The Great Calm Observation, Volume 2, Part 1, Page 5

 

 iii. The Thinking Mind, and Calm Observation

One thinks of Amitabha Buddha who is a hundred thousand myriad Buddha-lands1 to the west, where there are bejeweled grounds, pools, and trees. There is a bejeweled assembly hall here where Amitabha is seated among the Bodhisattvas, teaching the Sutra.

For three months one is always ‘Thinking of The Buddha’. How does one think? One thinks of the 32 signs of the Buddha2, looking at them one after another in reverse order, from the mark of the thousand-spoked wheel on the soles of the feet up to the fleshy protuberance on the crown of the head. Then one looks at them in proper order, from the sign on the crown down to the thousand-spoked wheel on the soles of the feet. One thinks to oneself “let me also attain these signs”.

The First Meditation - On Emptiness

One thinks to oneself, “must I attain enlightenment from my mind or from my body?”
The Buddha did not use the mind or the body to attain enlightenment.
He did not use the mind to attain the Buddha's body, and
He did not use the body to attain the Buddha's mind.

How is this so?
The Buddha is not of the body or of the mind.
Therefore one does not use the body or the mind to attain Sambodhi3
With the Buddha's physical form already extinguished, the Buddha’s consciousness is extinguished as well4.

The Buddha taught of being extinguished.
The foolish did not understand this, but those that have wisdom understood this thoroughly.

One does not use the body or the mouth to attain enlightenment, and
One does not use wisdom and insight to attain enlightenment.

How is this so?

One is searching for a wisdom that cannot be attained and one is seeking to understand a self that cannot be grasped.
And there is nothing to be seen, as the source of all things does not exist as anything.
Furthermore, the idea of there being a source itself must also be rejected and transcended.

The Second Meditation - on That Which is Temporary

  1. It is like seeing the seven precious things5, one’s family, and all one’s closest friends in a dream and rejoicing. After awakening and remembering the dream, one will not know what place one was in. Like this, one Thinks Upon the Buddha.
  2. And it is like the man that had heard of the woman of Sravasti named Sumana. Upon dreaming of making love to her that night, his mind rejoiced. After awakening and remembering his dream he realized “she did not come to me and I did not get to her”. However the pleasurable thought was just the same6. One should Think Upon the Buddha like this.
  3. It is like the hungry and thirsty person that walked through a great wasteland. Upon falling asleep, he dreamed of attaining some delicious food. Upon awakening with an empty stomach, he thought about how everything that exists is like a dream. One should Think upon the Buddha like this7.

With countless thought after thought on the Buddha, one must never stop to rest. With this thinking, one will be born into the land of Amitabha Buddha. This is called Thinking upon the Buddha according to his signs.

  1. It is like a person holding a precious jewel over lapis lazuli, and its blue color being reflected in the jewel.
  2. It is also like a Bhiksu that contemplates white bones and sees various kinds of light rising up from this vision. No one brings up this light, nor does it exist in the bones. They are all made up in the mind.
  3. It is like an image in the mirror. It does not come from outside of the mirror and it is not born from inside of it. Because the mirror is clean one sees its shape. With the physical body of practicing person being pure, that which exists is pure8.

Desiring to see the Buddha, one sees the Buddha. Upon seeing the Buddha, one asks the Buddha to teach the Dharma. Upon asking one will be rewarded with hearing the Sutra and there will be great rejoicing.

The Third Meditation - on The Mean

One thinks to oneself:
‘Where does the Buddha that I see come from, as I do not go anywhere to see the Buddha? I see that which I think of. It is my mind that creates the Buddha, and it is my own mind’s visualizing and thinking that is seeing the mind of the Buddha. The mind of the Buddha is my mind seeing the Buddha. The mind does not know or see itself.

This is impossible to indicate it in words, as they are all made of thoughts. Having established that there are thoughts, they are understood to be empty and without existence.

A verse of The Pratyutpanna Sutra says:|
"With thoughts one will not know the mind.
Having thoughts, one will not see the mind.
With the mind raising up thoughts there is delusion.
Being without thoughts, there is Nirvana….
The Buddhas have attained liberation from the thoughts of the mind.
The mind that is without stain is called pure.
With the Five Paths9 being fresh & clear, they do not take on physical form.
Those that understand this will attain the great path of enlightenment"

This is called the Seal of the Buddhas10. With nothing lusted for, attached to, wished for, or thought of, all existence and desire is extinguished. Being born from nothing, it is impossible to extinguish or destroy it. The Seal is the source and essence of the path of enlightenment. Those of the Two Vehicles are unable to destroy it, much less the Devils.

The Discourse on the Ten Stages clarifies that Bodhisattvas of the newly inspired mind:

Yet they are attached to neither the physical body nor the spiritual body.

The verse says:
"Not greedily attached to the physical body,
Nor attached to the spiritual body,
They skillfully understand that all things
And are ever serene like empty space."

B. Encouraging its Cultivation

If people desire to attain wisdom and insight like the ocean, such that no one could be their master and, in the seated posture, without resorting to the powers of spiritual penetration14, see all the Buddhas, hear them teach, and be able to completely accept and embrace them, the ‘Always Walking’ Samadhi has the highest merits and virtues. This Samadhi is the mother, the eye, and the father of the Buddhas. It is the great compassionate mother that is without birth. All of Those That Have Come were born from this mother and father15. If one smashed a million worlds with all their grasses and trees into atoms, and each atom became a Realm of the Buddha16, and all of these lands were filled with treasures to be used as alms, one’s blessings would be very great. But it would not be like listening to this Samadhi without alarm or fear, much less faithfully accepting and embracing it, reading and reciting it, and teaching it to people. It would be even more so if one were to cultivate and learn it with concentration of mind. It is like the field that indirectly produces the cow’s milk. How much greater still would be being able to attain this Samadhi. Therefore it is measurelessly measureless.

