(Wong Mou-Lam) 

Learned Audience, when we use Prajñā for introspection we are illumined within and without, and in a position to know our own mind. To know our mind is to obtain liberation. To obtain liberation is to attain Samādhi of Prajñā, which is *’thoughtlessness’. What is ‘thoughtlessness’? ‘Thoughtlessness’ is to see and to know all Dharmas (things) with a mind free from attachment. When in use it pervades everywhere, and yet it sticks nowhere. What we have to do is to purify our mind so that the six vijnanas (aspects of consciousness), in passing through the six gates (sense organs) will neither be defiled by nor attached to the six sense-objects. When our mind works freely without any hindrance, and is at liberty to ‘come’ or to ‘go’, we attain Samādhi of Prajñā, or liberation. Such a state is called the function of ‘thoughtlessness’. But to refrain from thinking of anything, so that all thoughts are suppressed, is to be Dharma-ridden, and this is an erroneous view. 

*No-mind

Hui-neng asserts that the Samādhi of Prajñā is synonymous with no-mind (Wu-hsin). IT is not time-bound yet it pervades everywhere. Tozen describes this on the homepage of his dharma-school, “This great Mind of all Buddhas; Not standing still, not moving. Solid as a mountain’s wall, swift as a lightning flash!” In like fashion, Hui-neng solidly portrays that this true Mind-Prajñā is won when the skandhas themselves are eclipsed as swift as lightning when Mind moves freely without any discriminatory hindrances, since ITs Essential-Solid-Stature is motionless, i.e., perceiving like Bodhidharma’s Wall perceives—not like a dead-dunce staring at a wall, but completely impervious to all passing phenomena which can never penetrate the Purity of Mind’s Substance. He ends with a caveat, however, because this has nothing to do with shutting-down passing phenomena since this would, in effect, give undue credit to something that is not self-substantial in the first place.

Learned Audience, those who understand the way of ‘thoughtlessness’ will know everything, will have the experience all Buddhas have had, and attain Buddhahood. In the future, if an initiate of my School should make a vow in company with his fellow-disciples to devote his whole life without retrogression to the practice of the teachings of this ‘Sudden’ School, in the same spirit as that for serving Buddha, he would reach without failure the Path of Holiness. (To the right men) he should transmit from heart to heart the instructions handed down from one Patriarch to another; and no attempt should be made to conceal the orthodox teaching. To those who belong to other schools, and whose views and objects are different from ours, the Dharma should not be transmitted, since it will be anything but good for them. This step is taken lest ignorant persons who cannot understand our system should make slanderous remarks about it and thereby annihilate their seed of Buddha-nature for hundreds of kalpas and thousands of incarnations.

This is a truly motivational segment depicting how those who have incorporated Wu-hsin into the very fiber of their being will Put-On the very Tathatic-Mind of Buddhahood Itself. Hui-neng says that if one faithfully, and without transgression, puts on the dharma-armor of the ‘Sudden School’ in the spirit as if serving the Buddha, such a one will be in league with those who have reached the Other Shore of Tathagatahood. He then proceeds to make a firm injunction, however, that no attempt should be made to transmit the Buddhadharma to anyone who lacks the self-same Resilient-Spirit. In the long run it would do them no good and most likely cause them to make slanderous remarks against the Buddhadharma; this would prove to be a most disastrous occurrence, since in doing so their incorrigible mind-set will condemn them to incalculable kalpas and incarnations devoid of Buddha-nature; yea, they would remain bodhi-less on the corruptible web of their own endless ignorance (avidya).

Learned Audience, I have a ‘formless {signless}’ stanza for you all to recite. Both laity and monks should put its teaching into practice, without which it would be useless to remember my words alone. Listen to this stanza:

