楞嚴經宗通

A. THE FORM REALM

Sutra: “Ananda, all those in the world who cultivate the mind but do not rely upon dhyana have no wisdom. Those who are able to restrain the body from engaging in sexual activity and who, whether walking or sitting, entertain no thoughts of it—so that desire and defilement do not arise—no longer remain in the Desire Realm. They immediately become companions of Brahma. Such beings are called the Heaven of Brahma’s Retinue.

“When the habit of sexual desire has been eliminated and the mind free from desire manifests, they delight in and accord with all the disciplines of moral restraint. They can then practice the virtues of Brahma. Such beings are called the Heaven of Brahma’s Ministers.

“When body and mind are wondrously perfect, deportment is flawless, the precepts are pure, and clear awakening has also arisen, they can then lead the Brahma multitudes and become Great Brahma Kings. Such beings are called the Great Brahma Heaven.

“Ananda, these three superior classes cannot be oppressed by any suffering or affliction. Although they have not truly cultivated samadhi, within their purified minds the outflows remain unmoved. This is called the First Dhyana.

“Ananda, next, when the Brahma beings who govern the Brahma multitudes have perfected the Brahma conduct, their settled minds remain unmoved, and light is born from their profound stillness. Such beings are called the Heaven of Lesser Light.

“When their lights illuminate one another, shining without end and radiating throughout the realms of the ten directions until everything becomes like vaidurya, such beings are called the Heaven of Immeasurable Light.

“When they fully sustain this perfectly complete light, thereby establishing the substance of teaching, they emanate pure instruction whose applications are inexhaustible. Such beings are called the Heaven of Light-Sound.

“Ananda, these three superior classes cannot be oppressed by any sorrow or distress. Although they have not truly cultivated samadhi, the coarse outflows within their purified minds have been subdued. This is called the Second Dhyana.

“Ananda, for heavenly beings of this kind, when perfect light becomes sound, sound is unfolded to reveal the wondrous, and pure practice arises, connecting them with the bliss of quiescent extinction. Such beings are called the Heaven of Lesser Purity.

“When emptiness and purity manifest before them and expand without boundary, body and mind become light and peaceful, and the bliss of quiescent extinction is accomplished. Such beings are called the Heaven of Immeasurable Purity.

“When body, mind, and world all become perfectly radiant and pure, the pure virtue of their nature is accomplished, a supreme state manifests before them, and they return to the bliss of quiescent extinction. Such beings are called the Heaven of Pervasive Purity.

“Ananda, these three superior classes possess a vast state of accord; body and mind are peaceful and secure, and they attain immeasurable bliss. Although they have not truly attained samadhi, their minds are peaceful and fully endowed with joy. This is called the Third Dhyana.

“Ananda, next, the body and mind of these heavenly beings are no longer oppressed, and the causes of suffering have been exhausted. Yet pleasure does not abide forever and, after a long time, also passes away. Therefore, they simultaneously relinquish both the mind of suffering and the mind of pleasure. The coarse and burdensome characteristics disappear, and the pure nature of merit arises. Such beings are called the Heaven of the Birth of Merit.

“When the mind of relinquishment becomes perfectly unobstructed and their supreme understanding grows ever purer, then, within that unobscured merit, they attain wondrous accord extending to the utmost limit of the future. Such beings are called the Heaven of the Love of Merit.

“If, based upon the preceding state of mind, they become weary of both suffering and pleasure and continually refine the mind of relinquishment without interruption, they eventually reach the ultimate relinquishment, where body and mind both cease and mental activity comes to a halt for five hundred kalpas. Because they took arising and ceasing as the cause, they cannot reveal the nature that neither arises nor ceases. Therefore, during the first half of the kalpa they cease, and during the latter half they arise again. Such beings are called the Heaven of No Thought.

“Ananda, these four superior classes cannot be shaken by any worldly state of suffering or pleasure. Although this is not the true unmoving ground of the unconditioned, their minds retain an attainment and its functioning has matured. This is called the Fourth Dhyana.

Commentary: In the six heavens of the Desire Realm discussed previously, although their physical forms have transcended agitation and they have left behind the two paths of humans and immortals, traces of mental consciousness still remain, and thoughts of desire have not been completely exhausted. Therefore, their conduct cannot yet be called Brahma conduct. If those who cultivate Brahma conduct know only how to uphold the precepts and practice the path of the Ten Wholesome Actions, but do not understand dhyana, they have no wisdom.

Thus, among all the prohibitive precepts, sexual desire alone is the most difficult to eliminate. By applying further effort to eliminate sexual desire, they no longer remain in the Desire Realm; these are the beings of Brahma’s Retinue. Once the mind has departed from desire, the precepts become the true precepts; delighting in and according with all the disciplines of moral restraint, they become Brahma’s Ministers.

When purity in the prohibitive precepts is joined by clear awakening—meaning awakening to the fact that desire itself is the nature—there is precept without anything being restrained; this is Great Brahma. When precepts and concentration correspond, both concentration and precepts are attained. Having departed from the eight kinds of suffering in the Desire Realm, they cannot be oppressed by the coarse characteristics of suffering and affliction.

This is called the Ground of Joy and Bliss Born of Seclusion. All these belong to the First Dhyana.

Above this level there is no spoken language; only light emitted from the concentrated mind is used. The strength or weakness of the light distinguishes higher from lower states. Lesser Light means that the light is still weak.

When progressively more light is emitted, this is Immeasurable Light, though it has not yet become sound. When the substance of teaching is accomplished, those who see the light are enabled to understand that they should cultivate pure virtue. They gain benefit according to their capacities, and its applications are inexhaustible; thus, perfectly complete light becomes sound.

When this concentration arises, it manifests together with joy and is called the Dhyana Accompanied by Joy. Subtle sorrow and distress cannot oppress them; this is called the Ground of Joy and Bliss Born of Concentration. All these belong to the Second Dhyana.

Above this level, beings leave behind the former agitation of joy and give rise to pure bliss. This bliss is not an objective state; rather, it arises from the pure original nature and resembles the bliss of quiescent extinction. Initially, it is said that they connect with it, because their purity is still weak.

When it is said to be accomplished, body and mind are light and peaceful and accord with the wondrous original nature, though they have not yet reached all-pervasiveness. Only when world, body, and mind are all perfectly pure does this supreme state manifest before them. They rely upon this supreme state, but quiescent extinction itself has not yet truly manifested before them.

They merely accord with the pure original nature and return to the bliss of quiescent extinction. The merit of this concentration arises together with bliss pervading the entire body and is called the Dhyana Accompanied by Bliss. Although they have left behind the former agitation of joy, they are fully endowed with delight and bliss; this is called the Ground of Wondrous Bliss Apart from Joy.

All these belong to the Third Dhyana.

The agitation of joy is the cause of oppressive suffering. When joy is left behind, the cause of suffering is exhausted, and immeasurable bliss is attained. This bliss arises through conditioned activity; if it endures for long, it too must decay, and when it decays, it becomes suffering.

Therefore, when both suffering and bliss are relinquished, their coarse and burdensome characteristics disappear. When the mindfulness of relinquishment is purified, the nature of pure merit manifests. Because this merit arises from the virtue of purity, the three calamities cannot reach it; this is called the Heaven of the Birth of Merit.

When suffering and bliss have both vanished, and relinquishment has nothing left to relinquish, there remains only the joyful accord with the nature of merit, which nothing can obscure; this is called the Heaven of the Love of Merit. These are all called the Dhyana of Complete Equanimity. From here, two paths diverge: If, amid immeasurable light, immeasurable purity, and perfectly luminous merit, one does not give rise to deviant attachments and has no mind of arising and cessation, one proceeds directly toward the Heaven of Abundant Fruit.

This is the fruit evoked by vast, pure merit. If, however, one continues from the previous mind that had grown weary of both suffering and bliss and concentrates exclusively upon examining the mind of relinquishment, one relinquishes the coarse mind and enters the subtle mind. One then relinquishes the subtle mind and enters the extremely subtle mind.

From that extremely subtle mind, one continues without interruption until all mental perceptions have been relinquished and the activities of mind and thought cease. This characteristic of deluded thought is called the Samadhi of No-Perception, and one then follows a distant, slanting, and deviant path to be born in the Heaven of No-Perception. Such a person does not understand that the intrinsic nature of deluded thought is emptiness and that delusion itself is the True; therefore, he rejects this arising and cessation and seeks what neither arises nor ceases.

Even if both body and mind are extinguished, this is still not the true nature that neither arises nor ceases. It is merely like a fish trapped within ice!

At first, upon being born in that heaven, one is not necessarily without perception. Only after half a kalpa does one truly become devoid of perception. When the resulting retribution is about to end, perception returns during the latter half-kalpa and the characteristics of mind reappear. Thus the sutra says, “During the first half-kalpa there is cessation; during the latter half-kalpa there is arising.” Throughout four hundred and ninety-nine kalpas, there is solely the absence of perception. Sustained by the power of samadhi, one cannot be moved by any suffering or bliss. All of these belong to the Fourth Dhyana.

Regarding the First and Second Dhyanas, it is said, “This is not the genuine cultivation of samadhi.”

Regarding the Third Dhyana, it is said, “This is not the genuine attainment of samadhi.”

Regarding the Fourth Dhyana, it is said, “This is not the true Unmoving Stage of the unconditioned.”

In the First Dhyana, one cultivates moral discipline. In the Second Dhyana, one cultivates concentration. Although these are cultivated from within the purity of Brahma-conduct and do not amount to the deviant concentrations of ghosts and spirits, the resolve does not arise from genuine samadhi. This is the distinction between the conditioned and the unconditioned.

In the Third Dhyana, there is something attained, and because it is attained, there is bliss. Where there is attainment and bliss, it is not genuine samadhi. This is the distinction between attainment and non-attainment.

By the Fourth Dhyana, the mind that has something to attain has been almost entirely relinquished, and this may be called unconditioned. Yet it results from matured effort and is not the true Unmoving Stage. If it were the true Unmoving Stage, no form of suffering could reach it.

If suffering could not even reach it, what could possibly move it? Yet now one takes a state that cannot be moved by the worldly conditions of suffering and bliss to be samadhi; such a samadhi can be reached through cultivation. What can be reached through cultivation is not samadhi.

Therefore, genuine samadhi cannot possibly be known without complete prajnaparamita wisdom. Those who cultivate the mind in the Fourth Dhyana do not abide within dhyana and thus lack wisdom; consequently, there is something about genuine samadhi that they do not know.

Venerable Zhenjing instructed the assembly, saying: “This day has passed, and with it the span of life has diminished. Like fish with little water remaining, what joy can there be?”

Only for those of the Two Vehicles is the meditative concentration of quiescent cessation bliss; that is true bliss. For bodhisattvas studying prajnaparamita, Dharma joy and the delight of dhyana are bliss; that is true bliss. For the Buddhas of the three times, loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity—the Four Immeasurable Minds—are true bliss.

Shishuang Puhui said: “Stop! Cease! Become cold, desolate, and sorrowful! That is the bliss of quiescent cessation of the Two Vehicles.”

Yunmen said: “All-Knowledge penetrates everything without obstruction.”

He raised his fan and said: “Old Man Shakyamuni has arrived!”

That is the bliss of Dharma joy and the delight of dhyana.

Deshan struck, and Linji shouted; that is the bliss of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity of the Buddhas of the three times. Apart from these three kinds of bliss, there is no bliss at all. Now say: Is this assembly at Guizong within these three kinds of bliss or outside them?

After a long pause, he said: “Today the patron has prepared food and soup and offered money and goods. After participating, go to the Sangha hall, where everyone is invited to drink tea.”

He gave a shout.

Likewise, Chan Master Ehu Dayi was invited by Emperor Xianzong into the inner palace to discuss the meaning of the sutras.

A Dharma master asked: “There is no dhyana in the Desire Realm, while dhyana is in the Form Realm. On what, then, is this realm established?”

The Master said: “The Dharma master knows only that the Desire Realm has no dhyana, but does not know that the Realm of Dhyana has no desire.”

He asked: “What is dhyana?”

Patriarch Dayi pointed into empty space with his hand.

The Dharma master had no response.

The Emperor said: “The Dharma master expounds the sutras and treatises without end, yet when confronted with this single pointing, why does he not understand?”

Thus genuine samadhi is truly not easy to know. If one knows it, one immediately escapes the three realms; why even speak of the four dhyana heavens?

Sutra: “Ananda, within this realm there are also the five Heavens of the Non-Returners. Having completely extinguished the habitual tendencies of the nine grades of the delusions of thought in the lower realm, both suffering and bliss have vanished. Since there is no longer any place for them to dwell below, they establish their abode among those who share the condition of the mind of equanimity.

“Ananda, suffering and bliss have both been extinguished, and the contentious mind no longer burdens them. Beings of this class are said to dwell in the Heaven Free from Affliction.

“Vast and open, they proceed alone, with nothing left to deliberate upon. Beings of this class are said to dwell in the Heaven Free from Heat.

“They clearly behold the worlds of the ten directions, perfect, still, and limpid, without any of the heavy defilements of sensory objects remaining. Beings of this class are said to dwell in the Heaven of Excellent Vision.

“Their pellucid vision manifests before them, refined and tempered without obstruction. Beings of this class are said to dwell in the Heaven of Excellent Manifestation.

“They thoroughly investigate the subtlest mechanisms, exhaust the nature of material dharmas, and enter a realm without boundaries. Beings of this class are said to dwell in the Heaven of the Ultimate Form.

“Ananda, only the four celestial kings of the Fourth Dhyana are respectfully aware of the presence of these Non-Returners, yet they cannot see or know them. Likewise, there are presently sages whose bodhimandas are in the deep forests and open wilderness of the world. All are dwelling places maintained by arhats, yet coarse and shallow people of the world cannot see or know them.

“Ananda, these eighteen classes of celestial beings proceed independently without association, yet they have not completely exhausted the encumbrance of physical form. From this point downward, it is called the Form Realm.”

Commentary: Those in the five Heavens of the Non-Returners are not reborn again in the Desire Realm. They are thus of the Sakridagamin stage and are called Non-Returners, although in truth they are not yet Non-Returners. Those who attain the Third Fruit can eliminate the habitual tendencies of all nine grades, extinguishing both the seeds and their present activity. Since they no longer have any karma in the Desire Realm that would cause them to undergo rebirth, it is said, “There is no place for them to dwell below.”