The Discourse on the Ten Stages says:
"In the age of fire17, there will be traitors and rebels, fierce poisonous dragons and beasts, and a multitude of diseases that will attack these people, but it will be to no avail. These people will always be protected, thought upon, and praised by the Buddhas, the gods, the dragons, and the rest of the eight groups18 who will all desire to see them and come to them. When they hear of this Samadhi, there will be the four orders of merit19 that come from accepting and rejoicing in it with all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the past, present, and future that accept and rejoice in it. And further, in actually practicing this Samadhi they will far surpass these four orders of merit.”

If they do not cultivate it like this, they will lose a measureless and priceless treasure, and the people and gods20 will fall into sadness and grief. It would be like a person who holds a bundle of sandal but cannot smell it because of a stuffy nose, or a peasant child who has the wish-fulfilling Cintamani gem21 but trades it away for a mere ox.

 

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Footnotes:

 1. Buddha-Lands: (S. Buddha-ksetra) Spiritual realms where Buddhas teach living beings, preparing them for enlightenment. Also known as ‘Pure Lands’.

2. The 32 Signs of the Buddha: The ideal physical characteristics of the Buddha that one visually contemplates and emulates

3. Sambodhi: Complete Enlightenment

4. As well as the other three of the five aggregates of self that constitute temporary self-existence: (S. Skandhas) Acts of Will, Sensory Feelings, & Thoughts

5. The Seven Precious Things: gold, silver, lapis lazuli, mother-of-pearl, agate, coral, and amber – indicative of great material wealth

6. This story appears in the Pratyutpanna Sutra as well as The Great Discourse

7. In these Three Dreams:

  1. The ground of the mind is the Spiritual Body (S. Dharmakaya - the embodiment of Spiritual Reality)
  2. The invocation of the thought is the Body of Reward or Retribution (S. Sambhogakaya - through the practitioner’s efforts to visualize the Buddha, there is the Buddha that can be invoked) – The Stimulus
  3. The manifestation of the dream is the Body of Manifestation in This World (S. Nirmanakaya - The manifested Buddha, the Body of Response) – The Response

   The three dreams describe features of these.

  1. The first describes the dream’s unreal (empty) nature.
  2. The second describes how the dream is seen & has influence even though it is unreal (temporary)
  3. The third describes how everything is like a dream (the mean).

8. These three similes also describe features of this visualization process.

  1. The Lapis Lazuli represents the ground of the mind, The Precious Jewel represents the subjective mind, and the reflected color is the manifestation as in a dream
  2. The White Bones are the ground of the mind, the Bhiksu’s mind represents the subjective mind, and the various kinds of light are the manifestations as in a dream
  3. The Mirror is the ground of the mind, the clarity (or lack of it) is the subjective mind, and the image is the manifestation as in a dream.

9. The Five Paths: Hell, Hunger, Brutality, Assertiveness, Personality

10. Seal of the Buddhas: This is the name of the third chapter of The Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra. The Seal of the Buddhas is the Stamp, Proof, or Certification of the Buddhas, which is the True Spiritual Aspect of Reality

11. Embodiment: Their living form or substance What causes them: The meritorious deeds that produce them Effects: Their Blossoming Usefulness: In benefiting living beings

12. The Forty Distinctive Qualities: Various lists of Distinctive Qualities of Buddha exist with a list of 18 being most often cited. The Discourse on the Ten Stages lists 40 as does Nagarjuna in The Great Discourse

13. The Spiritual Body (S. Dharmakaya): - The spiritual body or life, the embodiment of truth or reality which is everywhere, illuminating and teaching

14. Six Spiritual Penetrations: 1. The Divine Eye (that sees what others cannot see) 2. The Divine Ear (that hears what others cannot hear)  3. The ability to penetrate and know the minds of others 4. The ability to see past lives 5. The ability to be or to go anywhere at will 6. The ability to penetrate all afflictions

15. The mother: The great compassion The Great Mother without birth: Endurance in that which is without birth (emptiness) The eye: The middle way The father: Skillfulness of the use of ways & means (that which is temporary)

16. Realms of the Buddha: (S. Buddha-ksetra) Spiritual realms where Buddhas teach living beings, preparing them for enlightenment. Also known as ‘Pure Lands’.

17. Age of Fire: Time of destruction and chaos

18. The eight groups:  Eight classes of spiritual beings in The Lotus Sutra and other Sutras #1 Devas (Gods) #2 Nagas (Dragons) #3 Yaksas #4 Kinnaras #5 Gandharvas #6 Asuras #7 Garudas #8 Mahoragas

19. The four orders of merit: Rejoicing upon hearing of #1 The Buddhas of the Past #2 The Buddhas of the present #3 The Buddhas of the future #4 The Bodhisattvas of the past, present, & future – and wishing to emulate them

20. Humans and gods: Those in the spiritual realms of personality and heaven

21. Cintamani Gem: Magic jewel that will grant any wish

 

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  Since July 9, 2001


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