A master of the Buddhist Canon as well as of the teaching of the Dhyana School May be likened unto the blazing sun sitting high in his meridian tower.
Such a man would teach nothing but the Dharma for realizing the Essence of Mind, And his object in coming to this world would be to vanquish the heretical sects.
We can hardly classify the Dharmas into ‘Sudden’ and ‘Gradual’, But some men will attain enlightenment much quicker than others.
For example, this system for realizing the Essence of Mind Is above the comprehension of the ignorant.
We may explain it in ten thousand ways, But all those explanations may be traced back to one principle.
To illumine our gloomy tabernacle, which is stained by defilement, We should constantly set up the Light of Wisdom.
Erroneous views keep us in defilement While right views remove us from it, But when we are in a position to discard both of them We are then absolutely pure.
Bodhi is immanent in our Essence of Mind, An attempt to look for it elsewhere is erroneous.
Within our impure mind the pure one is to be found,
And once our mind is set right, we are free from the three kinds of beclouding (hatred, lust and illusion).
If we are treading the Path of Enlightenment We need not be worried by stumbling-blocks. Provided we keep a constant eye on our own faults We cannot go astray from the right path.
Since every species of life has its own way of salvation They will not interfere with or be antagonistic to one another.
But if we leave our own path and seek some other way of salvation We shall not find it, And though we plod on till death overtakes us We shall find only penitence in the end.
If you wish to find the true way Right action will lead you to it directly; But if you do not strive for Buddhahood You will grope in the dark and never find it.
He who treads the Path in earnest Sees not the mistakes of the world; If we find fault with others We ourselves are also in the wrong.
When other people are in the wrong, we should ignore it, For it is wrong for us to find fault.
By getting rid of the habit of fault-finding We cut off a source of defilement.
When neither hatred nor love disturb our mind Serenely we sleep.
Those who intend to be the teachers of others Should themselves be skilled in the various expedients which lead others to enlightenment.
When the disciple is free from all doubts It indicates that his Essence of Mind has been found.
The Kingdom of Buddha is in this world, Within which enlightenment is to be sought.
To seek enlightenment by separating from this world Is as absurd as to search for a rabbit’s horn.
Right views are called ‘transcendental’; Erroneous views are called ‘worldly’.
When all views, right or erroneous, are discarded Then the essence of Bodhi appears.
This stanza is for the ‘Sudden’ School. It is also called the ‘Great Ship of Dharma’ (for sailing across the ocean of existence).
Kalpa after kalpa a man may be under delusion, But once enlightened it takes him only a moment to attain Buddhahood.

Before conclusion, the Patriarch added, “Now, in this Ta Fan Temple, I have addressed you on the teaching of the ‘Sudden’ School. May all sentient beings of the Dharmadhatu instantly understand the Law and attain Buddhahood.” After hearing what the Patriarch said, the Prefect Wei, government officials, Taoists and laymen were all enlightened. They made obeisance in a body and exclaimed unanimously, “Well done! Well done! Who would have expected that a Buddha was born in Kwangtung?”

This is the summation of Chapter II in the Platform Sutra, “On Prajñā”. Without question, Hui-neng’s eloquence rises to the occasion via the splendid verses (akin to those very signless precepts) that, one can say without hesitation, are akin to a Proclamation of the Bodhi-Dharma (not to be confused with Bodhidharma, the first Patriarch of Ch’an Buddhism). In itself, it could be studied and contemplated upon for a lifetime since it systematically depicts all the salient teachings within the Platform Sutra and the ‘Sudden School’ in general. Perhaps the one dominant Bodhi-Pearl that stands out is the One Principle—THAT which, as Hui-neng says, “Lights-up our gloomy tabernacle.” Yea, the Illuminating Principle that is like a darkness to the senses, yet a blazing Unborn Light for the spirit of those who are properly attuned to IT. The Light of Bodhi is like that faithful sanctuary lamp that forever burns in the presence of the Tabernacle of the Tathagata-kaya. It is within this Light of all Lights that all dichotomous notions—rightness or wrongness—are forever discarded as the Quiescent Mind erases all dualities as the Unborn unfolds of Its own accord with no-thing arising or cessating. In the spirit of Tsung-mi, this hidden Light of Prajñā takes but a moment’s Self-realization, but also a lifetime of proper cultivation—like faithfully attending to that sanctuary lamp so that the Undying Flame of Numinous Noble-Wisdom is never extinguished.