These five classes of celestial beings belong to the Fourth Dhyana. Their names are established according to the subtle states they enter through the purity of mindfulness and equanimity.

Previously, because there was rejection and aversion toward suffering and bliss, the mind and its objects were still in conflict, and affliction was unavoidable. Agitation and seething are called affliction. Now, however, suffering and bliss have both been extinguished, and there is nothing left with which to conflict; therefore, it is called the Heaven Free from Affliction.

Although the mind no longer deliberates, there still remains a basis for deliberation, because the roots have not yet been completely removed. Now that the mind’s mechanisms no longer engage in dualistic opposition, the conditioned images are extinguished, and the agitation that gives rise to affliction is also gone; therefore, it is called the Heaven Free from Heat.

Those in the Heavens Free from Affliction and Free from Heat have only eliminated the coarse and superficial aspects outwardly; they have not yet revealed the wondrous purity within. Now their wondrous seeing is still, clear, and perfect: outwardly it does not arise in dependence upon sense objects, and inwardly it does not exist in dependence upon coarse defilements. It therefore illuminates the worlds of the ten directions like clear crystal. This is called the Heaven of Excellent Vision.

The transparent seeing within oneself can be refined into wondrous form without obstruction. The worlds of the ten directions are manifested and transformed from oneself. This is called the Heaven of Excellent Manifestation.

The incipient impulse is the subtle beginning of movement. When one subtlety is empty, all subtleties are empty; because all subtleties are empty, the one subtlety is empty. Here the nature of form-dharmas is exhausted to its utmost. The nature of form is emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is awareness. Awareness is the nature of form-dharmas. “Emptiness” arises within Great Awareness as a bubble arises in the sea. Thus, not only is the nature of form exhausted, but when the ultimate reach of that nature has nowhere further to go, form is completely purified at the point of culmination.

The Lankavatara Sutra says, “Dwelling in the Heaven of the Ultimate Reach of Form, free from all faults, one there attains Perfect Enlightenment.” How meaningful these words are! To speak of Perfect Enlightenment is to dwell neither in form nor in emptiness. Only in the Heaven of the Ultimate Reach of Form has former form already ended while subsequent emptiness has not yet arrived; therefore, there one may realize unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment.

Maitreya said: “The eighteen stations of the Form Realm are as follows: the three heavens of the First Dhyana arise from initially cultivating and perfuming the superior grade of dhyana within the Dharma of Warmth. The three heavens of the Second Dhyana arise from cultivating and perfuming the second superior grade of dhyana within the Dharma of Warmth. The three heavens of the Third Dhyana arise from cultivating and perfuming the third superior grade of dhyana within the Dharma of Warmth.

The four heavens of the Fourth Dhyana arise from cultivating and perfuming the fourth superior grade of dhyana within the Dharma of Warmth. There are also five Pure Abodes where the uncommon minds of the sages dwell; these arise from cultivating and perfuming the supreme, most excellent grade of the Fourth Dhyana within the Dharma of Warmth.”

Why can the Heaven of the Non-Returners not be seen or known from the Fourth Dhyana downward? It is because those in the lower heavens cultivate only the conditioned concentrations of ordinary beings, whereas those in this heaven cultivate the unconditioned, undefiled activity of sages. Since sages and ordinary beings are separated, it cannot be seen.

Master Yunju Ying built a hermitage on Mount Sanfeng and did not come to the refectory for an entire week.

Patriarch Dongshan asked, “Why have you not come to receive the meal lately?”

Master Ying replied, “Every day a heavenly spirit naturally presents me with a meal.”

Patriarch Dongshan said, “I had judged you to be That Person, yet you still possess such an understanding! Come here this evening.”

That evening, Master Ying came.

The Patriarch called loudly, “Acarya Ying!”

Master Ying answered, “Yes.”

The Patriarch said, “Not thinking of good and not thinking of evil—what is it?”

Master Ying returned to his hermitage and sat peacefully in utter stillness.

From then on, the heavenly spirit searched for him but could not find him. After three days, it finally ceased.

There was also the case of the miraculous monk Dharma Master Faben, who often came to a Chan monastery in Xiangzhou and entered the summer retreat together with another monk.

He often said, “This poor monk is the abbot of Zhulin Monastery in the Xishan Mountains of Xiangzhou. Before the monastery stands a stone pillar. Whenever you have leisure, please come and visit.”

When that monk later passed through the region, he remembered these words and began searching. He arrived at a village at the foot of the mountain and stayed there overnight. He asked a monk in the village, “How far is Zhulin Monastery from here?”

The monk pointed toward the edge of a distant mountain and said, “It is over there. The elders have passed down that it was the dwelling place of sages and worthies in ancient times, but now only its name remains.”

The monk became doubtful. The following morning, he went into the bamboo forest and indeed found a stone. He remembered that when they parted, Dharma Master Faben had instructed him, “Simply knock upon the pillar, and you will be able to see the people there.”

He then used a branch to strike the pillar several times. Suddenly, clouds and wind arose on every side, and he could not see even a few feet ahead. A short while later, when the sky cleared again, he saw lofty towers and halls soaring into the sky, while he himself stood outside the monastery’s triple gate. As he hesitated, Dharma Master Faben came out from within. Delighted to see him, Faben asked about former affairs in the southern region, then led the monk through the gates and up into a secluded hall to pay respects to the venerable elder.

When the elder asked the reason for his visit, Dharma Master Faben said, “Last year, we spent the summer retreat together in Xiangzhou and agreed that he would visit me here.”

The venerable elder said, “After the meal, you should ask him to depart. There is no seat or position for him here.”

When the meal was finished, Dharma Master Faben escorted him to the triple gate and bade him farewell.

Then heaven and earth grew dark, and he did not know which way to go. Once again, he found himself beside the stone pillar.

Thus, the sacred practice places of the sages are all presided over by arhats, and worldly people cannot secretly behold them. How much less should one doubt the heavens of the Non-Returners? Although they cannot be seen, they still possess material form, and therefore all are called the Form Realm.

B. THE FORMLESS REALM

Sutra: “Furthermore, Ananda, from this highest point of the Form Realm, there are two diverging paths.

“If, within the mind of relinquishment, one brings forth wisdom, and the radiance of wisdom becomes perfectly penetrating, one transcends the realm of defilement, becomes an arhat, and enters the Bodhisattva Vehicle. Those of this class are called Great Arhats Who Have Turned Their Minds Around.

“If, within the mind of relinquishment, one perfects renunciation, recognizes the body as an obstruction, and, beyond that obstruction, enters emptiness, those of this class are said to dwell in the Station of Infinite Space.

“When all obstructions have dissolved, yet the unobstructed is not extinguished, the whole alaya consciousness and one subtle half of the manas consciousness still remain within. Those of this class are said to dwell in the Station of Infinite Consciousness.

“When form and emptiness have both ended and the conscious mind has been extinguished, the ten directions become utterly still, with absolutely no coming or going. Those of this class are said to dwell in the Station of Nothing Whatsoever.

“The nature of consciousness remains unmoving. By investigating extinction to its utmost, within the inexhaustible they reveal a nature of total cessation: it seems to remain yet does not remain; it seems exhausted yet is not exhausted. Those of this class are said to dwell in the Station of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception.

“These beings investigate emptiness to its utmost but do not exhaust the principle of emptiness. For those who come from the Heaven of the Non-Returners, the Noble Path has reached its ultimate limit. Those of this class are called Dull-Witted Arhats Who Do Not Turn Their Minds Around.

“If those who come from the Heaven of No-Perception of the externalist paths investigate emptiness to its utmost but do not turn back, then, being deluded and having never heard the True Dharma, they will enter samsara.

“Ananda, in all those heavens, the individual heavenly beings are ordinary beings undergoing the recompense of their karma. When that recompense is exhausted, they fall back into samsara. The heavenly kings of those realms are bodhisattvas who roam in samadhi and gradually advance along the path toward Buddhahood.

“Ananda, in those four heavens of emptiness, body and mind are entirely extinguished, and the nature of concentration manifests before them. They possess none of the form-dharmas produced as karmic retribution. From that point to the very end is called the Formless Realm.

“These beings do not understand the nature of the wondrously awakened, luminous mind. They accumulate deluded thoughts, from which the three realms falsely arise. Within them, they falsely follow the seven destinies and become submerged, each being according to its own kind.”

Commentary: The four heavens of the Formless Realm are the dwelling places of sravakas whose disposition is fixed. If they turn their minds around, they turn from wisdom toward compassion, rescue sentient beings, benefit the world, cease dwelling in the lesser and lower fruition, and enter the Bodhisattva Vehicle; they are called Great Arhats. Those of dull faculties are unable to bring forth wisdom. Furthermore, because in concentration their minds delight in what is above and grow weary of what is below, they reject form, rely upon emptiness, and enter the Station of Infinite Space. The obstruction of the body has dissolved, and they no longer rely upon form. The emptiness of non-obstruction is also extinguished, and they further empty even the emptiness that has a locus to be emptied.

The six consciousnesses associated with the sense faculties of the body have all been completely cut off; only the whole of the Eighth Consciousness and half of the Seventh Consciousness remain. The Seventh Consciousness, manas, inherently has no fixed location. Outwardly, it conditions itself upon form and emptiness—that is, it relies upon the six consciousnesses—and is called “coarse.” Inwardly, it conditions itself upon the Eighth Consciousness, grasping only within and taking no external objects, and is called “subtle.” Aversion to emptiness, relying upon this consciousness, is called the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness.

Proceeding still further, the whole of the Eighth Consciousness and half of the Seventh Consciousness belonging to the conscious mind are extinguished, yet they cannot truly be extinguished. One merely takes the inwardly still and unmoving state of the conscious mind, entirely devoid of coming and going, to be the fundamental Sphere of Nothing Whatsoever. The True Nature has from the beginning not contained a single thing, so the state in which this consciousness is completely extinguished appears somewhat similar to it.

Yet here one takes arising and ceasing as the causal mind of one’s practice; therefore, the mind of arising and ceasing has not been extinguished. It is like a swiftly flowing current that, when glanced at, appears motionless. Thus, it cannot be said to be the state of Nothing Whatsoever belonging to the True Nature.

The conscious mind has been extinguished, while the nature of consciousness remains unmoving; yet one investigates it to the utmost and supposes that even this Unmoving state is extinguished. Whatever is Unmoving pervades all things and is fundamentally the Wondrous True Suchness-Nature of the Tathagata-garbha, inherently unborn and inherently inexhaustible. Now, within this inexhaustible Nature, one forcibly establishes a nature of exhaustion.

What is called “exhaustion” here is itself perceived as mind in dependence upon the extinction of consciousness, whereas that Nature has never truly been exhausted. Therefore, within the unmoving nature of consciousness, one regards it as permanently abiding; thus, it is not non-perception, and mental consideration comes to a halt. Yet it also seems not to abide permanently, and one regards it as exhausted; thus, it is not perception, while an extremely subtle flow continues without ceasing.

Again, it seems not to be exhausted; thus, it is Neither Perception nor Non-Perception. This Neither Perception nor Non-Perception relies in one half upon what is neither born nor extinguished and in the other half upon arising and ceasing. It is precisely the domain of the consciousness skandha.

Obscured by consciousness, one merely ponders within conceptual thought and does not truly see the Nature. Those born in this heaven enter ten thousand kalpas of non-perception; when those kalpas are exhausted, perception arises again. Such beings investigate emptiness to its utmost but do not penetrate the wondrous principle of True Emptiness, nor do they awaken to the fact that emptiness arises within Great Awakening.

Although they investigate to the utmost through the Noble Path of the five heavens of the Non-Returners, they do not understand the True Nature—the purport that the nature of awakening is true emptiness and the nature of emptiness is true awakening. Because they do not enter the Bodhisattva Vehicle, they are ultimately called dull arhats who do not turn their minds toward the Mahayana. Although beings of such faculties are dull, a time may still come when they turn their minds. How could they be compared with followers of non-Buddhist paths who, following the Heaven of No Perception, are deluded by the conditioned outflows and take them to be free of outflows, only to fall back into samsara when their karmic reward is exhausted?

Even the four formless heavens cannot escape samsara; therefore, the Desire Realm and the Form Realm are entirely the requital of karmic results. When that requital is exhausted, beings fall back into samsara—what doubt could there be? Only the heavenly kings are bodhisattvas on the bhumis who manifest transformation bodies in response to beings.

Roaming in samadhi, they provisionally manifest these successive levels and dedicate them to the Buddha Path; this too is a path of cultivation by gradual advancement. In these four formless heavens, body and mind are extinguished and the nature of samadhi becomes manifest. Although the form-dharmas produced by karmic results are absent, the form-dharmas produced by the fruition of samadhi remain.

From here onward, these form-dharmas produced by the fruition of samadhi are ultimately exhausted as well. Unless one awakens to the Nature of Wondrous Awakening and the Luminous Mind and transcends the three realms, one is not qualified to discuss this state. Without awakening to the Nature of Wondrous Awakening, one cannot escape the three realms, but falsely revolves through the seven destinies of sentient beings, turning endlessly and sinking into immersion.

All of this arises from accumulated falsity. The Desire Realm results from the false perception of desire; the Form Realm results from the false perception of purity; and the Formless Realm results from the false perception of emptiness. Because of falsity, the three realms exist, and beings in each realm are deluded along their own paths.

Sentient beings choose and grasp the destinies of their future lives; this is the intermediate-existence body (the intermediate skandha body).

The Nirvana Sutra says: “The five skandhas of the intermediate-existence body cannot be seen by the physical eye, but they can be seen by the heavenly eye. Falsely following each kind, beings pursue the cycle of transmigration. In brief, this is so because the consciousness-spirit has not yet been transformed. If one can transform consciousness into wisdom, one will naturally be free of this encumbrance.”

Master Dizang asked Master Xiushan: “From what place have you come?”

Master Xiu replied: “I have come from the South.”

Master Zang asked: “How has the Buddhadharma in the South been lately?”

Master Xiu replied: “There is boundless deliberation.”

Master Zang said: “How could that compare with my boundless planting of fields here, yielding complete abundance?”

Master Xiu asked: “Then what of the three realms?”

Master Zang said: “What do you call the three realms?”

Master Tiantong composed this verse:

“Displaying myriad things, contriving what is false,

Passed from ear to mouth—how fragmented it becomes!

Planting fields to fullness is an ordinary household affair;

How few understand being ‘full from investigating Chan’!

