Choosing One Faculty as the Portal of Meditation
“The second defining factor in the attainment of the Buddha Mind is renouncement. If you really are determined to cultivate the Bodhisattva Vehicle and realize the Bodhi Mind, you must decisively renounce everything that has conditioned attributes. You should thoroughly examine the source of your afflictions, which have been generating karma and perpetuating samsara. Who is it that starts it all and endures it through ever since the beginningless time?
第二義者，汝等必欲發菩提心，於菩薩乘生大勇猛，決定棄捐諸有為相，應當審詳煩惱根本。此無始來發業潤生誰作誰受。
“Ananda, during your practice, if you do not inquire into the root of your afflictions, you will never see through the illusory and distorted nature of your perceptions and their objects. If you don’t even know at what point you become disoriented, how can you overcome it and attain enlightenment? It is like someone trying to untie a knot, if they don’t even see where the knot is, how can they untie it?
“I have never heard of anyone untying empty space, because emptiness has no distinctions, so there are no knots to untie. But now your eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are making distinctions to separate you from your true nature, your Buddha Mind. They’re like conspirators introducing thieves into your own house to steal away your most valuable. Ever since the beginningless time, beings have been bound up with the world of time and space in this way and unable to transcend.
阿難。汝修菩提，若不審觀煩惱根本，則不能知虛妄根塵何處顛倒。處尚不知，云何降伏取如來位。阿難。汝觀世間解結之人，不見所結，云何知解。不聞虛空被汝隳裂。何以故。空無形相，無結解故。則汝現前眼耳鼻舌，及與身心，六為賊媒，自劫家寶。由此無始眾生世界，生纏縛故，於器世間不能超越。
“Ananda, how do we define ‘beings and the world of time and space’? ‘Time’ means change and flux, ‘space’ means direction and location. You already know that east, west, south, north, southeast, southwest, northeast, northwest, above and below are space. Past, future, and present are time. Space has ten directions, while time has three periods. All beings come into being due to false interactions, constantly moving about in time and space, being caught in a web of delusion and illusion.
“Although there are ten directions in space and the location for each is clearly defined, people in the world only recognize the east, west, south and north as primary and disregard the above, the below, and the intermediate ones. Therefore, let us say that space is fourfold, time is threefold, the entanglement of the three times together with the four directions results in twelve. As the flux and change of discriminative thoughts occurring thrice (regarding the past, present and future), covering the whole field of activity, the constant twelve further multiplies, and the efficacy of each faculty of perception may reach as great as twelve hundred.
“Ananda, you can thereby measure the degree of efficacy for each of the six sense organs. The eye-faculty, for instance, can see what’s in front but not behind. The front is totally light, while the back is completely dark. The peripheral vision can cover about two-thirds on both sides. So the overall efficacy of the eyes is incomplete, functioning in only three directions but not the fourth. We may say the efficacy of the eye-faculty is eight hundred.
“Now consider the ear-faculty. It can hear all ten directions without exception, be it far or near, be it a moving sound or the boundless silence. Therefore, the efficacy of the ear-faculty is a complete twelve hundred.
“Now consider the nose-faculty, through which the breath moves in and out, but without a point of contact in between each inhaling and exhaling. Since it is lacking one of three aspects, its efficacy is only eight hundred.
“Consider how the tongue-faculty can propagate all the mundane and transcendental wisdoms. Languages differ from place to place, but meanings know no boundary. Hence the efficacy of the tongue-faculty is a complete twelve hundred.
“Consider how the body can feel touch, registering it as pain or pleasure. When the contact is made, it is aware of the touch; when the contact is lost, the awareness is lost. So, the lack of contact is a single quality, while contact has a dual aspect. Upon such examination, we can say the efficacy of the body-faculty is only eight hundred, since it is deficient in one of three aspects.
“Now consider how the mind silently takes in all mundane and transcendental phenomena of all ten directions and all three periods of time. Absolutely nothing is excluded, be it extraordinary or ordinary. Therefore, the efficacy of the mind is a complete twelve hundred.
