Marvelous merits as incalculable as river sand have the mind as the ultimate source. All spiritual paths of discipline, calm-abiding, wisdom, and supra-mundane powers and transformations are inseparable from and wholly and completely encompassed by your mind.
All you need is to return to the mind. Boundless merits, supernatural ability, and wisdom are all inseparable from the mind.
Vexations and karmic obstacles are all by nature emptiness and stillness; causes and effects play out like a dream.
When your practice reaches attainment, all afflictions and karmic obstacles will be revealed as primordial emptiness and peace. However, if your mind still chases after phenomenon and gives rise to thoughts, then delusion and birth and death shall continue. The principal expressed here belongs to those whose spiritual practice has reached attainment. The primordial mind is primordially empty; therefore, it is said, “Vexations and karmic obstacles are all by nature emptiness and stillness; causes and effects play out like a dream.” If the mind cannot reach the state of emptiness, it cannot realize and manifest the essential quality of emptiness, then karmic obstacles and all causes and consequences are real and concrete.
There are no Three Realms to transcend, no Bodhi to seek. This is the reality for those whose spiritual cultivation has reached the state of attainment. When primordial mind manifests, there are no Three Realms to transcend, no Bodhi to seek indeed.
Human and non-human, essence and form are of the same nature. Great Dao, the vast spaciousness, is devoid of thoughts and discriminations. Just now you already possess suchness – lacking nothing all, no different from the Buddha. All you need is to let the mind be as itself – neither contemplate nor cleanse the mind, neither give in to greed and anger nor hold onto grievances and anxiousness – so that it is free from any obstructions. Allow the mind to encompass all of space and time, doing neither good nor evil. In moving, resting, sitting, and lying down, what you see and have encountered all is the miraculous manifestation of the Buddha. In the blissful freedom from vexations, such is called the Buddha.
(Fa Rong) Master (asked) said: Since the Mind is already whole and complete in itself, who is the Buddha? What is the mind? Patriarch (answered) said: Without the mind there is no inquiring of the Buddha. The Buddha cannot be sought without the mind.
Without a mind there is no way to ask a question. That which asked “what is the Buddha” is the mind.
(Fa Rong) Master (asked) said: If contemplation is not allowed, how do we respond to arising phenomena?
Here the question is that, regarding what most people consider to be right and wrong, good and bad, self and others, how shall we counteract them when they arise?
Patriarch (answered) said: Phenomenon is neither good nor ugly; goodness and ugliness arise from the mind. If the mind stops imposing concepts and labels, how can fabricated afflictions arise? If fabricated afflictions do not arise, the true mind is free and all-aware. Allowing the mind to be as itself and ceasing corrections is called the abiding dharmakaya that is unchanged and eternal.
This part talks about our attitude towards people and situation in daily life. If there are no afflictions, attachments, and habitual tendencies, then there are no external situations to bother you. However, if we have these afflictions and attachments in our mind then there will also be challenging situations outside; the inner and outer realities resonate with each other.
There is no inherent right or wrong in outer situations, they are only the definitions created by our habitual tendencies and attachments. If we do not grasp phenomena, define them, and create opinions about them, then we are in a state of no-mind in the midst of all phenomena. A simple way to explain no-mind is no-thought, where the mind exhibits the quality of emptiness and free of delusional thoughts. When there’s no delusional thoughts, the mind will be at peace. Therefore, when practicing turning back the light of awareness and illuminating inwardly, one must strive to attain the state of no-thought, therefore delusion thoughts will not arise. The minds of ordinary people are constantly seeking outwardly, creating opinions and thoughts through what is seen and heard, and their inner attachment and habitual tendencies manifest. The practice is to pull back and withdraw these habitual tendencies. As long as one is able to turn back the light and illuminate inwardly, the tendencies of the external seeking mind can be restrained.
Ancient practitioners are of pure mind, living in a simple environment. Therefore, when hearing the dharma teaching from the Fourth Patriarch, master Fa Rong instantly penetrates into the essence. Practitioners are burdened with heavy habitual tendencies and distracted and grasping with the mind – whenever they see something or hear something the mind goes out to grasp and create feelings. Now by turning back the light of awareness and illuminating inwardly, looking directly behind the body, and trying to find the primordial mind, one can restrain the mind. The state of no-thought must be achieved; if it is not achieved, then one cannot eliminate the cause of birth and death.
First enlightenment and then cultivation is the true practice of Chan. As stated in the Surangama Sutra: “Principles can be realized instantly, all ignorance dispelled with that realization; matter (reality caused by habitual tendencies), cannot be eliminated suddenly, except through progress made in stages.” When Yang Shan first approached Gui Shan, Gui Shan asked, “Are you a novice monk with or without a master?” Yang Shan said, “With master.” “Where is the master?” asked Gui Shan. Yang Shan moved from the west side to the east side and stood there. Gui Shan took note of his exceptional response. Yang Shan asked, “What is the abode of the true Buddha?” Gui Shan replied, “By contemplating the unfathomable wonder that is beyond contemplation, reflect on the inexhaustible numinous light, thought of contemplation ends and returns to the source, essence and form constantly abide, matter and principle are not-two, the true Buddha is suchness.” Upon hearing this, Yang Shan instantly attained enlightenment and stayed as an attendant to Master Gui Shan for fifteen years.
To be continued, stay tuned.
~ Miao Tsan