The Great Calm-Observation, Volume 5, Part 3, Page 3

 

3. The Embodiment As-It-Is1

The possession of matter2 is called the embodiment. With the aggregates of self and these ten spiritual realms being combined together as matter and mind there is the embodiment.

4. The Power As-It-Is3

This is the potentiality and inherent function of power. It is like an officer who is invested with the king's power and it is like being endowed with a hundred thousand talents. However, upon becoming sick these potential powers will dissipate. The mind is also like this. It is endowed with many powers, but upon becoming sick with emotional distress it will be unable to have any influence. Upon observing reality as-it-is, one will be endowed with all its powers.

5. The Influence As-It-Is4

In building and establishing a spiritual destiny, one speaks of having influence. If one's mind is detached, there will be no influence. Therefore one understands that the mind is endowed with all kinds of spiritual influence.

6. The Cause As-It-Is5

A cause is the summoning of an effect. It is also called Karma6. The karmas of all the ten spiritual realms arise from the mind. Only in the actual employment of the mind will the karmas be realized. Therefore we speak of the cause as-it-is.

7. The Conditioning As-It-Is7

Conditioning is called the matrix of causality and conditions. Conditioning is the reinforcement of all of the karmas that are everywhere. Ignorance, craving, etc, are all able to nourish the karmas. This is the conditioning of the mind.

8. The Effect As-It-Is8

An effect is the successful attainment of a result. In first learning the cause and continuing at it, there will be the successful attainment of results. Therefore we speak of the effect as-it-is.

9. The Retribution As-It-Is9

The reward for all the causes that have been made is called the retribution. The repetitive process of cause and effect is generally referred to as the cause, leading to the world hereafter, which is the retribution. This retribution is the reward for all the causes that have been made.

10. The Consistency From Beginning to End As-It-Is10

  1. The appearance is at the beginning and the retribution is at the end. The beginning and the end are both completely produced from the matrix of causality and conditions. With the matrix of causality and conditions being produced there is emptiness11, and the beginning and the end are everywhere empty of self existence. This is consistency in terms of emptiness.
  2. And the appearance and the retribution only exist as names12 that are temporarily given and established. This is consistency in terms of that which is temporary. And the beginning and the end are the intemixed aspects that are expressed. One first perceives the appearance and afterwards the retribution is expressed. Upon seeing the final retribution one understands the original appearance13. Just as vision bestows the wealth of knowledge, and knowledge bestows the wealth of vision, in these aspects from beginning to end there is consistency in terms of that which is temporary.
  3. * There is that which is with appearance
    * There is that which is without appearance.
    * There is that which is both with and without appearance, and
    * There is that which is neither with nor without appearance.
    * There is that which is with retribution
    * There is that which is without retribution.
    * There is that which is both with and without retribution, and
    * There is that which is neither with nor without retribution.14
    Each and every one of these enter into the bounds of reality as-it-is. This is consistency in terms of the mean.

 

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Footnotes:

1. Embodiment: (S. Svabhava, literally, self-existing or self-becoming) The embodiment is the essential reality, which includes and embodies both the inner nature and the outer appearance, much as fire itself embodies both heat and light, or burning and smoke. Kumarajiva chose a translation that literally means body or embodiment as in the actual substance of reality itself. These first three aspects (appearance, nature & embodiment) are a trinity that represent the fundamental basis of spiritual reality.

2. Possession of Matter: Mastery or control of matter, the possession of life; the control or ownership of a body; the union of mind and matter is life itself.

3. Power: (S. Bala) This is the function or application of the spiritual embodiment. In fact each of the subsequent aspects can be seen as the function or application of the preceding aspect. This power refers to spiritual power as potentiality, inherent ability.

4. Influence: (S. Kri) This is the function or application of spiritual power. It is the turning of potential spiritual power into actual spiritual power (spiritual influence or force). It is the force that leads to the creation of karma (causes that lead to spiritual destiny).

5. Cause: (S. Hetu) This is the function or application of spiritual influence or force. It is the actual creation of a direct and proximate cause, the creation of actual karma (thought, word or deed that will have a direct consequence).

6. Karmas: Acts of will, acts of the mind, mouth or body (thoughts, words or deeds) that will have a direct spiritual consequences (a retribution).

7. Conditioning: (S. Pratyaya) Conditioning is the function or application of a direct cause. When a direct cause is made, it initiates a chain of causes and effects as it impacts the spiritual environment, which is itself a matrix of causalities and conditions. The direct cause enters into a dynamic relationship with the matrix of causalities and conditions and they mutually affect each other in consequential causes and effects. The direct cause may be seen as a seed, and the conditioning can be seen as the soil, the rain, the sunshine, etc. The repetitive dynamic of cause and effect is spiritual conditioning. If the same direct cause persists and/or has enough spiritual power and influence it will affect the matrix of the spiritual environment. If not, the environment will prevail without change. Pratyaya has also been translated as relationship, cooperating cause, environmental cause, secondary cause, concurrent cause, circumstantial cause, etc.

8. Effect: (S. Phala) An effect is the function or application of conditioning. It is the direct or proximate result of a direct or conditioning cause (which in the matrix of causality and conditions is essentially the same thing, only viewed from a different perspective - a cause being a cause). Again the immediate or proximate effects are in themselves part of the matrix of causality and conditions.

9. Retribution: (S. Vipaka) The sum total of all effects. The spiritual condition or destiny that is the result of all causes, conditioning and effects. The final spiritual reward (or punishment).

10. Ultimate Consistency From Beginning to End: Ultimately, any concept of self or ownership in these spiritual realms, as useful as it may seem at times, is just a illusion, as it is all just as it is, like empty space. In all these spiritual realms, the final retribution is really identical with the cause currently being made, the current matrix of conditions that exist, the current effects being received, etc. In reality all the aspects are inseparable and they are all happening simultaneously in each and every instant and in each and every thought, whether we realize it or not.

11. Emptiness: (S. Sunyata) There is only the matrix of causality and conditions which is devoid of any real or substantial self that is separable from it. The real or 'hard' existence of a self is only an illusion.

12. Exist as Names: That which is temprary (S. Samvriti); The cognitive reality in which we assign names (S. Nama) or identities (selfs, S. Atma) to all things (S. Sarvadharma) in order to distinguish them. Although they are not absolutely real, they are useful and beneficial when understood with proper perspective (Proper Views) and used for the right purpose (Proper Intent).

13. In the temporary world (S. Loka samvriti), there is the division of time into beginning and end, first appearance and final retribution, which is a perspective that only exists from the vantage point of a self. From the perspective of emptiness, there is timelessness.

14. The tetralemmas of the first and last (as well as all ten) aspects expresses the limits of the cognitive mind

 

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