A Treatise on the Essentials of Cultivating the Mind, in one fascicle, [written by] Preceptor [Hung]-jen of Ch’i-chou [in order to] lead ordinary people to sagehood and to an understanding of the basic principle of emancipation.
If you do not take care of [this text], then all the [other] practitioners will be unable to see it. Please understand that in copying it, you should take care to make no mistakes or omissions, which might mislead those who follow.
The essence of cultivating the Path is to discern that one’s own body (mind?) is inherently pure, [not subject to the laws of] generation and extinction, and without discrimination. Perfect and complete in its Self Nature, the Pure Mind is the fundamental teacher. [Meditating on it] is superior to reflecting on the Buddhas of the ten directions.
Question: How do you know that one’s own mind is inherently pure?
Answer : The Treatise on the [Sutra of the] Ten Stages (Shih-ti lun) says:
There is an adamantine Buddha Nature within the bodies of sentient beings. Like the sun, it is essentially bright, perfect, and complete. Although vast and limitless, it is merely covered by the layered clouds of the five skandhas. Like a lamp inside a jar, its light cannot shine.
Further, to use the bright sun as a metaphor, it is as if the clouds and mists of this world were to arise together in [all] the eight direc tions, so that the world would become dark. How could the sun ever be extinguished?
[Question: Without the sun being extinguished,] why would there be no light?
Answer: The sun’s light is not destroyed, but merely deflected by the clouds and mists. The pure mind possessed by all sentient beings is also like this, in simply being covered by the layered clouds of dis criminative thinking, false thoughts, and ascriptive views. If one can just distinctly maintain [awareness of] the mind (shou-hsin) and not produce false thoughts, then the Dharma sun of nirvana will be naturally manifested. Therefore, it is known that one’s own mind is inherently pure.
Question: How do you know that one’s own mind is inherently not subject to the laws of generation and extinction?
Answer: The VimalakTrti Sutra (Wei-mo ching) says: “Suchness (ju) is without generation; Suchness is without extinction.” The term “Suchness” refers to the suchlike Buddha Nature, the mind which is the source [of all dharmas] and pure in its Self Nature. Suchness is fundamentally existent and is not conditionally pro duced. [The VimalakTrti Sutra] also says: “Sentient beings all [em body] Suchness. The sages and wise men also [embody] Suchness.” “Sentient beings” means us (i.e., ordinary people), and “sages and wise men” means the Buddhas. Although the names and characteris tics of [sentient beings and the Buddhas] are different, the essential reality of the Suchness contained within the bodies of each is identi cal and is not subject to the laws of generation and extinction. Hence [the sutra] says “all [embody] Suchness.” Therefore, it is known that one’s own mind is inherently not subject to the laws of generation and extinction.
Question: Why do you call the mind the fundamental teacher?
Answer: The True Mind exists of itself and does not come from outside [oneself. As teacher] it does not even require any tuition fee! Nothing in all the three periods of time is more dear [to a person] than one’s mind. If you discern the Suchness [inherent in the mind] and maintain awareness of it, you will reach the other shore [of nirvana]. The deluded forsake it and fall into the three lower modes of existence (i.e., animals, hungry ghosts, and residents of the hells). Therefore, it is known that the Buddhas of the three periods of time take their own True Mind as teacher.
Hence the treatise says: “The existence of sentient beings is dependent on the waves of false consciousness, the essence of which is illusory.” By clearly maintaining awareness of the mind, the false mind will not be activated (pu ch *i), and you will reach the state of birth- lessness (i.e., nirvana). Therefore, it is known that the mind is the fundamental teacher.
Question: Why is the mind of ordinary people superior to the mind of the Buddhas?
Answer: You cannot escape birth and death by constantly reflecting on buddhas divorced from yourself, but you will reach the other shore of nirvana by maintaining awareness of your own funda mental mind. Therefore, [the Buddha] says in the Diamond Sutra (Chin-kang po-jo ching): “Anyone who views me in terms of form and seeks me by sound is practicing a heretic path and is unable to see the Tathdgata.” Therefore, it is known that maintaining awareness of the True Mind is superior to reflecting on Buddhas divorced from oneself. In addition, the word “superior is only used as a word of encouragement in the context of religious practice. In reality, the essence of the ultimate fruit [of nirvana] is uniformly “same (p'ing-teng) and without duality.