Full from Chan, one clearly knows there is ‘nothing to seek’;

Why would Zifang prize the matter of being enfeoffed as a marquis?

Thoroughly forgetting, returning home, at one with birds and fish,

Washing one’s feet in the clear river amid autumn mist and water.”

Master Cuiyan Zhen instructed the assembly: “Failing to see ‘one dharma’ is a grave error! Mountains, rivers, the great earth, the sun, moon, and stars, form, emptiness, light, and darkness—none of these is ‘one dharma’!”

Raising his staff, he said: “An ordinary person sees the staff and calls it a staff. A sravaka sees the staff, realizes stubborn emptiness, and denies that there is any staff. A bodhisattva sees the staff and is almost as though gaining another companion. When hungry, eat; when tired, sleep; when cold, warm yourself by the fire; when the heat is fierce, fan yourself cool. Have you not heard it said, ‘The Wisdom of All Wisdoms is Pure’? If you can utter such a saying, you will make the local earth deity laugh until his nostrils burst!”

This place shares the same flavor of purity as planting fields to complete abundance; it bears the aspect of transcending the three realms.

C. FOUR KINDS OF ASURAS

Sutra: “Furthermore, Ananda, within those three realms there are also four kinds of asuras:

“If they come from the realm of ghosts and, through the power of protecting the Dharma, rely upon spiritual powers to enter emptiness, these asuras are born from eggs and belong to the destiny of ghosts.

“If they come from the heavens but, because their virtue is deficient, must fall, their dwellings are near the sun and moon. These asuras are born from wombs and belong to the destiny of humans.

“There are asura kings who uphold the worlds. Their strength penetrates everywhere, and they fear no one. They can contend for authority with the Brahma King, Shakra, and the Four Heavenly Kings. These asuras come into being through transformation and belong to the destiny of heavenly beings.

“Ananda, there are also certain inferior asuras born in the heart of the great ocean, submerged in the depths of the abyss. By day they roam through the sky, and at night they return to sleep beneath the water. These asuras come into being through moisture and belong to the destiny of animals.

Commentary: The meritorious power of asura spirits equals that of heavenly beings, but they lack the conduct of heavenly beings; therefore, they are called ‘non-heavenly beings.’

The Sutra of the Ten Bhumis says: “There are five kinds of asuras. First are the extremely weak, who dwell in the mountains and forests of the human world. In the great, deep caverns of the western mountains of India are palaces of the non-heavenly beings.

Second are those who dwell north of Mount Sumeru. Twenty-one thousand yojanas beneath the great ocean is the palace of Rahu, whose hands can cover the sun and moon. Third, another twenty-one thousand yojanas farther down is the palace of Vemacitrin the Resolute and Valiant; its inhabitants are naturally hot-tempered, not because of drinking alcohol.

Fourth, another twenty-one thousand yojanas farther down is the palace of the Flower Garland asuras; among this kind, the females are exceedingly beautiful, while the males are ugly. Fifth, another twenty-one thousand yojanas farther down is the palace of Vimalacitra, whose name means ‘Pure Mind.’ He can cause the ocean waves to roar, and his realm is the homeland of the wife of Shakra, Lord of the Devas.”

The Dirgha Agama says: “In the course of one day and one night, the asuras undergo suffering three times. Suffering comes of itself and enters their palaces.”

Therefore, it is known that this class possesses a portion of the wholesome retribution of humans and devas. Yet, in terms of the suffering they undergo, they are indeed below human beings; hence, the Sutra of Mindfulness of the True Dharma classifies them among the two realms of hungry ghosts and animals. This Surangama Sutra uses the four modes of birth—womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born, and transformation-born—together with the four classes of devas, humans, ghosts, and animals, to clarify the conditions of the asuras. This is generally consistent with the Ten Stages Sutra.

Chan Master Qinglin Qian ascended the hall and said: “Within the Patriarch’s gate lies the mysterious path of birds: when effort reaches its utmost, a turning occurs; unless one investigates it profoundly, it is difficult to understand. Right here, you must investigate apart from mind, thought, and consciousness, and study beyond the tracks of sages and ordinary beings; only then can you preserve and sustain it. Otherwise, you are not my descendants.”

A monk asked: “What if one has long relied upon it and carried it, yet has never encountered it?”

He replied: “The invitation placard of an ancient king!”

The monk said: “Please, Master, give me an answer.”

He replied: “The asura’s hand rests upon the sun and moon.”

Another monk asked Chan Master Fohai: “What is it when mind itself is Buddha?”

He replied: “The head divides into two horn-like locks of hair.”

The monk asked: “What is it when it is neither mind nor Buddha?”

He replied: “An earring falls from the ear.”

The monk asked: “What is it when it is not mind, not Buddha, and not a thing?”

He replied: “Upon the bald crown, an asura sings and dances.”

With words such as these, unless one studies beyond the tracks of sages and ordinary beings and investigates apart from mind, thought, and consciousness, how could one fathom their limits?

VI. REVEALING THE ILLUSORY NATURE OF THE SEVEN CLASSES IN ORDER TO EXHORT TRUE CULTIVATION

Sutra: “Ananda, when carefully examined, the seven classes—hell-beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, rishis, devas, and asuras—are all conditioned appearances, dark and submerged. Through deluded thinking they undergo birth, and through deluded thinking they follow karma. Within the wondrous, perfect, luminous, uncreated Fundamental Mind, they are all like flowers seen in empty space. Fundamentally, they have no attachment whatsoever; they are purely false and illusory, utterly without root or origin.

“Ananda, these beings do not recognize the Fundamental Mind and therefore undergo such transmigration throughout measureless kalpas, never attaining true purity. This is entirely because they comply with killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. When they turn against these three, there arise non-killing, non-stealing, and abstention from sexual misconduct. Where killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct are present, there are the classes of ghosts; where they are absent, there are the classes of devas. Being and non-being alternate with one another, giving rise to the nature of transmigration.

“If one wondrously brings forth and develops samadhi, there is necessarily constant, tranquil wondrousness. Within it, both being and non-being cease to exist, and even the non-being of both is extinguished. Since even non-killing, non-stealing, and abstention from sexual misconduct no longer exist, how could one again comply with killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct?

“Ananda, if the three karmas are not severed, each being has an individual share. From each individual share there arises a collective share common to all these individual shares; therefore, it is not that there is no fixed place. These states arise from one’s own delusion, yet that deluded arising fundamentally has no cause and no source anywhere whatsoever.

“You should exhort cultivators who wish to attain bodhi that it is essential to eradicate the three delusions. If the three delusions are not exhausted, then even if one attains spiritual powers, they are still conditioned functions of the mundane world. If habitual tendencies are not extinguished, one falls into the path of demons. Although wishing to eliminate delusion, one instead increases falsehood and error. The Tathagata says that such people are most pitiable. This is delusion created by oneself; how could it be a fault in bodhi?

“To speak in this way is called right speech. Any statement contrary to this is the speech of a demon king.

Commentary: Earlier, Ananda asked: “Since the Wondrous Mind is perfect and all-pervasive, why are there the various realms of hell-beings, hungry ghosts, animals, asuras, humans, devas, and so forth? Do these have fixed locations, or do they arise spontaneously? When each being produces karma and individually undergoes its consequences, have these always existed of themselves, or do they arise from the accumulated delusions of beings?”

Therefore, the general reply here is: “The seven dark and submerged realms are all conditioned appearances. Within the wondrous, perfect, luminous, uncreated Fundamental Mind, fundamentally there is nothing whatsoever. They are like flowers seen in empty space—what involvement could they have with it?

Thus, they did not originally exist of themselves. It is only through deluded thinking that beings undergo birth, and through deluded thinking that they follow karma; hence, this is called ‘arising from deluded habits.’ Each being produces karma and individually undergoes its own allotted consequences; therefore, it is not that there are no fixed places. These states arise from one’s own delusion: delusion is the cause of false thinking, and false thinking is the cause of karma; thus, they do not arise spontaneously.

Yet that deluded arising fundamentally has no cause and no source anywhere whatsoever, for the Fundamental Mind is intrinsically and perpetually quiescent. Killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct constitute the foundation. To comply with the karma of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct is to deludedly perceive being; once there is being, one must sink into the four evil realms, of which the ghost realm is the lowest.

To refrain from complying with the three karmas and instead oppose them is to deludedly perceive non-being; once there is non-being, one will surely be born in a wholesome realm, of which the deva realm is the highest. Although good and evil follow different paths, being and non-being alternate with each other, so that transmigration through the three realms never ceases. This is created by people themselves; it is not a fault in bodhi.”

If one wondrously brings forth and develops samadhi, recognizes one’s Fundamental Mind, and attains true purity, this is called wondrous: without departing from the three realms, one suddenly transcends the three realms! Within that constantly tranquil right samadhi, there are no two things, being and non-being, to attain. Once the falsity of conventional truth has been eliminated, even the emptiness of nonduality disappears. When even the reality of nirvana is severed, fundamental ignorance is completely dissolved. From where could delusion arise, and from where could false thinking be produced? Even good cannot be established, much less following evil. This is like eyes that are fundamentally free of disease: flowers in empty space could not appear of themselves from anywhere.

The three delusions are commonly identified in the sutras as the delusion of views and thoughts, delusions numerous as dust and sand, and the delusion of ignorance. The delusion of views and thoughts is also called the shared delusion because it is severed in common by practitioners of all three vehicles. Delusions numerous as dust and sand are also called distinct delusions because only bodhisattvas are capable of severing them. The delusion of ignorance is the seed of karmic consciousness, and only bodhisattvas of the Mahayana are capable of severing it.

If the disease of the eyes is not removed, then although one wishes to eliminate the flowers seen in empty space, one merely increases falsehood and error. Even if one attains spiritual powers, one will still fall into the demonic path. The demonic path means cultivating deviant samadhi without eliminating killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. Therefore, one who wishes to attain unsurpassed bodhi must eliminate the three delusions and cleanse all habitual tendencies. Once the three delusions no longer remain, how could the three realms exist? If one does not understand these words and instead says, “Bodhi is fundamentally empty, so why is it necessary to eliminate delusion?”—that is the speech of demons.

A layman once asked Patriarch Xitang Zhizang: “Venerable Sir, do heaven and hell exist?”

Patriarch Zang said: “They do.”

He asked: “Do the Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, and the Three Jewels exist?”

Patriarch Zang said: “They do.”

The man asked many more questions, and the Patriarch answered that they all existed.

The man said: “Could the Venerable Master be mistaken in saying this?”

Patriarch Zang said: “Which venerable master have you previously encountered?”

The layman replied: “I once went to consult Venerable Master Jingshan.”

Patriarch Zang said: “What did Master Jingshan tell you?”

He replied: “He said that absolutely everything is nonexistent!”

Patriarch Zang asked: “Do you have a wife?”

He replied: “Yes, I do.”

Patriarch Zang asked: “Does Venerable Master Jingshan have a wife?”

He replied: “No, he does not.”

Patriarch Zang said: “Then it is fitting for the Venerable Master to say, ‘Nonexistent’!”

Here, through ordinary words, he revealed the message of sudden transcendence beyond the three realms. How wondrous!

Another monk asked Chan Master Dongshan Thuyên, “If a pure practitioner does not ascend to heaven, and a bhikshu who breaks the precepts does not enter hell, then how is it?”

Patriarch Thuyền said:

“Crossing utterly beyond, no shadow remains;

Returning there, one transcends nirvana.”

Master Đơn Hà composed this verse:

“Majestic in excellent marks, a great man,

Throughout his life, without wisdom, he seems like a fool.

Since ancient times, even Buddhas and patriarchs have been hard to behold;

How could hell and heaven ever bind him?”

This may serve as proof of the wondrous efficacy of samadhi.

VII. DISCERNING THE DEMONS OF THE SKANDHAS

A. THE CAUSES GIVING RISE TO DEMONIC EVENTS

Sutra: At that time, as the Tathagata was about to conclude his Dharma discourse, he sat upon the Lion Throne, rested his hand upon the seven-jeweled table, turned his body like a purple-gold mountain, leaned back against the seat, and addressed the entire assembly and Ananda:

“You are learners among the pratyekabuddhas and shravakas who have now turned your minds toward the unsurpassed wondrous enlightenment of great bodhi. I have already explained the true method of cultivation, but you still do not understand the subtle demonic events that may arise while cultivating shamatha and vipashyana.

“If demonic states manifest and you are unable to recognize them, your work of purifying the mind will not be correct, and you will fall into deviant views. You may be afflicted by the demons of your own five skandhas, by celestial demons, by ghosts and spirits, or by li and mei specters; if your mind remains unclear, you will mistake a thief for your own child. Furthermore, you may attain a little and consider it sufficient, like the bhikshu Vô Căn, who attained the Fourth Dhyana and falsely claimed to have realized sagehood.

When his celestial reward came to an end and the signs of decline appeared, he slandered the fruition of arhatship, saying that arhats must still undergo rebirth, and consequently fell into the Avici hell. You should listen carefully; I will now distinguish these matters clearly for you.”

Ananda arose together with the learners in the assembly. Joyfully they bowed at the Buddha’s feet and reverently listened to his compassionate instruction.

The Buddha told Ananda and the entire assembly:

“You should know that the perfectly aware essence of mind, the wondrously luminous fundamental enlightenment of the twelve classes of sentient beings throughout the world of outflows, is neither two nor different from that of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions. Because of your deluded thoughts, you became confused about the truth and thereby gave rise to error. Ignorance and craving arose; as delusion spread everywhere, emptiness came into being. Through the unceasing transformation of that deluded emptiness, worlds arose. Thus, the lands throughout the ten directions, numerous as motes of dust, are not free from outflows; they are all established through deluded and confused thinking.

“You should know that emptiness arises within your mind like a speck of cloud in the sky—how much more so the worlds contained within that emptiness! If even one among you initiates a return to the true source, all that emptiness throughout the ten directions will vanish. How, then, could the lands within that emptiness fail to quake and collapse? When you cultivate dhyana and refine samadhi, you enter into a subtle, wondrous accord with the pure minds of the bodhisattvas and great arhats throughout the ten directions, and right where you are, everything becomes still and serene. Yet all demon kings, ghosts and spirits, and ordinary celestial beings see their palaces inexplicably collapsing and the earth quaking, while every creature that swims, walks, flies, or leaps becomes terrified.

