A Meditative Study of Understanding and Enlightenment
The Purna (Purnamaitreyaniputra) arose from his seat in the midst of the Great Assembly, with his right shoulder uncovered, kneeling on his right knee, putting his palms together respectfully, and said to the Buddha, “Your True Holiness has expounded the ultimate truth for the sake of all sentient beings, with such sublime eloquence! The Buddha often appoints me as the primary speaker of the Dharma, but now as I hear such subtle and profound teachings of the Dharma, I am like a deaf person trying to hear a mosquito from a hundred steps away, failing miserably to see, let alone hear.
“Although the Buddha’s clear expressions have dispelled our doubts, we still have not realized the ultimate meaning that could enable us to rise above all delusions. Among the enlightened ones, those like Ananda who have not yet completely stopped the outflows of their habits, and those who have reached the stage of no outflows, still wonder about the Dharma taught by the Buddha today.
“Your True Holiness, World Honored One! If all the mundane sense organs, sense objects, skandhas, locations, together with realms, are non-exceptionally the Tathagata Store, then why do the mountains, rivers, and all other phenomena always arise, flow, change, end, and then repeat cyclically and perpetually?
“Also, the Buddha said that the basic natures of earth, water, fire and wind are perfectly interfused, tranquil and eternal, pervading throughout the Dharma Realm. But how could the earth contain water if its nature is so pervasive? And how would fire arise with the nature of water being so pervasive? Moreover, how could the natures of fire and water each pervade empty space without displacing one another? And since the nature of earth is solid, while the nature of emptiness is vacuous – how can they both pervade the Dharma Realm? I hope the Buddha will kindly clear the clouds of confusion that engulf us all.”
After saying that, Purna made a full prostration and respectfully awaited the Buddha to impart his unsurpassed compassionate teaching.
爾時富樓那彌多羅尼子，在大眾中，即從座起。偏袒右肩，右膝著地，合掌恭敬而白佛言：大威德世尊。善為眾生敷演如來第一義諦。世尊常推說法人中，我為第一。今聞如來微妙法音，猶如聾人，逾百步外，聆於蚊蚋，本所不見，何況得聞。佛雖宣明，令我除惑，今猶未詳斯義究竟無疑惑地。世尊。如阿難輩，雖則開悟，習漏未除。我等會中登無漏者，雖盡諸漏，今聞如來所說法音，尚紆疑悔。世尊。若復世間一切根塵陰處界等，皆如來藏清淨本然。云何忽生山河大地諸有為相。次第遷流，終而復始。又如來說，地水火風，本性圓融，周遍法界，湛然常住。世尊。若地性遍，云何容水。水性周遍，火則不生。復云何明水火二性俱遍虛空，不相陵滅。世尊。地性障礙，空性虛通，云何二俱周遍法界。而我不知是義攸往。惟願如來，宣流大慈，開我迷雲，及諸大眾。作是語已，五體投地，欽渴如來無上慈誨。
The Buddha then addressed to Purna and all the Arhats in the Assembly who had ended their outflows and who had reached the level beyond study, “Today I will explain in depth the most supreme truth. May those of you who are Hearers or Arhats of a fixed nature who have not yet realized the two kinds of emptiness and all who are dedicated to the Superior Vehicle reach the tranquility of the One Vehicle, the true aranya, the most proper state of cultivation. Listen attentively and I will explain it for you.” Purna and all the others awaited expectantly and quietly.
爾時世尊告富樓那，及諸會中漏盡無學諸阿羅漢。如來今日普為此會，宣勝義中真勝義性。令汝會中定性聲聞，及諸一切未得二空迴向上乘阿羅漢等，皆獲一乘寂滅場地，真阿練若，正修行處。汝今諦聽。當為汝說，富樓那等，欽佛法音，默然承聽。
The Buddha then began: “Purna, you have asked why in fundamental purity the mountains, rivers, and all the rest suddenly arise. Have you not often heard the Buddha expound upon the wonderful light of the enlightened nature and the bright wonder of fundamental enlightenment?”
Purna replied, “Yes, indeed, I have often heard the Buddha expound upon that subject.”
