deeply earnest compassion. Although it is of no benefit at present, it becomes a cause and condition for their liberation in the future.

Main text: The excremental water remained silent, displaying displeasure, and then said: “I have fundamentally always been the same; what more need I seek from Ruò? My nature is simply thus! Filth is filthy in itself and does not harm my purity in the slightest. Narrowness is narrow in itself and cannot harm my vastness in the slightest. Darkness is dark in itself and cannot harm my luminosity in the slightest. Yet filth is also the ocean; narrowness and darkness are also the ocean. Suddenly departing and slowly arriving—how could any of this not be the ocean? Go away! Do not disturb my mind!”

Explanation: This is an analogy for hearing the teaching but not believing it, and for clinging to words in order to reject it. Although ordinary beings at the stage of Pṛthagjana possess a little wisdom, they cannot eliminate their afflictions; therefore, they are called excremental water. Because they hear the teaching but do not believe it, this is described as not accepting the teaching.

I have fundamentally always been the same: These are words of attachment to principle. In terms of the essence of principle, sentient beings and the Buddha are nondual; therefore, it is said that they are fundamentally the same.

What more need I seek from Ruò?: These are words of self-satisfaction. The preceding passage already described the realm of all Buddhas. The virtues of the nature are revealed through the virtues of cultivation, but those attached to principle misunderstand this: they speak only of the virtues of the nature and abandon the virtues of cultivation. Therefore, the excremental water says, “My nature is simply thus!” It considers its own mind also fully endowed with deep, vast, luminous, and pure functioning, never having lacked anything. Yet it does not understand that speaking of food or painted cakes is of no benefit to a hungry person and merely wearies the body and mouth. The following passage fully sets forth the biased attachment to emptiness.

Filth does not harm purity: This means that the essence of the nature is pure and is not defiled by birth and death.

Narrowness does not harm vastness: This means that the essence of the nature is vast and is not confined by physical form.

Darkness does not harm luminosity: This means that the essence of the nature is luminous and is not obscured by afflictions. Filth, narrowness, and darkness are wholly the nature of the ocean. Because they are neither two nor different, it is said that they are also the ocean.

“Suddenly” and “slowly” describe the manner of coming and going, serving as an analogy for how both rising and sinking in birth and death are the wondrous principle of the original nature; therefore, the error lies in clinging to them as the ocean.

Question: Nothing said above is incorrect. Why, then, do you say that a grave error has been committed?

Answer: It is precisely as you ask, but although the words are correct, the intent is mistaken. As for the statement concerning “the three things that cannot cause harm,” the Mahayana sutras and treatises also teach this. Yet the Buddhas and bodhisattvas have never abandoned cultivation merely to speak of the principle of the nature.

The error now arises because those who cling firmly to filth, narrowness, and darkness regard themselves as pure, vast, and luminous. They do not recognize their present afflictions, and thereby their purity is harmed. When their capacity cannot accommodate things, their vastness is thereby harmed.

When they invert right and wrong through their attachments, their luminosity is thereby harmed. They cannot even ensure that the present thought remains unharmed, much less know for themselves that they will be unharmed by birth and death in the future! Although they say that no harm is done, they are thereby harmed most gravely.

When teaching and transforming sentient beings, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas may manifest afflictions, yet their minds make no discriminations. Only this is truly filth that does not harm purity. They regard praise and blame equally and do not give rise to love or hatred. Toward Rāhula and Devadatta alike, the Buddha gave rise to equal loving-kindness and sought to liberate them. Only this is truly narrowness that does not harm vastness. To recognize conduct contrary to the path and yet penetrate the Buddha-path—only this is truly darkness that does not harm luminosity. Yet ordinary beings now possess only a little wisdom and mistakenly regard it as equal to the Buddha’s wisdom, thereby bringing transgressions upon themselves. How could this not be an exceedingly grave error?

Go away! Do not disturb my mind: These are words of refusal. Because practitioners of meditation who cling to principle immediately regard the doctrinal teachings as utterly contrary to their own minds as soon as they hear them, they speak in this way.

Main text: Upon hearing what Ruo had said, it wept and implored: “I have long been poisoned. I assumed that this was naturally so and could not be otherwise. Now you tell me that the sea is vast. You also tell me that I was once the sea but cast away as filthy excrement, and so I become all the more desperate. Even if I were to offer up the water of my Chui River, it would not suffice to break through the obstruction. Even if I were to stir up my waves, I could not tear open the belly of the gourd. If this can be done, it will take until the end of all years and months. I beg you, Ruo, have compassion on me!”

Explanation: This is an analogy for those who follow the teaching and cultivate accordingly. When they first hear the Buddha-Dharma, remorse arises in their minds and they awaken. Aspiring to liberation, they weep and make supplication.

I have long been poisoned. “Poisoned” means harmed. That samsara and the afflictions cause me to lose my Dharma body and forget my wisdom-life is precisely the poison. Because I have sunk in the cycle of existence for many kalpas, it is said to have been “a long time.” “A long time” means that the mind has always been weary of suffering but has not yet seen the path of escape. This means that one’s wholesome roots are nearly ripe and one’s spiritual capacity is about to be stirred into action.

The expression “naturally so” indicates what was taken to be the true state of affairs. Before hearing the teaching, one believed that samsara and the afflictions were real and could not be changed, and that weariness of them was futile and of no benefit. Now, upon hearing that the Buddha’s ocean of merit is vast and immeasurable, one understands that sentient beings can attain Buddhahood; hence the words: “You tell me that the sea is vast.” One also understands that, since ancient times, one has planted wholesome roots and formed affinities with the Buddha.

Yet because I myself became deluded, turned away from the Buddha, and was cast into samsara, it is said: “You tell me that I was once the sea but cast away as filthy excrement.” Thus there is now a path of escape and a method of liberation. The aspiration to escape and the weariness of samsara must become still more earnest; hence it is said that the matter becomes more urgent. All these passages are words spoken by one who recognizes and assesses one’s own capacity.

Offering up the water of the Chui River: An analogy for a small measure of discriminating wisdom.

Breaking through the obstruction: An analogy for destroying ignorance.

Stirring up the waves: An analogy for acting with a small measure of strength.

Tearing open the belly of the gourd: An analogy for escaping the three realms.

If this can be done: A hypothetical statement.

Until the end of all years and months: Continuing over many kalpas.

I beg you, have compassion on me: A plea for the Buddha to accept and gather one in.

Main text: Ruo of the Eastern Sea then picked up a stone and smashed open the gourd, after which he cast it upon the mound of Mengzhu. He washed away the filth on the desolate island, and the water returned to the sea. All of this corresponds with what was explained above.

Explanation: This is an analogy for the benefit of following the teaching and cultivating accordingly. Ignorance is swiftly destroyed, like picking up a stone; samsara is forever ended, like smashing open the gourd; and one eternally leaves the three realms, hence it is said that the gourd was cast upon the mound of Mengzhu. The nine grades of lotus blossoms personally come to receive one, hence the desolate island is mentioned. Within the very mind of an ordinary being, one beholds the Buddha-mind; hence it is said that the water returned to the sea.

Main text: Yet the former water would ultimately have putrefied without ever changing.

Explanation: This is an analogy for the harm caused by going against the teaching and clinging to emptiness. Previously, one maintained that the water in the gourd was no different from the water of the sea. Although the water is nondual, there are differences between vastness and confinement, purity and filth.

Furthermore, one clings to the notion that what is filthy and confined is itself entirely the sea, failing to understand that it will ultimately putrefy without being able to change. Is this not lamentable? Those who now cling to principle say, “My mind is the Buddha, so why must I behold Amitabha?

This very mind is the Pure Land, so why must I be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss?” Yet they do not understand that ignorance, samsara, and the marks of karma are blazing fiercely. Although they possess the wondrous mind, they have not yet realized it and therefore have not attained the Buddha’s great functioning. They further cling to the view that samsara and the afflictions are all bodhi and nirvana, saying, “Are these not themselves the Buddha-Dharma?” Yet they do not understand that samsara remains present before them just as before, while they drift in darkness with nowhere to rely upon.