“Ordinary beings, sunk in obscurity, do not understand and so entertain mistaken thoughts. But those other beings possess the five kinds of spiritual powers, except for the power of the extinction of outflows. Attached to these defiling states, how could they allow you to destroy their dwelling places? Therefore, while you cultivate samadhi, ghosts and spirits, celestial demons, wangliang apparitions, and strange entities all come to harass and disturb you.

“Yet although those demons are extremely enraged, they remain within the defilements of worldly existence, while you abide in wondrous enlightenment. They are therefore like wind blowing upon light or a knife cutting through water: they cannot harm you at all. You are like boiling water, and they are like solid ice; as soon as they draw near the warmth, they quickly melt away. They rely vainly upon their spiritual powers, but they are merely guests. If they are able to disturb you, it is because the host of the five skandhas within your mind is deluded. Only when the host is confused do the guests find an opportunity to cause trouble.

“If, while abiding in dhyana concentration, you remain enlightened and free from confusion, those demonic events will be unable to affect you. When the skandhas dissolve and merge into the luminous nature, brightness dispels darkness. When darkness approaches light, it naturally disappears.

Since those deviant demons are all darkness, how could they dare remain to disturb your dhyana concentration? If you fail to awaken with luminous clarity and are obscured and deluded by the five skandhas, then you, Ananda, will become a child of demons and a demonic being. Mātaṅgī, for example, possessed only feeble power, yet merely by using a spell she nearly caused you to violate the Buddha’s disciplinary rules.

Among the eighty thousand modes of conduct, she would have caused you to break only one precept; but because your mind was pure, you did not become submerged. These demons, however, would destroy your entire precious body of enlightenment, just as the household of a prime minister might suddenly be confiscated, leaving him to wander destitute and fallen, beyond all compassionate rescue!

Commentary: Demon means māra, which signifies “killer” and also “robber,” because it can kill one’s wisdom-life and rob one of one’s wholesome Dharma. In general, there are five kinds of demons: the demons of the five skandhas, the demon of afflictions, the demon of birth and death, celestial demons, and ghostly demons. Combined, however, there are only the demons of the skandhas and celestial demons.

The demons of the skandhas are birth and death, for afflictions arise in dependence upon the five skandhas. Celestial demons arise from the cultivation of deviant concentration and delight in harming those who cultivate the right path. Again, the bhikshu Vô Căn attained a little and considered it sufficient; he slandered the Buddha and falsely declared that arhats must still undergo rebirth. This was the demon of deviant views, belonging both to the demons of the skandhas and to celestial demons. Because he slandered the True Dharma, he fell into the Avici hell.

When one person initiates a return to the true source, the worlds throughout the ten directions all vanish. All the demon kings and ordinary celestial beings see their palaces collapsing and creatures of land and water becoming terrified, and so they come to disturb the practitioner’s dhyana concentration. These celestial demons cannot do much harm.

They rely upon their spiritual powers, but they are still only guests. The host is within oneself; thus, one should use wondrous enlightenment to destroy worldly defilements, just as boiling water melts ice and light dispels darkness. If the host becomes confused, the guests immediately seize the opportunity: they destroy one’s disciplinary rules and damage one’s precious enlightenment, just as a prime minister whose household has been confiscated is left to wander destitute and fallen.

The harm done by these demons of the skandhas is profound. Whether they can cause disturbance depends entirely upon the host. Therefore, in cultivating dhyana concentration, one must awaken with luminous clarity and not allow the five skandhas to cause confusion.

This is the ultimate truth.

The skandhas are the obscurations of discriminating consciousness and emotion, like clouds floating in the sky. Luminous clarity is lucid revelation, like the open sky itself. When the skandhas dissolve and one enters the luminous nature, one returns to the nature of fundamental enlightenment. Therefore, this wondrously luminous fundamental enlightenment is neither two nor different from that of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions. Only because deluded thoughts of ignorance and craving transform in accordance with confusion do worlds arise. When worlds exist, there is the form skandha. Through deluded attachment to these worldly defilements, the skandhas of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness then arise.

I wish to burst through the skandhas and leap free, restoring the mind-essence of perfect enlightenment until all outflows are utterly exhausted. Yet those beings who still possess outflows cling and refuse to let go; relying upon their spiritual powers, they come to cause disruption. If one violates the precepts, breaks the discipline, and joins their company, then even if one attains spiritual powers, one is certainly a child of demons.

To penetrate this thoroughly is called precious enlightenment. This enlightenment is the seed of Buddhahood. Relying upon this precious enlightenment, one enters right concentration and realizes the Dharma-body, one’s subtle, pure mind accorded with the bodhisattvas and great arhats free from outflows throughout the ten directions.

Abiding perpetually in serene stillness, silently illuminating and encompassing emptiness, even emptiness itself no longer exists—how much less the lands with outflows established in dependence upon that emptiness?

A lecturer on the Avatamsaka Sutra asked Patriarch Trường Sa Sầm, “Does emptiness definitely exist, or does it definitely not exist?”

Patriarch Sha said, “To say that it exists is acceptable, and to say that it does not exist is also acceptable. If empty space exists, it is only a provisional existence; if empty space does not exist, it is only a provisional nonexistence.”

He was asked, “Is what the Venerable says found in any scripture or teaching?”

Patriarch Sha said, “Has the Venerable not heard the Shurangama say, ‘The empty space of the ten directions arises within your mind like a speck of cloud in the sky’? When empty space arises, does this not mean that only a provisional designation arises? The sutra further says, ‘When one among you returns to the true source, all the empty space throughout the ten directions will utterly vanish.’ When empty space ceases, does this not mean that only a provisional designation ceases? Therefore, this old monk says, ‘Existence is provisional existence, and nonexistence is provisional nonexistence.’”

Master Changsha thoroughly penetrated the wondrous luminosity of fundamental awakening and therefore regarded even the arising and ceasing of empty space as illusory, to say nothing of all other things!

There was a learned and well-read senior monk named Pengyan who went to question Chan Master Bao’en Ming, intending to debate the essential principle of the school.

Patriarch Ming said, “The more one speaks, the farther one strays from the Way. For now, I have something to ask you. Among all the sages and worthy masters of ancient and present times, was there anyone who did not awaken?”

He replied, “Since they were sages and worthy masters, how could any of them have failed to awaken?”

Patriarch Ming said, “When one person returns to the true source, all the empty space throughout the ten directions utterly vanishes. Yet Mount Tiantai now stands plainly before us. How could it have vanished?”

Master Yan did not know how to respond.

If one cannot resolve this great mass of doubt, how could one dare speak of breaking through the five skandhas?

B. THE DOMAIN OF THE FORM SKANDHA

Sutra: “Ananda, you should know that when you sit in the place of awakening and bring all thoughts to an end, once those thoughts have ceased, the mind, free from thought, becomes wholly clear and lucid. Movement and stillness do not disturb it, and remembering and forgetting are alike. While abiding in this state and entering samadhi, you are like a person with clear sight dwelling in utter darkness.

The essential purity of your nature is limpid and wondrous, but your mind has not yet become luminous. This is called the domain of the form skandha. If your vision becomes clear, the ten directions open up without obstruction, and no darkness remains, this is called the ending of the form skandha.

Such a person can transcend the turbidity of the kalpa. Examining the cause of the turbidity of the kalpa, one finds that its root is the false thinking of solidity.

“Ananda, while in this state, if you investigate with utmost precision the wondrous luminous nature, the four great elements will no longer combine, and in an instant your mind-consciousness may pass beyond all obstruction. This is called the refined luminosity overflowing into the objects before you. It is only a temporary state attained through diligent effort and is not the realization of a sage. If you do not regard it as realization, it may be called a wholesome state; but if you regard it as the realization of a sage, you will fall into deviance.

“Ananda, if you further use this mind to investigate with utmost precision the wondrous luminous nature, your body will become transparent within, and you may suddenly extract various worms and parasites from your own body while the body remains intact and unharmed. This is called the refined luminosity overflowing into the physical form. It is only a temporary state attained through vigorous cultivation and is not the realization of a sage. If you do not regard it as realization, it may be called a wholesome state; but if you regard it as the realization of a sage, you will fall into deviance.

“If you further use this mind to investigate with utmost precision both within and without, then the ethereal and corporeal souls, the intention and will, the vital essence and spirit—apart from the body that receives and sustains them—all interact with one another, alternately acting as guest and host. You may suddenly hear teachings of the Dharma being spoken in empty space, or hear the ten directions simultaneously expounding esoteric meanings. This is called the refined essences alternately separating and uniting, bringing wholesome seeds to fruition. It is only a temporary state and is not the realization of a sage. If you do not regard it as realization, it may be called a wholesome state; but if you regard it as the realization of a sage, you will fall into deviance.

“If you further use this mind to settle into limpid clarity so that luminosity appears and light shines forth from within, the ten directions may become the color of Jambunada gold, and all species of beings may appear transformed into Tathagatas. At that time, you may suddenly see Buddha Vairocana seated upon a celestial light dais and surrounded by a thousand Buddhas. Ten billion lands, together with lotus blossoms, may appear simultaneously.

This is called the mind-consciousness becoming imbued with numinous awakening. Because the mind’s light shines forth and illuminates all worlds, this temporary state may arise, but it is not the realization of a sage. If you do not regard it as realization, it may be called a wholesome state; but if you regard it as the realization of a sage, you will fall into deviance.

“If you further use this mind to investigate with utmost precision the wondrous luminous nature, observing without cease, suppressing and subduing, and restraining it excessively, then suddenly the empty space throughout the ten directions may assume the colors of the seven treasures or of a hundred treasures, pervading everywhere simultaneously without obstructing one another. Blue, yellow, red, and white will each appear distinctly. This is called excessive exertion in suppression. It is only a temporary state and is not the realization of a sage. If you do not regard it as realization, it may be called a wholesome state; but if you regard it as the realization of a sage, you will fall into deviance.

“If you further use this mind to investigate, remaining still, penetrating, luminous, clear, and undisturbed, then suddenly, in the middle of the night, you may see every object in a dark room as clearly as in daylight, while the objects in the dark room remain unchanged. This is called the subtle mind becoming still and its vision thereby penetrating the darkness. It is only a temporary state and is not the realization of a sage. If you do not regard it as realization, it may be called a wholesome state; but if you regard it as the realization of a sage, you will fall into deviance.

“If you further use this mind to merge completely into open receptivity, your four limbs may suddenly become like grass and wood. You will feel nothing at all when burned by fire or cut with a knife. Flames will be unable to burn you, and even when your flesh is cut, it will be like splitting wood. This is called becoming one with the sense objects, because the four great elements have been uniformly cast aside and you have entered a state of oneness. It is only a temporary state and is not the realization of a sage. If you do not regard it as realization, it may be called a wholesome state; but if you regard it as the realization of a sage, you will fall into deviance.

“If you further use this mind to perfect purity, applying your effort until the mind reaches the utmost purity, you may suddenly see the lands, rivers, and mountains throughout the ten directions transformed into Buddha lands, replete with the seven treasures whose radiance shines everywhere. You may also see Tathagata Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges filling empty space, with magnificent towers and palaces.

Below, you may see the hells, and above, the celestial palaces, all without obstruction. This is called the transformation produced by prolonged delight in suppression and the stilling of thought. It is not the realization of a sage.

If you do not regard it as realization, it may be called a wholesome state; but if you regard it as the realization of a sage, you will fall into deviance.

“If you further use this mind to investigate profoundly, then suddenly, in the middle of the night, you may clearly see marketplaces, villages, relatives, and family members in distant places, or hear them speaking. This is called the mind being pressed to the utmost so that it flies outward. It is not the realization of a sage. If you do not regard it as realization, it may be called a wholesome state; but if you regard it as the realization of a sage, you will fall into deviance.

“If you further use this mind to investigate with the utmost subtlety and thoroughness, you may see a spiritual teacher whose body undergoes transformations, changing in various ways within moments and without any apparent cause. This is called the deviant mind being entered by a li-mei spirit or a celestial demon, which then speaks the Dharma without apparent cause and comprehends wondrous meanings. It is not the realization of a sage. If you do not regard it as realization, the demonic disturbance will naturally disappear; but if you regard it as the realization of a sage, you will fall into deviance.”

“Ananda, these ten kinds of states that manifest in meditative concentration all belong to the form skandha. They appear because the workings of the mind interact with one another. Deluded beings fail to examine themselves. When they encounter such conditions, they remain unaware of their delusion and suppose that they have attained the rank of a sage. Thus they commit the grave falsehood and fall into the Avici Hell.

“After the Tathagata enters parinirvana, you should proclaim this teaching during the Dharma-ending Age. Do not allow the celestial demons to seize an opportunity to cause disruption. Safeguard and protect practitioners so that they may accomplish the unsurpassed Way.

Commentary: Dhyana is the extinguishing of thoughts through the Dharma gate of cessation and contemplation. Cessation means using stillness to turn back delusion and put an end to arising. In contemplation, although all thoughts have ceased, there remains the mind apart from thought, completely lucid and clear. Cessation and contemplation are fundamentally nondual; thus movement and stillness do not alter it, and remembering and forgetting are one. Being neither dull nor distracted is right mindfulness. Only by entering in this way can one attain true samadhi. But if stillness is present while movement is absent, or remembering remains while forgetting causes it to be lost, this belongs to a state in which perception has merely stopped; it is not right concentration.

At first, upon entering cessation and contemplation, before the form skandha has been broken through, one is like a person with sound eyesight dwelling in utter darkness, unable yet to emit light and confined by form. This is called the domain of the form skandha.

When the form skandha has been broken through, it is as though one’s eyes have become clear and the ten directions have opened without obstruction. The power of vision illuminates everywhere and is no longer impeded by the objects before it. One can thereby transcend the turbidity of the kalpa.

The turbidity of the kalpa is formed by the interweaving of form-dharmas with seeing. Now that seeing is no longer deluded by form-dharmas, it can transcend this turbidity. From what does this form skandha arise?

It is rooted in the solidification of deluded thought. Originally, the three deluded thoughts of the father, the mother, and oneself unite to form this solid physical body composed of the four great elements. Solidity is earth, fluidity is water, warmth is fire, and movement is wind.

Through the bonds of these four, the six faculties are formed. The six faculties submerge the perfectly luminous nature and conceal the true nature; therefore, this is called a skandha.

