Finding Rest in the Nature of the Mind
Page 22
The actual blissful Buddha even in the state of stooping beasts,
Enveloped in defilements in their various kinds,
And likewise show the means whereby it might be freed.174
Then there are two images that illustrate how the pure expanse of ultimate reality dwells amid obscuring defilements that are eliminated on the path of meditation. Here is the first of these two:
Just as a woman, ill-favored and protectorless
And living in a shelter for the destitute,
May carry in her womb the glory of a king,
Not knowing she is pregnant with a lord of men,
Birth in existence, too, is like a home for destitutes;
And impure beings resemble the expectant woman.
By the stainless element they bear within them
They’re protected—like the woman with a king within her womb.175
The second image is as follows:
When molten gold is poured in and the form is set, at peace,
It has but the outer aspect of its earthen mold.
Those who see and understand—that they might free the gold within—
Will clear away the outer case whereby it is concealed.
Likewise, having seen that that which is by nature luminous
Can only be obscured by something adventitious,
Sublime enlightened beings act to cleanse obscuring veils
From beings who resemble mines of precious gems.176
The nine impurities related to these images are set forth in the Uttaratantra:
Desire, aversion, ignorance (whether in their flagrant state or else as latent tendencies),
All that is discarded on the paths of seeing and of meditation, impurities subsisting on the pure and impure grounds,
These nine are illustrated by analogies
Like being concealed within a lotus flower.
If the confining secondary defilements were to be
Distinguished, they would be numbered in their millions.177
Regarding those who have these stains, the Uttaratantra says,
Childish beings, arhats, those who train,
And those possessed of wisdom are, in their respective order,
Stained by these impurities:
By four, by one, by two, and then by two.178
These images and the impurities they illustrate are laid out in the Uttaratantra as follows:
Just as a lotus rising from the mud
Delights the mind when first beheld
But later brings no joy,
So too is joy deriving from desire.
Bees when strongly agitated
Use their stings.
So too when anger has arisen,
It engenders sorrow in the mind.
Just as the pith of rice and other grains
Is covered by its outer husk,
Likewise understanding of the essence
Is hindered by the shell of ignorance.
Just as filth is uncongenial,
So too defilement in its full arising,
Causing those in the desire realm to pursue
Their cravings, is like filth.
Just as wealth when all concealed
Remains unknown, its treasure unobtainable,
The self-arisen element in beings
Is likewise hidden by the ground of tendency to ignorance.
Just as the gradual growing of a shoot
Cuts through the outer layers of a seed,
Just so, when suchness is beheld
All that seeing discards is countered.
Through connection with the noble path,
The transitory collection,179 the essential point, is quelled.
All that is discarded on the path of meditation—all that primal wisdom sheds—
Is shown to be like tattered rags.
The impurity supported by the seven grounds
Is like the impurity of confinement in the womb.
Nonconceptual primal wisdom is like being freed
From such confinement, like a birth without travail.
Impurities connected with the three successive levels,
It should be understood, are like the traces left by clay.
The concentration vajra-like
Of great beings will remove them.
Desire and so forth: all the nine impurities
Resemble thus the lotus and the rest.180
Moreover, as it is recounted in the teachings of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra,
The Blessed Lord said to Kāśyapa: “This is how it is, my noble son. There was once a king who had in his service a giant with a jewel of diamond in his brow. It came to pass that when the giant was contending with another giant-like champion, his opponent struck his head with his own and without the former’s realizing it, the jewel in his brow sank into his flesh. Since he had been wounded, however, he called for a physician and asked his services. But the physician was wise, and since the wound had been caused by the jewel as it sank into the giant’s flesh, he did not apply any medicine.
“Well now, strong man! Where is the jewel in your forehead?” At this the giant grew afraid and told the physician that, to his knowledge, the jewel was still in his brow and had not disappeared. And thinking that if the jewel were not there, it must have been an illusion, he became extremely downcast. To comfort the giant, the physician then said, “Do not be sad! When you were contending, the jewel in your brow sank into your flesh, leaving nothing outside but an indication of its presence. When you were fighting, your blood was up and the gem sank down into your flesh. Yet, by the power of this same jewel, you felt nothing.”
The giant, however, disbelieved him and said, “O physician, do not lie. If the jewel had really sunk into my flesh, there would be filthy pus and blood, and there would be no indication of it outside.”
At that, the physician placed a mirror in front of the wound, and the jewel clearly appeared in it. On seeing this, the giant was greatly amazed.
Noble son, such is the plight of beings! Because they do not serve and follow a spiritual master, they fail to see that they have the buddha nature. This nature is veiled; it is overwhelmed by desire, aversion, and ignorance. And so these beings circle in saṃsāra, amid the torments of many different realms of existence.
This story, from the point just indicated in the text and until the words, “Noble son! Within the bodies of all beings are the ten strengths, the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks,” explains the buddha nature in numerous different ways.