Tags: Bodhi, Bodhidharma’s Wall, Light of all Lights, Prajñā, Wu-hsin

Part 1: Autobiography 

(Wong Mou-Lam)

Once, when the Patriarch had arrived at Pao Lin Monastery, Prefect Wei of Shao Chou and other officials went there to ask him to deliver public lectures on Buddhism in the hall of Ta Fan Temple in the City of Canton. In due course, there were assembled in the lecture hall Prefect Wei, government officials and Confucian scholars, about thirty each, and bhikkhus, bhikkhunis, Taoists and laymen to the number of about one thousand. After the Patriarch had taken his seat, the congregation in a body paid him homage and asked him to preach on the fundamental laws of Buddhism. Whereupon, His Holiness delivered the following address: Learned Audience, our Essence of Mind (literally, self-nature) which is the seed or kernel of enlightenment (Bodhi) is pure by nature, and by making use of this mind alone we can reach Buddhahood directly.

The sutra begins with the traditional Six Prerequisites:

Time: Once, or at one time

Location: The Monastery grounds at Pao Lin Mountain

The One Expounding the Dharma: Hui-neng, the Sixth Patriarch

The Assembly: Officials, scholars, male and female monks, laypeople

Homage paid to the One Expounding the Dharma: Full congregation paying Hui-neng homage; in other sutras, when the Tathagata is about to expound, the assembly circumambulates about him.

Request to Hear the Dharma: In this instance, requesting Hui-neng to preach on the Dharma of the Great Perfection of Wisdom.

I have chosen Wong Mou-Lam’s translation for the opening verses since it conveys the core-teaching of the Sutra: the crucial component of awakening to Pure Mind via the cracking-open of the kernel of enlightenment, the Bodhi-Seed. It is exclusively via this Transcendent Route (Mind-Only) that the direct-path to full Bodhisattvahood, as well as the awakening of the Tathagatakaya Itself is Self-Realized.

(Yampolsky)

The Master stopped speaking and quieted his own mind. Then after a good while he said: “Good friends, listen quietly. My father was originally an official at Fan-yang. He was [later] dismissed from his post and banished as a commoner to Hsin-chou in Ling-nan.

While I was still a child, my father died and my old mother and I, a solitary child, moved to Nan-hai. We suffered extreme poverty and here I sold firewood in the market place. By chance a certain man bought some firewood and then took me with him to the lodging house for officials. He took the firewood and left. Having received my money and turning towards the front gate, I happened to see another man who was reciting the Diamond Sutra. Upon hearing it my mind became clear and I was awakened.

“I asked him: ‘Where do you come from that you have brought this sutra with you?’

“He answered: ‘I have made obeisance to the Fifth Patriarch, Hungjen, at the East Mountain, Feng-mu shan, in Huang-mei hsien in Ch’i-chou. At present there are over a thousand disciples there. While I was there I heard the Master encourage the monks and lay followers, saying that if they recited just the one volume, the Diamond Sutra, they could see into their own natures and with direct apprehension become Buddhas.’

”Hearing what he said, I realized that I was predestined to have heard him. Then I took leave of my mother and went to Feng-mu shan in Huang-mei and made obeisance to the Fifth Patriarch, the priest Hung-jen.

The stage has been set by Shen-hui’s school (see opening blog on this series) portraying Hui-neng as a simple commoner, as opposed to those of more noble births and status, especially those with high privileges within the High Chinese Court, like Shen-hsiu. The Diamond Sutra is first portrayed here as the dominant sutra used in exclusive Ch’an circles, via the medium of the story wherein Hui-neng hears a verse of the Sutra being spoken, the actual verse was “They should give rise to an intention with their minds not dwelling anywhere.” This also sets the stage for how Hui-neng was inspired to meet the Fifth Patriarch, Hung-jen. Wong Mou-Lam’s translation heightens this motif even further:

He further told me that His Holiness (Hung-jen) used to encourage the laity as well as the monks to recite this scripture, as by doing so they might realize their own Essence of Mind, and thereby reach Buddhahood directly. It must be due to my good karma in past lives that I heard about this, and that I was given tentaels for the maintenance of my mother by a man who advised me to go to Huang Mei to interview the Fifth Patriarch. After arrangements had been made for her, I left for Huang Mei, which took me less than thirty days to reach.

(Yampolsky) 

“The priest Hung-jen asked me: ‘Where are you from that you come to this mountain to make obeisance to me? Just what is it that you are looking for from me?’