Question: If the true essence of sentient beings and the Buddhas is the same, then why is it that the Buddhas are not subject to the laws of generation and extinction, but receive incalculable pleasures and are autonomous (tzu-tsai) and unhindered [in their activities], while we sentient beings have fallen into the realm of birth and death and are subject to various kinds of suffering?
Answer: All the Buddhas of the ten directions are enlightened to the Dharma Nature and distinctly illuminate the mind that is the source [of all individual dharmas] (chao-liao hsin-yuan). They do not generate false thoughts, never fail in correct mindfulness (cheng- nien), and extinguish the illusion of personal possession. Because of this, they are not subject to birth and death. Since they are not subject to birth and death, they [have achieved] the ultimate state of serene extinction (i.e., nirvana). Since they [have achieved] serene extinction, the myriad pleasures naturally accrue to them. Sentient beings, [on the other hand,] are all deluded as to the True Nature and do not discern the fundamental mind. Because they cognize the various [dharmas] falsely, they do not cultivate correct mindfulness. Since they do not have correct mindfulness, thoughts of revulsion and attraction are activated [in them]. Because of [these thoughts of] revulsion and attraction, the vessel of the mind becomes defiled (lit., “broken and leaky ). Since the [vessel of] the mind is defiled, [sentient beings] are subject to birth and death. Because of birth and death, all the [various kinds of] suffering naturally appear.
The Sutra ofMind-king [Bodhisattva] (Hsirt-wang ching) says: “The suchlike Buddha Nature is concealed by knowledge based on the senses (chih-chien). [Sentient beings] are drowning in birth and death within the seas of the six consciousnesses and do not achieve emancipation”
Make effort! If you can maintain awareness of the True Mind without generating false thoughts or the illusion of personal posses sion, then you will automatically be equal to the Buddhas.
Question: [You say that] the such like Dharma Nature [is embodied by both sentient beings and the Buddhas] identically and without duality. Therefore, if [one group] is deluded, both should be deluded. If [one group] is enlightened, both should be enlightened. Why are only the Buddhas enlightened, while sentient beings are deluded?
Answer: At this point we enter the inconceivable portion [of this teaching], which cannot be understood by the ordinary mind. One becomes enlightened by discerning the mind; one is deluded because of losing [awareness of the True] Nature. If the conditions [necessary for you to understand this] occur, then they occur —it cannot be definitively explained. Simply rely on the ultimate truth and main tain awareness of your own True Mind.
Therefore, the VimalakTrti Sutra says: “[Dharmas] have no Self Nature and no Other Nature. Dharmas were fundamentally not generated [in the first place] and are not now extinguished.” Enlightenment is to transcend the two extremes and enter into non discriminating wisdom. If you understand this doctrine, then during all your activities you should simply maintain awareness of your fundamental Pure Mind. Do this constantly and fixedly, without generating false thoughts or the illusion of personal possession. Enlightenment will thus occur of itself. If you ask a lot of questions, the number of doctrinal terms will become greater and greater. If you want to understand the essential point of Buddhism, then [be aware that] maintaining awareness of the mind is paramount. Maintaining awareness of the mind is the fundamental basis of nirvana, the essential gateway for entering the path, the basic principle of the entire Buddhist canon, and the patriarch of all the Buddhas of past, present, and future.
Question: Why is maintaining awareness of the mind the fundamental basis of nirvana?
Answer: The essence of what is called nirvana is serene extinction. It is unconditioned and pleasant. When one’s mind is True, false thoughts cease. When false thoughts cease, [the result is] cor rect mindfulness. Having correct mindfulness leads to the generation of the wisdom of serene illumination (i.e., the perfect knowledge or illumination of all things without mental discrimination), which in turn means that one achieves total comprehension of the Dharma Nature. By comprehending the Dharma Nature one achieves nir vana. Therefore, maintaining awareness of the mind is the funda mental basis of nirvana.