In the Hevajra Tantra we find,
Great primordial wisdom dwells within the body,
Wholly free of all discursive thought.
All things does it pervade.
It dwells within the body, yet from the body it does not arise.
In the Precious Net it is said,
All beings, I and everyone,
Are primordially enlightened,
But through the power of thought do beings circle in saṃsāra.
To free them all I generate the attitude of supreme awakening.
The Wisdom at the Moment of Death Sūtra says, “When the mind is understood, this is buddhahood. You should strongly cultivate the attitude of mind of thinking that nowhere else should buddhahood be sought.”
Praises of the Mind Vajra says,
Just as water dwells unsullied
In the very heart of earth,
Primal wisdom also dwells
Unsullied in the midst of our defilements.
And in the Guhyagarbha Tantra it is said,
In any of the four times or the ten directions
No perfect buddha will be found.
The perfect buddha is the mind itself.
Therefore do not look elsewhere for buddhahood—
Where even the enlightened ones cannot discover it.
Thus it is set forth in these and other sacred texts. In short, it should be understood, with the help of metaphors—such as that of the gr
eat sheet of silk as vast as the three-thousandfold universe—that the kāyas and wisdoms of buddhahood dwell primordially within all beings, as inalienably as sunlight in the sun itself. This buddha-element is at all times naturally pure and changeless. The stains upon it are adventitious and imaginary. As the Commentary to the Uttaratantra declares,
Great Sage! Defilements are darkness, whereas perfect purity is light. Defilements are weak, whereas profound insight (vipaśyanā) is of great strength. Defilements are adventitious, whereas natural purity is the fundamental root.
Being primordially unstained, the buddha-element is pure; changeless and unmoving, it is the supreme identity (bdag dam pa); being at all times present, it is everlasting; and though it has fallen into the samsaric state of many sufferings, it is not overwhelmed thereby. Thus it is transcendent bliss. The Uttaratantra says,
Its results are the transcendent qualities
Of purity, identity, happiness, and permanence.181
The tathāgatagarbha pervades all beings. It is said in the Sūtrālaṃkāra:182
Just as it is said that space is always everywhere,
Likewise it is said to be at all times present.
Just as space pervades all forms,
Likewise it pervades the multitude of beings.
This buddha essence is veiled by defilements, and yet, in itself, it is unsullied—it is like the sun enshrouded by the clouds. From the very first and until the time of our awakening, it is indestructible and inseparable from us. As it is said in the Commentary to the Uttaratantra, “The tathāgatagarbha pervades all beings in their three conditions, yet it remains unchanged by either defilement or the purity [of enlightenment].” The three conditions are mentioned in the Uttaratantra:
As impurity, impurity-and-purity,
And utter purity
Are described respectively
Beings, bodhisattvas, Tathāgatas.183
Impurity thus refers to the condition of ordinary beings, both impurity and purity to the condition of the bodhisattvas, while utter purity refers to the condition of the buddhas. But what is this buddha-potential like? There is no image that can adequately illustrate it, and therefore it is said to resemble the condition of the Tathāgata. The Uttaratantra goes on to say,
Because it is beyond the world,
There’s nothing in this world whereby we can imagine it.
This is why it has been taught
That the buddha-element is like the Tathāgata.184
On the other hand, according to the way the buddha-element actually is, it does not actually resemble any of the images supplied because, although the nature is one and the same, yet there are differences according to different conditions, and thus it is that the nine images apply to the buddha-element only in a piecemeal fashion.
Who is able to behold the buddha nature truly? Only the buddhas see it as it is. People who have been accepted by a spiritual master but who have no direct realization of the fundamental nature; the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas; beings who have faith in the Mahāyāna; and also the bodhisattvas dwelling on the grounds of realization understand it only in the manner of an aspiration—in terms of a general idea or universal. Even the bodhisattvas on the tenth ground realize this nature only partially. As the Commentary to the Uttaratantra says,
Just as the sun is glimpsed between the clouds,
Those who are intelligent perceive it only partially.
Even noble beings with the clear eyes of their minds do not behold it fully.
But you, Lord, see the spotless dharmakāya, endless wisdom,
The ultimate expanse replete with knowledge objects numberless.
The buddha-element or essence subsists as the buddhafield “Wheel of Ornaments,” the ornaments in question being the three kāyas together with the primordial wisdoms within the nature of the mind. When it is seen exactly as it is, this is buddhahood. These texts [the Uttaratantra, the Commentary to the Uttaratantra, and all texts that teach the tathāgatagarbha] should therefore be explained and cherished.
For beings who are on the path of learning, the buddha-element is understood through faith and in a general manner. As it is said in the Commentary to the Uttaratantra, “The ultimate truth of the self-arisen wisdom must be realized through faith. The blazing orb of the sun is invisible to those who have no eyes.” And the Essence of Enlightenment Sūtra describes how it is seen only in part and not completely.