Where, then, is nirvana to be found? When ignorance suddenly arises, they remain confused and inverted concerning right and wrong. Who, then, is the awakened one of bodhi?

To speak falsehoods for one lifetime and sink in the cycle of existence for ten thousand kalpas—is this not profoundly grievous?

Main text: Now there are two people seeking to become Buddhas. Both emerged from the ocean of Vairocana, yet they became soaked in the excrement of the five turbidities, obscured within the gourd of the three realms, obstructed by the stone of ignorance, and intermingled with the twelve kinds of worms. When someone questioned them, one of the two immediately said: “I am the Buddha; I am Vairocana. The five turbidities, the three realms, ignorance, and the twelve kinds are all empty. Everything is neither wholesome nor unwholesome; there is neither cause nor effect, neither cultivation nor realization, neither Buddha nor sentient beings. Since everything is empty, what is there for me to seek?”

Explanation: This corresponds with the analogous passage above. Both study Buddhism, but their views and understanding differ; therefore both are said to be seeking Buddhahood. The two people represent two spiritual capacities: one of faith and one of slander. Vairocana is translated in China as “Pervading All Places.” He is the Dharma-body Buddha, also called the ocean of the nature of true suchness. Sentient beings and Buddhas are of one essence in this Dharma body; hence it is said that they both emerged from it.

The five turbidities are the turbidity of the kalpa, the turbidity of views, the turbidity of the afflictions, the turbidity of sentient beings, and the turbidity of lifespan. The five turbidities are defiled dharmas and are therefore compared to excrement. The three modes of existence are the three realms: the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm. Because these three places are separate and not the same, they are called realms. Since cause and effect are not nonexistent, they are said to exist. The three realms confine sentient beings and are therefore compared to a gourd. The four great elements similarly confine the six consciousnesses, and therefore they bear the same designation.

Ignorance obstructs the Dharma-nature and is therefore compared to a stone. The twelve kinds do not depart from the three realms, just as worms do not leave a person’s belly.

Someone questioned them. This person is a great being who relies upon the four reliances.[5]

“One of the two” refers to the person who clings to principle, goes against the teaching, and claims, “I am the Buddha.” This passage corresponds with the earlier statement, “I am the great sea.” “Everything is empty” is precisely what this person clings to.

“The five turbidities are empty” corresponds with the statement, “Filth cannot impair purity.” “The three realms are empty” corresponds with the statement, “Confinement cannot impair vastness.”

“Ignorance and the twelve kinds are empty” corresponds with the statement, “Darkness cannot impair luminous clarity.” The wholesome refers to the heavenly and human realms, while the unwholesome refers to the three evil destinies. Cause and effect, cultivation and realization extend to the four fruits of the noble ones. Those who cling to emptiness are of two kinds: those whose minds arrive at this understanding on their own and those who hear it from others. When the mind arrives at this understanding on its own, the illness is extremely difficult to cure. When it is heard from others, it may later be cured.

Main text: He asked: “According to the nature of which you have spoken, are there also phenomena? Although nature and phenomena are two, they are one; although they are one, they are two. If you cling rigidly to one, a great calamity will come.” The other person said: “Go away! Do not disturb me!”

Explanation: This passage sets forth right understanding to help those who cling to attachments recognize their errors. Nature has three meanings: emptiness, provisional existence, and the Middle. From what you stated above, you have attained only the meaning of emptiness and do not understand provisional existence or the Middle. Furthermore, emptiness is of three kinds: partial emptiness, annihilationist emptiness, and true emptiness. What you have just argued expresses only partial emptiness and annihilationist emptiness; you have not yet realized the principle of true emptiness. How, then, could you know the nature? If you had awakened to true emptiness, you would not repudiate the myriad dharmas as nonexistent. Thus it is clear that you do not yet understand.

