The Essential Gateway to Truth by Means of Instantaneous Awakening

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22. Q: What are the exhaustibles and the inexhaustibles mentioned in the sutra?

A: On account of the void nature of all dualities, when seeing and hearing no longer take place, that is exhaustion meaning the end of passions (asravaksaya). 'Inexhaustible' connotes the uncreated substance complete with marvelous functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. These functions respond to all the needs (of sentient beings) without occasioning the smallest diminution of substance. Such, then, are the exhaustibles and inexhaustibles mentioned in the sutras .

Q: Are the exhaustibles and inexhaustibles really identical, or are they different things?

A: In substance they are one, but they are spoken of separately.

Q: Yet, if they are one in substance, why should they be spoken of separately?

A: 'One' denotes the substance of speech, and speech is a function of that substance; it is employed as circumstances require. That is why they are said to be of the same substance but spoken of separately. We may liken this to the fact that, although only the one sun appears in the sky above, its reflections are caught by water held by many different receptacles, so that each of those receptacles 'contains a sun' and every 'sun' is both complete in itself and yet identical with the sun in the sky. Therefore, although the suns are of the same substance, they are spoken of separately with reference to the various receptacles. Hence (things of) the same substance are spoken of differently. Moreover, although every one of the suns manifested below is perfect and entire, the sun in the sky is not in the least diminished by them - hence the term 'inexhaustible'.

Q: A sutra speaks of 'no coming into existence and no ceasing to exist'. To what sort of dharmas (phenomena) do these words apply?

A: They mean the not coming into existence of unwholesome phenomena and the never ceasing to exist of wholesome phenomena-"

Q: What are wholesome and unwholesome phenomena?

A: A mind stained by attachments and leaking" is unwholesome; a mind freed from these characteristics is wholesome. It is only when no stains or leaking occur that unwholesomeness does not arise; and, when freedom from stains and leaking is attained; there is purity, perfection and brilliance - a deep, everlasting and unwavering stillness. This is what is meant by 'wholesome phenomena not ceasing to be'; it explains the term 'no coming into existence, or ceasing to exist'.

23. Q: The Precepts of the Bodhisattvas says: 'When sentient beings observe the Buddha-precept, they enter upon the status of Buddhahood - a status identical with full enlightenment - and thereby they become true sons of the Buddhas.' What does this mean?

A: The Buddha-precept denotes perfect purity of mind. If someone undertakes the practice of purity, and thereby attains a mind unmoved by sensory perceptions, we speak of that person as one who observes the Buddha-precept. All the Buddhas up to this day have practiced purity unmoved by sensory perceptions and it was by means of this that they attained Buddhahood. In these days, if people undertake its practice, their merit is equal to and does not differ from that of the Buddhas; hence they are said to have entered upon the status of Buddha-hood. Illumination thus obtained is precisely the illumination of a Buddha, so such a person's status is said to be identical with full enlightenment. Those people really are sons of the Buddhas and their pure mind begets wisdom. One whose wisdom is pure is called 'a son of the Buddhas', or 'this Buddha son'.

24. Q: As to the Buddha and the Dharma, which of them anteceded the other? if the Dharma came first, how can there have been a Buddha to preach it; but, if a Buddha came first, then what doctrine led to his attainment?

A: The Buddhas anteceded the Dharma in one sense, but came after it in another.

Q: How is that possible?

A: If you mean the quiescent Dharma, then the Dharma anteceded the Buddhas; but, if you mean the written or spoken Dharma, then it was the Buddhas who came first and the Dharma, which followed them. How so? Because every one of the Buddhas attained Buddhahood by means of the quiescent Dharma - in that sense, the Dharma anteceded them. The 'teacher of all the Buddhas' mentioned in the sutra is the Dharma; it was not until they had attained Buddhahood that they first embarked upon their detailed exposition of the Twelve Divisions of the sutras for the purpose of converting sentient beings. When these sentient beings follow and practice the Dharma preached by previous Buddhas, thereby attaining Buddhahood that is also a case of the Dharma anteceding the Buddha.