阿難。云何名為眾生世界。世為遷流。界為方位。汝今當知東、西、南、北、東南、西南、東北、西北、上、下、為界。過去、未來、現在、為世。方位有十。流數有三。一切眾生織妄相成。身中貿遷，世界相涉。而此界性設雖十方，定位可明。世間祇目東西南北，上下無位，中無定方，四數必明。與世相涉，三四四三，宛轉十二。流變三疊，一十百千。總括始終。六根之中，各各功德有千二百。
阿難。汝復於中，克定優劣。如眼觀見，後暗前明。前方全明。後方全暗。左右旁觀三分之二。統論所作，功德不全。三分言功。一分無德。當知眼唯八百功德。如耳周聽，十方無遺。動若邇遙。靜無邊際。當知耳根圓滿一千二百功德。如鼻嗅聞，通出入息。有出有入，而闕中交。驗於鼻根，三分闕一。當知鼻唯八百功德。如舌宣揚，盡諸世間出世間智。言有方分，理無窮盡。當知舌根圓滿一千二百功德。如身覺觸，識於違順。合時能覺。離中不知。離一合雙。驗於身根，三分闕一。當知身唯八百功德。如意默容，十方三世一切世間出世間法，唯聖與凡，無不包容，盡其涯際。當知意根圓滿一千二百功德。
“Ananda, now that you wish to go against the samsaric current of desire that leads to endless cycles of birth and death, you must then trace back to the faculties through which the current flows, until you reach the very source and realize a state of neither arising nor ceasing.
“Therefore, you should investigate how the six faculties function – which ones function through contact, which ones function without contact; which ones are more easily employed in the practice of reversion, which ones are less easily employed; which ones are best suited for spiritual breakthrough, which ones are not as fully efficacious.
“If you can find the most efficacious faculty, then you can go upstream against the current that carries all the delusion and karma, in which you have been immersing ever since the beginningless time. One day of practice through a fully efficacious faculty is far better than eons of practice relying on a less efficacious faculty.
“Now I have revealed to you the fundamental perfect clarity of the six faculties and the numerical equivalents for their respective efficacy. It is up to you to choose one to focus your practice on. I will explain more to help you move forward.
“The Buddhas in ten directions attained perfect Bodhi by means of one or another of the eighteen realms of sense. For them, none of the eighteen objects of meditation was superior or inferior. But since you are at a lower level and have not yet perfected the Supreme Wisdom that is independent of conditions, I have made it possible for you to choose one faculty as a doorway to enter and go deep. Once you have entered that one faculty and left behind all delusion and distortion, all the other sense organs will be purified as well.”
阿難。汝今欲逆生死欲流，返窮流根，至不生滅。當驗此等六受用根，誰合誰離，誰深誰淺，誰為圓通，誰不圓滿。若能於此悟圓通根，逆彼無始織妄業流，得循圓通，與不圓根，日劫相倍。我今備顯六湛圓明，本所功德，數量如是。隨汝詳擇其可入者。吾當發明，令汝增進。十方如來，於十八界一一修行，皆得圓滿無上菩提。於其中間，亦無優劣。但汝下劣，未能於中圓自在慧。故我宣揚，令汝但於一門深入。入一無妄，彼六知根，一時清淨。
Ananda asked the Buddha, “World Honored One, how can I go against the samsaric current through one doorway to reverse outflows and purify all the six senses of perception at the same time?”
阿難白佛言：世尊。云何逆流深入一門，能令六根一時清淨。
The Buddha said to Ananda, “Although you have realized the state of Stream Entry (Srota-apanna) and are freed from the bondage of worldly views held by beings in the three realms of existence, you are not yet fully clear about the subconscious habits which you have accumulated since the beginningless time. The eradication of these habits can only be done by practice and training. You will need to be even more diligent when dealing with the numerous subtleties of their arising, lingering, changing, and ceasing.
“Now contemplate the six sense organs further – are they one or six? If they’re one, why can’t you see with your ears, hear with your eyes, walk with your head and speak with your feet? If they’re six, which one of them is receiving my instruction now as I show this subtle, wonderful Dharma-door to you all?”
佛告阿難。汝今已得須陀洹果。已滅三界眾生世間見所斷惑。然猶未知根中積生無始虛習。彼習要因修所斷得。何況此中生住異滅，分劑頭數。今汝且觀現前六根，為一為六。阿難。若言一者，耳何不見，目何不聞，頭奚不履，足奚無語。若此六根決定成六。如我今會，與汝宣揚微妙法門。汝之六根，誰來領受。
Ananda replied, “I use my ears to listen.”
