The Shurangama Sutra (Sanskrit-Chinese translator: Master Bat Lat Mat De (?-?), Sino-Vietnamese translator: Venerable Thich Duy Luc (1923-2000)) is a sutra belonging to the Mahayana, sudden, and definitive system, with the full name: "The Sutra of the Great Buddha Crown of the Tathagata, the Secret Man, the Cultivation and Attainment of the Final Meaning of the Bodhisattvas of Ten Thousand Practices, the Shurangama Sutra". (According to legend, the patriarch Huyen Sa Su Bi (835-908) read this sutra and discovered his mind). But it was not until the year 705 (during the reign of Emperor Duong Trung Tong) that the monk Bat Lat Mat De sacrificed himself, cut off his arm to hide the sutra, and then brought the sutra to Guangzhou (China). The Sutra was then translated from Sanskrit to Chinese with Mr. Bat Lat Mat De as the "translator" (chair of the Sutra translation assembly): He recited the original Sanskrit text of the 10 volumes of the Sutra, monk Di Gia Thuoc Khu translated the meaning, monk Hoai Dich translated the text, and layman Phong Dung revised and edited it.
In the beginning of volume 1, the Sutra presents the fate of Mr. Anan being victimized by the woman Ma Dang Gia. He cried sadly and bowed down, asking the Buddha to teach him the three methods of CHÍ- QUAN- THIỆN to practice and achieve the Bodhi fruit. These three methods are generally the three methods of practice directly in the human mind, the mind of the Eight Consciousness King and of the Tathagatagarbha. The Eight Consciousness King and the Tathagatagarbha are respectively the arising and passing of the Delusional Mind and the ever-residing True Mind as revealed in the Sutra. The Eight Consciousnesses of the Mind King include the Six Front Consciousnesses (Six Front Consciousnesses) in the six sense organs: Eye Consciousness, Ear Consciousness, Nose Consciousness, Tongue Consciousness, Body Consciousness, and Mind Consciousness; the seventh consciousness is Mano-consciousness, and the eighth consciousness is Alaya-consciousness. The Eight Consciousnesses of the Mind King are born from the pure nature of the Tathagatagarbha mind. However, ordinary people often find it difficult to perceive the deep consciousnesses inside, but only live close to and are fascinated with the Six Front Consciousnesses, clinging to the external worldly scene, causing countless afflictions (greed, anger, ignorance, etc.) and suffering. This is the reason why ordinary people create and suffer countless causes and effects without stopping in many reincarnations. Thus, in general, the three methods of Samatha-Vipassana-Zen can be considered the path of practice, opening a journey to help practitioners return to the pure source of life and complete liberation. In order of intention, the Buddha displayed great skill, ingenuity, and wonderfulness in teaching these three methods to Ananda, helping him attain the First Dhyana, then attain the Sotapanna fruit and Sakadagami fruit right under the teachings.
Samatha (Pali) is to make the mind calm from the place of stopping, limiting the distraction, agitation, delusion, and false thoughts of the "Liễu Cảnh" function of wandering, clinging, and initiating thoughts according to the worldly scene of the Six Consciousnesses, in which the Mind Consciousness plays the key, decisive, and most important role. The reason is that the Six Consciousnesses, also known as the Third Transforming Consciousness (to distinguish it from the Alaya-vijnana and Manas-vijnana which are the First and Second Transforming Consciousnesses), is the Transforming Consciousness that directly contacts the worldly scene, so it has a very diverse, rich, and most powerful range of activities. This also makes the Mind Consciousness the direct cause of creating countless karmic obstacles and karmic seeds for countless lifetimes of suffering and suffering. The Eight Consciousnesses Return to the Root (Author: Tripitaka Master Xuanzang (602–664)) illustrates this rich diversity through the first four lines of the 12-line poem about the Sixth Consciousness: "The three natures, three measures, and the three realms rotate easily, corresponding to the fifty-one mental factors. When good and evil are separately dominant." Regarding the practice of Samatha, according to the Essentials of Zen Meditation Practice (Author: Patriarch Zhikai (538–597), Translator: Venerable Thich Thanh Tu (1924- )):
"The practice of Samatha has three aspects:
1.- The mind is tied at the tip of the nose and in the middle of the navel, etc., so that the mind does not wander. The sutra says: "To tie the mind so that it does not wander is like chaining a monkey."
2.- Controlling the mind: When the mind arises, immediately restrain it, not allowing it to wander. The sutra says: "The five senses, the mind is the master, so you must be skillful in cutting off the mind."
The above two parts belong to the form and do not need to be broadly distinguished.
3.- The true nature of Samatha: When the mind arises, all dharmas are known to be born from causes and conditions. They do not have a self-nature, so the mind does not cling. If the mind does not cling, false thoughts will cease, so it is called Samatha. As the verse in the sutra says:
"In all dharmas,
causes and conditions arise and have no master.
Cut off the mind to its source root,
Called the monk.”