Now, upon entering dhyana and investigating the wondrously luminous nature with utmost refinement, one becomes detached from the objects before the senses; both body and environment become empty, the four great elements no longer interweave, and the refined consciousness separates from form-dharmas. At first, pure luminosity pours forth and the body passes beyond obstruction; this is the outward forgetting of sensory objects.

Then the interior of the body becomes empty and transparent, and one can extract worms and parasites from it; this is the inward forgetting of the body. Next, the vital essences alternately separate and unite, and the inside and outside of the body interchange as host and guest; one hears essential Dharma teachings spoken in empty space. This approaches the forgetting of physical form itself.

Next, an inner light is emitted and one sees the realms of the Buddhas. This occurs temporarily through the influence of spiritual awakening and cannot be sustained continuously. In the samadhi of mindfulness of the Buddha, however, seeing the Pure Land is the correspondence of mind and its object; this is called a correct sign and cannot be included here.

Next, through excessive suppression one sees many precious colors. When suppression reaches an extreme, light arises; this is also an attainment found in the contemplation of the ten perceptions. Next, by making one’s seeing subtle and tranquil, one can see objects in darkness.

What was seen before was an illusory state, whereas what is seen here is an actual state. This cannot be attained without nurturing the mind to utmost subtlety. Next, the four limbs become empty and yielding, like plants and trees; one feels nothing when cut with a knife or burned by fire.

This cannot occur unless pure awareness has caused one to forget the body. Next, when contemplative illumination reaches its utmost and purity is accomplished, one suddenly sees the Buddha lands of the ten directions, the heavens, and the hells without obstruction, approaching the attainment of the divine eye. Next, when suppression reaches its utmost, one sees not only objects in darkness but also distant villages and marketplaces; one hears not only voices teaching the Dharma in empty space but also the words of relatives far away, approaching the attainment of the divine ear.

When subtle investigation reaches its utmost, inside and outside intermingle and interchange as host and guest. The spirit, ethereal soul, and corporeal soul suddenly forget where they belong. A demon then gains an opportunity to enter the body, causing the physical form to transform in all manner of ways and enabling one to expound the Dharma without cause and penetrate wondrous principles.

Does this not seem to result from breaking through the form skandha and no longer being bound by form-dharmas? Yet one does not realize that one has been possessed and controlled by a demon.

These ten phenomena all arise from investigating the wondrously luminous nature to the utmost, while the mind of dhyana contends with the solidification of deluded thought. Form cannot yet be identical with emptiness, and emptiness cannot yet be identical with form. They alternately prevail and succumb and cannot yet merge into unity.

This is where the demons of the form skandha seize an opportunity to enter. Deluded beings fail to examine themselves: In what way do their everyday views and understanding resemble those of the Buddha? In what way does their daily practice equal that of the Buddha?

Merely because they happen to see such states, they regard them as realization of sagehood. Though they are not sages, they claim to be sages; though they have attained no realization, they claim realization. Inwardly, they are deluded by the demons of the skandhas; outwardly, they resonate with celestial demons.

Thus they commit the grave falsehood and fall into the Avici Hell. This is truly lamentable. Therefore, the Blessed One proclaimed this teaching for the Dharma-ending Age, to protect beings and enable them to accomplish the unsurpassed Way.

If the strength of one’s practice has reached the point where one can break through the form skandha, then even if the phenomena described above appear, one does not regard them as realization of sagehood. Many such occurrences also take place in Chan.

For example, one day Chan Master Ehu Zhifu did not come to the refectory, so his attendant went to invite him.

Patriarch Fu said, “Today I ate my fill of yusi at the farmstead!”

The attendant said, “Venerable Master, you have not gone anywhere at all!”

Patriarch Fu said, “Just go and ask the owner of the farmstead.”

As the attendant stepped through the door, he suddenly met the owner of the farmstead, who had come to offer thanks for the Master’s visit to the farmstead to eat yusi.

Was this not a case of the body passing beyond obstruction?

One day, an elderly woman came to pay her respects to Chan Master Duanyan.

He said, “Hurry home and save several thousand lives!”

When the elderly woman returned home, she saw her daughter-in-law bringing back snails gathered from the fields, so she released them.

Furthermore, while in concentration, Chan Master Zuzhao saw events occurring dozens of miles away that no one else knew about. Later, monks at the farmstead heard of this and spread word of it outside. Fearing that he might bewilder the assembly, the Master entered cessation.

All these were things they could do, yet they did not regard them as realization of sagehood.

C. THE DOMAIN OF THE FEELING SKANDHA

Sutra: “Ananda, when that good man cultivates samadhi, and the form skandha is exhausted within shamatha, he sees the minds of the Buddhas as images appearing in a bright mirror. It seems as though he has obtained this, but he cannot yet make use of it. He is like a person oppressed by paralysis: his hands and feet remain intact, and his seeing and hearing are unimpaired, yet his mind has encountered a deviant intruder and he cannot move. This is called the domain of the feeling skandha.

“If the paralysis ceases to oppress him, his mind can leave his body, look back upon his own face, and come and go freely without further obstruction. This is called the exhaustion of the feeling skandha. Such a person can transcend the turbidity of views. Examining its cause, one finds that its root lies in the deluded thought of illusory clarity.

“Ananda, within this state that good man gains lucid awareness, and his mind becomes illuminated. If he exerts excessive inward suppression, he may suddenly give rise to boundless compassion. He may even look upon mosquitoes and gnats as though they were newborn children, feeling such pity for them that he unconsciously bursts into tears. This is called the effect of excessive suppression. If he understands it, there is no fault; it is not realization of sagehood. If he remains aware and is not deluded, it will naturally disappear after a time. But if he regards this as the understanding of a sage, a demon of sorrow will enter his heart. Whenever he sees someone, he will feel pity and weep without restraint. He will lose right concentration and inevitably sink into ruin.”

“Ananda, furthermore, when these good men, abiding in samadhi, see the Form Skandha dissolve and the Feeling Skandha become clearly manifest, the presence of this excellent state may stir them excessively, and suddenly an immeasurably valiant resolve arises within them. Their minds become intensely keen, and their aspirations equal those of the Buddhas. They declare that in a single thought they can transcend three asamkhyeya kalpas.

This is called allowing their practice to advance with excessive force. If they understand this, there is no error; it is not the realization of sagehood. But if they consider themselves to have attained sagehood, a demon of madness will enter their minds.

Whenever they meet others, they will boast, and their arrogance will be unsurpassed, until their minds acknowledge neither the Buddhas above nor human beings below. They will lose right samadhi and inevitably sink into ruin.

“Ananda, furthermore, when these good men, abiding in samadhi, see the Form Skandha dissolve and the Feeling Skandha become clearly manifest, they find that, going forward, they have not yet attained any new realization, while, retreating, they have lost their former state. Their power of wisdom declines, and they enter a state of intermediate deterioration in which they see absolutely nothing. Suddenly, an intense dryness and thirst arise in their minds.

At all times they remain inwardly preoccupied without cease, taking this to be a sign of diligent vigor. This is called cultivating the mind without wisdom and thereby falling into confusion. If they understand this, there is no error; it is not the realization of sagehood.

But if they consider themselves to have attained sagehood, a demon of obsessive recollection will enter their minds. Day and night it will keep their minds suspended upon a single point. They will lose right samadhi and inevitably sink into ruin.

“Furthermore, when these good men, abiding in samadhi, see the Form Skandha dissolve and the Feeling Skandha become clearly manifest, the power of their wisdom exceeds that of their samadhi, and they mistakenly become excessively bold and keen. Cherishing the excellent qualities they perceive within their minds, they suspect that they themselves are Vairocana Buddha and, having attained little, consider it sufficient. This is called applying the mind while neglecting careful examination and becoming attached to one’s own views and understanding.

If they understand this, there is no error; it is not the realization of sagehood. But if they consider themselves to have attained sagehood, a demon of facile contentment and inferiority will enter their minds. Whenever they meet others, they will declare, ‘I have attained the unsurpassed truth of the Ultimate Meaning.’ They will lose right samadhi and inevitably sink into ruin.

“Furthermore, when these good men, abiding in samadhi, see the Form Skandha dissolve and the Feeling Skandha become clearly manifest, they have not yet attained the new realization, while their former state of mind has already been lost. Looking upon both alternatives, they find themselves perplexed, and suddenly boundless anxiety arises in their minds, as though they were sitting upon an iron bed or drinking poison. They no longer wish to live and constantly beg others to take their lives so that they may quickly attain liberation.

This is called losing the skillful means of cultivation. If they understand this, there is no error; it is not the realization of sagehood. But if they consider themselves to have attained sagehood, a demon of perpetual sorrow will enter their minds.

They may take up knives or swords and cut their own flesh, delighting in the prospect of abandoning their lives; or they may remain constantly sorrowful and flee into forests and mountains, unwilling to see anyone. They will lose right mindfulness and inevitably sink into ruin.

“Furthermore, when these good men, abiding in samadhi, see the Form Skandha dissolve and the Feeling Skandha become clearly manifest, their minds become peaceful and secure within that purity, and suddenly immeasurable joy spontaneously arises. Their hearts become so delighted that they cannot restrain themselves. This is called pliancy and ease without the wisdom to control it. If they understand this, there is no error; it is not the realization of sagehood. But if they consider themselves to have attained sagehood, a demon that delights in joy will enter their minds. Whenever they meet others, they will laugh; along the roadside they will sing and dance by themselves, declaring that they have attained unobstructed liberation. They will lose right samadhi and inevitably sink into ruin.

“Furthermore, when these good men, abiding in samadhi, see the Form Skandha dissolve and the Feeling Skandha become clearly manifest, they consider themselves already complete. Suddenly, without cause, great self-arrogance arises. Thus ordinary arrogance, excessive arrogance, arrogance beyond arrogance, pride of spiritual attainment, and even the arrogance of inferiority all arise simultaneously.

In their minds they even look down upon the Tathagatas of the ten directions, to say nothing of those at lower stages, such as shravakas and pratyekabuddhas. This is called an excessive conviction arising from an excellent understanding, without the wisdom to save oneself. If they understand this, there is no error; it is not the realization of sagehood.

But if they consider themselves to have attained sagehood, a demon of great self-arrogance will enter their minds. They will refuse to bow before stupas and shrines and will destroy sutras and images. They will tell donors, ‘These are merely gold, bronze, wood, or clay.

Sutras are nothing but leaves, paper, or silk. You do not revere the ever-true body of flesh, yet you venerate wood and clay. This is truly inverted.’ Those who place excessive faith in them will smash such objects and bury them in the ground.

Because they cause beings to become doubtful, confused, and mistaken, they will fall into the Avici Hell. They will lose right samadhi and inevitably sink into ruin.

“Furthermore, when these good men, abiding in samadhi, see the Form Skandha dissolve and the Feeling Skandha become clearly manifest, then, amid that essential clarity, they perfectly awaken to the subtle principle and attain great accord with it. Suddenly, immeasurable pliancy and ease arise in their minds, and they declare that they have become sages and attained great sovereignty. This is called gaining clarity and lightness through wisdom.

If they understand this, there is no error; it is not the realization of sagehood. But if they consider themselves to have attained sagehood, a demon that delights in clarity and lightness will enter their minds. Considering themselves complete, they will no longer seek further progress.

Most of these people become like the ignorant bhikshu, misleading beings and causing them to fall into the Avici Hell. They will lose right samadhi and inevitably sink into ruin.

“Furthermore, when these good men, abiding in samadhi, see the Form Skandha dissolve and the Feeling Skandha become clearly manifest, they attain the nature of empty clarity within their luminous awakening. Suddenly, they turn toward eternal annihilation, denying cause and effect and directing themselves exclusively toward emptiness. As the mind of emptiness manifests before them, they go so far as to become rigidly attached to eternal annihilation.

If they understand this, there is no error; it is not the realization of sagehood. But if they consider themselves to have attained sagehood, a demon of emptiness will enter their minds. They will slander the observance of precepts as belonging to the Lesser Vehicle, claiming that, since bodhisattvas have awakened to emptiness, there is nothing to observe and nothing to violate.

Such people will habitually eat meat, drink alcohol, and engage in much sexual misconduct in the homes of faithful donors. Through the demon’s power they subdue others, preventing doubts or denunciations from arising. After the ghost has remained in their minds for a long time, they will consume excrement and urine as though these were no different from wine and meat, maintaining that everything is empty.

They will violate the Buddha’s moral discipline and mislead others into committing offenses. They will lose right samadhi and inevitably sink into ruin.

“Furthermore, when these good men, abiding in samadhi, see the Form Skandha dissolve and the Feeling Skandha become clearly manifest, they greedily savor the illusory splendor, which penetrates deeply into their hearts and bones. Suddenly, boundless affection arises within their minds. When this love becomes excessive, they go mad and engage in lustful conduct.

This is called allowing the peaceful and agreeable state of samadhi to enter the mind without the wisdom to preserve oneself, thus mistakenly falling into the five desires. If they understand this, there is no error; it is not the realization of sagehood. But if they consider themselves to have attained sagehood, a demon of desire will enter their minds.

They will exclusively proclaim that desire itself is the path of bodhi and will instruct laypeople to engage in lust without discrimination, calling those who practice sexual misconduct disciples who uphold the Dharma. Through the spiritual power of the ghost, they will subdue ordinary people in the Dharma-ending Age, numbering one hundred, two hundred, five hundred, six hundred, or even thousands and tens of thousands.

When the demon’s mind becomes weary, it will leave the person’s body. Once the person’s awesome influence is gone, they will become ensnared by the law. Because they cause beings to become doubtful, confused, and mistaken, they will enter the Avici Hell.

They will lose right samadhi and inevitably sink into ruin.

“Ananda, these ten states that manifest in dhyana all belong to the Feeling Skandha. They arise because the efforts of the mind interact with one another. Deluded and foolish beings do not know how to examine themselves. When they encounter these conditions, they remain confused and unaware, considering themselves to have ascended to sagehood. Thus they utter great falsehoods and fall into the Avici Hell. After my nirvana, you should transmit these words of the Tathagata and teach them to those in the Dharma-ending Age, enabling all beings everywhere to awaken clearly to their meaning. Do not allow the celestial demons to seize an opportunity to cause disruption. Safeguard and protect practitioners so that they may accomplish the unsurpassed path.”