From the words “Are there also phenomena?” onward, the teaching is medicine prescribed according to the illness. Nature is principle. Although principle and phenomena are two, they are always one; although they are one, they are always two. If they are perfectly interfused, great merit is established. If one clings to unity, great calamity arises. Gain and loss depend upon the person and have nothing to do with any fault in the Buddha-Dharma.

Question: Why is it said that the one is two and the two are one?

Answer: As the patriarch said: “Cultivation and realization are not nonexistent, yet defilement cannot be attained.” These words are entirely correct. “Cultivation and realization are not nonexistent” speaks in terms of phenomena. “Yet defilement cannot be attained” speaks in terms of principle.

The meanings and principles of these two statements complement and harmonize with each other; neither may be discarded! The first statement fully contains the meaning of the second, so cultivation and realization are discussed without there being cultivation and realization. The second statement fully contains the meaning of the first, so defilement and purity are spoken of without there being defilement and purity.

This is the essential purport of the nonduality of phenomena and principle[6]. If one clings only to cultivation and realization, one is the same as those of the Two Vehicles following the Provisional Teaching. If one clings only to the absence of defilement, one is the same as adherents of the non-Buddhist doctrine of Naturalism.

Moreover, those who accord with the Provisional Teaching merely esteem stages of attainment; this error is comparatively shallow and slight. Those who accord with non-Buddhist teachings deny cause and effect; this error is profound and grave. Therefore, it is said, “A great calamity will come.” In the present, that calamity is the loss of the benefit of advancing in cultivation; in the future, it is the incurring of the misfortune of falling into lower realms.

How could this not be dreadful? Furthermore, in the patriarchs’ sayings, the words are sometimes one-sided while their intent is perfect and all-encompassing. Yet those of shallow and meager wisdom frequently interpret them by adhering to the words, causing ghee to become poison.

This is truly lamentable!

Question: What does it mean that “the words are one-sided while the intent is perfect and all-encompassing”?

Answer: Patriarch Zhigong said: “The five desires, greed, and anger are the Buddha. Hell itself is heaven. The wise know that their own mind is Buddha; fools delight in rebirth in the West.” This is called words that are one-sided while the intent is perfect and all-encompassing.

Explanation: If someone can contemplate the objects of the five desires, together with greed, anger, and doubt, as flowers in the sky, without giving rise to a discriminating mind, that person is called a Buddha. Therefore, it is said that the five desires, greed, and anger are the Buddha. Furthermore, one contemplates the appearances of suffering and happiness in hell and heaven as scenes in a dream, neither delighting in heaven nor fearing hell. These two states are equally regarded; therefore, it is said that hell itself is heaven.

“The wise know that their own mind is Buddha; fools delight in rebirth in the West.” These two statements emphasize the words “know the mind.” This means that if a person knows the mind to be Buddha and practices mindfulness of the Buddha, that person is wise. If one does not know the mind to be Buddha, then even if one delights in rebirth in the West, one is still a fool. “The wise” refers to those of the highest grade in the highest level of rebirth, while “fools” refers to those of the lowest grade in the lowest level of rebirth.

These two statements do not in the least contradict the essential purport of the Pure Land teaching. Yet fools cling to these words and conclude that mindfulness of the Buddha is a practice for fools. Does the Western Land have only the lowest grade in the lowest level of rebirth and not the highest grade in the highest level?

Furthermore, as for those of the lowest grade, although such a person is a fool in this realm, upon being born in the Pure Land, that person enters the stage of non-retrogression and certainly cannot be called a fool. What should one call someone who does not know that he himself is foolish yet calls others foolish? Therefore, what is valued is grasping the intent, while what must be avoided is clinging to the words.

Here, only one matter is raised as an analogy for many issues; through reflection, they may be understood.

Main text: Someone said: “Alas! I have been poisoned for a long time. Though I exert all my strength, I cannot eliminate ignorance. Though I employ all my wisdom, I cannot escape the three realms, leave the five turbidities behind, and become different from the twelve classes of beings.” Generally speaking, with my abilities, I cannot fathom how many great and small kalpas it would take. What am I to do?

