- Book 45 - The Art of Meditation
- By Grand Master Sheng-yen Lu
- Translated by Liu Runqing
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Chapter 22 - Prajnaparamita Hrdaya Sutra: A Realized Realm
Prajnaparamita Hrdaya Sutra reads:
Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva had practiced the prajnaparamita
for a long time. He says that if you take the five aggregates
as empty, you can eradicate all sufferings.
Shariputra, you should know that form is no different from
void and void is no different from form. Form is void and void
is form. Feeling, perception, volitional behavior, and consciousness
are also like this.
Sharishi, please remember that all things are void. They neither
come into being nor go into destruction; they neither become defiled
nor can be cleaned; they neither increase nor decrease. Consequently,
there is no form in the void. There is no feeling, perception,
volitional activity or consciousness. Nor is there the eye, the
ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, or the mind. Nor color, sound,
smell, taste, touch. There is no longer the realm of vision, nor
the realm of consciousness. There is neither aging and death nor
the end of aging and death. There is no more of sorrow, cause
of sorrow, cessation of sorrow, or path to liberation. There is
neither wisdom nor acquisition. Everything is acquired precisely
by non-acquisition. Bodhicitta is achieved by non-cultivation.
This is the true prajnaparamita. Due to the prajnaparamita,
there is no hindrance in your mind. Thanks to the absence of hindrance,
there is nothing to be feared. You are far away from confusion
and illusion, and will go into nirvana in the end. All Buddhas
of the three times achieved the anuttara-samyak-sambodhi by practicing
the prajnaparamita.
It can be seen from this that the Prajnaparamita Hrdaya Sutra
is the most effective mantra, a wisdom mantra, supreme mantra,
and unequaled mantra. The Sutra can move all sorrow. This is absolute
truth. For this reason we should chant the Prajnaparamita Hrdaya
Sutra. Say this mantra now: "jie-ti, jie-ti, pra-jie-ti,
prasang-jie-ti, bo-di-sa-po-he."
From ancient times up to the present day, there have been many
high ranking monks who gave explanations to the Sutra. Their explanations
have been merely literal interpretations of the written text. Possibly,
however, not all of them have noticed that this is a description
of a realm that has been once realized. Today, it has dawned on
me that this Sutra is a record of how one felt upon realization.
I say this because if you read the Sutra after you have realized,
you would experience a mutual affinity of "So this is it."
The following is what I felt:
"Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva" refers to all Bodhisattvas
who have realized and enjoy self-mastery.
"Has practiced the prajnaparamita for a long time"
means when you reach the very depth of concentrated meditation
where great wisdom emerges.
"When you take the five aggregates as empty, you can eradicate
all sufferings"-- This is the most subtle point of the entire
Sutra. It is also the contemplation on the void in the three contemplations.
There are other ways to reach this realm. One is the practice
of "the return of the spirit" and the other is "return
to the void after removing all karma."
"Form is no different from void and void is no different
than form. Form is void and void is form. Feeling, perceptions,
volitional activities and consciousness are also like this."
-- This is the most enlightened observation and most subtle wisdom
about the realm of form.
"All things are void. They neither come into being nor go
into destruction; they neither become defiled nor can be cleaned;
they neither increase nor decrease. There is no more of sorrow,
cause of sorrow, or path to liberation. There is neither wisdom
nor acquisition..."-- This is a description of the state
of Dharmakaya (essence body) of all Buddhas: the tranquil state
of the complete extinction of passions and freedom from the cycles
of birth and death.
"Due to the prajnaparamita, there is no hindrance in your
mind. Thanks to the absence of hindrance, there is nothing to
be feared. You are far away from confusion and illusion."
-- To realize is the reach the other shore, to reach the Ocean
of Mahavairocana, to see the emptiness of the Dharma Realm. This
is the purification of the eighth consciousness, and consequently
there is no hindrance in the mind and there is nothing to be feared.
"They neither came into being nor go into destruction"--
Like a mirror, though it shows up forms of illusion, these forms
in fact neither come into being nor go into destruction.