The Buddha said, “You speak of understanding enlightenment, but does the nature understand? If yes, is that called enlightenment? Or does enlightenment itself lack understanding, and so you speak of understanding enlightenment?
Purna said, “If a lack of understanding could be called enlightenment, then there would be no understanding at all.”
The Buddha said, “Indeed, if there were no understanding at all, then there could be no understanding of enlightenment. If the understanding is added, then that is not enlightenment. If no understanding is added, then there’s no understanding. A lack of understanding, or in another word – ignorance, is not the lucid bright nature of enlightenment.
“Although the nature of enlightenment includes understanding, it’s redundant to say understanding enlightenment. Enlightenment is not understanding, as the latter involves setting up an objective. Once an objective is set up, you give rise to false subjective state, and suddenly discrimination appears from where there was originally neither sameness nor difference. Out of discrimination now comes difference, and what differs from that difference becomes sameness. Once sameness and difference both arise, here also comes something neither quite the same nor quite different.
“Such turmoil brings about weariness. Prolonged weariness gives rise to defilement. With weariness and defilement, everything becomes so murky and obscured, hence more weariness and more defilement, so on and so forth! The world of illusions comes into being through such unrest, while emptiness comes from serenity. In emptiness everything is sameness; in the world everything is distinction. Dwelling in a neutral state is the true practice.
佛言。富樓那。如汝所言，清淨本然，云何忽生山河大地。汝常不聞如來宣說，性覺妙明，本覺明妙。富樓那言。唯然，世尊。我常聞佛宣說斯義。佛言。汝稱覺明。為復性明，稱名為覺。為覺不明，稱為明覺。富樓那言。若此不明名為覺者，則無所明。佛言。若無所明，則無明覺。有所非覺，無所非明。無明又非覺湛明性。性覺必明，妄為明覺。覺非所明。因明立所。所既妄立，生汝妄能。無同異中，熾然成異。異彼所異，因異立同。同異發明，因此復立無同無異。如是擾亂，相待生勞。勞久發塵，自相渾濁。由是引起塵勞煩惱。起為世界。靜成虛空。虛空為同。世界為異。彼無同異，真有為法。
“Adding the light of understanding to enlightenment outlines and highlights the darkness of the primordial emptiness, and the interaction between them brings about disturbance in the mind, which consequently propels the wheel of wind that sustains the world of perceptions and illusions.
“The disturbance generated by the persistent tension between the objective emptiness and the subjective light of understanding gives rise to a firm attachment to the light, which solidifies and hardens into the wheel of metal that preserves the earth.
“Thus, the wheel of metal comes from the attachment to the understanding, while the wheel of wind from the interaction between the light of understanding and the darkness of emptiness. Now with the wheel of wind and the wheel of metal rubbing against each other, the friction generates fire, which is highly transformative by nature.
“The flame of fire rises up and turns metal into liquid, hence the wheel of water comes into being and encompasses all realms in the ten directions. The meeting between rising fire and falling water brings about further formations – what is wet becomes the oceans, while what is dry becomes the continents. This is why sometimes fire rises from the seabed, and rivers and streams flow across the lands. Excessive fire over water results in the formation of mountains; rocks spark into flame when struck and melt into water when heated. Excessive earth over water results in in the growth of vegetation, while trees turn into earth when burned and exude water when squeezed.
“The interaction among these illusory four wheels in turn produces the seeds of causes and conditions, which perpetuate the continuity of this world of illusions.
覺明空昧，相待成搖，故有風輪執持世界。因空生搖，堅明立礙，彼金寶者明覺立堅，故有金輪保持國土。堅覺寶成，搖明風出，風金相摩，故有火光為變化性。寶明生潤，火光上蒸，故有水輪含十方界。火騰水降，交發立堅，濕為巨海，乾為洲潬。以是義故，彼大海中火光常起，彼洲潬中江河常注。水勢劣火，結為高山。是故山石，擊則成燄，融則成水。土勢劣水，抽為草木，是故林藪遇燒成土，因絞成水。交妄發生，遞相為種。以是因緣，世界相續。
“Further, Purna, you should know that delusion is due to the mistake of adding understanding to enlightenment – there is no other reason than this. Once the falseness is established, no ‘true’ understanding can ever transcend it. Because of that, hearing never goes beyond sound, and seeing is forever confined to form. All of the six faulty senses – vision, sound, smell, taste, touch, and cognition – are perceived through delusion in such way.