“I replied: ‘I am from Ling-nan, a commoner from Hsin-chou. I have come this long distance only to make obeisance to you. I am seeking no particular thing, but only the Buddhadharma.’

“The Master then reproved me, saying: ‘If you’re from Ling-nan then you’re a barbarian. How can you become a Buddha?’

“I replied: ‘Although people from the south and people from the north differ, there is no north and south in Buddha nature. Although my barbarian’s body and your body are not the same, what difference is there in our Buddha nature?’

“The Master wished to continue his discussion with me; however, seeing that there were other people nearby, he said no more. Then he sent me to work with the assembly. Later a lay disciple had me go to the threshing room where I spent over eight months treading the pestle.”

Classic take on Buddha-nature wherein Hui-neng challenges the Fifth Patriarch’s “external assessment” of his stature. Once again, an indirect reference to prejudices inherent at the time concerning that only certain personages from locations (in sync with political favoritism) were worthy (and capable) of discerning one’s inherent Buddha-nature. Hui-neng becomes the symbolic mouthpiece here for the greater realization that one’s Buddha-nature is an internal vs. external-formal/materialistic affair; one can also see parallels here that strike at the heart of exoteric elitism at the expense of esoteric-spiritual genuineness. Hence, it’s A Spiritual Affair. It’s apparent that the Master sensed something genuine in Hui-neng, but to appease the status-quo of the monastery consigns him for a determinate time to the threshing-room floor pounding-out rice. (This is also a reference to “manualism”, wherein the letter of the Monastic Rules is adhered to tooth and nail.)

Tags: Bodhi, Hung-jen, manualism, the six prerequisites

Wake-up Sermon, part 4

If you’re looking for the Way, the Way won’t appear until your body disappears. It’s like stripping bark from a tree. This karmic body undergoes constant change. It has no fixed reality. Practice according to your thoughts. Don’t hate life and death or love life and death. Keep your every thought free of delusion, and in life you’ll witness the beginning of nirvana and in death you’ll experience the assurance of no rebirth.

Looking for the Way of the Buddhas through corporal means is a foolhardy endeavor and will only end in great frustration. It’s like trying to discover the Dharma-mind through Karmic-coated-kaleidoscope-like lens where everything is in a state of constant change and flux. Mind Recollecting Mind alone opens the Dharma-gate to the Stillpoint of Deathless Suchness. The Way is a thought-free enterprise wherein the Mind focuses on no-thing whatsoever but Its own Nirvanic kingdom of Self—the Dharmakaya—impermeable to the icy-sting of death and the stench of ignoble re-birth.

To see form but not be corrupted by form or to hear sound but not to be corrupted by sound is liberation. Eyes that aren’t attached to form are the Gates of Zen. Ears that aren’t attached to sound are also the Gates of Zen. In short, those who perceive the existence and nature of phenomena and remain unattached are liberated. Those who perceive the external appearance of phenomena are at their mercy. Not to be subject to afflictions is what’s meant by liberation. There’s no other liberation. When you know how to look at form, form doesn’t give rise to mind and mind doesn’t give rise to form. Form and mind are both pure.

Liberation consists in no longer being subjugated to defiled aggregated existence. The eyes and ears of Bodhi are not akin to their skandhic counterparts that are attached and bewitched by the sights and sounds of samsara; rather, theirs is an imageless affair that partakes in the rich primordial pool of the Sugatagarbha. As Bodhidharma states, those who perceive external phenomena are held spellbound by what they perceive; whereas remaining unattached and no longer subjected to phenomenal-apparent existence assures quietude of Mind and a Blessed-Liberated Spirit. Essentially, when looking at the phenomenal through the imageless eyes of the Bodhichild one becomes attuned to all that is pure and thus prior to anything that gives rise to suggestive appearance and the ensuing perceptional apparatus within the clouded mind. There’s no other Liberation other than the transformative power of Bodhi that awakens the dormant Dharma-child.

