楞嚴經宗通

CHAPTER III: THE BUDDHA’S INSTRUCTION ON THE ESOTERIC TEACHING

I. INSTRUCTION ON ESTABLISHING A BODHIMANDA FOR CULTIVATION AND REALIZATION

Sutra: “Ananda! You asked about gathering in the mind. I have now said: ‘To enter samadhi, cultivate and study the wondrous Dharma-gate, and seek the path of bodhi, one must first observe these four rules of discipline, keeping them as pure as frost and snow, so that not even the slightest branches or leaves can arise of themselves. The three evils of the mind and the four evils of the mouth will then have no causes from which to arise.

“Ananda, if one does not violate those four rules of discipline, and the mind no longer conditions itself upon form, fragrance, taste, or touch, how could any demonic affair arise? If old habitual tendencies cannot be eradicated, instruct that person to single-mindedly uphold and recite my Mantra of the Radiant Light of the Unsurpassed Buddha-Crown, the ‘Maha Sitata Patra.’ This is the Heart Mantra of the Tathagata’s Invisible Crown-Sign, the unconditioned Buddha-mind. It issues forth from the crown and was proclaimed while seated upon a precious lotus dais.

“In a former life, you and the maiden Matangi formed causes and conditions throughout many kalpas. Your habitual tendency of affectionate love did not arise from merely one lifetime or one kalpa. Yet as soon as I proclaimed this mantra, she was forever freed from desire and became an arhat. She was a prostitute with no intention of cultivating, but solely through the mantra’s spiritual power secretly assisting her, she immediately attained the fruit beyond learning. How much more so will you, the shravakas in this assembly who seek the Supreme Vehicle, certainly attain Buddhahood? It is like casting dust into a favorable wind—what difficulty could there be?

“If, during the Dharma-ending age, someone wishes to sit in a bodhimanda and cultivate, that person must first observe the pure precepts of a bhikshu. One must choose as teacher a shramana whose precepts and conduct are supremely pure. If one does not encounter a truly pure member of the Sangha, the practitioner’s rules of discipline and precepts will certainly not be perfected.

“After the precepts have been perfected, put on new, clean robes, burn incense, and, in a secluded place, uphold and recite one hundred and eight times this mantra spoken from the Buddha-mind. Then establish the consecrated boundary and set up the bodhimanda. Pray that all the unsurpassed Tathagatas of the ten directions, presently dwelling in their respective lands, will emit the light of great compassion to illuminate the crown of one’s head.

“Ananda, in the Dharma-ending age, bhikshus, bhikshunis, laymen, and pure benefactors such as these should sever lust and craving from their minds, observe the Buddha’s pure precepts, enter the bodhimanda, and make the vow of bodhi. They should bathe whenever entering or leaving, practice the path throughout the six periods of the day and night, and give no thought to sleep or rest. After continuing in this way for three periods of seven days, I shall personally manifest before that person, rub the crown of their head in consolation, and enable them to attain awakening.”

Commentary: Present karma is easy to subdue because one can personally act contrary to it. Past karma is difficult to eradicate and requires the aid of spiritual power; therefore, it is said that the mantra can destroy habitual tendencies from previous lives. If habitual tendencies are like dust, they can easily be dispersed. This is due to the inconceivable secret assistance of spiritual power.

By means of the inconceivable wisdom of the Buddha, the inconceivable ignorance is dissolved. Thus, one who seeks the Supreme Vehicle will certainly attain accomplishment. This mantra seems almost to transcend precepts, samadhi, and wisdom and constitute a separate branch; yet if precepts, samadhi, and wisdom are not maintained with purity and rigor, no efficacious response can be obtained.

Therefore, the sutra says, “If one does not encounter a truly pure member of the Sangha, the practitioner’s rules of discipline and precepts will certainly not be perfected.” It also says, “Give no thought to sleep or rest. After continuing in this way for twenty-one days, I shall personally manifest and enable one to awaken.” This is what is meant by: “Contemplate it, contemplate it, and contemplate it again! When contemplation reaches the point where nothing more can be attained, one communes with ghosts and spirits.” The Buddha is originally emptiness, yet appears when the mind is pure.

When the water is clear, the moon appears; this principle is certainly so. When samadhi and wisdom reach their culmination, one communes with the spiritual influence of all Buddhas—how could they not manifest in form to offer consolation? If one sees such an appearance, one should simply contemplate emptiness and quiescence: if it is a Buddha, the figure will remain distinctly at ease; if it is a demon, it will vanish.

Those who cultivate meditative concentration must understand this.

Chan Master Yongming Yanshou practiced the Lotus Sutra Repentance at Guoqing Monastery. One night he saw a spirit carrying a halberd enter. The Master rebuked him, saying, “How can you enter here at will?”

The spirit replied, “Only after accumulating wholesome karma for a long time was I able to enter this place.”

At midnight, while the Master circumambulated the sacred image, he saw Samantabhadra before him, holding a lotus flower in his hand.

The Master also recited sutras for three years atop the Great Pillar of Mount Jinhua. During meditative contemplation, he saw Avalokiteshvara pour amrita into his mouth, whereupon he attained eloquence. Thereafter, he wrote the Records of the Source-Mirror and the Common Return of the Myriad Virtuous Practices, which circulated throughout the world.

Chan Master Mingjiao Qisong would place an image of Avalokiteshvara upon his head at night and recite the bodhisattva’s name, resting only after completing one hundred thousand recitations. He too saw Avalokiteshvara sprinkle him with amrita. From then on, he understood all manner of worldly scriptures and writings without having studied them. He wrote the Chart Establishing the Patriarchs of the Chan School, the Record of the True Lineage of Dharma Transmission, and the Treatise on the Origin of the Teaching. Emperor Renzong of the Song dynasty praised these works and issued an edict ordering their inclusion in the Buddhist Canon.

These are clear attestations of “rubbing the crown of one’s head in consolation and enabling one to awaken.”

II. INSTRUCTION ON ESTABLISHING A BODHIMANDA FOR CULTIVATION AND REALIZATION

Sutra: Ananda said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, I remember the Tathagata’s unsurpassed compassionate instruction. My mind has awakened of itself, and I know how to cultivate and attain realization, thereby accomplishing the path beyond learning. But when practitioners in the Dharma-ending age wish to establish a bodhimanda, how should they consecrate its boundaries in conformity with the pure regulations of all Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones?”

The Buddha said to Ananda, “Those in the Dharma-ending age who vow to establish a bodhimanda should first seek a strong white ox from the Snow Mountains. It feeds upon lush, fragrant grasses and drinks only the pure water of the Snow Mountains, so its dung is extremely fine and smooth. Take this dung, mix it with sandalwood powder, and coat the ground with it.

If the dung does not come from a white ox of the Snow Mountains, it will be foul and unclean and cannot be used to coat the ground. On a plain, one may instead dig away the surface soil and take yellow clay from a depth of five feet or more. Mix it with sandalwood, agarwood, storax, frankincense, turmeric, white resin, qingmu incense, lingling incense, spikenard, and jishi incense.

Sift and grind these ten substances into powder and mix them with the clay to make the floor of the ritual platform. Each side should measure one zhang and six chi, forming an octagonal platform.

“At the center of the platform place a bowl filled with dew gathered in the eighth lunar month. Arrange in the water whatever flowers and leaves are available. Take eight round mirrors and place one in each direction around the bowl of flowers. Outside the mirrors, arrange sixteen lotus flowers and sixteen incense burners, with flowers interspersed among them. Adorn all the incense burners and burn only agarwood in them, without allowing the flames to be seen.

“Place white ox’s milk in sixteen vessels. Using the milk, make cakes with granulated sugar, fried cakes, milk curds, storax, gingered honey, pure cream, and pure honey. Prepare sixteen of each and arrange them outside and around the lotus flowers as joint offerings to all Buddhas and great bodhisattvas. At each mealtime and at midnight, mix half a sheng of honey with one and a half sheng of milk curds (butter).

“In front of the platform, set up a separate small brazier. Boil Daulava incense [a coarse, red variety of agarwood] to produce fragrant water and use it to wash the charcoal. Kindle the charcoal until it glows brightly, pour the honey mixture upon it, and burn it until the smoke is exhausted as an offering to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

“Outside, on all four sides, hang banners and flowers everywhere. On the four walls within the ritual hall, display images of the Tathagatas of the ten directions and the bodhisattvas. At the center place images of Vairocana Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha, Maitreya Buddha, Akshobhya Buddha, and Amitabha Buddha. On either side place images of the Greatly Transforming Avalokiteshvara and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. On both sides of the doorway place images of Shakra, Brahma, Ushnisha, Lamdika, Kundali, Bhrikuti, the Four Heavenly Kings, and Vinayaka...

“Also suspend eight mirrors face downward in midair, facing the eight mirrors previously placed within the ritual platform, so that their images interpenetrate in layer upon layer.

“During the first seven days, with utmost sincerity bow in homage to the names of the Tathagatas of the ten directions, the great bodhisattvas, and the arhats. Throughout the six periods of each day, continually circumambulate the platform while reciting the Mantra, wholeheartedly practicing the Way, reciting it one hundred and eight times during each period.

“During the second seven days, single-mindedly make the bodhisattva vows, without any interruption of mind. Instructions concerning these vows have already been given in my Vinaya Pitaka.

“During the third seven days, throughout all twelve periods, exclusively uphold the Buddha’s Sitatapatra Mantra. On the seventh day, the Tathagatas of the ten directions will appear simultaneously where the reflected light of the mirrors intersects, and they will rub the crown of one’s head. Then, cultivating samadhi in that bodhimanda, one can enable practitioners in the Dharma-ending age to become pure and radiant in body and mind, like vaidurya.

“Ananda, if the precept master from whom the bhiksu receives the precepts, or any one of the ten certifying precept masters, is impure, such bodhimandas will, for the most part, fail to bring about accomplishment.

“After twenty-one days, sit upright and enter the settled retreat. After one hundred days, those of keen faculties will attain the fruit of stream-entry without leaving their seats. Even if the sacred fruit has not yet been accomplished in body and mind, they will nevertheless know with certainty that they will become Buddhas without error.

“You asked about the bodhimanda; this is how it should be established.”

The Comprehensive Commentary says: The essential point in establishing a bodhimanda is purity: outwardly, the rites must be complete; inwardly, sincerity must be utmost. When this is achieved, inner and outer are one, and mind and its objects are nondual. Commentators have each made strained comparisons, whether with faith or wisdom, virtue or practice. If that were so, it would suffice merely to maintain the bodhimanda of quiescent cessation—why would it be necessary to establish a ritual bodhimanda?

Only the ten kinds of incense each possess a meaning. White resin incense dispels foul vapors and treats sores and rashes, and thus resembles the incense of morality, which removes bodily unwholesomeness. Qingmu incense can awaken those under the influence of sleep-demons, and thus resembles the incense of vigor, which keeps one far from sleep and rest.

Frankincense can relieve pain, and thus resembles the incense of concentration, which sustains and preserves. Storax kills ghosts and dispels evil influences, and thus resembles the incense of patience, which subdues demons and ghosts. Lingling incense can preserve clear eyesight, and thus resembles the incense of wisdom, which brings illumination.

Sandalwood spreads its fragrance afar, and thus resembles the incense of generosity. Gansong incense can harmoniously blend the other fragrances, and thus resembles the incense of liberation, which harmoniously unites all virtues. Turmeric dispels poison and drives away evil influences, and thus resembles the incense of Dharma, which destroys darkness and breaks attachments.

Clove makes a person’s body fragrant, and thus resembles the incense of liberated knowledge and vision, which employs every skillful means to enter universally into all realms. Agarwood is like the incense of bodhi, reaching the ultimate profundity of the Dharma.