Through this, it can be seen that the practice of Concentration in the Essentials of Zen Meditation Practice, where the first two methods ("The System of Dependent Origination and Concentration" and Controlling the Mind) have focused on and concentrated many places of practice to stop and limit the effects of "Understanding the Scene", wandering, clinging, and giving rise to thoughts following the external worldly scenes of the Six Consciousnesses, and restraining the Six Consciousnesses, not allowing the Six Consciousnesses to get entangled and attached to the worldly scenes. The method of "The True Essence of Concentration" has added the part of applying the consciousness that has been somewhat calmed from the two methods just mentioned to observe, clearly understand the principle of Dependent Origination, and see more clearly that all things have no real entity, no self-nature, so they are just conditioned dharmas, impermanent, born and destroyed according to causes and conditions, gathering and dispersing.
Compared with the Consciousness-Only School, it can be felt that the place of "The System of Dependent Origination and Concentration" is the place of the 6 consciousnesses (the Six Consciousnesses); the place of "Controlling the Mind" is the place of the only Consciousness (without the Five Preconsciousnesses); and the place of "True Consciousness" is the place of the part of Consciousness that has been purified, refined, and filtered to become pure, so that there are no more gross attachments to the distinction of the worldly scene (so this place is also commonly called the place where the mind of the Way begins to be obtained).
Compared with the 3 methods of practicing Consciousness of the Essentials of Practicing Zen Consciousness and Insight, the Shurangama Sutra, in Volume I, opened up the profound and wonderful method of practicing Consciousness. But it was very compatible and suitable with the existing consciousness of Ananda at that time, very close, unique, and very effective. Through the guidance of the Buddha, the Great Compassionate One, the Great Wisdom..., the one who clearly understood all the roots and wishes of all living beings; Ananda relied on the supernatural power of the Buddha to wholeheartedly and wholeheartedly follow each teaching of the Buddha, each question of the Buddha, so that from the Pure Consciousness, together His own Direct Mind, Deep Mind... immediately gave appropriate answers. He automatically and quickly understood and experienced the stages of "The Conditioned Mind-Only System" and "Controlling the Mind-Only System" and immediately entered into the inner self-nature of "The True Mind Body". In this part of teaching on practicing Concentration, the Buddha skillfully led, guided, initiated, and revealed extremely subtle and timely questions to Ananda. The Buddha raised questions that initially had simple and specific meanings, such as asking about the reason why he decided to leave home to follow the Buddha, to questions about "Where is the mind?"; the questions gradually became more and more profound, subtle, invisible, and formless in meaning... This wonderful skillful guidance helped Ananda give his own answer, and then immediately after that, he realized that his previous answer was not correct, so he gave another answer to correct the previous answer and was gradually guided to go deeper into his mind. consciousness. The seven answers about the seven places of the Mind helped Him calm His consciousness, become more and more calm and focused, so His Consciousness was gradually purified and refined (temporarily called the Pure Consciousness of Mindfulness and Awareness) and directly entered and went deep into the pure realm of His own mind. This also helped His wisdom become more and more calm, gentle, spacious, and pervasive.
The seven answers about the seven places of His Mind in the original text of the Sutra are:
“1. Now I realize that my eyes are on my face and my consciousness is inside my body",
2. "I listened to the Tathagata's teachings and realized that my mind is truly outside my body",
3. "This conscious mind does not know inside but sees outside, I think it is hidden behind the eyes",
4. "I also think that the body of living beings, the internal organs are inside, the acupoints (five senses) are outside, the internal organs are dark, the acupoints are bright. Now I am in front of the Buddha, opening my eyes to see light is called seeing outside, closing my eyes to see darkness is called seeing inside the body",
5. "I have heard the Buddha teach the assembly that: Mind gives birth to dharmas, dharmas give birth to minds. Now I think, that very thought is my mind; "Depending on the thought, the mind exists, and is neither inside, outside, nor in the middle."
6. "When the Buddha, Manjushri, and the Dharma Princes discussed the true nature, I also heard the Buddha say that the mind is neither inside nor outside. According to my thinking, because we do not know the inside, it is not inside. The body and mind know it at the same time, so it is not outside. Now, knowing it at the same time, but not seeing the inside, it must be in the middle."