Question: Why is maintaining awareness of the mind the essential gateway for entering the path?
Answer: The Buddha teaches that even [actions as seemingly trivial as] raising the fingers of a single hand to draw an image of the Buddha can create merit as great as the sands of the River Ganges. However, this is just [his way of] enticing foolish sentient beings to create superior karmic conditions whereby they will see the Buddha and [become enlightened] in the future. If you wish to achieve buddhahood quickly in your own body, then do nothing except to maintain awareness of the True Mind.
The Buddhas of past, present, and future are incalculable and infinite [in number], and every single one of them achieved buddhahood by maintaining awareness of the True Mind. Therefore, the sutra says: “When one fixes the mind in a single location, there is nothing it cannot accomplish.” Therefore, maintaining awareness of the True Mind is the essential [gateway] for entering the path.
Question: Why is maintaining the True Mind the basic principle of the entire Buddhist canon?
Answer: Throughout the canon, the TathSgata preaches extensively about all the types of transgression and good fortune, causes and conditions, and rewards and retributions. He also draws upon all the various things [of this world]—mountains, rivers, the earth, plants, trees, etc.—to make innumerable metaphors. He also mani fests innumerable supernormal powers and various kinds of trans formations. All these are just the Buddha’s way of teaching foolish sentient beings. Since they have various kinds of desires and a myriad of psychological differences, the Tathagata draws them into per manent bliss (i.e., nirvana) according to their mental tendencies.
Understand clearly that the Buddha Nature embodied within sentient beings is inherently pure, like a sun underlaid by clouds. By just distinctly maintaining awareness of the True Mind, the clouds of false thoughts will go away and the sun of wisdom will appear. Why make any further study of knowledge based on the senses, which [only] leads to the suffering of samsara?
All concepts, as well as the affairs of the three periods of time, [should be understood according to] the metaphor of polishing a mirror: When the dust is gone the Nature naturally becomes mani fest (chien-hsing). That which is learned by the ignorant mind is completely useless. True learning is that which is learned by the inactive (or unconditioned, wu-wei) mind, which never ceases correct mindfulness. Although this is called “true learning,” ultimately there is nothing to be learned. Why is this? Because the self and nirvana are both nonsubstantial, they are neither different nor the same. Therefore, the essential principle of [the words] “nothing to be learned” is true.
One must maintain clear awareness of the True Mind without generating false thoughts or the illusion of personal possession. Therefore, the Nirvana Sutra (Nieh-p’an ching) says: “To under stand that the Buddha does not [actually] preach the Dharma is called having sufficiently listened [to the Buddha's preaching].” Therefore, maintaining awareness of the True Mind is the basic principle of the entire Buddhist canon.
Question: Why is maintaining awareness of the mind the patri arch of all the Buddhas of past, present, and future?
Answer: All the Buddhas of past, present, and future are generat ed within [one's own] consciousness. When you do not generate false thoughts, [the Buddhas] are generated within your consciousness. When your illusions of personal possession have been extinguished, [the Buddhas] are generated within your consciousness. You will only achieve buddhahood by maintaining awareness of the True Mind. Therefore, maintaining awareness of the mind is the patriarch of all the Buddhas of past, present, and future.
If one were to expand upon the four previous topics, how could one ever explain them completely? My only desire is that you discern the fundamental mind for yourselves. Therefore, I sincerely tell you: Make effort! Make effort! The thousand sutras and ten thousand treatises say nothing other than that maintaining the True Mind is the essential [way to enlightenment] . Make effort!
I base [my teaching] on the Lotus Sutra (Fa-hua ching), in which [the Buddha] says: “I have presented you with a great cart and a treasury of valuables, including bright jewels and wondrous medi cines. Even so, you do not take them. What extreme suffering! Alas! Alas!” If you can cease generating false thoughts and the illusion of personal possession, then all the [various types of] merit will become perfect and complete. Do not try to search outside yourself, which [only] leads to the suffering of samsara. Maintain the same state of mind in every moment of thought, in every phase of mental activity. Do not enjoy the present while planting the seeds of future suffering—[by doing so] you only deceive yourself and others and cannot escape from the realm of birth and death.