The Avatamsaka Sutra says: “When children of the Buddha apply incense, they should vow that the ten kinds of paramita incense will permeate everywhere.” This teaching has its basis here. The Buddhas and bodhisattvas do not necessarily partake of these offerings; rather, they wish practitioners to perfect both merit and wisdom. It is like the Buddha accepting Cunda’s final offering.

Since the Buddha took his meal at midday, midnight is chosen as the corresponding counterpart of midday. Midnight is also said to be the interval between the hours of Hai and Zi, when yang first begins to stir without departing from the fundamental nature. It is also like samadhi: neither of the two extremes provides a place of attachment.

This is the Middle Way, and therefore one should make offerings to the Buddha at that time.

On the twenty-first day, where the light of the mirrors intersects, one receives the Buddha’s touch upon the crown; this is precisely the realm in which principle and phenomena are unobstructed. When practitioners reach the stage of consecration, the Buddha gathers them in with his radiance. The boundaries of enlightenment interpenetrate, and their light shines upon one another; therefore, the analogy “where the light of the mirrors intersects” is most fitting. Thus, in one who attains the fruit, inner radiance shines forth, the body and mind become pure and luminous like vaidurya, and the wisdom of the nature shines universally and penetrates through to the Buddha’s wisdom. This is powerful evidence of the efficacy of the divine Mantra.

Even if they have not yet attained the fruit, they will nevertheless know with certainty that they will become Buddhas without error. This is because, by sitting upright in settled retreat and eliminating defilements, they gain at least a glimpse of the perfectly full and luminous essence of mind, which is nondual with the Buddha. Only because habits from previous lives bind them are they not yet able to break through and gain release with ease; nevertheless, after the passing of months and years, there is no one who will not attain accomplishment.

Vinaya Master Lingzhi rebuilt the Wutai Ordination Platform at Mingzhou. When the platform was completed, an old man of extraordinary bearing, with snow-white eyebrows and beard, came forward and said, “This disciple has three luminous pearls and wishes to offer them in celebration of the completion of the Ordination Platform.” Having spoken, he vanished. The Master placed the luminous pearls at the very center of the platform, whereupon they shone even more brightly.

Afterward, the presiding master invited ten masters to inaugurate the conferral of the precepts. Three days later, at midnight, a monk who ascended the platform suddenly saw the radiance of one pearl shine transparently outward, while within it appeared the figure of the Youth Sudhana. Astonished, the monk cried out.

Everyone arose, saw the apparition, gathered around, and bowed in homage. Each night the Sangha became ever more earnest in its worship. Within the pearl there appeared at times a golden-colored Buddha, or six-armed Guanyin, or purple bamboo, or green willow, or wondrous trees and rocks, or kalavinka birds flying and dancing to the left and right, or a moon-shaped canopy, or dragon spirits presenting pearls.

Many kinds of miraculous transformations appeared. All who saw or heard of them declared them exceedingly rare.

Nevertheless, when purity reaches its utmost and one’s mind is like the Buddha’s mind, emitting light and manifesting auspicious signs are also ordinary occurrences.

III. PROCLAMATION OF THE DIVINE MANTRA

Sutra: Ananda bowed at the Buddha’s feet and said, “Ever since I left the household life, I have relied upon the Buddha’s loving-kindness. Because I sought extensive learning, I have not yet realized the unconditioned. When I encountered the bondage of the Brahma Heaven’s deviant spell, although my mind remained lucid, my strength was not under my own control.

Through the intervention of Manjusri, I was released. Although I received the secret aid of the Tathagata’s divine Mantra of the Buddha’s Crown, I myself have not yet heard it. I pray that the Greatly Compassionate One will proclaim it once again, mercifully rescuing the practitioners in this assembly, as well as those still revolving in samsara in future ages, so that through the Buddha’s secret sounds they may gain liberation in body and mind.”

At that time, everyone in the great assembly bowed in homage and waited to hear the Tathagata’s secret phrases.

Then the Blessed One emitted from the crown of his head a radiance adorned with a hundred treasures. From within that radiance emerged a precious thousand-petaled lotus, within which sat a transformation body of the Tathagata. From the crown of that Tathagata’s head issued ten rays of radiance adorned with a hundred treasures. Within each ray there appeared throughout the ten directions as many Vajra Secret-Trace Guardians as the sands of ten Ganges Rivers, supporting mountains and holding vajras, filling the realm of space. The assembly gazed upward, mingling awe with joy. They entreated the Buddha to extend his compassionate protection and single-mindedly listened as the radiant Tathagata manifested from the Invisible Crown proclaimed the divine Mantra.

The Comprehensive Commentary says: Why was the divine Mantra able to release Ananda immediately? Because the radiant Tathagata manifested from the Invisible Crown was precisely a manifestation of the Wondrously Profound, All-Sustaining King Surangama Samadhi. Since it eternally preserves the serene nature, it dissolves whatever divides that serene nature; since it is adamantine, it shatters whatever is not adamantine.

Just as fire melts ice, there is naturally a subtle principle by which the superior overcomes the inferior. Next, when a Vajra Bodhisattva’s mind is utterly pure, he can silently and swiftly open the other person’s consciousness, whereupon that person’s mind can recollect and attain knowledge of past lives. How much more so with the Tathagata’s divine power, which pervades worlds as numerous as the sands of the Ganges: everywhere there is radiance, and everywhere there is liberation.

All kinds of deviant spells are like specks of snow falling into a blazing furnace—they instantly dissolve.

The Court Attendant Hao Yue asked Patriarch Changsha Cen, “What is a dharani?”

Master Sha pointed to the right side of the meditation platform and said, “The monastics over there can recite it.”

He asked, “Can anyone else recite it?”

Master Sha then pointed to the left side of the meditation platform and said, “The monastics over there can also recite it.”

He asked, “Why do I not hear it?”

Master Sha said, “Has the Venerable not heard it said, ‘True recitation makes no sound; true hearing hears nothing’?”

He asked, “If so, does sound not enter the nature of the Dharma Realm?”

Master Sha said, “To seek seeing apart from form is not Right View. To seek hearing apart from sound is deviant hearing.”

He asked, “What does it mean that ‘not departing from form is Right View, and not departing from sound is True Hearing’?”

Master Sha instructed him with this verse:

“Filling the eyes, it is originally not form;

Filling the ears, it is originally not sound.

Manjusri is ever before the eyes;

Avalokitesvara seals the faculty of hearing.

Understand that the three Bodies are originally one essence;

Realize that the four Wisdoms are originally the same Suchness.

Clearly manifest is the nature of the Dharma Realm,

Where there is neither Buddha nor person.”

Thus we know that what Patriarch Changsha called the nature of the Dharma Realm is precisely the recitation of the dharani mantra proclaimed in accordance with every circumstance. Since therein there is truly neither Buddha nor person, where could demonic affairs arise?

IV. REVEALING THAT THIS IS THE HEART MANTRA OF THE TATHAGATAS OF THE TEN DIRECTIONS

Sutra: “Ananda, this is the Buddha’s Crown, the Radiant Assembly, the Sitātapatra—the secret gatha of subtle and wondrous phrases—which gives birth to all Buddhas of the ten directions. Through this Heart Mantra, the Tathagatas of the ten directions attain unsurpassed, perfect, universal enlightenment. Holding this Heart Mantra, the Tathagatas of the ten directions subdue all demons and suppress all heterodox paths.

Riding upon this Heart Mantra, the Tathagatas of the ten directions sit upon precious lotus blossoms and responsively appear throughout lands as numerous as motes of dust. Keeping this Heart Mantra within their mouths, the Tathagatas of the ten directions turn the Great Dharma Wheel throughout lands as numerous as motes of dust. Upholding this Heart Mantra, the Tathagatas of the ten directions universally bestow predictions by anointing the crowns of beings; even when the fruition of their own cultivation has not yet been accomplished, they too receive predictions from the Buddhas throughout the ten directions.

Relying upon this Heart Mantra, the Tathagatas of the ten directions constantly and universally rescue beings throughout the ten directions from such sufferings as those of the hells, hungry ghosts, and animals; blindness, deafness, muteness, and speech impediments; the suffering of association with those one hates; the suffering of separation from those one loves; the suffering of not obtaining what one seeks; and the suffering of the raging five skandhas.

Calamities great and small, whether natural or unforeseen, are simultaneously dispelled. Calamities from bandits, warfare, rulers, imprisonment, floods, winds, fires, hunger, thirst, poverty, and destitution vanish in response to one’s invocation. Following this Heart Mantra, the Tathagatas of the ten directions serve spiritual benefactors throughout the ten directions and, in all four modes of deportment, make offerings according to their wishes; within Dharma assemblies of Tathagatas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, they are honored as Great Dharma Princes.

By virtue of this Heart Mantra, the Tathagatas of the ten directions gather in and protect their kin throughout the ten directions, enabling those of the Lesser Vehicle to hear the secret treasury without becoming frightened. Reciting this Heart Mantra, the Tathagatas of the ten directions accomplish unsurpassed enlightenment, sit beneath the Bodhi tree, and enter Great Nirvana. Transmitting this Heart Mantra, the Tathagatas of the ten directions, after their extinction, entrust the work of the Buddhadharma so that it may be upheld to ultimate completion; by rigorously purifying the precepts, purity will certainly be attained.

“If I were to speak of this Buddha’s Crown, the Radiant Assembly, the Sitātapatra Mantra, then even if my voice continued without cease and no sentence or phrase were repeated, from morning until evening throughout kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, I still could not reach the end. This mantra is also called the Crown of the Tathagata. You who are still in training and have not yet ended samsara may sincerely resolve to seek the fruition of arhatship, but if you do not uphold this mantra, you cannot possibly sit in the bodhimanda and cause body and mind to remain far removed from all demonic affairs.

Commentary: The spiritual mantra of the Buddha’s Crown is inconceivable. Although it is said to consist in upholding various names, it is like a secret command in an army, silently tallying and corresponding, and also like using the waters of the great ocean to extinguish a tiny flame. All demonic affairs are created by the mind. Now, when they are cleansed away by the inconceivable realm of the Buddhas, it is like using the Mind-King to suppress the thieves of the mind: they are certain to be extinguished immediately.

The Supreme Vehicle is secretly cultivated and secretly realized, without reliance upon words; this itself is ultimate reality. Therefore, it is said to give birth to all Buddhas of the ten directions. First, it enables one to attain perfect, universal enlightenment.

Second, it subdues demons, heterodox paths, and deviant teachings. Third, it enables responsive manifestations throughout lands as numerous as motes of dust. Fourth, it turns the Great Dharma Wheel.

Fifth, it enables one to receive a prediction from a Buddha. Sixth, it rescues beings from all sufferings. Seventh, it enables one to become a Dharma Prince.

Eighth, it gathers in and protects one’s kin. Ninth, it enables one to enter Great Nirvana. Tenth, it enables one to entrust the work of the Buddhadharma.

All these are accomplished through this Heart Mantra. If this is not the One Supreme Path, what could possibly surpass it? Ultimately, the meaning of the sutra’s title does not go beyond this.

Attaining perfect, universal enlightenment means entering the Ocean of Universal Knowledge. Subduing demons, heterodox paths, and deviant teachings means that deviant spells are dissolved. Responsively appearing throughout lands as numerous as motes of dust means being the Wondrous Lotus-Blossom King.

Turning the Great Dharma Wheel means being the Unsurpassed Precious Seal. Bestowing predictions by anointing the crown means being the Anointing-Crown Phrases. Rescuing beings from all sufferings means delivering Ananda and the bhiksuni Matangi.

Being a Great Dharma Prince means embodying the myriad practices of all bodhisattvas. Gathering in and protecting one’s kin means rescuing and guarding one’s relatives. Entering Great Nirvana means the Surangama Samadhi.

Entrusting the work of the Buddhadharma means the Definitive Meaning of Cultivation and Realization.