It is explained: While the form skandha has not yet dissolved, the mind clings to form and perceives various strange phenomena; thus, the demon has not yet entered the mind. Here the form skandha has been extinguished, but the feeling skandha remains. The feeling skandha refers solely to the first five consciousnesses, which falsely and continually receive and apprehend, like scenes appearing in a bright mirror.

The essence of empty luminosity is originally the Buddha-Mind; why, then, is it called false thinking? Only because one gives rise to an attachment that seeks attainment and takes it to be real, one is consequently obstructed by the feeling skandha and cannot attain Right Samadhi. Therefore, while the feeling skandha has not yet been broken through, one cannot become free from the five faculties.

It is like a mind visited by a deviant guest and oppressed by the skandha: although empty luminosity is present, it can do nothing. Once the feeling skandha has been eliminated, luminosity no longer depends upon the faculties. It is as though the oppression of the skandha had ended: whether the mind goes or remains, it is free, and one can turn back to behold one's own face.

Empty luminosity then functions freely, and this is to transcend the Turbidity of Views. The element of seeing receives the various objects, and their interweaving produces turbidity. Now empty luminosity is vacant, radiant, and unobstructed; thus, the faculty of seeing has first been uprooted.

Once the root of seeing has been uprooted, what remains that could cause seeing to be received and thereby become turbidity?

While the form skandha has not yet dissolved, the mind has not yet become luminous. When the form skandha has ended, great luminosity is attained; this is the false thinking of empty luminosity. One who has rightly awakened regards this empty luminosity as merely another object. Only those who investigate the nature of Wondrous Luminosity with great subtlety, yet inwardly suppress themselves excessively—that is, who utterly forget themselves and see all things as themselves—will regard even mosquitoes and gnats as newborn infants, and a compassionate mind will arise.

When empty luminosity manifests before them, they become excessively inspired and therefore suppose that they can equal all Buddhas, and a fiercely courageous mind arises.

When samadhi is strong but wisdom weak, one becomes bewildered in the interval between the new—the feeling skandha—and the old—the form skandha—and has nowhere to rely. One therefore broods ceaselessly, fixing the mind upon a single point and regarding this as diligence.

When the power of wisdom exceeds samadhi, one may suspect oneself to be a Buddha and readily give rise to a sense of complete repose. One therefore sinks into one's own knowledge and views, declaring that one has attained light that shines everywhere and that only the Buddhas can equal oneself.

When one loses the basis for either advancing or retreating, one creates danger and hardship for oneself, thinking, “I have this great affliction because I possess this body.” One therefore constantly seeks someone to kill one so as to attain liberation quickly; this goes beyond merely brooding ceaselessly.

Having become peaceful within purity and no longer troubled by danger or hardship, one immediately gives rise to boundless joy. Delighting in what one regards as unobstructed liberation, one sings and dances without restraint. This occurs because one lacks wisdom with which to discipline oneself.

When joy reaches its extreme, one considers oneself fully accomplished and immediately gives rise to great self-arrogance. There are seven kinds of arrogance: arrogance, excessive arrogance, arrogance beyond arrogance, overweening arrogance, inferior arrogance, self-arrogance, and deviant arrogance. Arrogance means a lack of reverence.

Excessive arrogance means considering oneself superior to others and becoming proud. Arrogance beyond arrogance encompasses both preceding kinds: one is not only disrespectful but also intends to dominate others. Overweening arrogance means considering oneself superior.

Inferior arrogance means looking down upon those worthy of reverence. Self-arrogance means believing there is a self within these five skandhas. Deviant arrogance means looking down upon what is right.

Because one is in samadhi and takes the Right Dharma as one's object, deviant arrogance is not discussed here. Overweening arrogance is claiming attainment when one has not attained. Inferior arrogance is being lowly while boasting about oneself, and therefore looking down upon those worthy of reverence.

If one possesses the power of wisdom, perfectly awakens to the subtle principle, and the form skandha dissolves, luminosity becomes complete and one attains great pliancy and ease. Pliancy and ease are included among the seven factors of awakening, and their essence belongs to samadhi. When samadhi includes wisdom, one penetrates the Right Path. Yet if one regards this as sufficient and seeks no further progress, one sits within the cave of purity and lightness and becomes an Unlearned Bhiksu!

If one's pure thought of equanimity enters exclusively into emptiness, one gives rise to a nihilistic view of annihilation, repudiates cause and effect, and disparages those who uphold the precepts, regarding their attainment as merely the fruit of the Lesser Vehicle. One thinks, “I am a bodhisattva who has awakened to emptiness; how could there be either observing or violating precepts?” Consequently, one destroys the moral discipline. Although such a person considers himself transcendent and liberated, he does not realize that he is being manipulated by demons.

If, amid the empty luminosity of the feeling skandha, one does not crave its flavor, lust and desire will not arise. But if one becomes attached to empty luminosity, affection grows into madness and one mistakenly falls into the five desires; then both the objects of affliction and of desire arise.

Master Tiantai said, “When sensual desire arises, it can be stopped through restraint.”

Here, however, the delusion that arises is exceedingly powerful. Upon seeing external objects, one's mind becomes deranged and one's vision blurred, like a sleeping lion that roars when touched. If one does not clearly recognize this, one may lead others to commit extremely grave offenses. Such is the poisonous harm caused by the arising of a single thought of craving. Because one grasps the state of samadhi, its manifestation is exceedingly fierce and its harm extremely great.

These ten states of dhyana all arise from attaining the nature of empty luminosity. The mind of meditative concentration and the false thinking of empty luminosity contend with each other for victory; consequently, attachments such as grief, madness, brooding, contempt, sorrow, sexual misconduct, and so forth arise. All are clearly instances of being possessed by demons.

The Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra says, “Demons can enter the minds of all sentient beings and cause them to take refuge in the demons' faction, adhering to it like glue and lacquer. Cutting off their hands and feet presents no difficulty; such is the power by which demons seize and control them.”

Even when one reaches peaceful pliancy and ease, when the mind of emptiness manifests before one and one confidently believes oneself to be a Buddha, how has one strayed from Right Samadhi? It is because Right Samadhi is never without emptiness and never without luminosity, yet it contains absolutely no view or interpretation of empty luminosity. The Lotus Sutra says, “Deeply attached to false dharmas, they cling to them and cannot relinquish them, and consequently malign those who uphold the precepts.” Therefore, as long as one retains within the mind a view of Buddha, that itself is a demon.

Master Hangmo Zang met Master Xiu of the Northern School.

Master Xiu asked, “Your name is Hangmo, ‘Subduer of Demons.’ There are no mountain ghosts or tree demons here; are you going to turn into a demon instead?”

Master Zang replied, “Where there is Buddha, there is demon.”

Master Xiu said, “If you are a demon, then surely you abide in the inconceivable realm?”

Master Zang said, “Even Buddha does not exist; what realm could there be?”

Furthermore, Master Qilin frequently reviled Manjusri and Samantabhadra as bewitching apparitions. Holding a wooden sword in his hand, he declared that he was subduing demons. Whenever he saw a monk coming to inquire, he would say, “A demon has come! A demon has come!”

He would then brandish his sword wildly and return to the abbot's quarters.

He continued in this manner for ten years, after which he put away the sword and said nothing more.

A monk asked, “Twelve years ago, why did you subdue demons?”

He replied, “Bandits do not attack children from poor families!”

The monk asked, “Twelve years later, why do you no longer subdue demons?”

He replied, “Bandits do not attack children from poor families!”

Thus, at first he used subjugation to subdue demons, and afterward he used non-subjugation to subdue demons. Only through these two ways of subduing demons did he truly refrain from giving rise to thoughts of sagely understanding; therefore, this was not the work of demons.

Patriarch Linji came to the stupa of the First Patriarch.

The monastery superintendent asked, “Will you first bow to the Buddha or first bow to the Patriarch?”

Patriarch Linji said, “I bow to neither Buddha nor Patriarch!”

The superintendent said, “What grievance do the Buddha and the Patriarch have against you?”

Patriarch Linji flicked his sleeves and departed.

Was this not a refusal to pay homage at a stupa or shrine?

Patriarch Danxia was staying at Huilin Monastery during a period of bitterly cold weather, so he burned a wooden Buddha image to warm himself.

The monastery superintendent cried out, “How can you burn my wooden Buddha image?”

Patriarch Danxia stirred through the ashes with his staff and said, “I burned it to obtain relics.”

The superintendent said, “How could a wooden Buddha have relics?”

Patriarch Danxia said, “Since it has no relics, bring me two more to burn!”

From that time onward, the superintendent's beard and eyebrows all fell out.

Master Touzi raised this case, saying, “Failing to understand, one becomes the guest and brings wearisome trouble upon the host!”

The verse says:

“Ancient cave, moss-sealed, its gate cold and still;

To fly is perilous, to flee is delusion.

Deep at night, warmth and cold—the fire of Dingzhou;

Failing to understand, the angler suddenly doubts himself.”

Is this not the destruction of sutras and sacred images? Precisely because the two monastery abbots had Buddha-and-Patriarch demons and Sutra-and-Image demons lodged crosswise in their breasts, the two Patriarchs Linji and Danxia used extraordinary means to uproot them; yet in the end, the abbots still did not awaken. The realm of great beings is not something ordinary people can know or believe.

D. THE SCOPE OF THE SKANDHA OF PERCEPTION

Sutra: “Ananda, when that good man cultivating samadhi has exhausted the skandha of feeling, although he has not yet put an end to all outflows, his mind can leave his physical form as a bird escapes from a cage. From this ordinary body, he advances through the sixty sacred stages of the bodhisattva and attains a mind-born body, able to come and go at will without obstruction. He can already accomplish this. It is like a person speaking in a dream while deeply asleep. Although the person is unaware of anything, his words form sounds and rhythms in an orderly sequence, enabling those who are awake to understand what he says. This is the scope of the skandha of perception.

“If the stirring of thoughts comes to an end and drifting deluded perceptions are dispelled, then the wondrously luminous awakened mind is as though cleansed of all dust and defilement. The entire current of birth and death, from beginning to end, is illuminated throughout. This is called the exhaustion of the skandha of perception. Only then can that person transcend the turbidity of afflictions. Examining its cause, one finds that its root is the deluded perception of interpenetration.

“Ananda, that good man, having rendered the skandha of feeling empty and wondrous, is no longer entangled in deviant considerations. His samadhi becomes complete and radiant. Within samadhi, however, his mind again delights in perfect clarity; he urges his thought to become ever more keen and greedily seeks skillful ingenuity.

At that time, a celestial demon seizes the opportunity, sends its spirit to possess another person, and uses that person’s mouth to expound sutras and Dharma. That person does not know that he is possessed by a demon, but claims that he has attained unsurpassed nirvana. He comes to the good man who seeks skillful ingenuity, arranges a seat, and expounds the Dharma.

In an instant, the possessed person may appear to the seeker as a bhikshu, or as Shakra, or as a woman, or as a bhikshuni; or, while lying in a dark room, his body may emit dazzling light. The practitioner, confused and deluded, mistakes him for a bodhisattva and trusts and follows his teaching. His mind is swayed, he violates the Buddha’s moral discipline, and secretly engages in acts of lust.

“The demon is fond of speaking of calamities and blessings and of strange transformations. It may say that the Tathagata has appeared in such-and-such a place; it may speak of the conflagration at the end of the kalpa; or it may predict warfare in order to frighten people, causing them to squander their homes and livelihoods for no reason. This is called a strange ghost that, after many years, has become a demon and now disturbs the practitioner. When it grows weary of disturbing him, it leaves the person’s body and no longer possesses him. Then both disciple and teacher become ensnared by the law. You should discern this clearly in advance, and then you will avoid falling into samsara. But if you remain confused and fail to recognize it, you will fall into the Avici Hell.

“Ananda, furthermore, that good man, having rendered the skandha of feeling empty and wondrous, is no longer entangled in deviant considerations. His samadhi becomes complete and radiant. Within samadhi, however, his mind again delights in roaming about; he lets his thoughts fly forth and greedily seeks to travel through many places.

At that time, a celestial demon seizes the opportunity, sends its spirit to possess another person, and uses that person’s mouth to expound sutras and Dharma. That person does not know that he is possessed by a demon, but claims that he has attained unsurpassed nirvana. He comes to the good man who desires to roam, arranges a seat, and expounds the Dharma.

The possessed person’s appearance does not change, but those listening to the Dharma suddenly see themselves seated upon jeweled lotus flowers, their entire bodies transformed into a brilliant golden hue. Every member of the assembly experiences the same thing and feels that something unprecedented has occurred. The practitioner, confused and deluded, mistakes him for a bodhisattva.

His mind becomes licentious; he violates the Buddha’s moral discipline and secretly engages in acts of lust.

“The demon is fond of saying that various Buddhas have manifested transformation bodies and appeared in the world: that a certain person in a certain place is a certain Buddha; or that another person, whose transformation body has come here, is a certain bodhisattva who has come to teach and transform humankind. Seeing this, the practitioner’s mind gives rise to reverence and admiration. Deviant views secretly arise, and the Wisdom of All Modes is destroyed.

This is called a drought ghost that, after many years, has become a demon and now disturbs the practitioner. When it grows weary of disturbing him, it leaves the person’s body and no longer possesses him. Then both disciple and teacher become ensnared by the law.

You should discern this clearly in advance, and then you will avoid falling into samsara. But if you remain confused and fail to recognize it, you will fall into the Avici Hell.

“Furthermore, that good man, having rendered the skandha of feeling empty and wondrous, is no longer entangled in deviant considerations. His samadhi becomes complete and radiant. Within samadhi, however, his mind again delights in secret communion; he stills his thoughts and greedily seeks spiritual accord.

At that time, a celestial demon seizes the opportunity, sends its spirit to possess another person, and uses that person’s mouth to expound sutras and Dharma. That person truly does not know that he is possessed by a demon, but claims that he has attained unsurpassed nirvana. He comes to the good man who seeks spiritual accord, arranges a seat, and expounds the Dharma.

Outwardly, neither the possessed person nor those listening to the Dharma undergoes any change. Yet even before hearing the Dharma, the listeners’ minds are spontaneously opened and awakened, changing from thought to thought. Some attain knowledge of past lives; some attain knowledge of others’ minds; some see the hells; some know good and evil events in the world; some utter verses; and some spontaneously recite sutras.

Each is filled with joy and feels that something unprecedented has occurred. The practitioner, confused and deluded, mistakes him for a bodhisattva. His mind becomes infatuated and attached; he violates the Buddha’s moral discipline and secretly engages in acts of lust.