Make effort! Make effort! Although it may seem futile now, [your present efforts] constitute the causes for your future [enlighten ment]. Do not let time pass in vain while only wasting energy. The sutra says: “[Foolish sentient beings] will reside forever in hell as if pleasantly relaxing in a garden. There are no modes of existence worse than their present state.” We sentient beings fit this description. Having no idea how horribly terrifying [this world really] is, we never have the least intention of leaving! How awful!
If you are just beginning to practice sitting meditation, then do so according to the Sutra of the Contemplation of Amitabha (Wu- liang-shou kuan ching): Sit properly with the body erect, closing the eyes and mouth. Look straight ahead with the mind, visualizing a sun at an appropriate distance away. Maintain this image continuously without stopping. Regulate your breath so that it does not sound alternately coarse and fine, as this can make one sick.
If you sit [in meditation] at night, you may experience all kinds of good and bad psychological states; enter into any of the blue, yellow, red, and white samadhis, witness your own body producing light; observe the physical characteristics of the Tathagata; or experience various [other] transformations. When you perceive [such things], concentrate the mind and do not become attached to them. They are all nonsubstantial manifestations of false thinking. The sutra says: “All the countries of the ten directions are [nonsubstantial,] like space.” Also, “The triple realm is an empty apparition that is solely the creation of the individual mind.” Do not worry if you cannot achieve concentration and do not experience the various psychologi cal states. Just constantly maintain clear awareness of the True Mind in all your actions.
If you can stop generating false thoughts and the illusion of personal possession, [then you will realize that] all the myriad dharmas are nothing other than [manifestations of your] own mind. The Buddhas only preach extensively using numerous verbal teachings and metaphors because the mental tendencies of sentient beings differ, necessitating a variety of teachings. In actuality, the mind is the basic [subject] of the eighty-four thousand doctrines, the ranking of the three vehicles, and the definitions of the seventy-two [stages of] sages and wise men.
To be able to discern one’s own inherent mind and improve [the ability to maintain awareness of it] with every moment of thought is equivalent to constantly making pious offerings to the entire Buddhist canon and to all the Buddhas in the ten directions of space, who are as numerous as the sands of the River Ganges. It is equivalent to constantly turning the wheel of the Dharma with every moment of thought.
He who comprehends the mind that is the source of all dharmas always understands everything. All his wishes.are fulfilled and all his religious practices completed. He accomplishes all [that he sets out to do] and will not be reborn again [in the realm of samsara]. If you can stop generating false thoughts and the illusion of personal pos session and completely discard [your preoccupation with] the body, then you will certainly achieve birthlessness (i.e., nirvana). How inconceivably [wonderful]!
Make effort! And do not be pretentious! It is difficult to get a chance to hear this essential teaching. Of those who have heard it, not more than one person in a number as great as the sands of the River Ganges is able to practice it. It would be rare for even one per son in a million billion eons to practice it to perfection. Calm your self with care, moderate any sensory activity, and attentively view the mind that is the source of all dharmas. Make it shine distinctly and purely all the time, without ever becoming blank.
Question: What is blankness of mind?
Answer: People who practice mental concentration may inhibit the True Mind within themselves by being dependent on sensory perceptions, coarse states of mind, and restricted breathing. Before achieving mental purity, [such people may undertake the] constant practices of concentrating the mind and viewing the mind. Although they do so during all their activities, [such people] cannot achieve [mental] clarity and purity, nor illumine that mind which is the source of all dharmas. This is called blankness [of mind.]
[People who possess such a] defiled mind cannot escape the great illness of birth and death. How much more pitiful are those who are completely ignorant of [the practice of] maintaining awareness of the mind! Such people are drowning in the seas of suffering that are concomitant with the realm of samsara—when will they ever be able to escape?
Make effort! The sutra says:
If sentient beings are not completely sincere about seeking enlighten ment, then not even all the Buddhas of the three periods of time will be able to do anything [for them, even if those Buddhas] are as numerous as the sands of the River Ganges.