7. "In the past, I saw the Buddha with the four great disciples (Maudgalyayana, Subhuti, Purna, and Sariputra) turning the wheel of Dharma together, often saying, 'The mind of awareness is neither inside, nor outside, nor in the middle, nor anywhere at all. Everything without attachment is called mind. So, if I am without attachment, can I be called mind? "
Thus, His seven answers to the question "Where is the mind?" went from the place of the Five Consciousnesses (Where is the eye?), to the place of Consciousness (Where is the mind?), then to the place of Consciousness with Mano-consciousness and Alaya-consciousness (Where is the body that thinks, discriminates, and perceives?). These 7 places go from the Mind in the body base (“Mind is in the body”, “Mind is in the eye”, “Mind is in the brain that thinks”), to the worldly scene and worldly dharmas (“Mind is outside the body”, “Mind is in the place where one sees darkness”, “Mind is in the place where one sees light”), and to the middle (Mind is between the Body Base and the Worldly Scene); and finally, He answered that His knowing, discriminating Mind “is not inside, not outside, not in the middle”, His mind “does not cling to anything”. The Buddha did not reveal whether these 7 answers of his were correct or not, but the Buddha was extremely skillful in posing questions that were in the opposite direction, helping him to realize the incomplete, incomplete, and missing points in his answers, and then immediately had another answer to replace them. That was because the 7 places in his 7 answers were all just places of false consciousness, distracting thoughts, and delusions: the first 5 places still belonged to the Six Senses, which he distinguished and recognized right away when asked by the Buddha; the sixth place belonged to the Manas consciousness, which was because he remembered the words of the Buddha, Bodhisattva Manjushri, and the Dharma Princes discussing the meaning of True Nature, and then he imagined it; The seventh place belongs to Alaya consciousness, because he remembered the words of the Buddha and the four great disciples (Maudgalyayana, Subhuti, Purna and Sariputra) who turned the wheel of dharma together, often saying "the mind of awareness is neither inside nor outside, nor in the middle, nor anywhere, all without attachment is called mind" and then he just repeated the words corresponding to this Alaya consciousness. All of these 7 places are not the places of the True Mind that the Buddha wanted him to understand. Because the True Mind, the Tathagatagarbha's essence, is inherently pure, open, mysterious, without Self-nature, without form, without form, empty, without place - without no place, immense, all-encompassing, eternal, motionless, unborn, neither harmonious nor united, without any place to stay, equal, without discrimination... So if we say "The Mind has a place" it means admitting that the Mind is not all-encompassing, not eternal, the Mind still has discrimination, the Mind still has a place to stay, the Mind is not truly equal... It also means admitting that the Mind is only at the level of the Five Preconsciousnesses (Eye consciousness resides in the sense objects, Ear consciousness resides in sounds, Nose consciousness resides in smells, Tongue consciousness resides in tastes, Body consciousness resides in touch) or still at the level of Consciousness (Consciousness resides in the sense objects).
Thus, it can be said that His journey of consciousness in thinking and contemplating "The Seven Places of Mind Pursuit" is the fine crystallization of the unique form of the practice of Samatha. unique in the Shurangama Sutra.
Vipassana is tentatively defined in this article as using the Pure Consciousness of Mindfulness and Awareness (of the Samatha practice mentioned above) to observe, contemplate, and illuminate to clearly know and distinguish the objects being observed. This Pure Consciousness of Mindfulness and Awareness can be considered equivalent to "Vipassana Wisdom" (wisdom to observe clearly and transparently). The commonly mentioned meditations are the meditations on the nature of suffering, impermanence, and non-self (the Three Dharma Seals) in conditioned things and on the peaceful Nirvana (the fourth Dharma Seal) in the liberating Dharma of non-action.
Also according to the Essentials of Practicing Zen Meditation, there are two types of Contemplation methods:
“Counter-contemplation: Such as contemplating impurity to counteract greed, contemplating compassion to counteract anger, contemplating discriminating precepts to counteract ego-clinging, contemplating breathing to counteract agitation, etc.
Right contemplation: Contemplating that all dharmas have no form and are born from causes and conditions; the nature of causes and conditions is the true form. First, clearly seeing that the scene being contemplated is all empty, then the mind that contemplates will naturally not arise. The previous and following passages have discussed this principle a lot, please let it be understood for yourself. As the verse in the sutra says:
Dharmas are not permanent,
They are always in the mind,
Those who understand the principle of emptiness,
All thoughts do not arise.”
It can be seen that the Counter-contemplation method in the Essentials of Practicing Zen Meditation is the Five Concentrations Mind Contemplation method. According to the book "Popular Buddhist Studies" (Author: Venerable Thich Thien Hoa (1918-1973)), the Five Contemplations of the Mind include 5 main contemplation methods as follows: "Contemplation of the Mind, to treat the disease of mental dispersion, Contemplation of Impurity, to treat lust, Contemplation of Compassion, to treat anger, Contemplation of Dependent Origination, to treat ignorance, Contemplation of Discrimination, to treat ego-clinging." According to the Consciousness-Only School, the Five Contemplations of the Mind are considered 5 methods to stop and dissolve afflictions and attachments to the Self-image in the Consciousness. Thus, the 3 Fundamental Afflictions (Greed, Anger, Ignorance) are treated in order by Contemplation of Impurity, Contemplation of Compassion, and Contemplation of Dependent Origination. The special method of contemplating the breath is used to treat the 8 Great Afflictions (disorders of the mind) including: Restlessness, Drowsiness, Disbelief, Laziness, Indulgence, Forgetfulness, Distraction, and Incorrect Understanding. All 4 of these methods of contemplation are considered to be within the scope of the Consciousness. Only the method of contemplating the Discriminating Precepts to treat the ego-grasping begins to have a relationship with the Manas consciousness. Because the ego-grasping originates from the Manas consciousness (the consciousness that collects the ego): the Manas consciousness accepts the Knowledge part of the Alaya consciousness as its essence and then plays the role of receiving and transporting seeds from the storehouse of the Alaya consciousness, which collects and is busy with all kinds of things. Therefore, the method of contemplating the Discriminating Precepts has a relatively diverse and rich scope and object, but is more hidden and profound than other methods of contemplation. Because it is Contemplation of the objects: of the 5 Aggregates (Form, Feeling, Perception, Mental Formations, and Consciousness), of the 6 Entrances or called the 6 Roots (Eye Root, Ear Root, Nose Root, Tongue Root, Body Root, and Mind Root), of the 12 Realms (including 6 External Realms, Realms belonging to the outside of the Body, Realms of the sense objects: Form Realm, Sound Realm, Smell Realm, Taste Realm, Touch Realm, Dharma Realm and 6 Internal Realms, Realms belonging to the Body, Realms of the 6 Roots: Eye Realm, Ear Realm, Nose Realm, Tongue Realm, Body Realm, and Mind Realm), and of the 18 Realms (including 6 External Realms, Realms belonging to the outside of the Body, Realms of the sense objects: Form Realm, Sound Realm, Smell Realm, Taste Realm, Touch Realm, Dharma Realm; and 6 Internal Realms, Realms belonging to the body and mind: Eye Realm, Ear Realm, Nose Realm, Tongue Realm, Body Realm, and Mind Realm; and 6 Consciousness Realms, Realms that are purely mental: Eye Consciousness Realm, Ear Consciousness Realm, Nose Consciousness Realm, Tongue Consciousness Realm, Body Consciousness Realm, and Mind Consciousness Realm). Thus, in general, Counter-Treatment Contemplation can be seen as the application of the Pure Consciousness part of the Consciousness to reflect on its own wanderings and attachments (Consciousness), and through this reflection, the afflictions and false attachments in the Consciousness will gradually disappear and no longer exist.