Explanation: This speaks of a person who practices according to the teaching and its principles. Knowing that one lacks sufficient strength is a statement of self-examination. In the Dharma-ending age, people’s faculties gradually become dull, and their minds gradually become coarse.

Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of people: the foolish and the deludedly arrogant. Fools are confused and do not understand; there is certainly no need to discuss them. The deludedly arrogant indulge in lofty fantasies and constantly aspire to exalted matters.

Not only do they belittle the Dharma gate of mindfulness of the Buddha, but they also develop contempt for and revile it—how much less would they consent to practice it! This is due to nothing other than their failure to know themselves. An ancient said: “One who knows others is wise; one who knows oneself is discerning.” In this age, even those who know themselves are already rare.

In the text, the teaching is joined with analogies, through each of which one may know oneself.

Great kalpas and small kalpas: During the span of human lifespans, one increase and one decrease constitute a small kalpa. Eighty small kalpas make one great kalpa. Great and small kalpas accumulated to an incalculable number are called one asamkhyeya kalpa.

“Cannot fathom” means cannot calculate. A bodhisattva of the Tripitaka Teaching must practice for three incalculable kalpas before attaining Buddhahood, yet those who regress are many and those who advance diligently are few. This speaks of matters difficult to accomplish through self-power.

Because all other Dharma gates rely upon self-power to escape birth and death, they are difficult. Only the Dharma gate of mindfulness of the Buddha also relies upon other-power, and is therefore easy. Because it is easy, it can be accomplished in a single lifetime; because the others are difficult, one may cultivate for many kalpas without succeeding.

Benefit and harm, gain and loss, hinge primarily upon this point. Thus, knowing what is difficult and what is easy, one knows benefit and harm; knowing benefit and harm, one knows what to adopt and what to reject. Otherwise, the road ahead is obscure, causing many people to go astray!

In the True Dharma and Semblance Dharma ages, it may be acknowledged that some people escaped birth and death through self-power. In the Dharma-ending age, however, one seldom hears of such people. Now, unable to succeed through self-power, one wishes to seek other-power; therefore, one asks, “What am I to do?”

Main text: The questioner presented the matter of the Western Land, urging people to cultivate the samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha, in which emptiness and existence are one. Thus, the sages, moved by compassion, receive them and establish them securely in the Land of Ultimate Bliss, where they abandon all evils, accumulate the myriad practices, dwell securely in the realm of the sages, and share the Buddha’s knowledge and vision.

Explanation: This speaks of the benefits of mindfulness of the Buddha. Samadhi is a Sanskrit term, translated in China as “right reception”: right mindfulness is present, and one does not receive the various sensations. Those who attain this samadhi will certainly see the Buddha, either in the present or in the future.

“Emptiness and existence are one” means mindfulness without mindfulness, and birth without birth.

Question: In emptiness, not a single dharma is established; in existence, the myriad dharmas are clearly manifest. These two dharmas oppose each other, so how can they be called one?

Answer: In former times, when instructing others about the Pure Land, Chan Master Tianyi Huai taught: “As for birth, one is certainly born; as for going, in truth there is no going.” This is the essential purport of the unity of emptiness and existence. “As for birth, one is certainly born” is existence. “As for going, in truth there is no going” is emptiness.

Although the words are twofold, their intent has never been two. The master also said: “It is like a wild goose passing through the empty sky, its reflection appearing in the cold water. The goose has no intention of leaving a trace; the water has no intention of retaining its form.” This itself explains the words of the preceding passage.

If each part of this analogy is explained, its meaning will become evident. The practitioner’s five skandhas are the wild goose. The practitioner’s present mind of mindfulness of the Buddha inherently pervades the three periods and extends throughout the ten directions; therefore, it is likened to the empty sky.

The body of a single lifetime soon perishes; therefore, it is called “passing through.” Although this illusory constitution undergoes birth and death, the nature of mindfulness is originally unborn and undying; therefore, it is said that the wild goose passes through the empty sky.