“The demon is fond of saying that there are Buddhas both great and small; that one Buddha is a former Buddha and another is a later Buddha; that among them are true Buddhas and false Buddhas, male Buddhas and female Buddhas. It says the same of bodhisattvas. Seeing this, the practitioner loses his original mind and readily enters into deviant understanding.

This is called an alluring ghost that, after many years, has become a demon and now disturbs the practitioner. When it grows weary of disturbing him, it leaves the person’s body and no longer possesses him. Then both disciple and teacher become ensnared by the law.

You should discern this clearly in advance, and then you will avoid falling into samsara. But if you remain confused and fail to recognize it, you will fall into the Avici Hell.

“Furthermore, that good man, having rendered the skandha of feeling empty and wondrous, is no longer entangled in deviant considerations. His samadhi becomes complete and radiant. Within samadhi, however, his mind again delights in knowing the fundamental source.

Amid the transformations of phenomena, he wishes to investigate exhaustively their beginning and end. He intensifies his discerning mind and greedily seeks to analyze and differentiate. At that time, a celestial demon seizes the opportunity, sends its spirit to possess another person, and uses that person’s mouth to expound sutras and Dharma.

That person truly does not know that he is possessed by a demon, but claims that he has attained unsurpassed nirvana. He comes to the good man who seeks to know the fundamental source, arranges a seat, and expounds the Dharma. He possesses an awe-inspiring power that causes all who seek the Dharma to revere and submit to him, so that even before hearing the Dharma, the audience beneath the Dharma seat naturally becomes compliant in mind.

They all believe that nirvana, bodhi, and the Buddha’s Dharma-body are precisely this present body of flesh; that fathers and sons engendering one another from life to life is itself the eternally abiding, uninterrupted Dharma-body; and that this present world itself is the Buddha-land, apart from which there is no other Pure Land and no other golden-hued form. The practitioner accepts and believes this, forgets his own mind, and takes refuge with his very body and life, feeling that something unprecedented has occurred.

Confused and deluded, he mistakes the possessed person for a bodhisattva. Following that person’s ideas in his cultivation, he violates the Buddha’s moral discipline and secretly engages in acts of lust.

“The demon is fond of saying that the eyes, ears, nose, and tongue are all the Pure Land, and that the male and female organs are the true abode of bodhi and nirvana! Those who lack understanding all believe these filthy words. This is called a gu-poison ghost or an oppressive-victory ghost that, after many years, has become a demon and now disturbs the practitioner. When it grows weary of disturbing him, it leaves the person’s body and no longer possesses him. Then both disciple and teacher become ensnared by the law. You should discern this clearly in advance, and then you will avoid falling into samsara. But if you remain confused and fail to recognize it, you will fall into the Avici Hell.”

“Furthermore, that good man, having rendered the feeling skandha empty and wondrous, is no longer entangled in deviant thoughts. His samadhi becomes perfect and radiant. Yet within samadhi he again delights in knowing events of the past and future; he investigates them exhaustively and everywhere, craving secret responses.

At that time, a celestial demon, awaiting its opportunity, sends its spirit to possess another person, who then expounds sutras and Dharma. That person is unaware that he is possessed by a demon and declares that he has attained unsurpassed nirvana. He comes to the good man who seeks responses, ascends the Dharma seat, and preaches.

He can cause those listening to see his body temporarily as though it were hundreds or thousands of years old. Their minds become defiled by attachment, and they cannot bear to leave him. They offer their bodies as servants and tirelessly make the four kinds of offerings.

He also causes everyone beneath the Dharma seat to feel that he was their former teacher and is their good and wise spiritual guide. Each develops an exceptional love for his Dharma and clings to him as closely as glue and lacquer, experiencing something never known before. The deluded practitioner mistakenly regards him as a bodhisattva, draws near to the demon’s mind, violates the Buddha’s disciplinary precepts, and secretly engages in acts of lust.

“The demon often says, ‘In a former kalpa, in such-and-such a lifetime, I liberated such-and-such a person. At that time, that person was my wife, concubine, brother, or sister. Therefore, we have now come again to liberate one another.

Together, all of you and I shall follow one another back to such-and-such a world to make offerings to such-and-such a Buddha.’ Or he says that there is a distinct Heaven of Great Radiant Light where a Buddha dwells, which is the resting place of all Buddhas. Those who lack understanding believe these deceptive words and lose their own minds. This is a kind of pestilential ghost that, after many years, has become a demon and now disturbs the practitioner.

When it grows weary of causing disruption, it leaves the person’s body and ceases to possess him; then both the disciples and the teacher fall into the net of the law. You should recognize this beforehand and thereby avoid falling into samsara. But if you remain deluded and fail to recognize it, you will fall into the Avici hell.

“Furthermore, that good man, having rendered the feeling skandha empty and wondrous, is no longer entangled in deviant thoughts. His samadhi becomes perfect and radiant. Yet within samadhi his mind again delights in penetrating deeply; he subjects himself to hardship and austerity, prefers secluded places, and craves stillness.

At that time, a celestial demon, awaiting its opportunity, sends its spirit to possess another person, who then expounds sutras and Dharma. That person is unaware that he is possessed by a demon and declares that he has attained unsurpassed nirvana. He comes to the good man who seeks profound stillness, ascends the Dharma seat, and preaches, causing each member of the audience to know his own past karma.

Or, while there, he says to one person, ‘Although you have not yet died, you have already become an animal.’ He then tells another person to step upon the first person’s tail behind him, whereupon that person is unable to rise. Everyone in the assembly is utterly awed and reverent. Whenever someone gives rise to a thought, he immediately knows what that person is thinking.

Beyond the Buddha’s disciplinary precepts, he imposes additional harsh austerities, slanders bhiksus, berates his followers, and exposes the private affairs of others without avoiding suspicion or ridicule. The demon often predicts calamities and blessings that have not yet occurred, and when they come to pass, his predictions do not err in the slightest. This is a mighty ghost that, after many years, has become a demon and now disturbs the practitioner.

When it grows weary of causing disruption, it leaves the person’s body and ceases to possess him; then both the disciples and the teacher fall into the net of the law. You should recognize this beforehand and thereby avoid falling into samsara. But if you remain deluded and fail to recognize it, you will fall into the Avici hell.

“Furthermore, that good man, having rendered the feeling skandha empty and wondrous, is no longer entangled in deviant thoughts. His samadhi becomes perfect and radiant. Yet within samadhi his mind again delights in knowledge and vision; he investigates with painstaking diligence and craves knowledge of past lives.

At that time, a celestial demon, awaiting its opportunity, sends its spirit to possess another person, who then expounds sutras and Dharma. That person is unaware that he is possessed by a demon and declares that he has attained unsurpassed nirvana. He comes to the good man who seeks knowledge, ascends the Dharma seat, and preaches.

The practitioner suddenly obtains a large precious pearl at the place where the Dharma is being taught. Sometimes the demon transforms into an animal and comes carrying in its mouth a pearl or other extraordinary objects, such as precious treasures, bamboo tablets, written records, talismans, and prophecies. It first presents them to the practitioner and afterward attaches itself to him.

Sometimes the demon tells those listening to the Dharma that a luminous moon-pearl is buried beneath the ground, causing that place to shine and the listeners to experience something never known before. The demon habitually eats medicinal plants instead of grain. Sometimes it eats only a single sesame seed or grain of wheat each day, yet because it is sustained by demonic power, its body remains plump and robust.

The demon also slanders bhiksus, berates its followers, and does not avoid suspicion or ridicule. It often speaks of treasure stores in distant regions and the secluded abodes of sages and worthies throughout the ten directions. Those who follow behind the demon often see extraordinary people.

This is a kind of ghost or spirit of forests and mountains, the earth, city walls and moats, rivers and mountains that, after many years, has become a demon. Sometimes it calls upon people to engage in lustful conduct, violates the Buddha’s precepts, and secretly indulges in the five desires with those who serve it. At other times it appears diligent and subsists entirely on grasses and plants.

Its conduct is inconsistent, its sole purpose being to disturb the practitioner. When it grows weary of causing disruption, it leaves the person’s body and ceases to possess him; then the disciples and the teacher generally fall into the net of the law. You should recognize this beforehand and thereby avoid falling into samsara.

But if you remain deluded and fail to recognize it, you will fall into the Avici hell.

“Furthermore, that good man, having rendered the feeling skandha empty and wondrous, is no longer entangled in deviant thoughts. His samadhi becomes perfect and radiant. Yet within samadhi his mind again delights in various spiritual powers and transformations; he investigates the source of transformations and craves spiritual power.

At that time, a celestial demon, awaiting its opportunity, sends its spirit to possess another person, who then expounds sutras and Dharma. That person is unaware that he is possessed by a demon and declares that he has attained unsurpassed nirvana. He comes to the good man who seeks spiritual powers, ascends the Dharma seat, and preaches.

That person may hold a flame in his hand, divide it, and place the flames upon the heads of the fourfold assembly listening to the Dharma. The flames atop the listeners’ heads may rise several feet high, yet they are neither hot nor do they burn. Or he may walk upon water as though walking on level ground, sit motionless in midair, enter a bottle or a bag, pass through a window, or penetrate a wall without the slightest obstruction.

Only when confronted by blades or weapons does he lack mastery. That person declares himself to be a Buddha. Dressed in white robes, he accepts the prostrations of bhiksus, slanders the rules of dhyana, berates his followers, and exposes the private affairs of others without avoiding suspicion or ridicule.

He frequently speaks of unimpeded spiritual powers or causes people to see Buddha-lands nearby. These are illusions produced by the power of ghosts and possess no reality. That person praises sexual intercourse, does not renounce coarse and vulgar acts, and considers the mutual discussion of such improper matters to be the transmission of Dharma.

These are mountain essences, sea essences, wind essences, river essences, earth essences, and the sprites of all plants and trees that have lived for many kalpas and possess great power within heaven and earth. Or they may be dragon sprites, or sprites whose allotted lifespans have been exhausted. Or, when their karmic retribution is about to end, they are destined to die at a certain age, yet their bodies do not disintegrate, and so other strange beings attach themselves to them.

After many years, such beings become demons and disturb the practitioner. When they grow weary of causing disruption, they leave the person’s body and cease to possess him; then the disciples and the teacher generally fall into the net of the law. You should recognize this beforehand and thereby avoid falling into samsara.

But if you remain deluded and fail to recognize it, you will fall into the Avici hell.”

“Furthermore, that good man, his Aggregate of Feeling having become empty and wondrous, no longer becomes entangled in deviant deliberations. His samadhi becomes complete and radiant, but within samadhi his mind again delights in all manner of spiritual powers and transformations. Investigating the source of transformation, he greedily seeks profound emptiness.

At that time, a heavenly demon, awaiting its opportunity, sends its spirit to possess another person, who then expounds sutras and Dharma. That person does not know that he is possessed by a demon, but claims that he has attained Supreme Nirvana. He comes to the place of the good man who seeks emptiness, arranges a seat, and expounds the Dharma.

Amid the great assembly, that person’s form suddenly dissolves into emptiness so that no one in the assembly can see him; then, from within empty space, he suddenly reappears. Appearing and disappearing at will, he acts with perfect freedom. He may manifest a body transparent like crystal.

He may stretch out his hands and feet, from which the fragrance of sandalwood issues. Or his excrement and urine may be as hard as crystallized sugar. That person disparages and destroys the precepts, and treats those who have left the household life with contempt.

He constantly says that there is neither cause nor effect, that once one dies everything is forever ended, and that no subsequent body exists. He further says that although ordinary beings and sages attain emptiness and quiescence, they still secretly engage in lustful acts; that while indulging in sensual desire they can nevertheless attain a mind of emptiness. Thus he denies cause and effect.

These are essences born when the vital forces of the sun and moon mutually eclipse one another, or spirits formed from gold, jade, numinous herbs, qilins, phoenixes, tortoises, and cranes that have lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years without dying. Born within the realm, after many years they become demons and disturb practitioners. When they grow weary of disturbing them, they cease possessing the human body and abandon it.

Then both the disciples and the teacher mostly fall into the net of the law. You should clearly recognize this beforehand, and then you will not fall into samsara. But if you remain confused and fail to recognize it, you will fall into the Avici Hell.

“Furthermore, that good man, his Aggregate of Feeling having become empty and wondrous, no longer becomes entangled in deviant deliberations. His samadhi becomes complete and radiant, but within samadhi his mind again delights in long life. Through arduous and painstaking investigation of subtle matters, he greedily seeks immortality, wishing to cast aside the life of segmented birth and death and hoping that the subtle marks of transformational birth and death may become permanent.

At that time, a heavenly demon, awaiting its opportunity, sends its spirit to possess another person, who then expounds sutras and Dharma. That person does not know that he is possessed by a demon, but claims that he has attained Supreme Nirvana. He comes to the place of the good man who seeks long life, arranges a seat, and expounds the Dharma.

That person delights in saying that he can travel to other regions and return without obstruction. He may journey ten thousand miles and return in an instant, bringing back objects from that place. Or, while in one place or inside a room, he may tell someone to walk from the eastern wall to the western wall, only a few steps away, yet even if that person walks swiftly for an entire year, he cannot arrive.

Because of this, the practitioner believes in him and thinks that a Buddha has appeared before him. The demon often declares, ‘All beings throughout the ten directions are my children. I gave birth to all Buddhas, and I gave birth to the worlds.

I am the primordial Buddha, naturally appearing in the world, and did not attain this through cultivation.’ This is a heavenly demon of the Heaven of Mastery over Others dwelling in the world. It commands members of its retinue who have not yet brought forth the resolve—such as the Giá Văn Trà spirits or the boy attendants Tỳ Xá from the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings—who delight in empty luminosity, to come and devour the practitioner’s vital essence.

Or, without using a teacher as an intermediary, the practitioner himself may see them come and claim to be Vajra-Wielding Spirits who bestow longevity. They manifest as beautiful women and engage extensively in sexual acts, causing the practitioner’s liver and brain to become exhausted in less than a year. He mutters continually to himself, sounding like someone possessed by a malign spirit.

Outsiders do not understand what is happening, and thus he mostly becomes entangled in the net of the law; before sentence can be carried out, however, he has already withered away and died. Thus these demons disturb and ruin the practitioner until he becomes ill and dies. You should clearly recognize this beforehand, and then you will not fall into samsara.