In addition to the Counter-Treatment Contemplation method, the Essentials of Practicing Zen Meditation has further distinguished the Correct Consciousness method as the method of contemplating all things and objects that clearly understand the Law of Dependent Origination. It can also be felt that this Correct Consciousness method is the often-mentioned Four Foundations of Mindfulness Contemplation method. The Four Foundations of Mindfulness Contemplation clearly shows the four places of contemplation (Body, Feelings, Mind, and Dharmas) so that the mind can rest. These four contemplation methods are:
1. Contemplation of the Body:
Is to contemplate the body, clearly see that the body is impure, the root of all sins, is a result of a false combination of causes and conditions, is not a permanent entity.
2. Contemplation of Feelings:
Is to observe that feelings (Worry, Suffering, Joy, Happiness, Indifference) all come from a false combination of causes and conditions, are all suffering.
3. Contemplation of Mind:
Is to observe that the minds (from the Six Consciousnesses to the Manovijnana, Alaya-vijnana) all come from a false combination of causes and conditions, are all impermanent, changing, constantly arising and ceasing.
4. Contemplation of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness:
It is to observe that all dharmas (including the Body, Feelings, and Mind mentioned above) are all due to the combination of causes and conditions, are all dependent origination, and therefore are egoless.
The Contemplation of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness helps the mind to be at peace and clearly understand the causes and conditions that arise, clearly realizing that the four places of Body-Feelings-Mind-Dharmas all have no real entity, no self-nature. Contemplating and understanding like this helps the subject of Contemplation to no longer arise. This means that now the practitioner's Sixth Consciousness has understood the Law of Dependent Origination, has clearly recognized and distinguished the illusory, dream-like nature... of all things, of the three harmonies of Root-Object-Consciousness, so the Pure Consciousness (in the Consciousness) no longer has any attachment to the external world and to the place where the Consciousness arises. Both the Subject Consciousness and the Energy Consciousness are let go, the consciousness of the ego is no longer present, so it can be said that the practitioner's consciousness has now surpassed the Seventh Mano-consciousness and entered the Eighth Alaya-consciousness. This is considered to have attained the Path of Insight, equivalent to the First Ground (Joyful Ground) of the Ten Grounds of Bodhisattva in the Bodhisattva vehicle, or is considered equivalent to the Stream-enterer (Stream-enterer) in the Sravaka vehicle.
The Consciousness-Only School has a special method of Fivefold Contemplation of Consciousness-Only (Five layers of Consciousness-Only contemplation), which contemplates from the shallow to the deep, which is briefly described as follows:
1. Reprisal of Emptiness and Retention of Reality: is to reproach and eliminate the attachments to worldly scenes in the shallow Consciousness (Refraining Emptiness) and retain the more real and deeper things in the Pure Consciousness (Retaining Reality),
2. Abandoning the Pure Consciousness (Abandoning the Pure Consciousness) and retaining the purer ones (Liu Thuan). This also makes all mental factors (evil, good, neutral), the functional part of the Consciousness become quiet, and also gives the Pure Consciousness the necessary strength to shine through and penetrate the Manas and Alaya consciousness.
3. Retrieving the Pure Consciousness to Return to the Original: is to recollect the Pure Consciousness (Retrieving the Pure Consciousness) and return to merge with the Manas and Alaya consciousness (Returning to the Original),
4. Hidden and Manifesting: is to conceal, not care about, not concern, pay attention to the weak parts, all the mental factors, the functional parts of the two consciousnesses Manas and Alaya (Hidden and Manifesting) but only focus on the nature of these two consciousnesses (Manifestation),
5. Controlling the Appearance and Witnessing the Nature: is to criticize the part that shows the appearance, the habitual-karmic-consciousness-seeds of Alaya (Controlling the Appearance) and enter into the Tathagatagarbha Self-nature (Realizing the Nature).