The Land of Coolness is free from scorching heat and is therefore called cold water. When one practices mindfulness of the Buddha in this land, a lotus blossoms in that land; diligence and indolence are thereby distinguished, and flourishing and withering suddenly differ. Therefore, it is said that the reflection appears. Furthermore, the cessation of the skandhas in this land is called the wild goose passing through, while the arising of the skandhas in that land is called the reflection appearing. Cessation here and birth there have never occurred before or after one another; therefore, this is taken as an analogy. These two statements explain the preceding words, “As for birth, one is certainly born.”

The line, “The wild goose has no intention of leaving a trace,” means that sentient beings do not depart. The line, “The water has no thought of retaining the reflected form,” means that the Buddhas do not arrive. Why?

Because if there were departure, there would be a path of departure. If there were a path of departure, there would be a lapse of time. How, then, could there be the phenomenon of ceasing here and immediately being born there, without the slightest interval in between?

If there were departure, there would be footprints. If there were footprints, there would be existence here and nonexistence there, and one could not be present everywhere. How, then, could there be the phenomenon of manifesting responsively throughout the ten directions and receiving and guiding beings simultaneously?

One should therefore know that the Dharma-nature is thus: neither existent nor nonexistent. How could it be fathomed by conjecture? These two lines explain the preceding statement: “Though departing, in truth there is no departure.” Yet in the Dharma teaching only non-departure is spoken of, while the analogy includes non-arrival as well; this is an accompanying mode of expression.

Question: Since it is said that sentient beings do not depart and that the Buddhas do not arrive, then being born in the Western Land must mean being born right in this land, for fundamentally there are no directions. Could it be merely a scene seen in a dream rather than a real realm?

Answer: Have you not read the line, “The reflection appears in the cold stream”? To say that the reflection appears in the cold water reveals that in the Western Land there truly are bodies born by transformation. Yet because the characteristics of coming and going, when sought, are fundamentally unobtainable, it is said that there is neither departure nor arrival. How can you be so confused? Abandoning evil deeds is the virtue of severance; accumulating the myriad practices is the virtue of wisdom. Abiding in the stages of the noble ones is the true cause of the forty-one stages. Sharing the Buddha’s knowledge and vision is the principle of opening, revealing, awakening to, and entering.

Explanation: This passage describes the harm caused by not being mindful of the Buddha. There are twelve classes: beings born from eggs, born from wombs, born from moisture, born by transformation, those with form, those without form, and so forth through those who are neither with perception nor without perception, as stated in the Surangama Sutra. These twelve classes are all included among sentient beings. Those who realize the four fruits of noble attainment and leave the three realms are not included among these twelve classes.

Question: Chan meditation and mindfulness of the Buddha are alike in that both bring an end to birth and death. Our only concern is that the nature of mind has not yet become clear. Once the nature of mind is clear, what place is not the Pure Land? The three realms are fundamentally empty; what is there to leave? The twelve classes are not real; what is there to be included among? Even the Buddha is unobtainable, much less sentient beings!

Answer: Your words are all mere words without meaning. You cling only to the momentary pleasure of argument and are utterly unaware of benefit and harm. Let me ask you: “Have you realized the four fruits?” Since you have not realized the four fruits, you are still an ordinary person. When this life ends, you will certainly assume another body. If you assume another body and are not born in the heavenly or human realms, you will be born in the three evil paths, never escaping the twelve classes. You cannot even transcend the Desire Realm, much less the Form Realm and the Formless Realm! You cannot even escape the three evil paths, much less attain Buddhahood!

Question: Yet sravakas who have realized the four fruits still retain their present bodies. Are they not included among the twelve classes?

Answer: Although sravakas who have realized the four fruits do not immediately relinquish their bodies, before long they will enter cessation. Upon entering cessation, they assume a body of the Dharma-nature and dwell in the Land of Expedient Means; thus they have already left the three realms. It is like an inn: a guest lodges there only briefly and will then depart. The members of that household certainly cannot regard the guest as one of their own family. The temporary reliance of sravakas upon the three realms is likewise.