25. Q: What is meant by 'proficiency in teaching, but not in transmssion?

A: It refers to those whose words are at variance with their deeds.

Q: And what is meant by 'proficiency in transmission and also in teaching'?

A: it refers to people whose words are confirmed by their deeds.

26. Q: What is meant by 'the reachable not reached' and by 'the unreachable reached'?

A: By 'the reachable not reached' is meant speech not supported by deeds; by 'the unreachable reached' is meant deeds performing what speech fails to reach; and, when both speech and deeds attain the goal, this is 'complete reaching', or 'double reaching'.

27. Q: Please explain the two statements: 'The Buddha-dharma neither annihilates the worldly (yu wei) nor gets bogged down in the transcendental (wu wei)."'

A: The first means that the Buddha never rejected any thing phenomenal from the moment when he first deter-mined upon his quest up to the time when he achieved enlightenment beneath the bodhi tree, and from then up to his entrance into parinirvana beneath the twin sala trees. This is 'non-annihilation of the worldly'. The other statement means that, although he achieved absence of thought, he never looked upon this as an attainment; that, although he reached immaterial and non-active bodhi and nirvana, he never held that these states marked an attainment. This is what is meant by 'not getting bogged down in the transcendental'.

28. Q: Is there really a hell?

A: There is and there is not.

Q: How so?

A: In that our minds have constructed many sorts of evil karma, there is hell; but, since everyone's self-nature is void, for those whose minds have been freed of attachment's stains there can be no hell.

Q: Do evildoers possess the Buddha-nature?

A: Yes, they have it too.

Q: Then, if they too have this nature, does it enter hell with them or not?

A: It does not enter with them.

Q: But, when they enter hell, where is their Buddha-nature?

A: It also enters hell.

Q: That being so, while they are undergoing punishment there, does their Buddha-nature share the punishment?

A: No. Although the Buddha-nature remains with these people while they are in hell, it is the individuals themselves who suffer; the Buddha-nature is fundamentally beyond punishment.

Q: Yet, if they enter together, how can the Buddha-nature not suffer?

A: Sentient beings possess forms and whatsoever has form is subject to formation and destruction's whereas the Buddha-nature is form-less and, being form-less, is immaterial, for which reason it is the very nature of the void itself and cannot be destroyed. Were someone to make a pile of faggots in a vacuum, the faggots could come to harm but not the vacuum. In this analogy, the vacuum symbolizes the Buddha-nature and the faggots represent sentient beings. Therefore it is written: 'They enter together but do not suffer together.'

29. Q: Regarding the quotation 'Transform the eight states of consciousness (parijnana) into the four Buddha-wisdoms and bind the four Buddha-wisdoms to form the trikaya, which of the eight states of consciousness must be combined to form one Buddha-wisdom and which of them will each become a Buddha-wisdom in itself?

A: Sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch are the five states of consciousness, which together form the perfecting wisdom. The intellect, or sixth state of consciousness, alone becomes the profound observing wisdom. Discriminative awareness, or the seventh state of consciousness, alone becomes the universal wisdom. The storehouse of consciousness, or eighth state, alone becomes the great mirror wisdom.

Q: Do these four wisdoms really differ?

A: In substance they are the same, but they are differently named.

Q: Yet, if they are one in substance, why do their names differ'? Or, allowing that their names are given according to circumstances, what is it that, being of one substance (with the rest), is (nevertheless called) 'the great mirror wisdom'?

A: That which is clearly void and still, bright and imperturbable, is the great mirror wisdom. That which can face defilements without love or aversion arising and which thereby exhibits the nonexistent nature of all such dualities is the universal wisdom. That, which can range the fields of the senses with unexcelled ability to discern things, yet without giving rise to tumultuous thoughts, so that it is fully independent and at ease, is the profound observing wisdom. That which can convert all the senses with their functions of responding to circumstances into correct sensation free from duality is the perfecting wisdom.

Q: As to 'binding the four Buddha-wisdoms to form the trikaya', which of them combine to form one body and which of them each becomes a body in itself?

A: The great mirror wisdom singly forms the Dharma-kaya. The universal wisdom singly forms the Sambhogakaya. The profound observing wisdom and the perfecting wisdom jointly form the Nirmanakaya. These three bodies are only named differently to enable unenlightened people to see more clearly. Once the principle is understood, there will be no more three bodies with functions responding to various needs. Why? Formless in substance and by nature, they are established in the basically impermanent, ' which is not their own (true basis) at all.

30. Q: What is meant by perceiving the real Buddhakaya?

A: It means no longer perceiving anything as existing or not existing.

Q: But what is the actual meaning of that definition?

A: 'Existence' is a term used in contradistinction to, nonexistence,' while the latter is used in opposition to the former. Unless you begin by accepting the first concept as valid, the other cannot stand. Similarly, without the concept of nonexistence, how can that of existence have meaning? These two owe their being to mutual dependence and pertain to the realm of birth and death. It is just by avoiding such dual perception that we may come to behold the real Buddhakaya .

Q: If even the concepts of existence and nonexistence are invalid how can that of a real Buddhakaya have validity?

A: Only because you are asking about it! When such questions are not asked, the concept of a Buddhakaya is not valid. Why? Take the case of a mirror; confronted by objects, it reflects them; un-confronted, it reflects nothing.

31. Q: What is meant by 'being never apart from the Buddha?'

A: Having a mind freed from the going and coming of concepts, its stillness unaffected by environmental forms so that it remains eternally void and motionless - this is being never apart from the Buddha.

32.Q: What is the meaning of the transcendental (wu wei, unconditioned, asamskrta)?

A: it is worldly (yu wei, conditioned, samskrta).

Q: I enquired about the transcendental. Why do you say it is worldly?

A: 'Worldly' is a term valid only in contradistinction to 'transcendental'. The latter derives its meaning from the former. If you do not accept the one as a valid concept, the other cannot be retained. But if you are speaking of the real transcendental, that pertains neither to the worldly nor to the transcendental. Yes, the real transcendental is like that! Why? The Diamond Sutra says: 'If their minds grasp the Dharma, they will still cling to the notion of an ego (a being and a life); if their minds grasp the non-Dharma, they will still cling to the notion of an ego (a being and a life). Therefore, we should not grasp at and hold onto the notions either of Dharma or of not-Dharma.' This is holding to the true Dharma. If you understand this doctrine, that is true deliverance - that, indeed, is reaching the gate of non-duality.

33.Q: What is the significance of the term 'middle way'?

A: It signifies the extremes.

Q: I enquired about the middle way; why do you say it signifies the extremes?

A: Extremes are only valid in contradistinction to the middle way. If at first you do not postulate extremes, from what can you derive the concept of a middle way? This middle you are talking about was first used in relation to extremes. Hence, we should realize that middle and extremes owe their existence to their mutual dependence and that all of them are transient. The same rule applies equally to the skandhas - form, sensation, perceptions, impulses (or volitions) and consciousness.

34. Q: What are these things, which we call the five skandhas?

A: The propensity to allow the forms we encounter to set their stain upon us, thereby arousing forms in our minds, is called 'the skandha of form'. As this leads to the reception of the eight winds" which encourage the piling up of wrong notions, sensations are aroused and this is called the skandha of sensation'. Thereupon, the deluded mind takes to perceiving (individual sensations) and perception is aroused, and this is called 'the skandha of perception'. This leads to the piling up of impulses (based on likes and dislikes) and this is called 'the skandha of impulse (or volition)'. Accordingly, within the undifferentiated substance, error gives rise to the notion of plurality and countless attachments are formed, whereat false consciousness (or wrong understanding) arises, and this is called 'the skandha of consciousness'. It is thus that we define the five skandhas.

35. Q: A sutra says that there are twenty-five factors of existence. What are they?

A: This term refers to our having to undergo future incarnations or rebirths taking place within the six realms. Owing to the delusions filling our minds during the present life, we sentient beings have become closely bound by all sorts of karma and will receive rebirth in exact accordance with our karmic state. Hence the term 'reincarnation.' How-ever, if during a given existence there are people deter-mined upon doing their utmost to gain deliverance and who thereby attain to the state of no rebirth, they will leave the three worlds for ever and never more have to be reborn. This implies attainment of the Dharmakaya in the absolute sense of Buddhakaya.

Q: How do these twenty-five factors of existence differ from one another?

A: Their basic substance is one. However, when we name them in accordance with their various functions, there appear to be twenty-five of them. This figure really connotes the ten evils, the ten virtues, and the five skandhas.

Q: What are the ten evils and the ten virtues?

A: The ten evils are: killing, stealing, licentiousness, lying, voluptuous speech, slander, coarse language, covetousness, anger, and false views." The ten virtues may be simply defined as absence of the ten evils.

36. Q: A little while ago you spoke of refraining from thinking (nien), but you did not finish your explanation.

A: It means not fixing your mind upon anything any-where, but totally withdrawing it from the phenomena surrounding you, so that even the thought (szu) of seeking for something does not remain; it means that your mind, confronted by all the forms composing your environment, remains placid and motionless. This abstaining from all thought whatever is called real thought; but to keep on thinking is deluded thinking and certainly not the right way to think. Why is that? A sutra says: 'If you teach people to entertain the six meritorious thoughts, that is called "teaching them to think in the wrong way".' So, even entertaining those six thoughts is termed 'deluded thinking', while abstaining from them is known as 'real thought'. A sutra says: 'O virtuous one, it is through abiding in the Dharma of no thought that we obtain this golden color and these thirty-two bodily marks of Buddhahood which emit an effulgent radiance that penetrates the entire universe.' Such inconceivable merits even the Buddhas cannot describe in full; how much the less can the devotees of other vehicles know about them! Those who achieve abstention from thought" are naturally able to enter upon the Buddha-perception, for their six senses can no longer stain their minds. Such an attainment is called 'entering the treasury of the Buddhas', also known as 'the treasury of the Dharma', which enables you to perform the Dharmas of all Buddhas. How can that be so? Because of abstention from thought. The same sutra says: 'All Buddhas are produced by this sutra.'

Q: if we esteem absence of thought, how can the notion of 'entering upon Buddha-perception' have any validity?

A: Its validity stems from absence of thought. How so? A sutra says: 'All things take their stand upon the basis of non-abiding.' It also says: 'Take the case of a bright mirror; though it contains no forms, it can manifest a myriad forms.' Why is this? It is because of its brightness (stainless clarity) that it is able to reflect them. You disciples, if your minds are stainless, will thereby be freed from entertaining erroneous thoughts; the stirring of your minds by the notion of 'self' and 'others' will vanish; there will be nothing but purity (stainlessness) on account of which you will become capable of unlimited perception. Sudden illumination means deliverance while still in this life. How shall I make you understand that? You may be compared to lion cubs, which are genuine lions from the time of their birth;" for, with those who undertake to become suddenly illumined, it is just like that. The moment they practice it, they enter the Buddha-stage, just as the shoots put forth by bamboos in spring will have grown to resemble the parent plants without the least difference remaining even before spring has departed. Why so? Because the minds of these people are void. Likewise, they who undertake sudden illumination cut off erroneous thoughts at a stroke, thereby eliminating the duality of selfness and otherness, so that perfect void-ness and stillness supervene - thereby parity with the Buddhas is achieved without one jot of difference remaining. Therefore it is written that the most ordinary beings are profoundly holy. Those who undertake sudden illumination transcend the three realms of existence within this very life! As a sutra says: 'Transcend the world from its very midst; enter nirvana ere ridding yourselves of Samsára's if you do not employ this method of sudden illumination, you will be like a jackal following and imitating a lion but unable to become a lion even after hundreds and thousands of aeons.

Q: Is the nature of the Absolute (Chan-ju) a true void, or not really void? To describe it as not void is to imply that it has form- yet to speak of it as void implies extinction (mere nothingness) and what would then be left for sentient beings to rely on in their practice for attaining deliverance?

A: The nature of the Absolute is void and yet not void. How so? The marvelous' substance' of the Absolute, having neither form nor shape, is therefore undiscoverable; hence it is void. Nevertheless, that immaterial, formless 'substance' contains functions as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, functions, which respond unfailingly to circumstances, so it is also described, as not void. A sutra says: 'Understand the one point and a thousand others will accordingly grow clear; misunderstand that one and ten thousand delusions will encompass you. He who holds to that one has no more problems to solve.' This is the great marvelous awakening to the Way (truth). As one of the sutras says:

'The myriad forms dense and close bear the imprint of a single dharma.' How then can so many sorts of views arise from the one Dharma? All these karmic forces are rooted in activity. If, instead of pacifying our minds, we rely on scriptures to achieve enlightenment, we are under-taking the impossible. Ourselves deceived, deceiving others our mutual downfall is assured. Strive on! Strive on! Explore this teaching most thoroughly! Just let things happen without making any response and keep your minds from dwelling on anything whatsoever; for they who can do this thereby enter nirvana. Attained, then, is the condition of no rebirth, otherwise called 'the gate of non-duality, the end of strife, the samádhi of universality'. Why so? Because it is ultimate purity. As it is free from the duality of selfless and otherness, it no longer gives rise to love and hatred. When all relativities are seen as non-existent, naught remains to be perceived." Thus is the undiscoverable Bhutatathata revealed. This treatise of mine is not for the skeptic, but for those sharing the same view and following the same line of conduct. You ought first to discover whether people are sincere in their faith and qualified to practice it without backsliding before you expound it to them so that they can be awakened to its meaning. I have written this treatise for the sake of those having a karmic affinity with it. I seek neither fame nor wealth. I desire only to emulate the Buddhas who preached their thousands of sutras and countless shastras just for the sake of sentient beings lost in delusion. Since their mental activities vary, appropriate teachings are given to suit individual cases of perverse views; hence the great variety of doctrines. You should know that setting forth the principle of deliverance in its entirety amounts only to this - when things happen, make no response.- keep your minds from dwelling on anything whatsoever? keep them forever still as the void and utterly pure (without stain): and thereby spontaneously attain deliverance. Oh do not seek for empty fame, mouthing forth talk of the Absolute with minds like those of apes! When talk contradicts action that is known as self-deception; it will lead to your falling headlong into evil states of rebirth. Seek not fame and happiness in this lifetime at the cost of un-enlightenment and suffering for long aeons to come. Strive on! Strive on! Sentient beings must save themselves; the Buddhas cannot do it for them. If they could, since there have already been Buddhas as numerous as grains of dust, every single being must by now have been saved; then how is it that you and I are still being tossed upon the waves of life and death instead of having become Buddhas? Do please realize that sentient beings have to save them-selves and that the Buddhas cannot do it for them. Strive on! Strive on! Do it for yourselves. Place no reliance upon the powers of other Buddhas. As the sutra says: 'Those who seek the Dharma do not find it merely by clinging to the Buddhas.'

37.Q: In the coming generation, there will be many followers of mixed beliefs; how are we to live side by side with them?

A: Share the light with them, but do not share their karmas. Although you may be staying with them, your minds will not dwell in the same place as theirs. There is a sutra, which says: 'Though it follows the current of circumstances, its nature is unchanging.' As to those other students of the Way, you are all studying the Way for the sake of that great cause - liberation; so, while never despising those who have not studied the Dharma, you should respect those who are studying it as you would respect the Buddha. Do not vaunt your own virtues nor envy the ability of others. Examine your own actions; do not hold up the faults of others. Thus, nowhere will you encounter obstruction and you will naturally enjoy happiness. I will summarize all this in the form of a gatha:

Forbearance is the best of ways;

But first dismiss both self and other.