The sutra says: “Sentient beings discern the mind and cross over [to the other shore of enlightenment] by themselves. The Buddhas can not make sentient beings cross over [to the other shore].” If the Buddhas were able to make sentient beings cross over [to the other shore of enlightenment], then why—the Buddhas of the past being as incalculable as the sands of the River Ganges—have we sentient beings not yet achieved buddhahood? We are drowning in the seas of suffer ing simply because we are not completely sincere about seeking enlightenment.
Make effort! One cannot know the transgressions of one’s past, and repenting now is of no avail. Now, in this very lifetime, you have had an opportunity to hear [this teaching]. I have related it clearly; it would be well for you to understand what I say. Understand clearly that maintaining awareness of the mind is the highest way. You may be insincere about seeking the achievement of buddhahood and become receptive to the immeasurable pleasures and benefits [that accrue from religious training. You may] go so far as to ostentatiously follow worldly customs and crave [personal] fame and gain. [If you do so you will] eventually fall into hell and become subject to all kinds of suffering. What a plight! Make effort!
One can have success with minimal exertion by merely donning tattered robes, eating coarse food, and clearly maintaining awareness of the mind. The unenlightened people of this world do not understand this truth and undergo great anguish in their ignorance. Hoping to achieve emancipation, they cultivate a broad range of superficial types of goodness—only to fall subject to the suffering concomitant with samsara.
He who, in [mental] clarity, never ceases correct mindfulness while helping sentient beings cross over to the other shore of nirvana is a bodhisattva of great power. I tell you this explicitly: Maintaining awareness of the mind is the ultimate. If you cannot bear suffering during this single present lifetime, you will be subject to misfortune for ten thousand eons to come. I ask you: Which case applies to you?
To remain unmoved by the blowing of the eight winds [of good and ill fortune] is to have a truly special mountain of treasure. If you want to realize the fruit [of nirvana], then just respond to all the myriad different realms of your consciousness by activating trans formations as numerous as the sands of the River Ganges. One’s dis crimination [of each instant] is so skillful it seems to flow. Applying medicine to fit the disease, one is able to stop generating false thoughts and the illusion of personal possession. He who [can do this] has transcended the world and is truly a man of great stature. Ah, the unrestricted freedom of a Tathagata—how could it ever be exhausted!
Having explained these things, I urge you in complete sincerity: Stop generating false thoughts and the illusion of personal possession!
Question: What do you mean by the “illusion of personal possession”?
Answer: When only slightly superior to someone else [in some way], one may think that this [superiority] is due to one’s own achievement. To feel this way is to be sick even while in nirvana. The Nirvana Sutra says: “This is likened to the realm of space, which contains the myriad things. Space does not think to itself, I am doing this.” This is a metaphor for the two teachings of [eradicating the] illness and practicing [the truth, i.e.,] the concept of extinguishing the illusion of personal possession and the “adamantine samadhi (chin-kang san-mei).
Question: Even sincere practitioners who seek a perfect and permanent nirvana [may only seek] the crude and impermanent stan dards of goodness and fail to take pleasure in the Ultimate Truth. [Such people may] try to have their minds operate according to [Buddhist] doctrines before they have manifested that which is true, permanent, wondrous, and good (i.e., the Buddha Nature). This leads to the activation of discriminative thinking, which constitutes a defiled state of mind. They may try to fix the mind in the locus of non-being (wu-so).XOA To do so is to be lodged in the darkness of ignorance and is not in accord with the [True] Principle.
They may grasp nonsubstantiality in an improper way, without trying to fix the mind [on a single object of contemplation] according to [Buddhist] doctrines. Although they have received a human body, theirs is the practice of animals. They lack the expedient means of meditation and wisdom and cannot clearly and brightly see the Buddha Nature. This is the predicament of religious practitioners [such as ourselves]. We beseech you to tell us the true teaching by which we can progress toward remainderless nirvana!
Answer: When you are completely in [possession of] the True Mind, the achievement of your ultimate wish [is assured].
