The Great Calm Observation, Volume 2 Part 3, Page 3

 

1. Next, We Observe the Six Actions and the Practice of Dana (The Giving of Oneself).1

We observe:

  1. Not yet walking
  2. Desiring to walk
  3. Walking
  4. Having already walked

The four phases of walking, whether they are done quickly or slowly, are completely incomprehensible and cannot be seen. One introspectively observes walking with an awakened mind:

  1. It does not come from outside oneself
  2. It does not come from inside oneself
  3. It is not in between
  4. It is not permanently self-existent

With there being no such thing as walking and no such thing as a walker, ultimately there is only serenity and emptiness.

However, because there are the phases and functions of the mind, there the purposes for the comings and goings:

Upon discarding the six sensations2 and engaging in the six actions3, there are the ways and means of coming & going and the raising & lowering of the feet. All of these are like a magical illusion, ethereal and suddenly without either a subject or an object. The road of 1000 Li4 does not seem far, but a few steps does not seem close. One does not hastily calculate the merit or anticipate the reward for anything that is done.

In abiding in Dana - the Giving of oneself - like this, one embraces all of the Buddha's teachings that are as numerous as the Sands of the Ganges, one is endowed with the Mahayana - the Great Vehicle - and one is able to reach the other shore.

And one observes that each single phase of the mind is endowed with the Ten Spiritual Realms:

In each single thought of the mind, one perfectly possesses the three truths.

In standing, sitting, lying down, speaking, being silent, and in doing all manner of things, it is also like this. Patterned after that just discussed in the part on walking, it is possible to understand.

Therefore The Lotus Sutra says:
“And I see the Buddha’s children giving away beautiful garments because the seek the Path of Enlightenment.”
This is the meaning here.

Previously, we discoursed on Dana (Giving of oneself) in terms of the twelve activities as a whole. Now we shall discourse on each of the Six (Paramitas) in terms of each of the twelve activities.

  1. If, when walking, Bodhisattvas observe living beings with an eye of generosity and compassion without assuming the appearance of doing so, living beings will not distrust them. This is Dana (The Giving of Oneself) while walking.
  2. When they are without any hostility or malice towards living beings and yet do not have any pretensions of sin or blessedness, it is called Sila (Morality).
  3. When walking, thoughts do not raise up in their mind. They do not stir or tremble, and they do not dwell on anything. The aggregates of self, the fields of consciousness, and the portals of the senses are not agitated in any way5. This is called Endurance.
  4. When walking, they do not dwell on the raising or lowering of the feet, and the minds does not think first and awaken afterward6. All the phenomena of the mind are not born, do not remain, and are not extinguished7. This is called Diligence.
  5. They do not dwell in the body or the mind, or in Life & Death or Nirvana. They do not haveany thoughts of attachment for mental phenomena. They have neither a taste for Nirvana8 nor the disorder of Life & Death. This it is called Meditation.
  6. When walking, the head and the other five parts of the body9 are like a cloud, a shadow, a dream, an mirage, an echo. Without birth or extinction and without finality or permanence, the aggregates of self, the fields of consciousness, and the portals of the senses are a serene emptiness that is beyond binds and liberation. This is called Prajna.

This is as elaborated in The Surangama Sutra.

And while walking, the serenity will have the characteristic aspects of meditation. If one does not investigate this carefully, there will be greedy attachment to the flavor of the meditation10 that will taint one’s concentration. Now, in observing this concentration of the mind, even the mind is without any particular state of mind where concentration is to be found. One should recognize that any such concentration is produced from distorted views. When observing like this, one looks for neither emptiness nor non-emptiness. One refutes the aspects of meditation and does not produce greedy attachments to them. With these ways and means one produces the understanding of the Bodhisattva.

Some practitioners who are not yet awakened figure that they are able to observe the mind, and reason that they have attained a wonderful insight. They become attached to this insight and exalt themselves. This is called 'the obstacle of wisdom'. Like those of the heretical paths, they do not attain liberated understanding.

Upon being able to introspectively observe and illuminate the mind, one will see that it has no dwelling place and that it neither arises nor is extinguished. Ultimately one is not an observer and one is not without being an observer. In not being the observer, who is it that is observing all the mental phenomena? In not assuming that there is one observing the mind, one is free from the concept of observing it.