Question: When teaching and transforming sentient beings, Buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest in the world and must necessarily rely upon a mother’s womb. Are they not also womb-born? Among which class, then, should they be placed?

Answer: To liberate sentient beings, Buddhas manifest as entering a mother’s womb. Since this is called a manifestation, although it appears to exist, it is not real. How, then, could they be judged to be actual sentient beings and included among the twelve classes? The Land of Quiescent Light and the Land of True Reward are fundamentally the dwelling places of Buddhas and bodhisattvas; their presence in this land is only a temporary manifestation.

Question: If so, why do the sutras and treatises refer collectively to the ten Dharma realms as sentient beings?

Answer: That is a general discussion. Because practitioners of the Three Vehicles, though they have left the three realms, still undergo the birth and death of transformation, and because Buddhas also possess the permanently abiding five skandhas, they may be designated in that way. Here, however, the general sense is set aside and the particular sense adopted. Only the segmented birth and death is discussed, not the birth and death of transformation or the permanently abiding five skandhas. Therefore, one cannot use the meaning found there to question the meaning here.

Question: Birth in the Western Pure Land is also birth by transformation. Is it not included among the twelve classes?

Answer: Although the Pure Land has birth by transformation, it is not a segmented body; it is purely transformation-born and therefore does not belong to the twelve classes. (“Segment” means limitation, while “division” means a bounded bodily form. Because the lifespan in that land is immeasurable, there is no bounded physical form; transformations are endless, and neither existence nor nonexistence is fixed. Therefore, there is no divided bodily form.) Moreover, upon birth in that land, one immediately enters the stream of the noble ones and proceeds directly to Buddhahood, never again assuming a body in a subsequent life. How could one regard this as belonging to the twelve classes?

Question: In the Chan school, those who attain awakening thoroughly perceive the nature. They neither leave nor enter the three realms; neither cast aside nor assume bodies among the twelve classes. Following conditions, they temporarily take on bodies and expediently liberate sentient beings. Why should this be impossible?

Answer: Although those who awaken have attained a measure of awakening, they have not severed delusions and karma. If they are born within the three realms, then upon entering a mother’s womb they undergo the obscuration between lives. All their former realizations are forgotten, and the cultivation of an entire lifetime is lost in an instant.

Is this not regrettable? Moreover, as long as karma remains, they will be dragged into other forms of existence. How could you remain sovereign over yourself and avoid being obstructed by evil retribution?

But if you are born in the Pure Land, draw near to the guiding teacher, and enter a noble stage, you will immediately ascend to the stage of Buddhahood. Compare this with rising and falling within the three realms and repeatedly entering and leaving mothers’ wombs. What is gained and what is lost?

You should reflect upon this yourself! Therefore, know that if one has not awakened, that is one matter; but once one has awakened, one should urgently seek birth in the Western Land. It is like someone who has obtained a treasure and must find a good place to bury and conceal it; only then can it be preserved for later use.

Otherwise, in the end it will all be lost. Attaining awakening and attaining rebirth in the Pure Land are likewise. One should know that, to escape birth and death, nothing surpasses the Dharma-gate of mindfulness of the Buddha.

As for being able to attain liberation in this very realm, such a thing is certainly impossible. I hope you will argue no further but calmly reflect upon this!

Root text: The two kinds of people are as contrary to one another as water contained in two separate gourds. Yet now, not knowing to reject one and choose the other is truly exceedingly foolish!

Explanation: This is the general conclusion to the preceding passage, leading into the discussion of rejection and acceptance. At the end of the Semblance Dharma age, how could it be only the views of people in the Chan and doctrinal schools[7] that are mutually opposed, like water in two separate gourds? Even among those who follow the same Dharma-gate and study under the same teacher, there are many whose knowledge and views differ.

For a long time now, right view has truly been difficult to encounter, while misguided companions are easy to approach. In discussing what should be accepted and rejected, one should understand the benefits and harms, as presented above. Faith and disparagement, gain and loss, benefit and harm have already been made perfectly clear.