In the Shurangama Sutra from the end of volume 1 to the end of volume 4, the Buddha, with boundless compassion and boundless skill, was extremely skillful in guiding and enlightening Ananda's consciousness to go deep into the path of Insight. When His Consciousness was purified after the "Seven-fold Mind-Tracking" section (practicing Concentration), the Buddha successively taught about practicing Contemplation through two basic roots, through the Mind of Dependent Origination, through the Nature of Seeing, through the True Mind. All are tentatively perceived and briefly summarized as follows:
1. About the two basic roots: the root of birth and death from beginningless samsara is the Mind of Dependent Origination (according to the Consciousness-Only School, this is the Manas Consciousness and the Mind Consciousness, beginningless and endless), and the pure root is the nature of Nirvana which is inherently liberated from beginningless time (according to the Consciousness-Only School, this is the Alaya Consciousness and the Tathagata Storehouse Mind, beginningless and endless),
2. About the Mind of Dependent Origination:
2.1. The Mind of Dependent Origination only has the ability to record, distinguish, and understand the external worldly scenes and worldly dharmas of the Subject of Dependent Origination. So what Phan Duyen's Mind understands is just a finger (a finger pointing at the moon), not the moon itself.
2.2. Phan Duyen's Mind does not have a permanent nature, it comes and goes, like a guest, not a master like the True Mind.
2.3. Phan Duyen's Mind has all manifestations that have a place to return to, so Phan Duyen's Mind is only Consciousness; unlike the True Mind, the mysterious True Nature has no place to return to.
3. About the Nature of Seeing:
3.1. The Nature of Seeing is constant, neither born nor destroyed: "If there is no hand, there is no fist, but if there is no eye, there is still Seeing." The Nature of Seeing is motionless, neither comes nor goes, it is not a wavering guest, but is the master who stays still.
3.2. The Nature of Seeing has always been covering the entire dharma realm, not just in front of the eyes; The Nature of Seeing is present everywhere without being contracted or expanded (in a narrow or spacious space),
3.3 The Nature of Seeing is not an object, because if so, one person could see the Nature of Seeing and the Non-Seeing of another person, so this Nature of Seeing is our True Nature,
3.4 The Nature of Seeing transcends the notion of attachment to "Seeing" and "Not Seeing": The Nature of Seeing is neither "is" nor "is not" in relation to the object being seen,
3.5. The Nature of Seeing is like the Void, far from all forms, so the Nature of Seeing does not have the form of a square or a round: The Void does not have the form of a square or a round, but only depends on the form of the container to have a square or a round,
3.6. The Nature of Seeing is right in the impermanent body and mind of the five aggregates of sentient beings, but it is not Thought, and it is not due to Delusion; Because the Nature of Seeing, along with all phenomena, including the 6 Roots, 6 Objects, 6 Consciousnesses... all flow from the Bodhi nature,
3.7. The Nature of Seeing is not a Cause and Condition because when the 9 Causes of Seeing are returned to the original, Seeing still exists. This Seeing that has no place to return is called by the Sutra the pure Nature of Seeing of the Six Consciousnesses, the wonderfully bright Star of Seeing, or the Second Moon. On the other hand, the profound Cause, the ultimate Cause of Seeing is the Alaya Consciousness and the Tathagatagarbha's true nature, which is very difficult to recognize, very difficult to explain in detail, only those who have attained Enlightenment can understand. (The combination of Causes and Conditions only gives rise to the temporary Four Elements: 5 Aggregates, 6 Entrances, 12 Places, 18 Elements, but cannot create the Nature of Seeing),
3.8. The Nature of Seeing is also not Natural because it has no self-nature, no natural entity; But the Nature of Seeing is not unnatural because it has gone beyond the Law of Dependent Origination,
3.9. The Nature of Seeing is neither a form of Harmony nor a form of Non-Harmony: the Seeing of ordinary beings is a form of Harmony because it both contains Individual Karma and Collective Karma, and is still a sick Seeing. This sick Seeing is the Seeing that is still entangled by the storehouse of karmic seeds in the Alaya-vijnana, the Seeing still has two sides: the Seer and the Scene seen (the Perceiving Power and the Object of Seeing), the Seeing is still stuck in the forms (light-dark, clear-opaque, open-closed...). But the Nature of Seeing is also not a form of Non-Harmonious Harmony, because it cannot separate from the forms to manifest the Nature of Seeing, nor can it be found that there is a boundary between the Nature of Seeing and the worldly scene...,
4. About the True Mind (the Tathagatagarbha's essence):
4.1. True Mind is the mysterious, perfect, bright, and permanent Mind, not the Delusions, because Delusions have no self-nature (independent nature), but all dharmas, including Material dharmas, Mental dharmas, Mental Factors, Conditions, and Conditions... are born from the True Mind, transformed into Emptiness and Material Matter, dark scenes, and when Material Matter is mixed with the Delusional Mind, they harmonize to create the Four Elements (5 Aggregates, 6 Entrances, 12 Sense-bases, 18 Realms)... Then, on the outside, they are indulging in worldly scenes, and on the inside, they are dependent on worldly dharmas, so the mind has wandering Thoughts and mistakenly perceives them as Mind and Nature. Therefore, it is mistaken to think that the Mind is in the Physical Body, without realizing that both the Physical Body and all the external worldly phenomena are manifestations of the True Mind.