When delusions are absent, the mind is the land of Buddhas. When delusions are present, the mind is hell. Mortals create delusions. And by using the mind to give birth to mind they always find themselves in hell. Bodhisattvas see through delusions. And by not using the mind to give birth to mind they always find themselves in the land of Buddhas. If you don’t use your mind to create mind, every state of mind is empty and every thought is still. You go from one buddhaland to another. If you use your mind to create mind, every state of mind is disturbed and every thought is in motion. You go from one hell to the next. When a thought arises, there’s good karma and bad karma, heaven and hell. When no thought arises, there’s no good karma or bad karma, no heaven or hell.

The children of Bodhi travel through innumerable and inconceivable Buddha-fields unhindered. They are no longer plagued with incessant mind-constructs that are useless and self-empty tools in the Land of Bodhi. When the dormant bodhi-seed is not activated one remains entrapped in the perpetual wheel of Re-genesis—endlessly creating both good and bad karma, heavens and hells through endless kalpas; when the gotra is activated, ALL karmas and places of ill-conceived bliss and self-torture are no longer relevantly realized and cease to trouble the Liberated Spirit.

Tags: Bodhi, Karma, liberation

For this study of the Vimalakirti Sutra I have been referring to four different translations. My primary source has been Robert Thurman’s text; the root base of his text is akin to another, truly marvelous, translation by the renowned Belgian scholar and Indologist, Étienne Lamotte; Lamotte’s translation was difficult to come by. It was long out of print and the surviving available hard-copies were too astronomical in price. Fortunately, I was able (finally, just two weeks ago) to get a recently released softbound copy from the Pali-Text Society (being more than willing to become a member to do so). Lamotte’s version is fantastic in the depth of its scholarly impetus and encyclopedic footnote material. The other translations utilized are by Charles Luk and Burton Watson. Thruman’s text has been magnificent, although he incorporates the remaining chapters into one (naming it epilogue), basically to guarantee the apparent original 12 chapter text, in league with Lamotte. Both Luk and Watson have broken it up into two—and for salient reasons I am following their lead, since the last chapter is basically ascribed to Maitreya, which is as it should be.

13.Dharma Offering

This chapter opens up with Śakra (who others ascribe as being Indra) the prince of the gods expounding on how Vimalakirti’s discourse should be placed uppermost in the annals of Sutras—such is its astounding transcendental reality. Once again it is reinforced that anyone who reads or recites this sutra will receive untold divine recompense—Śakra even assuring divine protection. Also, as with most other revered Sutras and tokens that are ascribed with the Buddhadharma, special reliquaries and stupas (mound-like structures) are created for their reverence. The Buddhadharma is paramount within Buddhism, and this chapter wastes no words in assuring its reverenced place in the Bodhisattvic Way and with other lesser paths as well. This is traditionally known as the Offering of the Law. A Tathagata, Bhaisajyarāja, also known as a Medicine Buddha, when questioned as to whether there is anything else that supersedes this Law expounds as follows:

(Watson’s Text) ‘Good man, the offering of the Law means the profound sutras preached by the Buddhas. The people of this world all find them hard to believe and hard to accept, for they are wonderfully subtle and hard to make out, clean and pure and without stain. They cannot be grasped through the making of distinctions or through thought. They are contained in the storehouse of the bodhisattva and are sealed with the dharani seal, and where this seal is affixed, one reaches the level of no regression. They bring about observance of the six paramitas, the skillful discrimination of meanings, and compliance with the teachings of bodhi, and through the finest of all sutras one enters the realm of great pity and compassion. The sutras put an end to all devilish affairs and all erroneous views, conform to the teaching on causality and those on no ego, no individual, no living beings, no life span, emptiness, no form, no action, and no arousing. They enable living beings to sit in the place of practice and to turn the wheel of the Law.’

(Luk’s Text) ‘Virtuous one, the offering of Dharma is preached by all Buddhas in profound sutras but it is hard for worldly men to believe and accept it as its meaning is subtle and not easily detected, for it is impeacable in its purity and cleanness. It is beyond the reach of thinking and discriminating; it contains the treasure of the Bodhi-sattva’s Dharma store and is sealed by the Dharani-symbol; it never backslides for it achieves the six perfections (paramitas); discerns the difference between various meanings; is in line with the bodhi Dharma; is at the top of all sutras; helps people to enter upon great kindness and great compassion; to keep from demons and perverse views, and to conform with the law of causality and the teaching on the unreality of an ego; a man, a living being and life and on voidness, formlessness, non-creating and non-uprising. It enables living beings to sit in a bodhimandala to turn the wheel of the law.’