阿難言。我用耳聞。
The Buddha said, “If it is your ears alone hearing it without relation to your body and mouth, then how come you ask questions about it with your mouth and display veneration with your body? Therefore, this is not a case where they must be six if they’re not one, and they must be one if they’re not six. We simply cannot say that they are fundamentally one or six, nor can we say that they are neither one nor six.
“Ananda, since beginningless time you have been submerging in delusion and illusion that you are embedded with the concept that there is ‘one’ and there is ‘six’. As a sage at the entry level, you may have eliminated the six, but you have not done away with the one.
“It is like filling emptiness into vessels of different shapes, then naming the emptiness with the shape of each vessel, and then saying it is the same again getting rid of the containers.
“How can emptiness become the same or different, or be named one or other than one because of your limited views? The same is true of the six sense organs – they are just like the void in different containers.
佛言；汝耳自聞，何關身口。口來問義，身起欽承。是故應知非一終六，非六終一。終不汝根元一元六。阿難當知。是根非一非六。由無始來顛倒淪替，故於圓湛一六義生。汝須陀洹，雖得六銷，猶未亡一。如太虛空參合群器。由器形異，名之異空。除器觀空，說空為一。彼太虛空，云何為汝成同不同。何況更名是一非一。則汝了知六受用根，亦復如是。
“When light, darkness and the like reveal each other and adhere to the originally pure and perfect mind, the perception of seeing occurs. The essence of seeing reflects form, and the two become so entangled with each other that they give rise to a root organ, the essence of which originally is composed of the four primary elements in their pure state, but now it is named eye-faculty and shaped like a grape. Hence the organ of seeing is now composed of four defiling elements and restlessly chasing after visible objects.
“When movement, stillness and the like contrast with each other and adhere to the originally pure and perfect mind, the perception of hearing occurs. The essence of hearing reflects sound, and the two become so entangled with each other that they give rise to a root organ, the essence of which originally is composed of the four primary elements in their pure state, but now it is named ear-faculty and shaped like a curly new leaf. Hence the organ of hearing is now composed of four defiling elements and in constant search of sound.
“When openness, blockage and the like alternate with each other and adhere to the originally pure and perfect mind, the perception of smelling occurs. The essence of smelling reflects odor, and the two become so entangled with each other that they give rise to a root organ, the essence of which originally is composed of the four primary elements in their pure state, but now it is named nose-faculty and shaped like a pair of talons. Hence the organ of smelling is now composed of four defiling elements and in constant search of smell.
“When flavor, insipidity and the like alternate with each other and adhere to the originally pure and perfect mind, the perception of tasting occurs. The essence of tasting reflects flavor, and the two become so entangled with each other that they give rise to a root organ, the essence of which originally is composed of the four primary elements in their pure state, but now it is named tongue-faculty and shaped like a crescent moon. Hence the organ of tasting is now composed of four defiling elements and in constant pursuit of taste.
“When contact and separation alternate with each other and adhere to the originally pure and perfect mind, the perception of touching occurs. The essence of touching reflects sensation, and the two become so entangled with each other that they give rise to a body, the essence of which originally is composed of the four primary elements in their pure state, but now it is named body-faculty and shaped like a drum. Hence the body-faculty is now composed of four defiling elements and in constant pursuit of touch.
“When creation, destruction and the like alternate with each other and adhere to the originally pure and perfect mind, the functioning of cognition occurs. The essence of cognition reflects dharma – mental objects, and when dharma and cognition become entangled with each other they give rise to a mind organ, the essence of which originally is composed of the four primary elements in their pure state, but now it is named mental faculty and perceived as a dark room. Hence the mental faculty is now composed of four defiling elements and in constant pursuit of mental objects.
由明暗等二種相形。於妙圓中黏湛發見。見精映色，結色成根。根元目為清淨四大。因名眼體，如蒲萄朵。浮根四塵，流逸奔色。由動靜等二種相擊。於妙圓中黏湛發聽。聽精映聲，卷聲成根。根元目為清淨四大。因名耳體，如新卷葉。浮根四塵，流逸奔聲。由通塞等二種相發。於妙圓中黏湛發嗅。嗅精映香，納香成根。根元目為清淨四大。因名鼻體，如雙垂爪。浮根四塵，流逸奔香。由恬變等二種相參。於妙圓中黏湛發嘗。嘗精映味。絞味成根。根元目為清淨四大。因名舌體，如初偃月。浮根四塵，流逸奔味。由離合等二種相摩。於妙圓中黏湛發覺。覺精映觸，摶觸成根。根元目為清淨四大。因名身體，如腰鼓顙。浮根四塵，流逸奔觸。由生滅等二種相續。於妙圓中黏湛發知。知精映法，攬法成根。根元目為清淨四大。因名意思，如幽室見。浮根四塵，流逸奔法。
“Ananda, because understanding is added to the original enlightenment, the six sense organs then cling to delusion, losing their pure essence and luminosity.
