2. By Me You Are
After that the [Supreme Source], the mind of complete purity, dwelt in what is called a contemplation (samadhi) of ‘all things emerge from Her.’
Mind Itself in Deep Contemplative-Samadhi recognizes that all things emerge from Self. Mind alone Recollects Mind. Deep looking upon Deep. Truly THE breakthrough in Mind’s Self-Recollection in the Unborn. Technically, in contemplation (samadhi), “the mind cannot be moved by the so-called eight winds: benefit and loss; fame and ignominy; praise and ridicule; suffering and happiness.” For the Mind-adept, this samadhic-realization is known as Seedless Contemplation:
Seedless Contemplation is when the yogin is so totally AT-ONE with the Unborn that there is no longer any maturation of discursive thought patterns; it is the ultimate prajñā that is Self-Realized without any outflows of intellectual interference. In effect, all becomes sublimated within the Amala-consciousness of the Tathagatas.
Then [Vajrasattva] arose from the own being of the retinues and, approaching with a smiling face the teacher, the [Supreme Souce], the mind of perfect purity, asked Her and sat down:
“Oh teacher of the teachers, [Oh, Supreme Source!] As I am in an integrated way present in Your retinues, what is then the objective of my existence (‘ tshal). Please teach me about the objective of my existence!”
Such he spoke.
objective of my existence (‘ tshal): This term is here synonymous with gnas (mKhan-po Rig-‘dzin). [E. K. Neumaier-Dargyay]
Then the [Supreme Source], the mind of perfect purity, laid out all things on the basis of Her own being. Her actuating essence, and Her compassion. That from the one great self-originated awareness the five great self-originated awarenesses come, is as follows: the great self-originated awareness as hatred, as attachment, ignorance, jealousy, and pride—these five self-originated awarenesses bring forth the five great [elements] as cause of adornment.
She set up the three great realms (‘khams) as a receptacle of what is perishable. That the cause of adornment obtained its five forms as one is as follows: There is the form of earth as the cause of adornment; there is the form of water, fire, wind, and sky as causes of adornment. All these forms were obtained as one.
The five awarenesses were organized according to the five ‘families’: the family of the self-originated awareness of hatred, that of the awareness of attachment, of ignorance, of jealousy, and of pride. The beautiful appearance of the forms of the “families” associated with the five self-originated awarenesses was set up as the Reality of those endowed with a body (i.e. sentient beings). As Reality was set up in accord with Her own being, even the [Supreme Source], the mind of perfect purity, dwelt in this manner.
This passage as much to do with the Five Dhyani Buddhas, or here, the Five Families. These Five-Tathagatas are emanations from the Primordial-Buddha Samantabhadra (dri)—or the Absolute Shining Dharmakaya. Thus, through these Five (awarenesses) the Source becomes aware of Itself. They represent basic rudiments of Holy Wisdom, and neutralize the influence of the corresponding Five Skandhas.
Akshobhya Buddha: neutralizes hatred. (Skandha=consciousness)
Vairocana Buddha: neutralizes ignorance. (Skandha=form)
Ratnasambhava Buddha: neutralizes pride. (Skandha=sensation)
Buddha Amitabha: neutralizes attachments. (Skandha=perception)
Buddha Amoghasiddhi: neutralizes jealousy. (Skandha=Volition)
The forms of the elements causing adornment corresponding with the Five Wisdoms are best illustrated in the series, the Unborn I Ching, or the Book of Transformations.
Then (Vajrasattva) again abode in front of the [Supreme Source], the mind of perfect purity:
“Oh teacher, [Supreme Source!] From the self-originated awareness, one with Your mind, the five forms of self-originated awareness come, and from that the five causes of adornment come.
Oh [Supreme Source], what is the reason for this [fact that] the five self-originated awarenesses adopt five [different] forms?”
Such he asked.
The [Supreme Source], the mind of perfect purity, explained further:
“Oh great bodhisattva, this you must know: Besides Me, [the Supreme Source], the maker, there is no other maker. None besides Me creates Reality. None besides Me establishes the teacher’s three forms of manifestation (sku gsum). None besides Me establishes the hosts of retinues. None besides Me establishes [the things] as they are ( tathata) in their Reality. [Vajrasattva], by Me you are! I shall show you My own being. My own being has three aspects (mam pa).
My own being is the mind of perfect purity. ‘Pure’ is taught to be the nature of the limpid (dag pa) in its three aspects of totality. ‘Perfect’ is taught as the nature of the limpid as encompassing the three reasons. [The limpid] is all-encompassing like the sky. The nature of what is called ‘mind’ is taught as the ceaseless, all-encompassing [Supreme Source]. Everything is made, all is generated in the mind of perfect purity.”
Such She spoke.
[Thus ends the Second Chapter]
the three reasons: 1. the self-arising pristine awareness, 2. The five awarenesses, and 3. the five elements. (from E. K. Neumaier-Dargyay’s footnote)
This section is most profound as it describes how the Supreme Source IS the Supreme Source of everything that is. The title of today’s blog, “By Me You Are” says it all. The best illustration of this is from one of the Bodhi-Child YouTube videos entitled simply “YOU”. Tozen wrote something here so gloriously deep that at first hearing one may think that “YOU” refers to the carnal-based skandhic-person, when in actuality, it is all about the Unborn Supreme Source addressing Itself AS YOU—where YOU is the pronoun addressed by the Unborn looking at Itself; hence YOU=Unborn Mind Source. Also, in the video, YOU Itself is the Source of all, and thus ties in very nicely with today’s blog subject-matter: