Understanding Is Not Realization

Permanence, bliss, self, and purity are the four virtues of nirvana. "Permanence" means that the Buddha's immaculate consciousness no longer has seed variations and eternally remains unchanging and enduring. "Bliss" signifies that all the Buddha's karmic hindrances are permanently exhausted without residue; the immaculate consciousness contains no seeds of suffering, only seeds of wholesome karma yielding blissful or neutral feelings, with the resultant state being the bliss of cessation. "Self" denotes that within the Buddha's immaculate consciousness, all seeds of birth and death have been extinguished, free from the burden of karmic hindrances, attaining complete self-nature, which can be called the "self." "Purity" indicates that the Buddha's immaculate consciousness has eradicated all defiled seeds, becoming utterly pure and stainless.

The eighth consciousness is also obscured by karmic hindrances. If there were no seeds of karmic hindrances within the mind-substance, the eighth consciousness would manifest boundless meritorious functions, illuminating the great chiliocosm, just like the Buddha's immaculate consciousness, without any distinction—not a single dharma is not pervaded, not a single dharma is not encompassed, not a single dharma is not manifested. However, the eighth consciousness of sentient beings, constrained by karmic hindrances, cannot manifest the vast majority of supremely wondrous and exquisite states, cannot create multiple bodies for sentient beings, cannot create Buddha-lands, and cannot universally perceive all objects. The so-called limitation of the eighth consciousness means that its immeasurable meritorious functions cannot be expressed; it is not that it lacks supremely wondrous functions. At the stage of Buddhahood, the eighth consciousness is no longer limited; all meritorious functions are fully manifested.

Are the principles explained above all understood and known? Can they be explained to others? In the study of the Dharma, all understanding and knowledge reside in the conscious mind and do not settle into the mental faculty of the seventh consciousness. Although there is comprehension and knowledge, it remains a hundred and eight thousand li away from realization, even far exceeding that distance. Even if one can explain it to others and write a hundred books, it is still a hundred and eight thousand li away from realization. Regarding the non-self of the five aggregates, even if it is fully understood and known, and the understanding may be profound, it is still not realization. Perhaps it remains an extremely great distance from realization. Concerning the eighth consciousness, no matter how much it is understood or known, even if the understanding is deep, or one can even infer and speculate on its functions, it still belongs to comprehension, not realization, and may lie an exceedingly vast distance from realization.

Many people mistake this kind of comprehension for realization. Those who are eloquent assume the role of virtuous teachers, lecturing and expounding the Dharma everywhere with great fluency. However, no matter what, doctrines that enter through the ears and exit through the mouth are not realization. Take Su Dongpo's understanding of the Dharma, for example: "Unmoved by the eight winds, serenely seated upon a purple-gold lotus." The Chan master's evaluation was: "Bullshit!" Su Dongpo was immediately displeased upon seeing this—"I wrote so well, yet you call it bullshit?" So he immediately crossed the river to confront the Chan master. The Chan master said: "Weren't you unmoved by the eight winds? How come one word 'bullshit' made you rush over to settle accounts with me?"

Thus, it is clear that intellectual understanding is useless; only realization is effective. Some claim to have enlightened the mind and attained awakening, yet when faced with circumstances, they are swept away. Then they use their conscious mind to persuade themselves, feeling better for a while, but when the circumstances return, they are carried away again. Repeating this for years without gaining autonomy—has such a person truly realized the fruit and enlightened the mind? Unable to subdue even the coarsest afflictions, unable to remain indifferent or unmoved upon encountering attractive members of the opposite sex, with thoughts running wild and self-control lost—can such a person be one who has enlightened the mind and realized the fruit? Anyone who constantly uses the conscious mind to suppress and convince themselves has not attained realization. True realization means acting accordingly wherever realization is attained.

Many also claim to have leaped over the dragon gate like a carp. Yet they set the threshold of the dragon gate extremely low, or even removed the threshold gates, passing through easily. In reality, they swam across, not leaped over. Is this the carp leaping over the dragon gate? Swimming through such a dragon gate, one remains a carp, not a dragon.