This Heart Mantra encompasses so many meanings. Since all Tathagatas of the ten directions are born from it, it is the Dharani Mantra of the Mother of the Buddhas of the Ten Directions. Until this is thoroughly understood, every sort of attachment to views swarms forth like bees from a broken hive, turning into demons and heterodox paths; beings create karma without cease and undergo all manner of suffering.

In this respect, all lands as numerous as motes of dust are alike. To understand this thoroughly is to become a Dharma Prince, receive a prediction from a Buddha, be entrusted with the work of the Buddhadharma, and turn the Great Dharma Wheel, not only liberating oneself but also liberating others. Thus, from beginning to end, it is the accomplishment of Buddhahood.

The ultimate purpose of those who uphold this mantra is to see their nature and become Buddhas. How could ordinary secret phrases be compared with it?

Patriarch Baizhang said, “If, at present, one harbors even the slightest thought of craving or defilement regarding any existent or nonexistent dharma, then even if one’s feet are treading upon lotus blossoms, it is still the work of demons. If one clings to the notion that one is originally pure and originally liberated, that one is oneself a Buddha and understands Chan, then one belongs to the heterodox path of naturalism.

If one clings to the notion that realization is attained and cultivation accomplished through causes and conditions, then one belongs to the heterodox path of causality. Clinging to existence belongs to the path of eternalism. Clinging to nonexistence belongs to the path of annihilationism.

Clinging to both existence and nonexistence belongs to the path of extreme views. Clinging to neither existence nor nonexistence belongs to the heterodox path of views of emptiness, also called the heterodox path of delusion.”

If, at present, one does not give rise to views of Buddha, views of nirvana, and so forth; if one is utterly without all views of existence and nonexistence, and also without a view of having no views, this is called Right View. To be without all that is heard, while also being without any notion of not hearing, is called Right Hearing. This is the subjugation of heterodox paths. When the demons of ordinary beings cannot approach, it is the Great Spiritual Mantra. When the demons of the Two Vehicles cannot approach, it is the Great Radiant Mantra. When the demons of bodhisattvas cannot approach, it is the Unsurpassed Mantra. Even when the demons of Buddhahood cannot approach, it is the Unequalled Mantra, Equal to the Unequalled.

First, transforming the deceitful and irascible asura beings; second, transforming the deceitful and irascible asuras of the Two Vehicles; third, transforming the deceitful and irascible bodhisattva asuras. These are the three transformations of the Pure Land. All conditioned and unconditioned dharmas, whether ordinary or sacred, may be likened to gold ore, while one’s own True Suchness may be likened to gold.

When the gold is separated from the ore, pure gold is revealed. If someone suddenly seeks money or treasure, the gold is transformed into money and given to that person. It is also like pure rice flour containing no earth or sand: if someone asks for cakes, the flour is transformed into cakes and given to that person.

Again, it is like a wise minister who understands the king’s intention. If the king wishes to travel and asks for saindhava [which has four meanings: salt, a vessel, water, and a horse], the minister immediately presents a horse. When the king is eating and asks for saindhava, the minister immediately presents salt....

The foregoing analogies indicate one who skillfully penetrates the profound purport and therefore responds to circumstances without error. This is also called the Lion of the Six Absolutes.

Patriarch Zhigong said: “Let others perform a hundred kinds of contrivance; bodhisattvas of the Ten Bhūmis are neither hungry nor full, enter water without drowning, and enter fire without burning. Even if they wished to burn, they could not be burned! Ordinary people are governed and constrained by fixed measures. The Buddha is not so: entering fire, he is not burned, yet if he wishes to burn, he burns; entering water, he does not drown, yet if he wishes to sink, he sinks! This is because the Buddha can freely employ the four great elements.”

Ah, upon reaching the stage of Buddhahood, one can freely employ the four great elements; then the Nature itself is the Mantra, and the Mantra itself is the Nature—what could fail to be accomplished? This is truly inconceivable. In the Central Plains, when such things occur, only mantras can subdue deviant demons. Yet Patriarch Baizhang now says, “When no kinds of demons come, that itself is the Mantra.” This is truly rich in meaning.

V. THE POWER OF THE DIVINE MANTRA TO ELIMINATE KARMIC OBSTRUCTIONS, CREATE MERIT, AND ABIDE IN TRUE PERMANENCE

Sutra: “Ananda, throughout the worlds, according to what is available in each country where beings dwell—tree bark, flower petals, pattra leaves, white paper, or white silk—if this Mantra is written out and placed in an incense pouch, and if a person whose mind is dull and who is not yet able to recite or remember it wears it upon the body or enshrines the written Mantra in the home, you should know that throughout that person’s life, none of the various poisons will be able to cause harm.

“Ananda, I shall now explain this Mantra to you again, so that it may protect and rescue the world, grant great fearlessness, and enable beings to accomplish world-transcending wisdom.

“After my nirvana, if beings in the Dharma-ending age recite it themselves or teach others to recite it, you should know that beings who uphold and recite it in this way cannot be burned by fire, drowned by water, or harmed by mild or virulent poisons. Even the malicious spells of devas, nagas, ghosts, spirits, sprites, and demons will be powerless against them, and their minds will attain Right Absorption. All talismans and spells, poisonous insects, poisonous medicines, poisonous metals, poisonous substances of the earth, poisonous plants, insects and snakes, and the myriad kinds of toxic vapors will turn into the flavor of amrita upon entering such a person’s mouth.

All evil stars and malicious ghosts and spirits that harm people will be unable to give rise to a single evil thought toward that person. Vinayaka and the other vicious ghost kings, together with their retinues, will receive profound kindness from that person and will constantly support, protect, and shelter them.

“Ananda, you should know that this Mantra is constantly attended by eighty-four thousand nayutas of Ganges-sands of kotis of clans of Vajragarbha Bodhisattvas, each accompanied by assemblies of vajra beings as their retinues, who attend it day and night. Even if a being’s mind is still scattered and has not yet entered samadhi, so long as that person remembers this Mantra in the heart and upholds it with the mouth, the Vajra Kings will constantly remain beside that person.

How much more will this be true of one who has resolutely brought forth the resolve for bodhi! Those Vajragarbha King Bodhisattvas will sincerely and invisibly assist that person and awaken their spiritual consciousness, enabling them at the proper time to recall eighty-four thousand Ganges-sands of kalpas, comprehending them all clearly and without doubt. From the very first kalpa until their final body, in life after life they will never be born among yakshas, rakshasas, putanas, kataputanas, kumbhandas, pishachas, or other hungry ghosts, whether visible or invisible, with perception or without perception, nor in any such evil destinies.

If this good man reads or recites this Divine Mantra, writes it out or has it copied, wears or safeguards it, or makes offerings to it in various ways, then kalpa after kalpa he will not be born in unhappy, impoverished, or lowly circumstances.

“Even though these beings themselves may not have performed meritorious deeds, the merit of the Tathagatas of the ten directions will surely be transferred to them. Therefore, throughout asamkhyeyas of ineffable, ineffable kalpas, they will always be born in the same place as all the Buddhas. Their immeasurable merits will gather together like a cluster of aksha fruits, and together they will cultivate under mutual influence in one place, never to be dispersed.

Thus, it can cause those who have broken the precepts to regain purity in the roots of precepts; cause those who have not received the precepts to receive them; cause those who lack diligence to attain diligence; cause those who lack wisdom to attain wisdom; cause those who are impure swiftly to attain purity; and cause those who do not observe fasting and precepts naturally to fulfill them. Ananda, when this good man upholds this Mantra, even if he violated prohibitory precepts before receiving and upholding it, after he upholds the Mantra, all offenses of breaking the precepts, whether grave or light, will be extinguished at once.

Even if he has previously drunk alcohol, eaten the five pungent plants, or consumed various impure substances, all Buddhas, bodhisattvas, vajra beings, immortals, devas, ghosts, and spirits will not regard it as a fault. Even if he wears unclean and tattered clothing, his every movement, whether walking or standing, will be equally pure. Even if he neither establishes a mandala nor enters a Dharma place, and does not perform the prescribed practice, yet upholds and recites this Mantra, his merit will be identical to that of entering the mandala and performing the practice, without any difference.

If one has committed the grave offenses of the Five Rebellious Acts, the Uninterrupted Hell, or the Four Defeats or Eight Defeats of bhikshus and bhikshunis, then after reciting this Mantra, all such heavy karma will certainly be completely extinguished, like a strong wind scattering a heap of sand until not a trace remains. Ananda, if beings have never repented of all their grave and minor sinful obstructions accumulated throughout immeasurable and countless kalpas until now, but are presently able to read and recite this Mantra, wear and preserve it upon their bodies, or keep it in their dwelling places, such as camps, houses, gardens, or lodgings, then all their previously accumulated karma will dissolve like snow under boiling water.

Before long, they will all awaken to the Patience with the Non-Arising of Dharmas.

Commentary: This passage speaks of enabling beings to accomplish world-transcending wisdom, whose essential point is simply awakening to the Patience with the Non-Arising of Dharmas. People fail to awaken to non-arising because accumulated karma creates obstructions. Nothing surpasses killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and false speech in accumulating karma; these are called the Four Defeats. For bhikshunis, touching, arranging meetings, concealing offenses, and following are added, making what are called the Eight Defeats.

The Vinaya contains five classes of offenses corresponding to the five punishments of the secular world. First, parajika corresponds to the death penalty; second, sanghavasesa corresponds to exile; third, payattika corresponds to penal servitude; fourth, pratidesaniya corresponds to punishment by the staff; fifth, dushkrita corresponds to punishment by whipping.

If one encounters karma from a former life, then water, fire, insects, and snakes may all cause harm. Although devas, nagas, and malevolent stars have no intention of harming people, once one comes into contact with the influences of such beings, one cannot escape calamity; this too is a response evoked by former karma. Karma may be heavy or light, and its retribution is likewise heavy or light.

If one sinks into the evil destinies and is born in joyless places, one will not even hear the name of a Buddha, much less attain the Patience of Non-Arising. Yet merely upholding this Mantra can dissolve former karma and deliver one from all kinds of poisonous and harmful afflictions. For one who has resolutely brought forth the bodhi-mind, it is like wind blowing away sand or boiling water poured upon snow—what could one seek and not obtain?

Those who have not attained Right Absorption immediately attain Right Absorption; those who have not yet been able to practice the Six Paramitas immediately attain the Six Paramitas; those who have not attained Knowledge of Past Lives immediately attain Knowledge of Past Lives. They are always born together with the Buddhas, cultivating under their influence in the same place; thereby, awakening to the Patience of Non-Arising is truly easy.

The merit and virtue of upholding this Mantra are boundless and inconceivable.

The nun and Chan master Wuzhuo Miaozong heard Patriarch Dahui raise the causal circumstances of Master Yaoshan, who first went to meet Patriarch Shitou and afterward visited Master Mazu, whereupon she suddenly awakened.

When Patriarch Dahui descended from the teaching seat, the layman Feng Gongji followed him to the abbot’s quarters and said, “I understand the case that the Venerable Master has just raised.”

Patriarch Dahui said, “How so?”

He replied, “Thus will not do either—tô rô ta bà ha! Not thus will not do either—tất rị ta bà ha! Ultimately, neither thus nor not thus will do—tô rô tất rị ta bà ha!”

Patriarch Dahui related this matter to the nun Miaozong.

The nun said, “I have only ever seen Guo Xiang’s commentary on the Zhuangzi. Yet those who understood it instead said that it was Zhuangzi who wrote a commentary on Guo Xiang.”

Patriarch Dahui found her words extraordinary. He then raised the story of Shitou meeting the old woman and questioned her about it. The nun Miaozong replied with a verse:

“A single bamboo-leaf boat floats in how many directions?

Raising the oars and dancing the paddle, distinct notes of gong and shang.

Cloudy mountains and the moon upon the sea are wholly cast away;

She passes beyond Zhuang Zhou’s long dream of the butterfly.”

Patriarch Dahui then ceased questioning her.