But if you remain confused and fail to recognize it, you will fall into the Avici Hell.

“Ananda, you should know that in the Dharma-ending Age these ten kinds of demons may leave the household life and cultivate within my teaching; they may possess human bodies or manifest forms of their own. All claim to have attained Perfect and Universal Enlightenment. They praise sexual desire and destroy the Buddha’s disciplinary rules. The evil demon teachers and their demon disciples transmit lustful practices to one another. Such deviant demons delude people’s minds for as few as nine generations or as many as a hundred generations, causing genuine practitioners to become members of the demons’ retinues. After death, they will certainly become subjects of the demons, lose Perfect and Universal Enlightenment, and fall into the Avici Hell.

“You should not now be in haste to enter the quiescence of Nirvana. Even though you have attained the fruit beyond learning, you should still vow to enter that Dharma-ending Age, bring forth the mind of great compassion, and rescue beings whose minds are upright and whose faith is earnest, so that they will not become ensnared by deviant demons and may attain right knowledge and right view. I have now delivered you from birth and death. By complying with the Buddha’s words, you are said to repay the Buddha’s kindness.

“Ananda, these ten kinds of states that manifest in dhyana all belong to the Aggregate of Perception. They arise because the functions of the mind interact and intermingle. Beings are deluded and foolish and do not know how to examine themselves. Encountering such conditions, they remain deluded and unaware, believing that they have ascended to the rank of sages. They utter great falsehoods and fall into the Avici Hell. After my nirvana, you should transmit these words of the Tathagata and teach them to those in the Dharma-ending Age, enabling all beings everywhere to awaken clearly to their meaning. Do not allow heavenly demons to find an opportunity to disturb and ruin them. Guard and protect practitioners so that they may accomplish the Supreme Way.

Commentary: The Aggregate of Feeling has ended, but the Aggregate of Perception has not yet been eliminated; how, then, can the sixty stages of sagehood be accomplished? This is because the five faculties have already been uprooted, and the mind has already separated from the physical form. From that ordinary body, one advances and passes through the realization of bodhi: first employing the three kinds of progressive advancement; next, the fifty-five genuine stages of bodhi; and finally, the two stages of Equal Enlightenment and Wondrous Enlightenment. Together, these constitute the sixty stages of sagehood. They are called ‘sagehood’ to distinguish them from the ordinary state.

Before one is liberated from the faculties and their objects, one is obstructed by them, like a bird inside a cage. Once the faculties and their objects have dissolved, luminosity issues forth through the faculties, like a bird leaving its cage, and one attains a mind-made body. From the First Ground through the Tenth Ground, there are three kinds of mind-made body.

First is the Mind-Made Body Born from the Bliss of Entering Samadhi: the mind is quiescent and unmoving. This corresponds to the First through the Seventh Stages of Faith and the entry into the Position of Emptiness. Second is the Mind-Made Body Born from Awakening to the Self-Nature of Dharmas: one universally enters the Buddha-lands and takes Dharma as one’s self-nature.

This corresponds to the Eighth Stage of Faith and emergence from the Provisional Position. Third is the Innately Arisen, Unconditioned Mind-Made Body: one understands the Dharma realized by the Buddha. This corresponds to the Ninth and Tenth Stages of Faith and to cultivation of the Middle Position.

The mind-made body here is the beginning of the Mind-Made Body Born from the Bliss of Entering Samadhi. Yet the Aggregate of Perception has not been broken through. This resembles the vision within a darkened house spoken of earlier, or a sleeping person talking in dreams, whose speech has already formed sounds, rhythms, and orderly sequences.

It is by virtue of this that one advances and passes through the sixty stages of sagehood and assuredly accomplishes them, enabling those who have ended the Aggregate of Perception and no longer sleep deeply to understand those words spoken in dreams. This is called the domain of the Aggregate of Perception.

If the drifting false perceptions are eliminated, it is like awakening from a dream. One is no longer obscured by perception, and within the original substance of Awakened Luminosity there is not the slightest speck of dust. The single current of birth and death, from beginning to end, is entirely clear and manifest.

Birth and death and Nirvana do not differ in their characteristics; therefore, it is called a single current of birth and death. Birth is its beginning, and cessation is its end. Since neither the characteristic of birth nor the characteristic of cessation is seen, it is said, ‘The beginning and the end are universally illumined.’ It is like a bright mirror entirely free of dust, its light brilliant and no longer disturbed.

This is called the ending of the Aggregate of Perception.”

All afflictions arise from conceptual thought. Therefore, when recollection ceases and conceptualization dissolves, the mind of arising and ceasing immediately comes to an end. From where, then, could afflictions arise? Thus one can transcend the Turbidity of Afflictions. Conceptualization arises with interpenetrating false thinking as its root. Conceptualization can combine and transform, causing the mind to follow objects and objects to follow the mind. When all stirring thoughts cease, mind and objects alike immediately dissolve; thus this interpenetrating false thinking can be destroyed and eliminated.

If one clings fondly to the state of empty luminosity, a demon enters the mind. Now, without clinging to empty luminosity, there seems to be the subtle wonder of interpenetration; therefore it is said that “the skandha of feeling is empty and wondrous,” and one is no longer caught in deviant deliberations. Yet if, within samadhi, the thought of interpenetration has not dissolved, demons will avail themselves of that interpenetration to delude one. Therefore, if the mind delights in perfect clarity and seeks skillful means, this resembles a strange ghost whose long-standing habit of greed has turned it into a demon. It possesses a person, expounds and displays transformations of various skillful dharmas, and thereby deludes others.

If the mind delights in roaming about unrestrainedly and seeks wandering excursions, this resembles a drought ghost whose long-standing habit of lust has turned it into a demon. It possesses a person, expounds and displays transformations of various dharmas of wrong views, and thereby deludes others.

If the mind delights in secret communion and seeks accord, this resembles a seductive ghost whose long-standing habit of deceit has turned it into a demon. It possesses a person, expounds and reveals the powers of knowing others’ minds and recalling past lives, and thereby deludes others.

If the mind delights in knowing the fundamental source and seeks to analyze and distinguish, this resembles a poison-spell ghost whose long-standing habit of deception has turned it into a demon. It possesses a person and declares that the one presently before them is a Buddha, thereby deluding others.

If the mind delights in mysterious responses and seeks miraculous signs, this resembles a pestilential ghost whose long-standing habit of anger has turned it into a demon. It possesses a person, expounds dharmas of mysterious and miraculous responses that bring deliverance, and thereby deludes others.

If the mind delights in profound penetration and prefers dwelling in secluded places, this resembles a ghost of great power whose long-standing habit of arrogance has turned it into a demon. It possesses a person, expounds dharmas concerning future causes, effects, and destinies, and thereby deludes others.

If the mind delights in knowledge and views and seeks knowledge of past lives, this resembles the ghosts of mountains and forests, earth spirits, city gods, and spirits of rivers and mountains, whose long-standing habit of spying has turned them into demons. They expound dharmas concerning rare and wondrous treasures, and thereby delude others.

If the mind delights in spiritual powers and investigates the source of transformations, this resembles ghosts that attach themselves to people and have the habit of contentious disputation; all the sprites and phantoms of mountains, rivers, trees, and plants that have lived through many kalpas; and immortals who, when their allotted lifespan ends, are seized by uncanny beings. After many years, such beings become demons and possess people. They expound dharmas of spiritual powers—grasping rays of light, walking upon water, passing through walls, entering jars, and so forth—and thereby delude others.

If the mind delights in entering cessation and seeks profound emptiness, this resembles ominous portents with their habit of perversity; the essential energies of the sun and moon; the spirits of gold, jade, and numinous herbs; and qilins, phoenixes, tortoises, and cranes that do not die but become numinous beings. After many years, they become demons, possess people, and propound doctrines denying cause and effect, entering and leaving empty space, and so forth, thereby deluding others.

If the mind delights in longevity, seeks to live forever, and wishes to cast off the body of segmented birth and death in pursuit of the subtle marks of transformational birth and death, taking them to be permanent, one then eradicates the delusions of views and thought and is born in the Land of Dharma-nature. The demons of the world cannot delude such a person. Therefore, the Heaven Demon, Sovereign of the World, dwelling in the sixth heaven of the Desire Realm, sends his retinues—the pisacas and kumbhandas—to disturb and undermine the practitioner.

Among the pisacas, those who have brought forth the resolve protect the orthodox Dharma, while those who have not brought forth the resolve consume people’s vital energies and may even manifest as beautiful women, causing people’s brains and marrow to dry up. This is truly terrifying. The higher the Way, the more powerful the demons; therefore, one’s precautions must be exceedingly strict.

Perfectly lucid skillful means, journeying through Buddha-realms, intimate and continuous realization, clear discernment of the fundamental source, subtle and mysterious responses, profound entry into stillness, complete knowledge of past lives, unobstructed spiritual powers, entry into the Samadhi of Cessation, and remaining indestructible for endless kalpas—all are matters belonging to the rightful task of genuine practitioners.

There is no fault in carefully investigating such things. Yet because one first delights in them and subsequently craves them, the mind becomes attached; wherever there is attachment, there is desire. Thus demons take advantage of this delight, satisfy this craving, and lead one into sexual desire, until one violates the moral precepts without the slightest concern.

Demons, too, set their minds on investigating nirvana; but because they cannot cut off lust, they fall into the deviant samadhis of ghosts and spirits and make the destruction of practitioners of the true Way their occupation. They harm practitioners of the true Way to draw them into the demons’ faction. They do not wish the true Way to be accomplished, for if the true Way is accomplished, both volition and conceptualization will cease, and the palaces of those demons will all collapse.

How could they not devise a hundred schemes and a thousand stratagems to obstruct it?

After Ananda had selected the Dharma-door of perfect penetration and vowed to deliver all beings in the Dharma-ending Age, he reflected deeply that in the Dharma-ending Age, teachers of deviant doctrines who expound the Dharma would be as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. He therefore took the opportunity to ask how to establish a place of practice, remain apart from demonic disturbances, and neither retreat nor succumb in the bodhi mind.

Here the Blessed One clearly explains all demonic disturbances, enabling those who have vowed to rescue beings in the Dharma-ending Age to bring forth a mind of great compassion so that beings will not become ensnared by deviant demons but will attain Right Knowledge and Right View. He earnestly and repeatedly admonishes them concerning the precept against sexual misconduct, fearing that the impulse of lust is difficult to eradicate.

Matangi’s daughter was weak, and the Brahma Heaven mantra she used was nothing extraordinary, yet she nearly caused a violation of the Buddha’s moral precepts and almost destroyed one precept. How much more easily, then, might one be deluded by demons that possess people’s minds and display all manner of miraculous transformations?

In general, demons possess only the Five Spiritual Powers. They delude through the Five Spiritual Powers, but their essential purpose is to praise sexual desire; that is the full extent of their ability. If one destroys the skandha of conceptualization and realizes the Power of the Exhaustion of the Outflows, there is nothing within that can respond to them; what, then, could anything external possibly do? Demons would not even be able to look one directly in the face—how would they dare cause disturbances?

Chan Master Tianyi Huai instructed the assembly, saying: “Two thousand years ago, the Greatly Awakened Blessed One wished to lead the assembly of sages to the sixth heaven to expound the Great Collection Sutra. He commanded all fierce and evil ghosts and spirits in that region and in this world—whether among humans or in the heavens—to gather together, receive the Buddha’s entrustment, and protect the orthodox Dharma. If any failed to come, the Four Heavenly Kings would ride upon flaming iron wheels, fly forth to seek them out, seize them, and bring them to the assembly. Once they had gathered, none failed to obey the Buddha’s command, and each made vast vows to protect the orthodox Dharma.

“Only one Demon King said to the Blessed One: ‘Gautama! I shall wait until all sentient beings have become Buddhas, until the realm of sentient beings no longer exists, and even the term “sentient being” is no more; only then will I bring forth the bodhi mind.’

“Unchanging in the face of peril—truly a great man!

“Worthy ones! How can you utter a turning word that will make the old, yellow-faced Gautama gasp? At this point, miraculous powers and wondrous functioning, wisdom and eloquence—all that you use every day—are of no avail! Throughout the entire land of Jambudvipa, there is no one who does not delight in the Buddha. Yet within this, what is Buddha? What is demon? Is anyone able to distinguish them?”

After a long pause, the Master said: “Do you wish to understand the demon? Open your eyes and see brightness. Do you wish to understand the Buddha? Close your eyes and see darkness. Demon and Buddha—I pierce both their nostrils at once with my staff!”

Master Miaoxi offered a turning word in his place: “I nearly mistook you for the Demon King!”

This saying has two side gates. If anyone can point them out, I shall acknowledge that he possesses the complete eye of a Chan monk!

Venerable Bi Ma Nham of Mount Wutai always carried a two-pronged staff. Whenever he saw a monk approach to pay homage, he would immediately seize the monk by the neck with the two prongs and say: “What demon taught you to leave the household life? What demon taught you to travel on foot? If you can speak, I will stab you to death; if you cannot speak, I will also stab you to death. Speak quickly! Speak quickly!”

Few among the students were able to respond.

Master Fayan answered on their behalf: “Please spare my life!”

Master Fadeng answered on their behalf: “One need only offer one’s neck and let him teach!”

Master Xuanjue answered on their behalf: “Old man, it is time you threw away that two-pronged staff!”

Venerable Huoshan Tong went to visit Venerable Bi Ma Nham. As soon as they met, without bowing, he seized the two-pronged staff and tossed it into his bundle.

Master Nham struck Master Tong three times on the back.

Master Tong stood up, clapped his hands, and said: “Elder Dharma brother, you deceived me from three thousand miles away! You deceived me from three thousand miles away!”

He then departed and returned home.

Here, the venerable masters displayed and played with their spiritual powers, causing Mara, right then and there, to be unable to discern them.

One day, Patriarch Guishan asked Master Yangshan: “Of the forty fascicles of the Nirvana Sutra, how much was spoken by the Buddha, and how much was spoken by Mara?”

Master Yangshan replied: “All of it was spoken by Mara.”

Patriarch Guishan said: “In the future, no one will be able to prevail over you.”

Master Yangshan said: “Huiji’s present deed is but a single occasion; where are his going and abiding?”

Patriarch Guishan said: “I value only your correct eye; I am not speaking of your going and abiding!”

Therefore, if one fully possesses the Dharma eye of discernment, there is no need to fear the workings of Mara.