This truly says it all for the value and significance of a given Sutra. Sutras are sealed with a special “dharani”—an invocation and protection, a Mark against Evil. Thus anyone merely reading the sutras with indifferent and worldling eyes, with no real appetite for the Buddhadharma, these sacred texts come across as boring, obscure and simply unfathomable. The real stuff—the Bodhi-dharma—will be conferred upon those who authentically and reverently approach these texts with no other intention other than to receive the auspicious blessings and insights of the Tathagatas contained therein….if one does so in this manner, then they are bade entrance into the Dharma-store and can truly partake in its mystical riches; in this fashion, and with continual and abiding reverence each time one picks up these sacred texts, a mystical “bodhimandala” will form around them—preventing outside influences from disturbing these loving mystical revelations. Please keep in mind above all, as this sutra states, “the offering of Dharma is the highest form of offering to all the Buddhas” and thus should never be read haphazardly or taken lightly.

Tags: Bodhi, Bodhidharma, Buddhadharma, dharani, Evil, mark against evil, Vimalakirti Sutra

4. The Reluctance of the Bodhisattvas

Then, the Buddha said to the bodhisattva Maitreya, “Maitreya, go to the Licchavi Vimalakirti to inquire about his illness.” Maitreya replied, “Lord, I am indeed reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness. Why? Lord, I remember that one day I was engaged in a conversation with the gods of the Tusita heaven, the god Samtusita and his retinue, about the stage of non-regression of the great bodhisattvas. At that time, the Licchavi Vimalakirti came there and addressed me as follows: “‘Maitreya, the Buddha has prophesied that only one more birth stands between you and unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. What kind of birth does this prophecy concern, Maitreya? Is it past? Is it future? Or is it present? If it is a past birth, it is already finished. If it is a future birth, it will never arrive. If it is a present birth, it does not abide. For the Buddha has declared, “Bhikshus, in a single moment, you are born, you age, you die, you transmigrate, and you are reborn.” “‘Then might the prophecy concern birthlessness? But birthlessness applies to the stage of destiny for the ultimate, in which there is neither prophecy nor attainment of perfect enlightenment. “‘Therefore, Maitreya, is your reality from birth? Or is it from cessation? Your reality as prophesied is not born and does not cease, nor will it be born nor will it cease. Furthermore, your reality is just the same as the reality of all living beings, the reality of all things, and the reality of all the holy ones. If your enlightenment can be prophesied in such a way, so can that of all living beings. Why? Because reality does not consist of duality or of diversity. Maitreya, whenever you attain Buddhahood, which is the perfection of enlightenment, at the same time all living beings will also attain ultimate liberation. Why? The Tathagatas do not enter ultimate liberation until all living beings have entered ultimate liberation. For, since all living beings are utterly liberated, the Tathagatas see them as having the nature of ultimate liberation.

After leaving the reluctant disciples, we now turn to the reluctant Bodhisattvas. At the top of the list is none other than Maitreya—the future Buddha-elect. In the Mahayana world, Maitreya is the Bodhisattva par-excellence—no other can match him in stature since he will eventually come to expound the dharma in these very saha-realms. Since he is unapproachable in his anointed Bodhisattvahood, it seems inconceivable that anyone would even consider challenging his Buddha-gnosis; yet, here comes Vimalakrti once again and puts even this most auspicious one to the test. This leaves one to ponder that the true identity of Vimalakriti is one of such significance that his own bodhi-signature far eclipses that of any other Bodhisattva in the Buddhist canon.