Mr. Feng Gong doubted that the nun Miaozong’s awakening had reached the root. Later, when he passed through Wuxi, he had scarcely reached her boat when he asked, “An old woman gave birth to seven children. Six failed to meet one who knew their voice; even the remaining one could not be disposed of, so she threw it into the water! When the old master Dahui said that the practitioner understood, what did he mean?”

The nun replied, “When one penetrates exhaustively from above, one reaches the place of Ultimate Reality!”

Mr. Feng was greatly astonished.

Was the nun Miaozong’s awakening to the Patience of Non-Arising the Mantra? Or was it not the Mantra? How was it that every breath she uttered and every word she spoke could not easily be measured or fathomed?

VI. THE MANTRA BESTOWS WISH-FULFILLING MERIT AND BLESSINGS UPON ONESELF AND THE ENTIRE NATION, AND PROTECTS BEGINNING PRACTITIONERS

Sutra: “Moreover, Ananda, if a woman who has no children wishes to conceive and can sincerely recollect and recite this Mantra, or wear upon her person this Sitatapatra Mantra, she will then give birth to sons or daughters endowed with wisdom, merit, and virtue. Those who seek longevity will attain longevity. Those who wish their karmic rewards to be swiftly perfected will swiftly attain perfection. The same applies to their physical life, appearance, and health. After their lives end, they will be born according to their vows in lands throughout the ten directions. They will certainly not be born in remote, lowly places, much less among beings of strange forms.

“Ananda, if countries, provinces, districts, villages, or hamlets suffer famine, pestilence, or the calamity of bandits, this Spiritual Mantra may be written out and hung at the four gates of the city, in places of worship, or upon banners. The beings dwelling there should then reverently welcome it, bow in homage, and wholeheartedly make offerings to this Mantra. If every person wears it upon the body or keeps it in the home, all calamities and misfortunes will be utterly dispelled.

“Ananda, wherever this Mantra is present, devas and nagas rejoice, the rains fall in season, the winds are favorable, the crops are abundant, and the people dwell in peace and happiness. This Mantra can also subdue all malevolent stars that manifest ominous portents in various regions, causing every calamitous obstruction to cease. People will not meet violent or premature deaths; their bodies will not be bound in chains, fetters, cangues, or shackles; they will sleep peacefully by day and night and will never have evil dreams.

“Ananda, in this Saha world there are eighty-four thousand calamitous and malevolent stars. Twenty-eight great malevolent stars are their leaders, and eight great malevolent stars preside over them, manifesting many phenomena throughout the world and bringing many kinds of extraordinary calamities upon sentient beings. Wherever this Mantra is present, all these calamities will be entirely dispelled. Within a boundary extending twelve yojanas, all ominous portents of disaster will forever be unable to enter.

“Therefore, the Tathagata proclaims and teaches this Mantra to protect beginning practitioners in the future, enabling them to enter samadhi, become spacious and empty in body and mind, and attain great peace and security. They will not be disturbed or harmed by any demons, ghosts, or spirits, nor by grievances and karmic debts accumulated from beginningless time. You, the learners in this assembly, and practitioners in the future should rely upon the mandala as I have taught it, uphold the precepts in accordance with the Dharma, and encounter as precept master a member of the Sangha who is pure.

If you harbor no doubt or regret concerning this Heart-Mantra, yet such a good man fails to attain Penetration of Mind within this very body born of his parents, then the Tathagatas of the ten directions have spoken falsely!”

The Comprehensive Meaning: This passage speaks of rescuing and protecting the world so that it may attain Great Fearlessness. Its general meaning resembles the four inconceivable wondrous virtues of Avalokiteshvara: those who seek a son obtain a son; those who seek a daughter obtain a daughter; those who seek longevity obtain longevity; and those who seek fulfillment obtain fulfillment. Yet its essential aim is to return to Penetration of Mind.

Penetration of Mind does not go beyond three meanings. First is realization of the fruit: by sitting upright in a settled retreat for one hundred days, one attains the fruit of stream-entry. Second is lucid understanding: one personally knows with certainty that one will become a Buddha without fail.

Third is Knowledge of Past Lives: one knows all things thoroughly and no longer has doubts or delusions. This Penetration of Mind is itself attained from within the inconceivable; how much more inconceivable, then, are the various miraculous responses that avert disasters and subdue afflictions?

In the thirteenth year of the Daye era, the Fourth Patriarch Daoxin led his disciples to Jizhou, where they encountered bandits who besieged the city for seven weeks—seventy days—without withdrawing. Everyone was afraid. Out of compassion, the Patriarch instructed them to recite Maha Prajnaparamita. At that time, when the bandits looked up at the city walls, they seemed to see divine troops. They therefore said to one another, “There must be an extraordinary person within the city; it cannot be attacked.” They then gradually withdrew.

Likewise, Venerable Chen of Muzhou, while residing at Kaiyuan Monastery, wove straw sandals each day to support his mother and was therefore known as Chen the Straw-Sandal Maker. When bandits entered the region, the Patriarch hung a single straw sandal at the city gate. The bandits tried to cast it aside, but even with all their strength they could not move it. They exclaimed, “This region of Muzhou has a Great Sage,” and then abandoned the city and withdrew. The people within the city were spared calamity.

This point is indeed perfectly clear. As for other such accounts, they are recorded in the Biographies of Eminent Monks in numbers too great to recount. Likewise, when all malevolent stars manifest ominous signs in various regions, these are like the false perceptions arising from collective karma discussed in the preceding passage: each is brought about by karmic influence and does not arise without cause.

There are eighty-four thousand kinds of malevolent stars, corresponding to the equally numerous karmic afflictions of sentient beings. In response to what people do below, transformations appear in the heavens above. The principal celestial configurations comprise the twenty-eight constellations, together with the residual influences of the seminal essences of the five phases.

All receive the quintessence of the five phases and revolve through space. Whenever their nature is opposed, calamities arise in response, such as the Hui, Bo, and Feiliu stars [comets], Taibai, Chiyou, and so forth. The power of this Mantra is vast in loving-kindness, utterly pure, and supremely wholesome; therefore, no harmful influence can approach it, and it can eliminate strange calamities from hundreds of miles away.

Chan Master Nanyue Huairang was born on the eighth day of the fourth month in the second year of the Yifeng era of the Tang dynasty. In response, a stream of white qi appeared in the sky over the region of Ankang.

When the Grand Astrologer saw it, he reported it to Emperor Gaozong.

The emperor asked, “What auspicious sign is this?”

He replied, “It signifies a Dharma vessel of the nation, one who will remain unstained by worldly glory.”

The emperor then ordered Han Jie, the governor of Jingzhou, to go personally and inquire after the family’s well-being.

Whenever wholesome and unwholesome deeds evoke responses, auspicious and ominous signs are utterly distinct. Who would dare say that this Mantra is insufficient to eradicate calamities entirely?

VII. THE DHARMA-PROTECTING DEITIES VOW TO GRANT EXTENSIVE PROTECTION

Sutra: When the Buddha had spoken these words, immeasurable hundreds of thousands of vajra beings in the assembly simultaneously joined their palms and bowed before the Buddha, saying, “Just as the Buddha has taught, we shall wholeheartedly protect those who cultivate bodhi in this way.”

At that time, Brahma, Lord Shakra, and the Four Great Heavenly Kings simultaneously bowed before the Buddha and said, “If there truly are good people who cultivate and study in this way, we shall protect them with the utmost sincerity, enabling them to practice throughout their lives according to their aspirations.”

There were also immeasurable great yaksha generals; rakshasa kings; kings of the putanas, kumbhandas, and pishachas; great Vinayaka ghost kings; and ghost commanders. They too joined their palms and bowed before the Buddha, saying, “We also vow to protect and uphold these people so that their resolve for bodhi may swiftly reach fulfillment.”

There were also immeasurable celestial princes of the sun and moon, gods of wind, rain, clouds, and thunder, deities of lightning, the annual巡行 officials, the retinues of the ruling stars, and others. They too bowed at the Buddha’s feet in the assembly and said, “We also shall protect these practitioners, enabling them to establish the bodhimanda and attain fearlessness.”

There were also immeasurable mountain spirits, sea spirits, all manner of numinous beings among the myriad things on land, in the air, and beneath the waters, the King of the Wind Spirits, and gods of the Formless Realm. They simultaneously bowed their heads before the Tathagata and said, “We also shall protect these practitioners so that they attain bodhi and remain forever free from demonic disturbances.”

At that time, eighty-four thousand nayutas, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, kotis of Vajra Treasury King Bodhisattvas rose from their seats in the great assembly, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said, “World-Honored One, we attained bodhi through the accomplishment of our practice long ago, yet we do not abide in nirvana. We constantly accompany this Mantra in order to rescue those in the Dharma-ending age who practice correctly and cultivate samadhi.

World-Honored One, practitioners who cultivate the mind and seek right concentration in this way—whether they are in the bodhimanda, practicing walking meditation, or even wandering through villages with distracted minds—will always be followed, attended, and protected by our followers. Even if Mara, the Demon King, or Maheshvara Heaven should seek an opportunity to cause disruption, they will ultimately be unable to do so.

Lesser ghosts and spirits will remain more than ten yojanas away from these people, unless they themselves have resolved to cultivate meditation. World-Honored One, if such evil demons or demonic retinues seek to disturb these good people, we shall use our jeweled pestles to smash their heads to dust and ashes, always enabling these practitioners to cultivate according to their aspirations.”

The Commentary says: Those who uphold this Mantra are protected by the deities. Those who uphold this Mantra swiftly attain bodhi. Those who uphold this Mantra remain forever free from demonic disturbances. The vow-power of the Vajra Treasury Bodhisattvas is truly exceedingly profound: they do not abide in nirvana but constantly accompany this Mantra to rescue and protect those who practice correctly in the Dharma-ending age; hence demons find no opportunity to cause disruption.

The Obstructing Demon King led his retinue in following Bodhisattva Vajra Sameness for one thousand years, seeking the place from which he arose, but could not find it. Then one day, he suddenly perceived it and asked, “Upon what do you abide, that although I have sought the place from which you arise for a thousand years, I have been unable to find it?”

The Bodhisattva said, “I abide without relying on abiding in existence, and I abide without relying on non-abiding. Thus do I abide.”

Patriarch Fayan said, “Because the Obstructing Demon King could not see Vajra Sameness, he followed him. But did Vajra Sameness see the Demon King?”

Patriarch Miaoxi said, “If he could not find the place from which he arose, then what was this business of following him for a thousand years?

“Vajra Sameness said, ‘I abide without relying on abiding in existence, and I abide without relying on non-abiding. Thus do I abide.’ This is nothing but mutual deception carried to an extreme!”

Patriarch Fayan said, “Because the Obstructing Demon King could not see Vajra Sameness, he followed him. But did Vajra Sameness see the Demon King?”

To judge the matter in this way is also to look at the hole before driving in the wedge!

Now, do you not know the place from which Miaoxi arose? Follow behind him and shout, “What sleep-talk are you uttering?” Examining Miaoxi’s judgment in this way, it is indeed something that Mara could spy upon yet never perceive! But since Mara painfully sought the place from which he arose, even following him for a thousand years, Mara too had resolved to cultivate meditation. Therefore, he was not at all distant from Bodhisattva Vajra Sameness, and Bodhisattva Vajra Sameness also wished to teach him the Dharma. Such matters are beyond the reckoning of ordinary people.

From the invitation to enter the “flower-adorned house” in Fascicle Four up to this point is collectively called the section on Cultivating the Path. The text that follows separately constitutes the section on Realizing the Fruition.