“Therefore, suppose you’re to be deprived of both light and darkness, you wouldn’t have the capacity to see; suppose you’re to be deprived of both sound and silence, you wouldn’t have the capacity to hear; suppose you’re to be deprived of both openness and blockage, you wouldn’t have the capacity to smell; suppose you’re to be deprived of both flavor and flavorlessness, you wouldn’t have the capacity to taste; suppose you’re to be deprived of both contact and separation, you wouldn’t have the sense to touch; suppose you’re to be deprived of both creation and vanishment, you wouldn’t have the capacity for cognition.
“So, all you need to do is not to follow the twelve worldly conditioned phenomena – sound and silence, contact and separation, flavor and flavorlessness, openness and blockage, creation and destruction, light and darkness. Choose any one of your six sense organs, disengage it from its objects (both inner and outer adhesion), redirect it inwardly to its primordial source, and it will radiate the light of the original, pure and perfect understanding. This brilliant light will shine forth and completely purify the other five faculties too, and you will be totally freed from the delusion created by the sense data.
“This light of innate brilliance follows none of the knowing/seeing influenced by objects before you and none of your sense organs. Simply, the light manifests through all the faculties and thus all six of the faculties will function interchangeably.
“Ananda, as you know, here in the assembly, Aniruddha is blind and yet he can see, Upananda is deaf and yet he can hear, the goddess of the River Ganges has no sense of smell and yet she can discern fragrances, Gavampati has a malformed tongue and yet he knows flavors, and the spirit Sunyata is as bodiless as the wind and yet he is illuminated by the light of the Buddha, so that you can see him now. And all those who have long ago eradicated the roots of all cognitive activities, who have attained the Samadhi of Stillness and Cessation, such as Mahakasyapa here – they simply abide in the Perfect Wisdom with no more thinking.
阿難。如是六根，由彼覺明，有明明覺，失彼精了，黏妄發光。是以汝今離暗離明，無有見體。離動離靜，元無聽質，無通無塞，嗅性不生。非變非恬，嘗無所出。不離不合，覺觸本無。無滅無生，了知安寄。汝但不循動靜、合離、恬變、通塞、生滅、明暗，如是十二諸有為相。隨拔一根，脫黏內伏伏歸元真，發本明耀。耀性發明，諸餘五黏，應拔圓脫。不由前塵所起知見。明不循根，寄根明發。由是六根互相為用。
阿難。汝豈不知今此會中，阿那律陀，無目而見。跋難陀龍，無耳而聽。殑伽神女，非鼻聞香。驕梵砵提，異舌知味。舜若多神，無身覺觸。如來光中，映令暫現。既為風質其體元無。諸滅盡定得寂聲聞。如此會中摩訶迦葉，久滅意根，圓明了知不因心念。
“Ananda, once all your sense faculties are completely rooted out, an inner pure light will appear. All transient sense data as well as all the changing conditions of the material world, like ice melted by hot water, will merge into one Supreme Bodhi instantly.
阿難。今汝諸根若圓拔已，內瑩發光。如是浮塵及器世間諸變化相，如湯銷冰，應念化成無上知覺。
“Ananda, if someone who sees only with his eyes closes his eyes, darkness will surround him, enveloping his six faculties from head to toe, but he will still be able to tell the head and toes apart using his hands to trace them, as accurately as using his eyes. Therefore, total darkness needs not prevent him from distinguishing among objects. Likewise, once your six senses and their objects have been eradicated, your awareness and understanding will only become perfect and pure.”
阿難。如彼世人聚見於眼。若令急合，暗相現前，六根黯然，頭足相類。彼人以手循體外繞，彼雖不見，頭足一辨，知覺是同。緣見因明，暗成無見。不明自發，則諸暗相永不能昏。根塵既銷，云何覺明不成圓妙。
Buddha Mind 