When things occur, make no response

And thus achieve true Bodhikaya.

The Diamond Sutra says: 'If a Bodhisattva is thoroughly versed in the doctrine of the unreality of the ego and of all dharmas (things), the Tathágata will call him a true Bodhisattva.' It is also said that 'he who does not accept anything, has nothing to reject; he is free of samsára forever. He whose mind dwells on nothing whatsoever is called "a son of the Buddha" The Maha parinirvana Sutra says: 'When the Tathágata attained nirvana, he freed himself from samsára for ever.' Here are some more gathas:

So wholly good my present state of mind

7-bat men's revilement cannot stir my ire.

No word shall pass my lips of right and wrong -

Nirvana and samsára form one Way -

For I have learnt to reach that mind of mine

Which basically transcends both right and wrong.

Erroneous, discriminating thoughts

Reveal the worldling who has still to learn.

I urge the errant folk of Kaliyug"

To rid their minds of every useless straw.

How vast indeed my present state of mind

My wordless unconcern ensures its calm.

At ease and free, my liberation won,

I roam at will without impediment.

In wordless silence all my days are passed,

My every thought fixed on the nominal.

In gazing on the Way, I am at ease

And unaffected by Samsára's round.

So marvelous my present state of mind,

I need intrude no longer on the world,

Where splendor is illusion and a cheat,-

7-be simplest clothes and coarsest food suffice.

On meeting worldly men, I scarcely speak,

And so they say that I am dull of wit.

Without, I have what seems a dullard's stare,-

Within, my crystal clarity of mind

Soundlessly tallies with Rabul's bidden way

Which worldly folk like you have yet to learn.

For fear that you may still be unable to understand the real principle of deliverance, I shall demonstrate it to you once more.

38. Q: The Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra says: 'Whosoever desires to reach the Pure Land must first purify his mind.' What is the meaning of this purifying of the mind?

A: It means purifying it to the point of ultimate purity.

Q: But what does that mean?

A: It is a state of beyond purity and impurity.

Q: Please explain it further.

A: Purity pertains to a mind, which dwells upon nothing whatsoever. To attain to this without so much as a thought of purity arising is called 'absence of purity'; and to achieve that without giving it a thought is to be free from absence of purity also.

39.Q: For followers of the Way, what constitutes realization of the goal?

A: Realization must be ultimate realization.

Q: And what is that?

A: Ultimate realization means being free from both realization and absence of realizations

Q: What does that mean?

A: Realization means remaining unstained by sights, sounds and other sense perceptions from without, and inwardly possessing minds in which no erroneous thinking takes place. To achieve this without giving it a thought is called 'absence of realization'; and to achieve the latter without giving that a thought either is called 'freedom from absence of realization'.

40.Q: What is meant by 'a mind delivered'?

A: Having a mind free from the concepts of delivered and undelivered is called 'real deliverance'. This is what the Diamond Sutra means by the words: 'Even the Dharma must be cast aside, how much more so the not-Dharma!' Here, Dharma implies existence and not-Dharma implies nonexistence - disengagement from both of which results in true deliverance.

41.Q: What is realization of truth (Tao)?

A: It means ultimate realization.

Q: What is that?

A: Ultimate realization is beyond realization and non-realization.

Q: And what is ultimate void-ness?

A: Ultimate void-ness is beyond void-ness and non-voidness.

Q: And what is the fixed Bhutatathata (Absolute)?