CHAPTER IV: REVEALING THE STAGES OF CULTIVATION AND REALIZATION

Section 1: Revealing the Two Causes of Inversion and the Three Gradual Stages

I. ANANDA REQUESTS AN EXPLANATION OF THE NAMES AND SEQUENTIAL STAGES OF PRACTICE

Sutra: Ananda then rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha’s feet, and said to the Buddha, “We are dull-witted and delight in extensive learning; with regard to our outflow-bound minds, we have not yet sought liberation. Through the Buddha’s compassionate instruction, we have attained correct cultivation, and our bodies and minds are relaxed, peaceful, and at ease. We have gained great benefit. World-Honored One, in cultivating and realizing the Buddha’s samadhi in this way, before reaching nirvana, what is called the Stage of Dry Wisdom? Through what sequence do the forty-four states of mind proceed to acquire their names as stages of practice? Upon reaching what state is one said to Enter the Grounds? What is meant by a Bodhisattva of Equal Enlightenment?”

Having asked these questions, he prostrated himself with all five limbs touching the ground. The great assembly single-mindedly awaited the Buddha’s compassionate voice, gazing up at him without blinking.

At that time, the World-Honored One praised Ananda, saying, “Excellent! Excellent! You are now able, for the sake of the entire assembly and all sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age who cultivate samadhi and seek the Great Vehicle, to ask me to reveal the proper path of cultivation from the state of an ordinary being to great nirvana. Now listen attentively, and I shall explain it to you.”

Ananda and the great assembly joined their palms, focused their minds, and silently received the teaching.

Commentary: At the outset, the Buddha told Ananda: “The mind is said to be straight. Thus, from beginning to end, throughout all the intermediate stages, there are forever no crooked characteristics. Nirvana is the end, Dry Wisdom is the beginning, and the forty-four intermediate stages are Faith, Abiding, Dedication, and the Four Preparatory Practices. It is not that there is no sequence; these are the designations of cultivation. One then enters the Ten Grounds, up to the Eleventh Ground, that of the bodhisattva of Equal Enlightenment. Only upon reaching Great Nirvana is it called Wondrous Enlightenment.”

This destination that is reached does not depend upon cultivation. How, then, can one attain the characteristic of being without crookedness? To be without crookedness means to transcend all at once and enter directly, with no difference between beginning and end; this is the path of Supreme Wondrous Bodhi. Therefore, the Buddha said: “To reveal the right path of cultivation of the Supreme, from ordinary beings up to Great Nirvana,” meaning that an ordinary being directly realizes Wondrous Enlightenment without depending upon any sequential stages. “To reveal” means that, because sentient beings have not yet realized it, it is first explained to them; this is the general purport.

Patriarch Huangbo said: “This mind is precisely the Mind of No-Mind. Apart from all characteristics, sentient beings and all Buddhas do not differ in the slightest. Simply to be without mind is itself the ultimate.

“Students of the Way! If you do not attain No-Mind right here, then even after cultivating for countless kalpas you will ultimately accomplish nothing. Bound by the meritorious practices of the Three Vehicles, you will have no liberation.

Yet the realization of this Mind may be swift or slow. Some hear the Dharma and in a single thought attain No-Mind. Some reach the Ten Faiths, the Ten Abidings, the Ten Practices, and the Ten Dedications before attaining No-Mind.

Some reach the Ten Grounds before attaining No-Mind. Whether it takes long or little time, once No-Mind is attained, there is abiding; there is nothing further that can be cultivated or realized. Truly, there is Nothing Attained; it is genuine and not false.

Attaining it in a single thought is the same as attaining it at the Ten Grounds: their function is identical, with neither depth nor shallowness. One merely avoids wasting countless kalpas in strenuous and fruitless toil.”

Patriarch Huangbo’s teaching is likewise identical to the Buddha’s revelation of the right path of cultivation of the Supreme. Only by penetrating it right here can one believe that throughout the intermediate stages there truly are no crooked characteristics.

II. REVEALING THE TWO CAUSES OF INVERSION

Sutra: The Buddha said: “Ananda, you should know that the perfectly luminous Wondrous Nature is apart from all names and characteristics. Originally, there were no worlds or sentient beings. Because of delusion, arising came to be; because of arising, cessation came to be. Arising and cessation are called delusion; the cessation of delusion is called the True. These are called the Tathagata’s two designations of transformation of the basis: Supreme Bodhi and Great Nirvana.

Commentary: The Nature is called Wondrous because it does not stagnate in quiescence. Its luminosity is called Perfect because it does not fall into the objective realm. It is apart from characteristics and names and is inconceivable. When this Wondrous Nature is realized, the world is not a world and sentient beings are not sentient beings; delusion itself becomes the True, and arising and cessation are not arising and cessation.

Patriarch Ashvaghosha said: “Because one does not know in accordance with reality the One Dharma of True Suchness, the mind, unaware, moves, and thus thoughts arise. Thought is the characteristic of arising, and arising is the characteristic of cessation. Arising and cessation, names and characteristics, are all delusion.

If one understands in accordance with reality the One Dharma of True Suchness, then delusion originally has no place in which to exist. It is like a person who becomes confused about directions: how could that confusion possess any intrinsic characteristic? One takes east to be west, but how could the directions themselves ever have turned?

Upon awakening, where could that mistakenly perceived west be found? In delusion, one supposes that the mind moves, but in reality there is no movement. If one knows that this moving mind neither arises nor ceases, one immediately enters directly through the gate of True Suchness.”

How ultimate these words are! They may serve as the true teaching concerning the statement, “The cessation of delusion is called the True.” Therefore, transforming the basis of non-enlightenment into the Nature of Enlightenment is called Supreme Bodhi; transforming the basis of birth and death into Non-Arising is called Nirvana. It is not that apart from non-enlightenment there exists some separate Enlightenment, nor that apart from birth and death there exists some separate Non-Arising.

It is simply that when deluded views cease, the True Nature appears. This very non-enlightenment is itself True Enlightenment; this very arising and cessation are in truth Non-Arising. These very worlds and sentient beings fundamentally possess nothing that can be called sentient beings or worlds.

Therefore, it is called Supreme; this is the Great!

There are six kinds of transformation of the basis. First is the transformation that diminishes power and increases capacity. This means diminishing the power of defiled seeds and increasing the capacity of pure seeds, gradually subduing their present activity; this too is called transformation of the basis.

Second is transformation through penetration. This means that, by seeing the Way and penetrating the True, one then strives to eliminate the two obstructions—the afflictive obstruction and the cognitive obstruction—and realizes a preliminary portion of the true transformation of the basis.

Third is transformation through cultivation. This means that those of the Ten Grounds, ground by ground, gradually eliminate innate ignorance and realize the “true transformation of the basis.”

Fourth is transformation at the fulfillment of the fruit. This means that, at the ultimate stage, through the Vajra Samadhi one permanently eliminates all coarse and subtle ignorance and suddenly realizes the perfectly fulfilled transformation of the basis that is the fruit of Buddhahood.

Fifth is the inferior transformation. This means that those of the Two Vehicles, weary of suffering and delighting in quiescence, realize the true cessation attained through discernment but lack the capacity for supreme patient endurance.

Sixth is the vast transformation. This means that at the stage of the Great Vehicle, being free from both attraction and aversion, one penetrates the emptiness of both self and dharmas, simultaneously eliminates the two obstructions, and suddenly realizes Supreme Bodhi because one possesses the capacity for supreme patient endurance.

This Supreme Bodhi and Great Nirvana—the sixth, Vast Transformation of the Basis—and the fourth, Fulfilled-Fruit Transformation of the Basis, are both suddenly realized. They are entirely different from the gradual cultivation of the inferior practitioners of the Two Vehicles.

Chan Master Anmin initially lectured on the Surangama Sutra in Chengdu, and students of doctrinal studies gathered around him. At that time, Patriarch Yuanwu was residing at Zhaojue Monastery. Anmin had a good spiritual friend, Chan Master Sheng, and therefore went there. He heard Patriarch Yuanwu, during an informal evening discourse, raise the episode of the three calls to the attendant. Zhaozhou had offered the saying, “It is like a person writing characters in the dark: although the characters are not formed, the patterns are already perfectly distinct.” Where are the patterns already perfectly distinct?

Master Anmin became doubtful about this matter, burned incense, and requested admission to the Patriarch’s chamber.

Patriarch Yuanwu asked, “Which sutra does the lecturer expound?”

He replied, “The Surangama Sutra.”

Patriarch Yuanwu said, “In the Surangama Sutra, the Mind is investigated in seven places, and the eightfold return is used to clarify the Nature of Seeing. Ultimately, where is the Mind?”

Master Anmin presented many kinds of explanations, but the Patriarch accepted none of them. He then instructed him to realize it at the point where “in every place, the patterns are already perfectly distinct.”

By chance, a monk asked the Patriarch about the Ten Mysterious Discourses [the ten verses of Chan Master Tang Ancha]. He had scarcely raised the line, “What is the appearance of the master’s mind-seal...,” when Patriarch Yuanwu cried out loudly, “The patterns are already perfectly distinct!”

Upon hearing this, Master Anmin awakened to something and immediately requested confirmation.

The Patriarch instructed him, “It is useless to refine it by means of your original specialty.”

One day, the master said to the Patriarch, “May the Venerable Master refrain from offering words and let me try to speak.”

The Patriarch consented.

Master Anmin said, “Ordinarily, when the hammer is raised and the whisk held upright, is this not what the sutra means when it says, ‘All forms and characteristics existing in the world are themselves the Wondrously Luminous True Mind of Bodhi’?”

Patriarch Yuanwu laughed and said, “So all along you have been making your livelihood within that!”

Master Anmin continued, “Are shouting and striking the meditation platform not what is meant by, ‘Turn hearing back to hear the self-nature; the nature realizes the Supreme Way’?”

The Patriarch said, “Have you not seen the sutra say, ‘The Wondrous Nature is perfectly luminous and apart from all names and characteristics’?”

At these words, Master Anmin’s entanglements dissolved.

Patriarch Yuanwu left the land of Shu and went to reside at Jiashan. The master ceased lecturing on sutras and attended upon the Patriarch. At night, the Patriarch expounded Chan to the assembly and raised the koan, “The ancient sail has not yet been hoisted.” The master did not accord with it and asked the Patriarch to resolve it.

Patriarch Wu said, “Go ahead and ask!”

Just as the Master began to speak, Patriarch Wu immediately said, “The cypress tree in the courtyard!”

The Master thereupon attained thorough realization and said to the Patriarch, “The ancients spoke of ‘a single drop of water falling into the great ocean,’ but little did they know of ‘the great ocean falling into a single drop of water’!”

The Patriarch laughed and said, “Why make so much of that old fellow! Before long, he will have you share the teaching seat!”

He then spoke this verse:

“Cease boasting of the Four-Part Vinaya; put aside the Surangama,

At the cloud-crowned summit, inquire to the very end.

Do not imitate Duke Liang drawing near to Patriarch Ma,

But be like Deqiao [Deshan] bowing before Longtan.

For three autumns, soar freely over Blue Cliff Mountain;

Now, if you please, sit for a while upon this single seat,

And amid a hundred flowers manifest the Udumbara.”

The ancients truly investigated and truly realized; only after undergoing countless Transformations of the Basis did they attain a stable place in which to sit. Thus one knows that “extinguishing delusion and calling it the True” is not easily realized.

Sutra: “Ananda, if you now wish to cultivate true samadhi and proceed directly to the Tathagata’s Great Nirvana, you must first understand these two causes of inversion concerning sentient beings and the world. When inversion does not arise, that is the Tathagata’s true samadhi.

Explanation: True samadhi is not attained through cultivation. Whatever can be cultivated cannot be called True. With respect to delusive conditions, first clearly understand their cause; once the cause is nonexistent, inversion does not arise. If there is no inversion and this is not called the True, what else could it be called?

Conditioned by objects before one, deluded arising occurs in discrete segments; this is the meaning of realm. Realm has no inherent nature. Continual displacement without cessation is the meaning of time. Time likewise has no inherent nature. Fundamentally devoid of inherent nature, its very essence is empty and quiescent; this is true samadhi.

