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The Blessed One replied: No, Mahamati, my Womb of Tathágata-hood is not
the same as the Divine Atman as taught by the philosophers. What I teach is
Tathágata-hood in the sense of Dharmakaya, Ultimate Oneness, Nirvana,
emptiness, unborn-ness, unqualified ness, devoid of will-effort. The reason why
I teach the doctrine of Tathágata-hood is to cause the ignorant and simple-
minded to lay aside their fears as they listen to the teaching of ego-less-ness and
come to understand the state of non-discrimination and imageless-ness. The
religious teaching of the Tathágatas are just like a potter making various vessels
by his own skill of hand with the aid of rod, water and thread, out of the one
mass of clay, so the Tathágatas by their command of skillful means issuing from
Noble Wisdom, by various terms, expressions, and symbols, preach the twofold
ego-less-ness in order to remove the last trace of discrimination that is
preventing disciples from attaining a self-realization of Noble Wisdom. The
doctrine of the Tathágata-womb is disclosed in order to awaken philosophers
from their clinging to the notion of a Divine Atman as transcendental
personality, so that their minds that have become attached to the imaginary
notion of "soul" as being something self-existent may be quickly awakened to a
state of perfect enlightenment. All such notions as causation, succession, atoms,
primary elements, that make up personality, personal soul, Supreme Spirit,
Sovereign God, Creator, are all figments of the imagination and manifestations
of mind. No, Mahamati, the Tathágata s doctrine of the Womb of Tathágata-
hood is not the same as the philosopher s Atman.
The Bodhisattva is said to have well grasped the teaching of the Tathágatas
when, all alone in a lonely place, by means of his Transcendental Intelligence,
he walks the path leading to Nirvana. Thereon his mind will unfold by
perceiving, thinking, meditating, and, abiding in the practice of concentration
until he attains the "turning-about" at the source of habit-energy, he will
thereafter lead a life of excellent deeds. His mind concentrated on the state of
Buddhahood, he will become thoroughly conversant with the noble truth of
self-realization; he will become perfect master of his own mind; he will be like a
gem radiating many colors; he will be able to assume bodies of transformation;
he will be able to enter into the minds of all to help them; and; finally, by
gradually ascending the stages he will become established in the perfect
Transcendental Intelligence of the Tathágatas.
Nevertheless, Transcendental Intelligence (Arya-jnana) is not Noble Wisdom
(Arya-prajña) itself, only an intuitive awareness of it. Noble Wisdom is a perfect
state of imageless-ness; it is the Womb of "Suchness;" it is the all-conserving
Divine Mind (Alaya-Vijnana), which in its pure Essence forever abides in perfect
patience and undisturbed tranquility.
Chapter VII
Self-Realization
Then said Mahamati: Pray tell us, Blessed One, what is the nature of Self-
realization by reason of which we shall be able to attain Transcendental
Intelligence?
The Blessed One Replied: Transcendental Intelligence rises when the
intellectual-mind reaches its limit and, if things are to be realized in their true
and essence nature, its processes of mentation, which are based on
particularized ideas, discriminations and judgments, must be transcended by
an appeal to some higher faculty of cognition, if there be such a higher faculty.
There is such a faculty in the intuitive-mind (Manas), which as we have seen is
the link between the intellectual-mind and Universal Mind. While it is not an
individualized organ like the intellectual-mind, it has that which is much better,
direct dependence upon Universal Mind. While intuition does not give
information that can be analyzed and discriminated, it gives that which is far
superior, self-realization through identification.
Mahamati then asked the Blessed One, saying: Pray tell us, Blessed One, what
clear understandings an earnest disciple should have if he is to be successful in
the discipline that leads to self-realization?
The Blessed One replied: There are four things by the fulfilling of which an
earnest disciple may gain self-realization of Noble Wisdom and become and
Bodhisattva-Mahasattva: First, he must have a clear understanding that all
things are only manifestations of the mind itself; second, he must discard the
notion of birth, abiding and disappearance; third, he must clearly understand
the ego-less-ness of both things and persons; and fourth, he must have a true
conception of what constitutes self-realization of Noble Wisdom, provided with
these four understandings, earnest disciples may become Bodhisattvas and
attain Transcendental Intelligence.
As to the first; he must recognize and be fully convinced that this triple world is
nothing but a complex manifestation of one s mental activities; that it is devoid
of selfness and its belongings; that there are no strivings, no comings, no
goings. He must recognize and accept the fact that this triple world is
manifested and imagined as real only under the influence of habit-energy that
has been accumulated since the beginning-less past by reason of memory, false-
imagination, false-reasoning, and attachments to the multiplicities of objects
and reactions in close relationship and in conformity to ideas of body-property-
and-abode.
As the to second; he must recognize and be convinced that all things are to be
regarded as forms seen in a vision and a dream, empty of substance, un-born
and without self-nature; that all things exist only by reason of a complicated
network of causation which owes its rise to the discrimination and attachment
and which eventuates in the rise of the mind-system and its belongings and
evolvements.
As to the third, he must recognize and patiently accept the fact that his own
mind and personality is also mind-constructed, that it is empty of substance,
unborn and ego-less. With these three things clearly in mind, the Bodhisattva
will be able to enter into the truth of image-less-ness.
As to the fourth, he must have a true conception of what constitutes self-
realization of Noble Wisdom. First, it is not comparable to the perceptions
attained by the sense-mind, and neither is it comparable to the cognition of the
discriminating and intellectual-mind. Both of these presuppose a difference
between self and not self and the knowledge so attained is characterized by
individuality and generality. Self-realization is based on identity and oneness;
there is nothing to be discriminated nor predicated concerning it. But to enter
into it the Bodhisattva must be free from all presuppositions and attachments to
things, ideas and selfness.
Then said Mahamati to the Blessed One: Pray tell us, Blessed One, concerning
the characteristics of deep attachments to existence and as to how we may
become detached from existence?
The Blessed One replied: When one tries to understand the significance of
things by means of words and discriminations, there follow immeasurably
deep-seated attachments to existence. For instance: there are the deep-seated
attachments to signs of individuality, to causation, to the notion of being and
non-being, to the discrimination of birth and death, of doing and of not-doing,
to the habit of discrimination itself upon which philosophers are so dependent.
There are three attachments that are especially deep-seated in the minds of all:
greed, anger and infatuation, which are based on lust, fear and pride. Back of
these lies discrimination and desire which is procreative and is accompanied
with excitement, avariciousness, and love of comfort and desire for eternal life;
and, following, is a succession of rebirths on the five paths of existence and a
continuation of attachments. But if these attachments are broken off, no signs of
attachment nor of detachment will remain because they are based on things that [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]