A: The Bhutatathata's fixity is neither fixed nor unfixed. The Diamond Sutra says: 'There is no fixed Dharma called anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (supreme enlightenment) and there is no fixed Dharma which the Tathágata can expound.' This is what another sutra means by: 'When meditating on the void, perception of the void should not be taken as realization.' This means abstention from the thought of void-ness. Similarly, although we practice fixing the mind, we do not regard (success in this practice) as realization, because we entertain no thought of fixity. Likewise, although we attain purity, we do not regard it as realization, because we entertain no thought of purity. Even when we attain to fixed concentration, to purity and to the state of letting the mind dwell upon nothing whatsoever, if we permit any thought of our having made progress to enter our minds, that thought will be an erroneous thought and we shall be caught in a net - that cannot be called deliverance! Moreover, if after attaining to all this we experience a lively awareness of being at ease and independent (of all conditioning factors and so on), we must not take this for realization, or suppose that deliverance can be won by thinking in this way. As the sutra says: 'Allowing the concept of progress to enter our minds is not progress but error; whereas, if we keep our minds free from error, progress is unlimited.'

42.Q: What is the middle way?

A: It is without middle or extremes.

Q: What are the two extremes?

A: They are that-mindedness (pi hsin) and this-mindedness (tzu hsin).

Q: What do those terms mean?

A: Being ensnared from without by forms and sounds is that-mindedness; allowing erroneous thoughts to arise within is this-mindedness. Being unstained from without by forms is called 'freedom from that-mindedness'; permitting no erroneous thoughts to arise within is called 'freedom from this-mindedness'. Such is the meaning of no extremes'. And, if your minds are without extremes, how can there be a middle? Reaching this state is called the 'middle way' or the 'true Way of the Tathágata's' by which completely awakened people reach deliverance. A sutra says: 'The void is without middle or extremes; with the Buddhakaya it is also thus.' The void-ness of all forms implies mind dwelling upon nothing whatsoever; and the latter implies the void nature of all forms - these are two ways of saying the same thing. This is the doctrine of the unreality of form, also called 'the doctrine of the non-existence of form'. If you people reject 'mind dwelling upon nothing whatsoever', then bodhi (enlightenment), still and passionless nirvana, and perception of your real nature through Dhyana samádhi, will all be closed to you. It is just by not allowing your minds to dwell upon anything whatsoever that you will perceive your own nature whenever you practice attainment of bodhi, deliverance, nirvana, Dhyana samádhi, or the six paramitas. Why so? The Diamond Sutra says: 'Realizing that there is not the smallest thing to be attained is called "anuttara-samyak-sambodhi" (supreme enlightenment).'

43.Q: if we have performed all (good) deeds success-fully, shall we receive a prediction of our future Buddha-hood?

A: No.

Q: if we have gained ultimate achievement by refraining from the practice of any dharma (method) whatsoever, shall we receive that prediction?

A: No.

Q: in that case, by what dharma is that prediction to be obtained?

A: It is obtainable when you cease (clinging to) deeds and to no deeds. Why so? The Vimalakirti Nirdesha Sutra says: 'The nature and the phenomenal expression of all deeds are both impermanent.' According to the Mahapati-nirvana Sutra: 'The Buddha said to Kashyapa, "There is no such thing as permanence of the totality of phenomenal activity."' You must just avoid letting your minds dwell upon anything whatsoever, which implies (being unconcerned about) either deeds or no deeds - that is what we call 'receiving a prediction of Buddhahood'. What I mean by not letting the mind dwell upon anything what-so-ever is keeping your minds free from hatred and love. This means that you must be able to see attractive things without love for them arising in your minds, which is termed 'having minds free from love'; and also that you must be able to see repulsive things without hatred for them arising in your minds, which is termed 'having minds free from hatred'. When these two are absent, the mind is unstained and the nature of forms is seen as void. Perception of the void-ness of their nature leads to the cutting off of concurrent causes and thus to spontaneous deliverance. You must examine this thoroughly. if the meaning is not brilliantly clear to you, hasten to ask your questions. Do not allow the hours to pass in vain. If you people put your trust in this teaching and act accordingly, without being delivered, I shall gladly take your places in hell for the whole of my existence. If I have deceived you, may I be reborn in a place where lions, tigers and wolves will devour my flesh! But, if you do not put your faith in this teaching, and do not practice it diligently, that will be because you do not understand it. Once you have lost a human body, you will not obtain another for millions of aeons. Strive on! Strive on! It is absolutely vital that you come to understand.