Chan Master Guling Shenzan encountered Patriarch Baizhang and attained awakening, whereupon he returned to his former monastery.

His original teacher asked, “You left me and traveled afar; what accomplishment did you gain?”

He replied, “I gained absolutely no accomplishment whatsoever.”

His teacher then had him resume his former duties.

One day, while his teacher was bathing, he told the Master to scrub his back.

The Master patted his back and said, “A fine Buddha hall, but the Buddha is not holy!”

His teacher turned his head to look at him, and the Master said, “Although the Buddha is not holy, he can emit light.”

One day, his teacher was sitting by the window reading a sutra. At that time, a bee was boring through the paper covering the window, trying to get outside.

Seeing this, the Master said, “The world is vast and boundless, yet you refuse to go out. If you keep boring through old paper, you will not emerge even in the Year of the Donkey!”

He then spoke this verse:

“Through the gate of emptiness you refuse to escape,

Boring through the window—how foolish!

Though you drill through old paper for a hundred years,

On what day will you ever emerge?”

His teacher put down the sutra and asked, “Whom did you encounter in your travels and studies, that from beginning to end I have found your speech so extraordinary?”

The Master replied, “Through Venerable Baizhang, I found the place of rest. I now wish to repay the kindness you have shown me for so many years.”

His teacher then instructed the assembly to prepare a vegetarian feast and invited the Master to expound the Dharma.

The Master ascended the seat and proclaimed the teaching style of Patriarch Baizhang:

“The numinous light shines alone,

Transcending sense faculties and objects.

Its essence reveals True Permanence,

Unentangled in written words.

The nature of mind is undefiled,

Originally perfect and complete in itself.

Merely depart from delusive conditions,

And you are the Buddha of Suchness.”

Upon hearing this, his teacher awakened and said, “Who would have thought that I would have the affinity to hear the ultimate matter [the consummate matter of Chan]!”

This too is called “proceeding directly to the Tathagata’s Great Nirvana.” If it were not so, few would avoid following the inversions of sentient beings; when would they ever cease?

Sutra: “Ananda, what is meant by the inversion that brings sentient beings into being?

“Ananda, because the nature of mind is originally luminous, and this luminous nature is perfectly full and all-pervasive, through that luminosity the delusion arises that something possessing a nature has become manifest; this supposed nature arises from deluded seeing. Thus, from ‘ultimately nonexistent,’ it transforms into ‘ultimately existent.’ This existence comes about by taking what is fundamentally nonexistent as its cause. The aspects of that which abides and that in which it abides are fundamentally without any root. Then, relying upon this root that has nowhere to abide, the world and sentient beings are established.

“Because of delusion regarding the originally perfect and luminous nature, falsity arises; yet the nature of falsity has no essence of its own and nowhere upon which to rely or abide. As soon as one wishes to return to the True Nature, that wish for the True is already not the genuine nature of True Suchness. Seeking within what is not true to return to the True clearly brings forth attributes that are not genuine: not arising, not abiding, not mind, and not dharmas.

They revolve and give rise to one another. The force of arising becomes manifest and, through perfuming, forms karma. Those sharing the same karma are drawn to one another; because of the response of karma, they produce one another and destroy one another.

Thus there comes to be the inversion that brings sentient beings into being.

Explanation: Earlier, the sutra said, ‘Sentient beings continue without end; the fault lies in adding luminosity to awareness.’ Here it says, ‘The inversion of sentient beings encompasses all karma and its fruits; through luminosity, the delusion arises that something possessing a nature has become manifest, and this supposed nature arises from deluded seeing.’

How could the luminous nature give rise to falsity? It is because luminosity entails discrimination; when there is discrimination, one falls into discriminating consciousness and emotion. Since discriminating consciousness and emotion have no root, they are called false.

If there is no discrimination, it is the functioning of wisdom, which constantly distinguishes without becoming defiled or attached. This is called the Pure Consciousness and the Wisdom of the Great Perfect Mirror. Because it does not fall into any fixed place, it is said to be luminously perfect, perfectly full and universally illuminating.

Once an object is established, luminosity is no longer perfect and becomes deluded seeing. It is like the second moon and the shimmering circles around a lamp cited in the preceding passage, both of which are ailments caused by diseased eyes. This is the transformation from ultimate nonexistence into ultimate existence.

Neither that which possesses nor that which is possessed has any cause through which it appears as subject or object. Since there is no cause, upon what could they rely and abide? Thus, these aspects of that which abides and that in which it abides are illusory appearances, ultimately without any root that can be found.

Since abiding is fundamentally rootless, abiding is therefore non-abiding. If one realizes this non-abiding, then its very essence is unborn. It is not said to be nonexistent; it is simply non-abiding.

Based upon this non-abiding, all dharmas are established without hindrance—the world, sentient beings, and each and every form may all be established, for within the originally perfect and luminous Self-Nature there is fundamentally no obstruction. One is all. All is One.

Even the True cannot be found, much less could there be delusion? It is only because this perfect and luminous nature is obscured that deluded discrimination arises.

Could one say that such deluded discrimination arises in reliance upon the True? The True does not serve as an intermediary for delusion.

Could one say that such deluded discrimination arises in reliance upon objects? Objects are not the source from which mind arises. Clearly, having nothing upon which to rely means having no essence of its own.

Since delusion fundamentally has no essence of its own, that very delusion is the True; right there, it manifests as the True Mind. It is not by eliminating delusion that the True is obtained. Having given rise to deluded discrimination, one then wishes to return to the True; yet this single thought of returning to the True is entirely delusion.

Why is this so? The genuine nature of True Suchness is originally free of intentional mind; how could the True be something attainable that one might wish to attain? As soon as one desires the True, it is no longer the True.

To seek within what is not true to return to the True is itself to return to what is not true. Does this not clearly bring forth attributes that are not genuine? When there are delusion and the True, and the True is set in opposition to delusion, that True has already become delusion.

If something can be sought and one can return to it, it necessarily belongs to fabrication; but how could what is fabricated be the True? Therefore it is said, ‘Clearly bringing forth attributes that are not genuine.’

What are called characteristics are the characteristic of arising, the characteristic of abiding, the characteristic of mind, and the characteristic of dharmas. Where there is no arising, to regard it as arising makes that arising false. Where there is no abiding, to regard it as abiding makes that abiding false. Where there is no mind, to regard it as mind makes that mind false. Where there are no dharmas, to regard them as dharmas makes those dharmas false. These are the four false characteristics, which successively give rise to one another.

When mind arises in dependence upon dharmas, objects serve as conditions to produce the characteristic of cognition and the characteristic of continuity. Because the mind abides in dharmas, the two characteristics of cognition and continuity in turn give rise to the characteristic of grasping and the characteristic of reckoning names and words. When mind and dharmas mutually engender one another, the power of arising becomes manifest. These four are all delusions that, through perfuming, become karma, thereby giving rise to the characteristic of karma.

Because beings with shared karma mutually resonate, arising and cessation continue without interruption; this is the characteristic of suffering bound by karma. Through the three—delusion, karma, and suffering—the inversion of sentient beings is formed. If one were not deluded about the originally perfect and luminous nature, then arising would not be arising, abiding would not be abiding, mind would not be mind, dharmas would not be dharmas, and delusion would not be delusion; nothing would fail to be true. How then could there be inversion?

Long ago, Manjushri asked Vimalakirti, “What is the root of the body?”

He replied, “Craving and desire are its root.”

Manjushri asked, “What is the root of craving and desire?”

He replied, “False discrimination is their root.”

Manjushri asked, “What is the root of false discrimination?”

He replied, “Inverted conception is its root.”

Manjushri asked, “What is the root of inverted conception?”

He replied, “Non-abiding is its root.”

Manjushri asked again, “What is the root of non-abiding?”

He replied, “Non-abiding has no root. Manjushri, all dharmas are established from the root of non-abiding.”

A monk asked Patriarch Fayan, “The sutra says, ‘All dharmas are established from the root of non-abiding.’ What is the root of non-abiding?”

Master Fayan said, “Form arises before it is substance; a name exists before it is a name!”

Tiantong composed this verse:

“Traces exhausted, all tidings cut off;

White clouds have no root, the cool breeze no form.

It spreads throughout the heavens, yet is not mind;

It holds the whole earth, yet possesses no strength.

Empty and penetrating, the source of a thousand ages;

Casting the mold for all the myriad kinds.

In every dust-mote realm, the Way is realized: everywhere Samantabhadra;

The tower’s portals open: on every level Maitreya.”

Patriarch Xuedou raised his staff and said, “Great assembly! The staff completely reveals form and name: form is itself formless, and name is itself nameless!”

The venerable adepts indeed possessed a function perfectly luminous, never falling into intellectual interpretation. In every place and every mote of dust, even the names and characteristics of sentient beings cannot be found, much less inversion.

Sutra: “Ananda, how does inversion bring the world into being?

“Whatever comes to exist does so because falsity arises in successive portions and segments. Thus the realm of space is established: what is not a cause is taken as a cause, and what has no abiding place is taken as abiding. Continually shifting without abiding, time is thereby formed.

The four directions and the three periods intermingle and interact, transforming into the twelve classes of sentient beings. Therefore, in the world, movement produces sound; sound produces form; form produces fragrance; fragrance produces contact; contact produces flavor; and flavor gives cognition of dharmas. The six confused false conceptions become the nature of karma, and thus the twelve classifications revolve in succession.

Therefore, in the world, the various sounds, fragrances, flavors, contacts, and so forth undergo transformations to their utmost limit, returning after twelve cycles.

“Following these revolving characteristics of inversion, the world comes to contain the following classes: those born from eggs, those born from wombs, those born from moisture, those born by transformation, those with form, those without form, those with perception, those not possessing form, those not lacking form, those not possessing perception, and those not lacking perception.

Explanation: In the preceding four fascicles, it was said that direction, or space, and time interact and undergo three transformations. This reveals the direct retribution—sentient beings—within the dependent retribution—the realm in which they dwell. Therefore, it was said that the merit of each of the six faculties is twelve hundred.

Here, however, within this mutual interaction, dependent retribution follows direct retribution. Thus it is said that they transform into the twelve classes of sentient beings, in order to reveal the inversion of the world. Previously, it was called merit; here, it is called inversion.

Both are accomplished through the six faculties. To become submerged is inversion; to transcend is merit—the difference lies in the mere turning of a hand. The six faculties and the six sense objects constitute the twelve classifications.

The perceiving aspect and the perceived aspect interweave to form the twelve transformations. Sound, fragrance, flavor, and contact are produced by the four elements. The six confused false conceptions perfume and become the seeds of karmic nature.

This is the cause for the establishment of the perceiving aspect of the twelve classes. The four elements follow the twelve classifications, revolving through the utmost limit of twelve transformations. This is the cause for the establishment of the perceived aspect of the twelve classes.

The faculty-body is intimate, whereas the perceived aspect of the external world is remote. The perceived aspect never extends beyond the six sense objects. The arising of the six sense objects originally has neither before nor after, yet here sound alone is placed first.

Why is this? When heaven and earth first moved, the thunder of Zhen [Thunder, a trigram of the Book of Changes] produced sound, startling and resounding for a hundred miles and audible from very far away. Therefore, among the objects encountered by the six faculties, sound comes first.

The other five sense objects are known only as they gradually draw nearer. Flavor is known through the mouth, while dharmas are known through the mind and are therefore the nearest of all. Yet it is said that, through sound, one conceives the sight of form; through form, one tacitly knows fragrance; upon encountering fragrance, one thereby contacts substance; through contact with substance, one knows and distinguishes flavor; and through distinguishing flavor, one knows how to select dharmas.

These arise through mutual conditioning and have neither before nor after.

Among the twenty-five gateways to perfect penetration, sound comes first, and reversing the hearing concludes them. This also helps demonstrate that the faculty of hearing is the most perfectly complete. Yet because faculty and sense object interweave, each becomes divided into portions and segments; this is the meaning of realm.