The Great Discourse says:
“Having already discarded all thoughts, conceptions and observations, the discursive mind11 is completely extinguished. A measureless multitude of sins is abolished and the pure mind is always the same. Such honored and wonderful people as this are able to see with Prajna.”

The Sutra on the Great Gathering calls it:
“The mind observes the mind.”12
This is the idea here.

Like this, in walking one possesses the Three Samadhis:

And in breaking down the three distortions and the three poisons, one transcends the currents of the threefold existence, subdues the four devils, and attains the Paramitas13.

In accepting and embracing the Spiritual Realm, one develops and fulfills all the doors to the Dharma14, not just the Six Perfections and the Three Samadhis.

When, in walking, one perfectly possesses all of spiritual enlightenment, so it is for the other eleven activities as well.

 

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Footnotes:

1. The Twelve Activities: This refers to all the manifestations of sensory perception (S. Vedana) and acts of will (S. Samskaras), expressed at the six sensory feelings and the six actions or kinds of deportment

2. Discarding the six sensations: Being free of the taint of attachment to the objects of the six senses (sight, sound, taste, smell, touch, and mental phenomena)

3. The six actions: The manifestation of acts of will (S. Samskaras) - Four of the body and two of the mouth; Walking, standing, sitting, lying down, speaking, and being silent

4. Li: The Li is a Chinese unit of distance, approximately one-third of a mile, or one-half of a kilometer

5. The aggregates of self: (S. Skandhas) Form, sensory perception, thoughts, acts of will & consciousness
    The fields of consciousness: The fields of consciousness created by six sense faculties & what they sense
    The portals of the senses: The six sense faculties; The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body & thinking mind
    Not agitated: Not tainted by emotional desires or distress (the klesas)

6. The mind does not think first and awaken afterward: Having attained a higher level of mental concentration one focuses directly on principle and one does not need to rely on discursive (cognitive) reasoning to understand. This is called the 'unimpeded' wisdom or the wisdom that is 'without hesitation'.

7. All the phenomena of the mind are not born, do not remain, and are not extinguished: There is no division or duality between thought and the spiritual realm. Discursive, cognitive thought is transcended and there is the singleness of thought that comes from Proper Presence of Mind.

8. Taste of Nirvana: The false Nirvana that is a reflection of one's ignorance and desire. Nirvana is an ideal sought after as the ultimate freedom, liberation and escape. Thus, many seek Nirvana in taking drugs or alchohol, in using religion or other ideology as an opiate, or in other forms of escapism. The detachment and emptiness of the Two Vehicles (described as The Magic City in chapter seven of The Lotus Sutra) also serves as a 'taste of Nirvana' for those on the spiritual path.

9. The (six) parts of the body: The head, the torso, the two arms and the two legs

10. Greedy attachment to the flavor of the meditation: There is a strong temptation to savor the serenity of meditative states, but this spiritual selfishness is just another form of attachment and needs to be overcome in order to spiritual progress.

11. The discursive mind: The argumentative mind, the cognitive, thinking mind

12. “The mind observes the mind.”: The mind one is observing is the same mind that is doing the observing. If one's observation is truly introspective, there will be no duality between the observer and the observed.

13. The three distortions: The deluded mind, false views, & evil motives
     The three poisons: greed, anger, & stupidity
     The (four) currents: (S. Asravas) Ignorance, sensory desire, craving for self-existence and attachment to views
     The threefold existence: The threefold realm of desire, form, & formlessness
     The four devils: Luring one away from the Path of Enlightenment
        #1 The Devil of Emotional Distress
        #2 The Devil of the Aggregates of Self – the ego that one serves
        #3 The Devil of Mortality – the fear of death that holds one back
        #4 The Devil that is the Lord and Master of Desire, using it to control others
              This last one is the source whereas the other three are the manifestations
     The (Six) Paramitas: Generosity, morality, endurance, diligence, mental concentration & spiritual insight

14. The doors to the Dharma: Buddhist teachings and practices, the means to enlightenment

 

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