We find Vimalakriti confronting Maitreya in the very realm of the Tushita heavens. He begins his interrogation by inquiring about the “prophesy” of the World-honored-One (present Nirmanakaya Buddha). Prophesy, even in our own sense of time, is a most misunderstood and misused term. We can see how its utilization concerning the notion that Maitreya requires one-more-birth in order to achieve anuttara-samyak-sambodhi is a compounded dilemma; indeed, is this referring to past, future, or present birth? We can see how prophesy itself is confined to the three-times and is therefore an inadequate tool to forecast that which is so far beyond this limited realm—not in-it-self ever subject to the laws and dimensions of time-bound reality. In the eyes of the Tathagatas—all time is as One…at-one-ment. Reality in this sense is a boundless realm—as Vimalkriti states one moment you are apparently born, then what seems like a blink of an eye you grow old and soon pass-away into oblivion; we are really just passing reflections in this boundless primordial Sea of Suchness. Time-bound reality is all relative and hence inadequate to behold the Absolute Stature of Suchness where there is no need of any form of attainment as All is AS ONE in the Milieu of the Undivided Mind and Spirit. So, Maitreya will never have to actually attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi since It has already happened yet it was, and is not, nor will be an actual occurrence.

“‘Therefore, Maitreya, do not fool and delude these deities! No one abides in, or regresses from, enlightenment. Maitreya, you should introduce these deities to the repudiation of all discriminative constructions concerning enlightenment. “‘Enlightenment is perfectly realized neither by the body nor by the mind. Enlightenment is the eradication of all marks. Enlightenment is free of presumptions concerning all objects. Enlightenment is free of the functioning of all intentional thoughts. Enlightenment is the annihilation of all convictions. Enlightenment is free from all discriminative constructions. Enlightenment is free from all vacillation, mentation, and agitation. Enlightenment is not involved in any commitments. Enlightenment is the arrival at detachment, through freedom from all habitual attitudes. The ground of enlightenment is the ultimate realm. Enlightenment is realization of reality. Enlightenment abides at the limit of reality. Enlightenment is without duality, since therein are no minds and no things. Enlightenment is equality, since it is equal to infinite space. ” “Enlightenment is unconstructed, because it is neither born nor destroyed, neither abides nor undergoes any transformation. Enlightenment is the complete knowledge of the thoughts, deeds, and inclinations of all living beings. Enlightenment is not a door for the
six media of sense. Enlightenment is unadulterated, since it is free of the passions of the instinctually driven succession of lives. Enlightenment is neither somewhere nor nowhere, abiding in no location or dimension. Enlightenment, not being contained in anything, does not stand in reality. Enlightenment is merely a name and even that name is unmoving. Enlightenment, free of abstention and undertaking, is energyless. There is no agitation in enlightenment, as it is utterly pure by nature. Enlightenment is radiance, pure in essence.Enlightenment is without subjectivity and completely without object. Enlightenment, which penetrates the equality of all things, is undifferentiated. Enlightenment, which is not shown by any example, is incomparable. Enlightenment is subtle, since it is extremely difficult to realize. Enlightenment is all-pervasive, as it has the nature of infinite space. Enlightenment cannot be realized, either physically or mentally. Why? The body is like grass, trees, walls, paths, and hallucinations. And the mind is immaterial, invisible, baseless, and unconscious.’ “Lord, when Vimalakirti had discoursed thus, two hundred of the deities in that assembly attained the tolerance of birthlessness. As for me, Lord, I was rendered speechless. Therefore, I am reluctant to go to that good man to inquire about his illness.”

This leads us to the tired old question that is so often asked—are you enlightened? We shall discover that enlightenment is unequivocally not some kind of “personal-realization”…as if some kind of apparent, “personal”, entity gets-enlightened. Anyone who is always stumped by this is entrapped within a didactic-inversion—an apt outcome for the so-called discriminatory personality (true cognitive dissociation). Even entertaining such a notion finds oneself being “marked” by what Thurman translates as, “discriminative-constructions”; whereas enlightenment—or rather the Bodhi-Mind is “markless”. It is also position-less yet takes delight in the “fullness” of Its deathless body—the Dharmadhatu. Hence, having the Mind of Bodhi is seeing clearly the Dharmadhatu—AS IT IS (yathabhutam). Seeing through the imageless eyes of bodhi=enlightenment. This Beloved bodhi-realization is not something that can be created, destroyed, or even transmitted. Yet, the Bodhi-mind is freely bestowed (em-bodhi-ment) by the Dharmata-Buddha—the great shadow-slayer of all discriminatory associations. To consider “enlightenment” as something otherwise is an adulteration of Bodhi-gnosis.

http://youtu.be/YZTmKDptpcg

Tags: Bodhi, dharmadhatu, Enlightenment, Vimalakirti Sutra