Continually shifting without cessation and revolving through the three realms: this is the meaning of time. Time and realm unite, and faculties and sense objects fill everything. Whatever comes to exist takes what is not a cause as its cause.

Originally, there was no cause at all, yet false discrimination arose; hence this is the inversion that brings the world into being. If all six confused false conceptions ceased at once, so that inwardly no faculties were perceived and outwardly no sense objects were perceived, then this world would have nowhere to abide. It would be originally unborn; what inversion could remain?

Chan Master Chunan first went to inquire of Patriarch Furong.

Master Furong said, “I am not your teacher. Your teacher is Huangbo!”

Chunan then went to pay his respects to Patriarch Huangbo.

Master Huangbo asked, “What of you before the forms of the three realms appeared?”

Master Chunan said, “Could they now truly exist?”

Master Huangbo said, “Set existence and nonexistence aside. What about right now?”

Master Chunan said, “Neither present nor past.”

Master Huangbo said, “My Dharma eye now resides within you.”

Later, a monk asked Chan Master Chunan, “What is easy?”

The master replied, “Wearing clothes and eating food, with no need to read sutras, study the teachings, practice the Way, bow in worship, burn incense, or scorch the crown of the head—is that not easy?”

The monk asked, “What is difficult?”

He replied, “As soon as the slightest thought arises, all five skandhas are complete! Birth and death, transmigration, and the three realms all arise from a single thought of yours. Therefore, the Buddha taught the bodhisattvas, ‘This is what all Buddhas protect and keep in mind.’”

Indeed, Chan Master Chunan had severed both the preceding and succeeding limits because he knew to fear the movement of a single thought. He had truly penetrated the cause of the world’s inversion.

Sutra: “Ananda, because of the world’s delusive, cyclic continuity and its inversion through movement, there is union with vital energy, producing eighty-four thousand kinds of chaotic thoughts that fly and sink. Thus there arise egg-born germs that circulate throughout the lands: fish, birds, turtles, snakes, and other such species, filling the world.

“Because of the world’s defiled, cyclic continuity and its inversion through desire, there is union with generative fluid—moistening and supplementing the retributive body—producing eighty-four thousand kinds of chaotic thoughts that run horizontally and vertically. Thus there arise womb-born embryos that circulate throughout the lands: humans, animals, dragons, immortals, and other such species, filling the world.

“Because of the world’s cyclic continuity of attachment and its inversion through inclination, there is union with warmth, producing eighty-four thousand kinds of chaotic thoughts that incline and overturn. Thus there arise soft-fleshed, moisture-born beings that circulate throughout the lands: wriggling, squirming creatures and other such species, filling the world.

“Because of the world’s cyclic continuity of transformation through the unreal, there is union with contact, producing eighty-four thousand kinds of chaotic thoughts of the new and the old. Thus there arise hard-fleshed, transformation-born beings throughout the lands: creatures that shed their shells, take flight, and other such species, filling the world.

Commentary: All dharmas within the three realms are created entirely by mind. None exists apart from the union of the perceiving aspect and the perceived aspect. As soon as a single thought moves, delusive discrimination begins. Once craving and grasping arise, defilement is formed. As the defilement deepens day by day, attachment develops. Yet there has never been anything in the world that remains attached forever without releasing its hold, for ultimately it must undergo transformation. This is the natural manner in which emotional thoughts circulate.

In the movement of thought, imagining is light while emotion is heavy. Therefore, eggs are born from imagining, whereas womb-born beings arise from emotion. Eggs result from the interaction of vital energies and are therefore round and mobile; because imaginings undergo many ascents and descents, their corresponding retributions produce the various forms of fish, birds, and so forth. Womb-born beings result from the interaction of generative essences and are therefore moistened and defiled; because emotion may be crooked or upright, its corresponding retributions produce the various kinds of humans, animals, and so forth.

When emotion becomes attached, it follows and clings without separation. This also means that each creature is infatuated with and follows the object toward which it inclines. Therefore, moisture-born beings depend upon responsive conjunction and await dryness and warmth before being born.

When emotion is deluded, vital energy becomes obstructed; without depending upon sexual union, it responds by producing creatures that move mechanically. Once emotional attachment has changed, leaving one place and relying upon another, it resembles the birth and death of transformation. Yet because it is not real, it is called unreal.

Transformation takes shape through provisional names and corresponding kinds of contact, moving toward the new and changing the old. Changing the old is like creatures shedding their shells; moving toward the new is like creatures lightly flying away. Emotion changes and vital energy shifts, each corresponding to its own condition; therefore, this is called the cyclic continuity of transformation.

The egg-germ newly entering gestation is the stage at which womb birth and egg birth have not yet become distinct. The womb-born embryo is the stage at which womb birth and egg birth have gradually become distinct. Soft flesh is the initial form of moisture birth; since it does not enter a womb, it lacks the two preceding stages. Hard flesh emerges from a shell and assumes form, without the appearance of softness. Each has a different degree of depth or shallowness, yet all take the confusion of the six delusive thoughts as their inverted cause, until they proliferate everywhere and constitute the world. Thus it may be known that the True Nature is immeasurable, and ignorance is likewise immeasurable.

Chan Master Qing-shan Neng ascended the Dharma hall and said: “Only because there is no alternative do I give you vines to grasp. All sentient beings, merely because their minds have not yet disengaged from sense objects and their emotional measures have not been eliminated, see forms and hear sounds, chase waves and rush about, circulate through the three realms, and sink and rise among the four modes of birth. If right view is not clear, then whatever they encounter becomes an entanglement.

If right and wrong are entirely cast aside and good and evil utterly disappear, then they sit peacefully above transformation bodies and reward bodies of Buddhas, having completely penetrated all pathways of sage and ordinary being. Only upon reaching that point may they be said to possess a slight correspondence. Even so, from the standpoint of the practitioner, there is still nothing extraordinary.

Why is this so? The moment right and wrong arise, confusion causes the mind to be lost. Alas!”

A monk asked Chan Master Bao-ci Zi: “When emotion arises, wisdom is obstructed; when thought changes, the essence becomes differentiated. But what is it like before emotion has arisen?”

The master replied: “Obstructed!”

The monk asked: “Before emotion has arisen, what is obstructed?”

The master said: “This fellow has not yet met a true person.”

When speaking from the standpoint of the practitioner, even when emotion and thought have not arisen, one must still await the hammer and tongs of training. How much more, then, must those who chase waves and rush about inevitably sink and rise among the four modes of birth?

Sutra: “Because of the world’s obstructed, cyclic continuity and its inversion through hindrance, there is union with attachment, producing eighty-four thousand kinds of subtle and wondrous chaotic thoughts. Thus there arise kalalas possessing form that circulate throughout the lands: portentous essences, luminous spirits, and other such species, filling the world.

“Because of the world’s dissipating, cyclic continuity and its inversion through deluded perception, there is union with darkness, producing eighty-four kinds of obscure and hidden chaotic thoughts. Thus there arise formless kalalas that circulate throughout the lands: beings of emptiness, dispersion, dissolution, submergence, and other such species, filling the world.

“Because of the world’s cyclic continuity of illusory imagining and its inversion through reflected images, there is union with recollection, producing eighty-four thousand kinds of latently congealed chaotic thoughts. Thus there arise kalalas possessing thought that circulate throughout the lands: spirits, ghosts, numinous essences, and other such species, filling the world.

“Because of the world’s cyclic continuity of dullness and its inversion through delusion, there is union with insensibility—dullness and obstinacy—producing eighty-four thousand kinds of barren chaotic thoughts. Thus there arise kalalas devoid of thought that circulate throughout the lands: beings whose vital spirits transform into earth, trees, iron, stone, and other such species, filling the world.

Commentary: Form belongs to the perceived aspect. Thought belongs to the perceiving aspect. In summary, they do not go beyond the four propositions: existence; nonexistence; both existence and nonexistence; and neither existence nor nonexistence. These exhaust the transformations of the world.

Those possessing form cling to form, as in the worship of the sun, moon, water, and fire by followers of non-Buddhist paths. Since their thought has congealed into subtle luminosity, they possess only form. Subtle luminosity arises from illumination, and illumination arises from “awareness.” Awareness does not abide in characteristics, but subtle luminosity becomes attached; therefore, it is called obstruction and retention.

The Nirvana Sutra says: “The eighty classes of spirits all receive the source of obstructed and retained thought and thereby form this subtle luminosity.” Thus, all luminous essences and numinous beings are able to foresee auspicious and inauspicious events, for they have never departed from the essence of awareness. It is only because they are obstructed and cannot flow freely that this is called inversion through hindrance.

Those without form cling to emptiness, as when followers of non-Buddhist paths reject existence and return to emptiness. Being deluded by the contaminated state in which nothing is heard, this is called delusion. In obscurity and concealment, they enter the Formless Realm. These formless beings possessing thought do not form bodies produced by karma, but because they are born in the Formless Realm, they too possess kalalas of dissolution and dispersion.

Spirits, ghosts, and numinous essences have no actual shape. They seem to exist and yet seem not to exist; therefore, they are called illusory images. When offerings are made and prayers performed, they rely upon reflected images. When wholehearted devotion evokes a responsive communion, there is only recollective thought. Their latently congealed forms do not possess actual form; therefore, they possess only kalalas endowed with thought.

Earth, trees, metal, and stone have Form but no Thought; being insensate, they do not act as causes, and are therefore called deluded. Non-Buddhist practitioners regard iron and stone, in their hardness and solidity, as insentient yet possessing life; they therefore cultivate meditative concentration until they become congealed like dead ashes, withered, dry, deluded, and dull. Upon encountering objects, they take on Form, like the immortal Huangtou who transformed into stone.

These are the kalalas of No Thought. This is produced by the wrong views of non-Buddhist practitioners. Those with Form but No Thought who, rather than becoming insensate trees or stones, form attachments and become numinous beings are things produced through the predominance of the objective aspect.

Those with Thought but No Form who, rather than becoming obscure ghostly beings, disperse and become formless are spirits produced through the predominance of the perceiving aspect. The spirit Shunyata (Empty Space), having no body yet possessing sensation, belongs to the Formless Realm.

All these arise from the confusion and disorder of the six kinds of false thinking; it is only because the eye of the Way is not clear that they must be so.

A monk asked Chan Master Jinfeng Zhi, “This body is without awareness, like earth, trees, tiles, and stones. What does this mean?”

The Master stepped down from the Chan platform and twisted the monk’s ear. The monk cried out in great pain.

The Master said, “Only today have I caught hold of that fellow without awareness!”

The monk bowed and withdrew.

The Master called, “Acharya!”

The monk turned his head.

The Master said, “When you enter the Chan hall, do not speak of this!”

The monk asked, “Why?”

The Master said, “Surely someone would laugh at this old-womanly mind [compassion] of Jinfeng.”

There was also a practitioner sitting in a quiet room from whom radiant light shone forth. The presiding Chan master, fearing that he might delude the assembly, expelled him. This was confused and mistaken cultivation, failing to understand the ordinary ultimate principle.

Assistant Commissioner Liu Jingshen wrote the essay Confucian Treatise on Clarifying the Way to awaken the people of his age. It contains the statement: “Clarifying the Way lies in seeing one’s Nature. My realization is nothing other than seeing the Nature.”

He continued: “Mencius said, ‘The mouth is concerned with flavors; the eyes with forms; the ears with sounds; the nose with odors; and the four limbs with ease and comfort. This is the Nature.’

“Master Yang said, ‘Seeing, hearing, speech, and thought are possessions of the Nature. To see this is to understand the Way.’

“You should know that the Way is not distant from people. People dwell within the Way as fish dwell in water; never for even an instant have they been separated from it. It is only because they do not know themselves and pursue external things that they pass their entire lives without knowing themselves. What Buddhism calls Great Awakening and Confucianism calls Prior Awakening refer to this very awakening. An ancient said, ‘From the beginning, when has it ever slipped away? Clearly it is right before your eyes.’