“Shared karma brings about entanglements: sentient beings are united or separate, being formed or transformed, all due to unenlightened activities. When a point of light is perceived, an illusory form arises; when an understanding is understood, a deluded view is generated. Different views result in hatred; compatible ways of thinking give rise to love. The flow of desire becomes a seed, the seed of thought grows into an embryo. The happenstance of intercourse leads to the entanglement of shared karma. From these causes and conditions, the kalaka, arbuda, and other fetal stages emerge and evolve.
“Therefore, the four forms of birth derive from corresponding causes: birth from an egg arises from thought, birth from a womb comes from emotion, the moisture-born are due to union, and the metamorphosis-born come about through separation. Emotion, thought, union, and separation go through further interchanges, and beings entrapped in karma go through different forms of birth and death accordingly. Thus, these causes and conditions perpetuate the continuity of samsara.
復次富樓那。明妄非他，覺明為咎。所妄既立，明理不踰。以是因緣，聽不出聲，見不超色。色香味觸，六妄成就。由是分開見覺聞知。同業相纏，合離成化。見明色發，明見想成。異見成憎，同想成愛。流愛為種，納想為胎。交遘發生，吸引同業。故有因緣生羯羅藍遏蒲曇等。胎卵濕化，隨其所應。卵唯想生。胎因情有。濕以合感。化以離應。情想合離更相變易。所有受業，逐其飛沈。以是因緣，眾生相續。
“Purna, thought and desire are tied together, and desires are so strong that no disengagement is possible. Hence in this world the births of parents, children, and grandchildren are forever successive and ceaseless, and the root of it all is desire and greed.
“Greed and desire feed on each other. Because greed is insatiable, the egg-born, womb-born, moisture-born, and metamorphosis-born tend to devour one another or are in turn devoured, according to the extent of their respective strength. The root of all this is the passion to kill.
“For instance, a human being eats a sheep, then the slaughtered sheep is reborn as a human, while the human in turn becomes a sheep when he dies. This pattern applies to all ten states of beings as they devour each other in an ever-repeating cycle of death and rebirth. This evil karma follows each of them to infinity. The root of all this is the desire to steal.
“If you are in debt to someone for having taken their life, they will want you to repay with your own life. Because of such causes and conditions, beings are entrapped in the cycles of birth and death through hundreds of thousands of eons.
“Likewise, if you admire my mind and I admire your looks, we will go through hundreds of thousands of eons being entrapped in mutual entanglement. The fundamental roots of all things are killing, stealing, and lust, which sustain the continuity of karma and retribution.
“Purna, all these three kinds of mixed-up continuity are due to adding understanding to the inherently perfect enlightenment. The additional understanding then gives rise to external manifestations – mountains, rivers, great lands, and all the other conditioned phenomena are consequently born of false views. Therefore, illusions and delusions are perpetuating in endless cycles, as on a turning wheel.”
富樓那。想愛同結，愛不能離，則諸世間父母子孫，相生不斷，是等則以欲貪為本。貪愛同滋，貪不能此，則諸世間卵化濕胎，隨力強弱，遞相吞食，是等則以殺貪為本。以人食羊，羊死為人，人死為羊，如是乃至十生之類，死死生生，互來相噉，惡業俱生，窮未來際，是等則以盜貪為本。汝負我命，我還汝債，以是因緣，經百千劫，常在生死。汝愛我心，我憐汝色，以是因緣，經百千劫，常在纏縛。唯殺盜婬三為根本。以是因緣，業果相續。
富樓那。如是三種顛倒相續。皆是覺明，明了知性，因了發相，從妄見生。山河大地諸有為相次第遷流。因此虛妄終而復始。
Buddha Mind 