4.3. When the causes and conditions are in harmony, the 4 Departments (5 Aggregates, 6 Entrances, 12 Elements, 18 Realms) and 7 Elements (Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Space, Perception, Consciousness) are returned and restored to the Tathagatagarbha's true nature, which is when the practitioner attains the Path of Insight and attains the first stage of Stream-entry.
In general, the Contemplation method in the Shurangama Sutra was skillfully guided by the Buddha to lead Ananda from the Consciousness attached to the physical world to gradually enter deep into the Manas consciousness and then touch the Alaya consciousness and the Tathagatagarbha's true nature; skillfully surpassing the principles of Dependent Origination, the principles of Naturalness, the principles of Harmony, the principles of Non-Harmony.... Immediately after understanding the Mind of Phan Duyen, although Ananda had not yet attained the pure and uncontaminated Holy Fruit, he had already seen the First Dhyana (Ly Sanh Hy Lac Dia) and then when the Buddha thoroughly revealed the true nature of the Tathagata-garbha True Mind, he immediately attained the First Fruit of Sotapanna, which is the position of clearly seeing the remaining seeds of karmic consciousness in the Alaya consciousness so that he could work to separate and abandon them; and also clearly seeing the path of practice of the Bodhisattvas of Dang Dia to start practicing, to start on the path of ultimate practice (Kien Dao Khoi Tu) to attain the fruits of complete liberation.
Dhyana (Dhyana, Pali): There have been many definitions of Zen, but in this article we can simply define Zen as a complete life with the consciousnesses that have been purified from the two practices of Samatha and Vipassana mentioned above. Thus, Zen has a very broad meaning, encompassing both Samatha and Vipassana. Because of this, there are many different terms such as Samatha, Vipassana, Samatha, Vipassana... (depending on the form of mental effort in practice); Desire Realm Meditation, Form Realm Meditation, Formless Realm Meditation (depending on the level of attainment in the 3 realms); Sitting Meditation, Walking Meditation, Staying Meditation, Lying Meditation,... (depending on the form of physical effort in practice); Flower Arranging Meditation, Vegetable Growing Meditation, Moon Gazing Meditation... (depending on the form of daily life activities) that are often mentioned...
Meditation is often divided into 5 types:
1. External Path Meditation: such as Brahmanism's meditation, the practice methods of Alara Kalama, Uddka Ramaputta, and the meditation methods of the Yogacara sects. Although these meditations help the practitioner's mind to escape the Desire Realm, they are still stuck in the Form Realm and Formless Realm, because they have not yet reached the Cessation of Extinction of an Arhat. It is felt that the maximum ability of the Outer Path Zen can only be to surpass the Consciousness (the Consciousness that grasps the Dharma) and the Mano-consciousness (the Consciousness that grasps the Self) and temporarily touch the Alaya-consciousness, the storehouse of karmic seeds, the lifeblood of countless births, deaths, and reincarnations. But Outer Path Zen does not yet have the ability to enter the Tathagatagarbha's essence, the most profound and peaceful Nirvana in Buddhism.
2. Ordinary Zen: is a way to calm the mind, calm the Consciousness, making the Consciousness less restless, chasing, and clinging to the 6 sense objects of ordinary people. This method only helps ordinary people to temporarily forget the suffering, torment, and worries of life; to temporarily have a little bit of temporary joy... in daily life. Therefore, the maximum ability of the Ordinary Man Zen is to only have a little bit of Samatha and Vipassana within the realm of Consciousness, and it is difficult to reach the deeper realms of Samatha and Vipassana within the realm of Mano-consciousness, Alaya-consciousness, and the Tathagatagarbha nature.
3. Theravada Zen: is a method of practicing Zen with the principle of "Emptiness and Existence of Dharma" (the practitioner is Emptiness, the Dharma realized is Existence), based on the two basic practices of the Five Concentrations and the Four Foundations of Mindfulness mentioned above. It is called Hinayana (small vehicle) because the highest fruit of Hinayana Zen is Arhat (equivalent to the fruit of the Eighth Ground Bodhisattva in Mahayana), not the fruits of the Ninth Ground Bodhisattva, Tenth Ground Bodhisattva, Equal Enlightenment, Wonderful Enlightenment, Buddha as in Mahayana Zen. And sometimes after attaining the fruit of Arhat, they enter Nirvana and are completely extinguished, no longer re-appearing in the world to continue teaching and saving sentient beings. In addition, it can be felt that the meditation object of Hinayana Zen is still limited to the body and mind, especially the Consciousness, and less attention is paid to the Tathagatagarbha essence as in Mahayana Zen.
4. Mahayana Zen: is a method of practicing Zen with the principle of "Human Dharma and Emptiness" (Practitioner and Dharma realization, both are Emptiness), following the spirit of Bodhisattva's path of "Above Seeking Buddhahood, Below Transforming Living Beings". The meaning of Mahayana was clearly revealed by the patriarch Asvaghosa (lived between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD) in his work Mahayana Awakening of Faith. Mahayana Zen is based on the teachings of Mahayana sutras and Mahayana treatises, and has many sects such as Tiantai Sect (based on the Lotus Sutra), Huayan Sect (based on the Avatamsaka Sutra), Sanlun Sect (based on the 3 treatises: Madhyamaka, Twelve Gates, and Hundred Treatises)..., so it is sometimes often called Zen Teaching Sect
5. Supreme Vehicle Zen: is considered "mind-to-mind transmission" and "mind-to-mind seal" Zen, directly transmitting and certifying the True Mind from the Master to the disciple. Supreme Vehicle Zen is considered to have originated from the Buddha Shakyamuni's direct transmission of the first patriarch to Patriarch Kasyapa in the "Smiling at the Flower" story at the Linh Son Dharma Assembly. The patriarch position was then passed on to the Second Patriarch Ananda (born 30 years after the Buddha), the Third Patriarch Shang Na He Tu, the Fourth Patriarch Upa Cuc Da,... then to the 28th Patriarch Bodhidharma (?-532). Bodhidharma arrived in China around 520 and became the First Patriarch of the Chinese Zen Sect. He transmitted the Dharma to the Second Patriarch Huike (486-593). The Dharma lineage was passed on to the Third Patriarch Sengcan (?-606), then to the Fourth Patriarch Daoxin (580-651), the Fifth Patriarch Hongren (601-674), and finally to the Sixth Patriarch Hui-neng (638-713). The Sixth Patriarch promoted the First Patriarch's Zen lineage through great disciples such as Patriarch Qingyuan Xingsi (660-740), Patriarch Nanyue Huai-rang (677-744), Patriarch Shenhui (668-760)... gradually resulting in the creation of five distinctive Zen sects of the Chinese Zen lineage, also known as the Zen Patriarchs. These 5 sects are named after the Patriarchs with their birth and death years as follows: 1. Lam Te sect (patriarch Lam Te: ?-867), 2. Qui Nguong sect (patriarch Qui Son 771-853, and patriarch Nguong Son: 804-899), 3. Van Mon sect (patriarch Van Mon: ?-949), 4. Cao Dong sect (patriarch Cao Son: ?-?, and patriarch Dong Son: 807-869), and 5. Phap Nhan sect (patriarch Phap Nhan: 885-958).
The tenet of Supreme Vehicle Zen (Zen Patriarch) is summarized briefly in a 4-line, 16-word verse by Bodhidharma:
"Not established by words
Separate transmission outside the teachings
Directly pointing to the true mind
Seeing the nature and becoming a Buddha"
Temporary translation:
"Not established by words
Separate transmission outside the teachings
Pointing directly to the true mind
Seeing the nature and becoming a Buddha"
In Zen, there is a story about "going beyond the teachings and scriptures" by Huyen Sa Su Bi (835-908): "One day, Tuyet Phong (822-908) asked him: "What is Dau Da Bi?", he replied: I absolutely do not dare to deceive people". Another day, the Patriarch asked again: "Why didn't Da-Bi go to consult everywhere?"; He immediately replied: "Bodhidharma did not go to the East, the Second Patriarch did not go to the West". Right there, the Patriarch nodded in approval.
Through the verse of Patriarch Bodhidharma, and through the lens of Consciousness-Only School, we can draw 3 conclusions:
1. While "Seeing the Path" (the fruit of Srotapanna, or the first-ground Bodhisattva) is "Beginning to Practice", here the First Patriarch affirmed "Seeing Nature is becoming a Buddha". The fruit of Seeing Nature is the fruit of Arhat, or the eighth-ground Bodhisattva, also known as the Immovable-ground Bodhisattva. The reason is that Seeing Nature means fully realizing the Enlightened Nature and living completely with the Enlightened Nature, with the Tathagatagarbha essence. At the Arhat level, all the practices have been successfully completed, their minds have been liberated from all the outflows of Desire, the outflows of Existence, and the outflows of Ignorance; They know: 'Birth is ended, Brahma conduct has been accomplished, what needed to be done has been done, there is no more returning to this state'; they now only continue to teach, save sentient beings and receive the Buddha's grace to become Buddhas.
2. The place where one can see and live with the Enlightened Nature, with this Tathagatagarbha essence has completely surpassed the Eight Consciousnesses of the Mind King (the Five Preconsciousnesses, the Mind Consciousness, the Mano-consciousness, and the Alaya-consciousness). The entire Eight Consciousnesses of the Mind King now no longer exist because they have all been transformed into the Four Wisdoms: the Mind Consciousness becomes the Wisdom of Wonderful Observation, the Mano-consciousness becomes the Wisdom of Equal Nature, the Five Preconsciousnesses becomes the Wisdom of Accomplishment, the Alaya-consciousness becomes the Wisdom of Great Round Mirror. Therefore, all the Name-Body, Verse-Body, and Text-Body of the Mind of Non-Concomitant Actions in the Alaya-consciousness have become redundant, no longer needing to be used. Both the Master and the disciple no longer need to rely on the existing stereotypes that have now become empty to them.