Gently quiet your mind. I will teach you [how to do this] once again: Make your body and mind pure and peaceful, without any discriminative thinking at all. Sit properly with the body erect. Regulate the breath and concentrate the mind so it is not within you, not outside of you, and not in any intermediate location. Do this care fully and naturally. View your own consciousness tranquilly and attentively, so that you can see how it is always moving, like flowing water or a glittering mirage. After you have perceived this consciousness, simply continue to view it gently and naturally, without [the consciousness assuming any fixed position] inside or outside of yourself. Do this tranquilly and attentively, until its fluctuations dissolve into peaceful stability. This flowing consciousness will disappear like a gust of wind.
When this [flowing] consciousness disappears, [all one’s illusions will] disappear along with it, even the [extremely subtle] illusions of bodhisattvas of the tenth stage. When this consciousness and [false cognition of the] body have disappeared, one’s mind becomes peace fully stable, simple, and pure. I cannot describe it any further. If you want to know more about it, then follow the “Chapter on the Ada mantine Body” (Chin-kang shen p*in) of the Nirvana Sutra and the “Chapter on the Vision of Aksobhya Buddha” (Chien o-ch'u-fo p*in) of the Vimalakirti Sutra. Think about this carefully, for this is the truth.
Any person who can avoid losing [sight] of this mind during all his actions and in the face of the five desires and the eight winds [of good and ill fortune] has established his pure practice, done that which must be done, and will never again be born into the realm of birth and death. The five desires are [those that arise relative to] form, sound, smell, taste, and touch. The eight winds are success and failure; defamation and praise; honor and abuse; and suffering and pleasure.
While cultivating the Buddha Nature you must never worry about not achieving autonomous [mastery of the supernormal powers, etc.] in this lifetime. The sutra says: “When there is no buddha in the world, then bodhisattvas who have [reached the ten] stages are unable to manifest the functioning [of enlightenment(?)].” You must become emancipated from this retribution body. The abilities of sentient beings [as governed by the factors of the] past differ in ways that cannot be understood. Those of superior [ability can achieve enlightenment] in an instant, while those of inferior [ability take] an incalculable number of eons. When you have the strength, generate the good roots of enlightenment according to [your own] nature (i.e., individual identity) as a sentient being, so that you benefit yourself and others and ornament the path of buddhahood.
You must completely [master] the four dependences and penetrate the true characteristic [of all things]. If you become dependent on words you will lose the True Principle (chen-tsung). All you monks who have left home (i.e., to become monks) and practice some other form of Buddhism — this is the [true meaning of] “leaving home.” “Leaving home” is to leave the home of birth and death. You will achieve success in the cultivation of the path when your [practice of] correct mindfulness is complete. To never fail in correct mindfulness—even when one’s body is being torn apart or at the time of death — is to be a buddha.
My disciples have compiled this treatise [from my oral teachings], so that [the reader] may just use his True Mind to grasp the meaning of its words. It is impossible to exhaustively substantiate [every detail] with preaching such as this. If [the teachings contained herein] contradict the Holy Truth, I repent and hope for the eradication [of that transgression]. If they correspond to the Holy Truth, I transfer [any merit that would result from this effort to all] sentient beings. I want everyone to discern their fundamental minds and achieve buddhahood at once. Those who are listening [now] should make effort, so that you can achieve buddhahood in the future. I now vow to help my followers to cross over [to the other shore of nir vana] .
Question: This treatise [teaches] from beginning to end that mani festing one’s own mind represents enlightenment. [However, I] do not know whether this is a teaching of the fruit [of nirvana] or one of practice.
Answer: The basic principle of this treatise is the manifestation of the One Vehicle. Its ultimate intention is to lead the unenlightened to emancipation, so that they can escape from the realm of birth and death themselves and eventually help others to cross over to the other shore of nirvana. [This treatise] only speaks of benefiting oneself and does not explain how to benefit others. It should be categorized as a teaching of practice (hsing-men). Anyone who practices according to this text will achieve buddhahood immediately.
If I am deceiving you, I will fall into the eighteen hells in the future. I point to heaven and earth in making this vow: If [the teachings contained here] are not true, I will be eaten by tigers and wolves for lifetime after lifetime. *