What wise person would not know what to reject and what to accept? Alas! No one in the world today fails to seek benefit, yet people constantly lose what is beneficial; nor does anyone fail to avoid harm, yet people constantly encounter harm.

Why? Generally speaking, it is because their minds are not open and unburdened, their conduct is not genuine, and their knowledge and views are not right. Therefore, those who cultivate the mind must above all make their minds open and unburdened, make their conduct genuine, and possess right knowledge and right view.

They should take the sacred teachings as a bright mirror and rely upon teachers and companions for exhortation and encouragement. From beginning to end, they should always remain apprehensive, vigilant, and careful. Only then may they hope to avoid great calamity!

Otherwise, they will suffer harm throughout their lives while remaining placidly unaware. Even as death approaches, they will still fail to awaken for themselves, thereby wasting an entire life and harboring regret for a thousand years. All this results from not knowing what to reject and what to accept.

How utterly foolish! This is a statement of self-reproach. If it is said that a wise person is no better than the seawater within a gourd returning to the vast ocean, how could that be endured?

Notes:

[1] Đông Hải Nhược: A work composed by Liễu Tôn Nguyên during the Tang dynasty, included under “Miscellaneous Ming Titles” in fascicle 20 of the Liễu Hà Đông Collection, fascicle 586 of the Complete Prose of the Tang, and fascicle 19 of the Biographies of Lay Buddhists. It tells the story of a deity of the Eastern Sea (Đông Hải Nhã) who went up to the Mạnh Chư mound and found two gourds. They were filled with seawater mixed with excrement and swarming maggots.

The sea deity sealed them tightly and cast both gourds into the sea. Later, one gourd followed the sea deity’s instructions, drifted onto a deserted island, and broke open. The filthy excrement and maggots were strained out, allowing the seawater to return to the ocean.

The other gourd, however, was unaware of its own stench and continued to retain the seawater within itself; consequently, the seawater could not return to the vast ocean. In this allegory, the latter gourd signifies the view that the self is originally the Buddha, yet refuses to acknowledge that actual life is pervaded by the evils of the five defilements, asserting that there are no three realms, no ignorance, and so forth.

Clinging stubbornly to the standpoint of emptiness, it holds that there is neither good nor evil, neither cause nor effect, neither cultivation nor attainment, neither Buddha nor sentient beings, and so forth. The former gourd, by contrast, signifies following the instructions of a sage, knowing how to cultivate the Buddha-recollection samadhi, abandoning all evil, practicing all good, entering the stages of the noble ones, and becoming equal to the Buddha’s knowledge and vision.

[2] Hidden fire: Light emitted by organisms in the sea.

[3] Ocean of nature: The ocean of intrinsic nature, or true nature. For example, the principle-nature of true suchness is as deep and vast as the ocean; it is the realm of the Dharma body.

[4] Quiescent illumination: Stillness and illumination, referring respectively to the virtue of principle and the virtue of wisdom. Quiescence is the stillness of ultimate truth; illumination is the radiance of true wisdom.

[5] The four reliances of great beings: Four classes of persons whom sentient beings may trust and who are worthy of reliance: first, ordinary world-transcending practitioners who still retain afflictions—the Three Worthies and Four Wholesome Roots; second, stream-enterers and once-returners; third, non-returners; and fourth, arhats.

[6] The nonduality of phenomena and principle: Conditioned dharmas arising through causes and conditions are phenomena, while the unconditioned Dharma, neither arising nor ceasing, is principle. Although phenomena arise in dependence upon conditions, the principle that neither arises nor ceases is always present within them. Although principle is true suchness—quiescent, unmoving, still, and unconditioned—without phenomena arising through causes and conditions, principle could not be revealed. Therefore, phenomena are themselves principle, and principle is itself phenomena; this is called the nonduality of phenomena and principle.

[7] School and Teaching: This refers to the School and the Teaching. The Dharma taught by the Buddha in adaptation to the capacities of those to be transformed is called the Teaching, while the fundamental purport within that Teaching is called the School. Generally, the School denotes subjective, personal faith, whereas the Teaching denotes objective doctrine.