“It is also said, ‘The Great Way is right before your eyes. Precisely because it is before your eyes, it is difficult to see. If you wish to understand the True Essence of the Way, do not depart from language, sounds, and forms!’

“It is also said:

“Night after night, embracing the Buddha, I sleep;

Morning after morning, I rise together with him.

Walking or standing, we always follow one another;

Speaking or silent, we peacefully dwell together.

Do you wish to know where the Buddha is?

It is only these words and sounds!”

“This is where Buddhism speaks of the Way as being most intimate.

“Standing, one sees it vividly before one’s eyes. Sitting in a carriage, one sees it resting upon the carriage’s crossbar. Looking toward it, it is ahead; suddenly, it is behind. Grasping it to the left and right, one finds it at the very source.

“This is where Confucianism speaks of the Way as truly very near.

“Alas, this Way can only be transmitted from mind to mind; it does not establish written words. Therefore, when the Blessed One held up a flower, the Wondrous Mind was transmitted to Mahakasyapa. When Bodhidharma gazed at the wall, the essential purport was entrusted to Shenguang.

Once the Six Petals had unfolded—from Patriarch Bodhidharma to the Sixth Patriarch—a thousand flowers vied in blossoming; schools and branches divided and opened, each establishing its own gate and courtyard. Thus there were winks, raised eyebrows, lifted fists, and raised fingers; or the brandishing of staffs, shouts, the raising of fly-whisks, and the lifting of mallets; or the taking up of forks, drawing of bows, kicking of balls, and dancing with ceremonial tablets.

Or there were the digging of stones, carrying of earth, beating of drums, and blowing on hairs; or silence or speech, calling out or laughter. All such skillful means were employed solely out of intimate concern for people. Yet precisely because it is exceedingly intimate, most people are bewildered.

See it in the blink of an eye, without the breadth of a single hair between! But if you hesitate in thought, you are ten thousand miles away! If you wish to understand this Way, do not let it slip past!

Patriarch after patriarch has transmitted it down to the present without interruption. Truly, they attained what our Confucian tradition calls, ‘Nowhere is the mind displeased; nothing heard is contrary.’

“What I have realized in my own mind truly lies within this gate. Reflecting upon it, however, the Confucian Way itself possesses this Way. Excellent indeed are the words of Confucius: ‘Silently knowing it, one Essence penetrating all.’ Thus, when the eyes see, the Way remains; when the hand points, the meaning is conveyed.

All such things accord with the wondrous purport of the Chan School and attain the True Mechanism of the special transmission outside the teachings. Yet the Way of Confucius was transmitted to Zisi, Zisi transmitted it to Mencius, and when Mencius died, there was no one to whom it could be transmitted. Thus, what was handed down in the world consisted only of written words.

Therefore, in my study, I was determined not to stop until I had attained it for myself. Fortunately, one night I experienced awakening, and thereafter whatever my eyes saw, my ears heard, my mind thought, my mouth spoke, or my hands and feet did—there was nothing that was not wondrous. The longer it has been since attaining it, the more immediately present it has become.

At times I have offered it to others, but they would not receive it. Only then did I know that the Wondrous Way truly cannot be transmitted through written words.

“Alas! Such is the Way: when the right person is found, it is transmitted; when no such person is found, it is cut off and lost. I have attained it thus—but is there anyone else like this? Will there be such a person in my lifetime, or will there not? One knows this within that which ‘cannot be attained.’ Therefore, I composed inscriptions, verses, and songs to preserve and transmit this matter, and I also wrote this essay to instruct my disciples.”

The Sutra: “Because of the world’s cyclical process of mutual dependence, falsity arises through inversion and combines with defilement, producing eighty-four thousand kinds of disorderly thoughts that rely upon others. Consequently, there are kalalas that ‘do not possess Form yet possess Form,’ which flow and turn throughout the lands: jellyfish that use shrimp as their eyes... Such species fill the world.

“Because of the world’s cyclical process of mutual dependence, Nature arises through inversion and combines with incantation, producing eighty-four thousand kinds of disorderly thoughts of calling and summoning. Consequently, there are kalalas that are ‘not without Form yet are without Form,’ which flow and turn throughout the lands: curses, maledictions, life-draining spells... Such species fill the world.

“Because of the world’s cyclical process of combining with falsity, deception arises through inversion and combines with difference, producing eighty-four thousand kinds of disorderly thoughts of reciprocal exchange. Consequently, there are kalalas that ‘do not possess Thought yet possess Thought,’ which flow and turn throughout the lands: wasps that take another substance to form their own bodies... Such species fill the world.

“Because of the world’s cyclical process of enmity and harm, killing arises through inversion and combines with monstrosity, producing eighty-four thousand kinds of disorderly thoughts of devouring one’s parents. Consequently, there are kalalas that are ‘not without Thought yet are without Thought,’ which flow and turn throughout the lands: the tuxiao, whose young hatch clods of earth as their offspring, and the pojing bird, whose young hatch the fruit of a poisonous tree as their offspring; when the offspring mature, they in turn devour their parents... Such species fill the world.

“These are the twelve classes of living beings.”

The Commentary says: Whether Form and Thought exist or do not exist is like the principle of yin and yang, which encompasses the myriad transformations. Yet within yin there is yang, and within yang there is yin. What resembles yin is actually yang, and what appears to be yang is actually yin; their transformations cannot be fathomed. Disorderly thoughts are endless, and living beings are inexhaustible. Without the Buddha’s Wisdom of the Great Perfect Mirror, who could possibly comprehend them fully?

The cyclical process of mutual dependence means relying upon and borrowing from other things, and is therefore called falsity. A jellyfish uses a shrimp as its eyes, meaning that it does not itself possess Form but depends upon another thing to complete its Form. Since the two are of different substances, this is called combining with defiled conditions.

As for deviant karma drawing beings together solely through the summoning power of spells and incantations, it is not that the nature here possesses the capacity to attract the nature there; therefore, this is called inversion with respect to nature. Such talismans, spells, curses, and imprecations can also produce transformations and manifestations, so they are not without form and appearance. Yet because they borrow sound to create material form and do not arise through the natural process of birth, they are fundamentally formless. The power of these spells is produced by human beings and is not especially extraordinary.

The solitary wasp originally comes from a mulberry-leaf caterpillar. It is not that the caterpillar possesses the wasp’s thought and thereby comes to possess the wasp’s thought; because one species takes the substance of another, this is unlike womb-born or egg-born beings, whose lives are transmitted through thought, yet ultimately they become one another. “May that one follow me”: using delusion to transform delusion, taking what belongs to another as one’s own—this is therefore called reciprocal interchange. These are different species that depend upon one another. Although this is called the union of delusions, it is not yet bizarre.

The tu-xiao and po-jing take other creatures as their offspring; when the offspring grow up, they turn back and devour them, utterly destroying natural relationships and moral principles. Because this is contrary to the normal order, it is called bizarre. All this occurs because beings who have harmed and resented one another over many lifetimes are born from one another and kill one another, turning affection into enmity and enmity into affection. Borrowing and repaying, repaying and borrowing, they become a single species.

The tu-xiao devours its mother, and the po-jing devours its father. They are not without thought, but do clods of earth and poisonous fruits “possess thought”? Consider, moreover, the Human-Faced Sore of National Preceptor Wuda [See the account of Master Wuda in the Water Repentance Sutra.

A brief summary follows. In a former life, Master Wuda was named Yuan Ang and harmed a man named Chao Cuo. In this life, the latter followed him to exact vengeance: he became a swollen sore in the shape of a human face and tormented him with pain in revenge].

This was the enmity of many lifetimes between Yuan Ang and Zhao Cuo, harming one another within a single body. How could the tu-xiao and po-jing, which harm one another in separate bodies, compare with this? Yuan Ang and Zhao Cuo were not without thought, yet the Human-Faced Sore was not a being with thought.

This is formed by afflictions; each affliction entails eighty-four thousand cycles of rebirth, following karma from life to life without end. When they fill a single age, there is no realm in which they are absent; when they fill many kalpas, there is no lifetime in which it is not so! Without sentient beings as direct retribution, what would experience the circumstantial retribution?

Without the world as circumstantial retribution, what could constitute direct retribution? Thus, the inversion of the world is precisely the inversion of sentient beings. Both arise solely from turning away from enlightenment and joining with defiling objects; there are not two separate causes.

In regard to sentient beings, this passage merely offers a brief explanation of the origin of inversion; in regard to the world, it clearly reveals the actual condition of inversion. Inversion is precisely the karmic result previously described as “the three continuities”; it encompasses them all.

A monk asked Patriarch Baizhang, “If one now receives the precepts, purifies body and speech, and fully possesses the myriad virtues, can one attain liberation?”

Patriarch Baizhang said, “A small measure of liberation! But you have not yet attained liberation of mind, nor have you attained liberation in every place.”

The monk asked, “What are liberation of mind and liberation in every place?”

Patriarch Baizhang said, “Do not seek the Buddha, Dharma, or Sangha; do not even seek merit, wisdom, knowledge, or understanding of any kind. Completely exhaust all sentiments concerning purity and impurity, yet do not hold even this non-seeking to be right. Do not abide in the state where all has been exhausted. Neither delight in heaven nor fear hell; let neither bondage nor liberation obstruct you. Then body, mind, and every place are all liberation.

“Do not suppose that merely possessing some measure of purity in the precepts of body, speech, and mind means that the work is finished. You do not realize that virtues of precepts, samadhi, wisdom, and undefiled liberation as numerous as the sands of the Ganges have not yet touched even the tip of a single hair. Strive to advance!

You must investigate this with courage and vigor. Do not wait until your ears are deaf and your eyes dim, your skin wrinkled and your hair white, when the sufferings of old age afflict your body, grief and sorrow entangle you, tears fill your eyes, and your mind is fearful, utterly without refuge and not knowing where it will go. When that time comes, you will no longer be able to put things in order!

Even if you possess merit and wisdom, fame and renown, gain and support, none of them will be able to save you.

“This is also because the mind’s eye has not yet opened. You merely think of and recollect external objects and have never been willing to turn the illumination back upon yourself; moreover, you have not seen the Buddha Way. All the karmic conditions, wholesome and unwholesome, of an entire lifetime appear before your eyes, bringing either joy or terror.

The five skandhas and the six paths all appear before you at once, displaying beautiful houses and splendid, magnificent boats and carriages. All these manifestations arise from the body and mind’s craving and attachment. The evil paths, obscured by delusion, are transformed into beautiful scenes.

One merely follows the strongest inclination of craving and attachment and, led by karmic consciousness, takes birth according to whatever one grasps, without the slightest freedom. Whether one will become a dragon or a beast, something good or something wretched, remains obscure and undecided.”

The monk asked, “How, then, can one attain a measure of freedom?”

Patriarch Baizhang said, “Attain it right here. In confronting the five desires and eight winds, harbor no feelings of acceptance or rejection, stinginess, or craving and attachment. Let all sense of ‘mine’ be utterly extinguished, and let impurity and purity both vanish. Like the sun and moon shining in empty space, illuminate without becoming involved. Let each state of mind be like wood or stone, and each thought as urgent as extinguishing a fire blazing upon your head; or be like a fragrant elephant crossing a river, cutting through the current and passing over, with no further doubt or entanglement. How could heaven or hell contain such a person?”

Alas! Patriarch Baizhang admonished and instructed with the greatest earnestness, withholding nothing of his compassion. At precisely the point of his exhortation, one must awaken with courage and vigor and set one’s mind firmly upright. Only then can one understand that the cause of inversion is not created by anyone else, and that the True Samadhi has inherently been complete within oneself since time immemorial. When one reaches the point where “purity and impurity are both gone—how could heaven or hell contain one?” what twelve classes of beings could still cause one to revolve in the cycle of rebirth?