Ordinary beings, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas do not see the buddha essence exactly as it is. Consider the following illustration. A man who was blind from birth asked someone to tell him the color of ghee. He received the answer that it was like snow. On touching some snow, the blind man thought that the color of ghee was cold. He then inquired about the color of snow and was told that it was like a swan’s wing. When he heard a swan’s wing flapping, he thought that the color of snow was like the sound of wings. When he asked about the color of the swan’s wing, he heard that it was like a conch; and when he touched a conch, he concluded that the color of the swan’s wing was smooth. In whichever way his inquiry was expressed, the blind man was unable to discover the precise color of ghee. In the same way, it is very difficult to see the buddha nature.
This same sūtra gives another example of how difficult it is for ordinary beings to realize the tathāgatagarbha:
Once upon a time, a king summoned a group of blind men before him and, placing an elephant in front of them, asked them to describe it. Those who touched the trunk said that the elephant was like a hook. Those who touched its eyes said that it was like a bowl. Those who touched its ears said that it was like a winnowing fan. Those who touched its hindquarters said that it was like a sedan chair, while those who touched its tail said that it was like a rope. All the blind men were describing the same elephant though without perceiving it fully. In just the same way, buddhahood has only been defined in terms of one or other of its aspects. Some have defined it as emptiness, others like a magical illusion, others as luminosity. But all have failed to understand it fully.
The noble bodhisattvas have a slight understanding of it, but they fail to see it precisely as it is. As it is said in the Parinirvāṇa-sūtra,
Noble son! In order to find a cure for his blindness, a man once consulted a physician. The latter took a golden scalpel and cut away the membrane of the man’s cataracts. When he showed the man one of his fingers, the latter said that he could see nothing, but when he showed him two or three of his fingers, the man said that he could see something slightly. Son of noble family! In just the same way, if the buddha nature were not expounded in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, countless bodhisattvas would fail to glimpse the buddha nature, even though they may have perfected the transcendent virtues and abide on the ten grounds of realization. But if the Tathāgata sets it forth, they will have an inkling.
The metaphors that the sūtra then goes on to give illustrate the fact that whereas the buddha essence is partially glimpsed, it is not understood with complete certainty.
It could be argued that if the buddha essence—subtle as it is and hard to realize—cannot be seen by ordinary beings, there is no point in teaching it. But being told that the buddha nature is present in our and others’ minds will prevent us from losing hope. Through understanding that liberation is not hard to achieve, we will have enthusiasm. Neither will we belittle others but will respect them as the equals of the Buddha our Teacher. By dispelling ignorance regarding the presence of the kāyas and wisdoms of ultimate reality within us, we will acquire wisdom whereby the ultimate expanse will be realized. Knowing thus the fundamental mode of being, we will avert all misconceptions with regard to existence and nonexistence, permanence and discontinuity, and thus we will have access to the primordial wisdom that realizes the ultimate truth. By avoiding a proud sense of superiority and self-centeredness, we will perceive that others are of equal importance to ourselves and will have a great love for them. These are the five reasons for which the teach
ing on the buddha essence has been expounded. As the Uttaratantra says,
Like clouds and dreams and magical illusions,
Here and there it has been taught
That all things are completely empty.
Why then does the Victor here declare
The buddha essence to be present in all beings?185
And in answer to this question, the text continues:
Disheartedness, contempt for lesser beings,
Believing what is incorrect, negating perfect qualities,
Excessive self-love—for those who harbor these five defects,
Thus he spoke that they might give them up.186
If these five faults are discarded, five qualities will ensue. The Uttaratantra declares,
Enthusiastic joy, respect for others as if they were the Teacher,
Wisdom, primal wisdom, and great love:
Through the birth of these five qualities there comes
A freedom from wrongdoing and the view that all are equal.187
Those who have a mistaken view regarding the buddha nature assume an arrogant demeanor. Their faces are covered with the golden net of wrong opinions, and they turn their backs on the sūtras of definitive meaning and the view of the Secret Mantra, saying that this quintessential teaching is of a mere expedient value. They speak like this because they think that the result arises from a cause. If it were not so, the result (so they think) would be like the permanent self of the non-Buddhists. They therefore declare with an absolute certainty that even the two kāyas of the Buddha manifest from the twofold accumulation.
Kayé! O you who have fine faces decked with lotuses! The truth is that you fail to understand the wisdom intention of the teachings expounded in the three turnings of the wheel of Dharma. You consider as definitive the extreme position of emptiness. In the teachings of the first turning of the Dharma wheel, intended for beginners and those of basic capacity, the four truths are expounded in terms of what is to be rejected together with the remedies to this, so that beings may turn away from saṃsāra. These teachings describe the methods whereby beings are freed from what is to be abandoned [the truths of suffering and origin].