3. To overcome the Eight Consciousnesses, one must first overcome the two greatest obstacles, the two most ferocious consciousnesses, the Sixth Consciousness (the consciousness of thinking and grasping at dharma) and the Seventh Mano-consciousness (the consciousness of thinking and grasping at ego). Therefore, the Zen Patriarchs have a very popular method of Tham Thoai Dau or Tham Cong An, especially in the Lam Te and Cao Dong Zen sects. The method of Tham Thien of Thien Thoai Dau and Thien Cong An is first perceived to help reduce and then eliminate the ability to discriminate and cling to dharma of the Consciousness by directing the Consciousness directly to the Mano-consciousness, which is often compared to the Black Paint Bucket, the Hundred-foot Pole, the Beginningless Ignorance, etc. This is colloquially called "using Doubt, using Unknowing to cultivate"...; corresponding to the third layer of Contemplation ("Nhiep Mat Qui Bon") in the Fivefold Contemplation of Consciousness-Only School of Consciousness. Then, when the conditions and weather are ripe, when the Manas and Alaya consciousnesses are overcome, the practitioner will attain the Way and see the Nature.
In the Shurangama Sutra from volume 4, the Buddha revealed the True and Supreme Meaning of the Enlightened Nature, of the deepest life of Zen, which is felt and recorded briefly as follows:
1. The Enlightened Nature is inherently the Wonderful Brightness, inherently the constant, all-pervading, self-illuminating, self-silent, self-complete, pure and solemn, called Enlightened Brightness,
2. The Enlightened Nature has a mysterious nature that is inherently not the same, not different, so it is not contaminated by anything else. As in the Zen house, there is a story: Master Nam Nhac Hoai Nhuong (677-744) went to Cao Khe to visit the Sixth Patriarch Hue Nang (638-713). The Patriarch asked: "Where do you come from?", he replied: "From Tung Son." The Patriarch asked again: "What did you bring?", he answered no, so he stayed with the Patriarch. After eight years, he suddenly became enlightened, and immediately went to report to the Patriarch: "Talking about one thing is not correct." The Patriarch then asked: "Can it be attained?" He replied: "Cultivation and realization are not emptiness, defilement is not attainable." The Patriarch then confirmed: "This very undefilement is the place of mindfulness of the Buddhas, you are like that, I am like that too",
3. The Enlightened Nature also does not create defilements. Because these are born from the roots of Individual Karma and Collective Karma of living beings. Therefore, it cannot be said why the inherently pure Buddha-nature suddenly gives rise to the conditioned appearances of mountains, rivers, and the earth, as asked by Purna in the sutra,
4. Buddha-nature is not the Object of Enlightenment, not the Enlightened One, not the Illuminated One by anything else. This means that Buddha-nature does not arise from the discrimination of Delusions,
5. If one falsely establishes the Object of Enlightenment, the false Enlightened One will also arise, leading to the arising of contaminated Thoughts, leading to the arising of countless Afflictions. Then, due to Afflictions arising, one sees the world, the void, the Four Great Elements (Wind, Earth, Fire, Water), and thus falsely establishes the Three Continuities: the Continuity of the World, the Continuity of Living Beings, and the Continuity of Karma and Results. These three kinds of Continuity are all just the Inverted Appearances that arise from the Illusion of Light, and then from the Illusion of Light, the appearances of conditioned states (mountains, rivers, the earth...) are discovered, flowing in layers, continuing without stopping.
6. The Enlightened Nature does not give rise to Delusion, and Delusion also does not give rise to Delusion: It cannot be said that the Enlightened Ones, who have realized the pure, clear, and miraculous Enlightened Nature, at some point give rise to conditioned appearances and conditioned karma again; it also cannot be said that Delusion is born from Delusion, because Delusion is inherently rootless and incapable of arising.
7. The Enlightened Nature is all-pervasive, covering the entire dharma realm, just as the Void is Formless but does not prevent the appearances of conditioned states (light - dark, clear - turbid...) from developing; the appearance of light is not from the sun, nor from the void, but is also not outside the sun and the void.
8. The inherent nature of the 4 Great Elements (Wind, Earth, Fire, Water) is also perfect and true like the Buddha-nature because it is only one pure True Mind, perfect and wonderful enlightenment. But the Buddha-nature, the True Mind is not the 4 Great Elements, not the illusory phenomena of the 4 Great Elements, so it is impossible to ask why the Great natures are in conflict but can tolerate each other, or to ask why form and emptiness, light and darkness encroach on each other,
9. The Buddha-nature is the wonderful and bright True Enlightenment nature, not born, not destroyed, in harmony with the Tathagatagarbha's pure, clear, miraculous essence, illuminating the entire dharma realm. In that dharma realm, One is Infinite, Infinite is One. That is also the Dharma realm of the Immovable Dharma Body throughout the 10-direction dharma realm, where the Buddha appears at the tip of a hair to save 3,000 Great Thousand Worlds, sitting in a small speck of dust to turn the Great Dharma Wheel...
In short, the three dharma doors of Contemplation-Contemplation-Zen can be summarized in one word: ZEN. That is the dharma door that aims at "the Original Enlightenment of Wonderful Brightness, without causes and conditions, without nature, without unnaturalness, without non-being and non-being, without being and not being, apart from all appearances, is all dharmas", aiming at the life that is pure, pristine, yet eternal, pervading throughout the dharma realm. This life does not only exist in Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Sravakas... but is always available and sufficient in all living beings. That is the absolutely wonderful Equality that the Master has proclaimed so skillfully in this Shurangama Sutra.
Mục đích cuộc đời ta là sống hạnh phúc. (The purpose of our lives is to be happy.)Đức Đạt-lai Lạt-ma XIV
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