"They neither become defiled nor can be cleaned." --
Since these forms are illusionary without birth or death, it goes
without saying that there is no defilement or cleanness to talk
about.
"They neither increase or decrease." -- Like the water
in the rivers, they come and go, flowing here and there, but with
neither loss nor gain.
"To achieve the anuttara-samyak-sambodhi" - This is
exactly staying in "the realm of perfection when there is
one mind without thought; there is nothing to lose in practicing
the method of illumination." When one is far away from confusion
and illusion, one's mind is not movable and can stay fixed on
practice.
"jie-ti, jie, pra-jie-ti, prasang-jie-ti, bo-di-sa-po-he."
- This is the heart mantra. The first jie-ti is "the attachment
to the idea that human beings have unchangeable forms." The
second jie-ti means "attachment to the notion that all things
have unchangeable forms." Put together they refer to attachment
to the above both notions. The third jie-ti is the attachment
to the notion that all sentient beings have real forms. The fourth
jie-ti is the attachment to the notion that sentient beings have
no real forms and that only things have real existence. The essence
of this mantra is to eradicate the attachment to all the above
four notions, so that, one can liberate himself as well as others
and finally attain perfect enlightenment.
I could say that the Prajnaparamita Hrdaya Sutra is nothing but
a realm of meditation under full self-mastery. In this realm, you
start from the feeling that everything outside is empty, so that
you stay away from the six objects of sensation and perception (color
and form, sound, odor, taste, tactile object, and mental object)
and keep under control your six sense organs. Then, it becomes a
realm of void in which there is "no thought outside the realm
and no realm outside the mind." This is contemplation of wisdom.
Inside oneself, the Buddha lights fill up one's entire body to
purify his original nature. As a result, the minds of the past,
the present and the future merge into one-- a realm in which "there
is not thought beyond the event and no event beyond the mind."
In this realm one can attain perfect enlightenment and eradicate
all sorrow. This is also the work of light emanation from the brow-point--
everything comes by itself, as "acts without acting."
Intuitively, since you are away from confusion and illusion, you
feel that there is no difference between tranquillity and extinction,
and that there is no distinction between the Buddha and yourself,
and that there is nothing in the Dharma Realm. The sentences "There
is neither form nor non-form. They neither come into being nor go
into destruction. They neither get defiled nor can be cleaned. They
neither increase nor decrease" constitute an understanding
experience of such a realm. It shows one has entered the gate leading
to the greatest liberation. At this point, one's Buddha nature merges
with all the Buddhas in the dharma nature, after which one never
returns to fall into the cycles of birth and death. This is ultimate
realization.
Our meditation of luminosity is the best method for meditation,
which teaches people to start with "initial tranquillity,"
move onto luminosity at the brow-point, and finally merge with Buddhas
from the ten directions. Following this method, you can become a
Buddha directly. Only this method is detached from speech and form.
We should treasure it for it is priceless.
Since I have attained realization, I always feel that my thinking
is extraordinarily clear in my quiet sitting, staying stable in
Samadhi. The samadhi light of the Original Nature illuminates the
earthly world, with nothing unseen, nothing unfelt. Great sympathy
goes to all sentient beings under Heaven, who are utterly unaware
of birth and death-- practitioners who fall into wrong teachings
or heresy are found everywhere; some tell great lies, slandering
Buddhas and the sacred teachings; some even claim to have killed
a certain Buddha or wiped out a certain school of thought; few people
practice step by step as prescribed, but want to reach the sky in
a single bound. In fact, the different ways of practice predetermine
the final respective fruitions. I would list them as follows:
To practice the Ten Meritorious Acts of the lowest grade - to
be born as a human again. (Note: the ten acts are: avoid killing;
avoid stealing; avoid committing adultery; avoiding telling lies;
avoid slandering; avoid frivolous talk; avoid rude or harsh speech;
greedlessness; tolerance; right view.)
To practiced the Ten Meritorious Acts of the middle grade - to
become an Asura.
To practice the Ten Meritorious Acts of the highest grade - to
become a celestial being.
To practice the Fourfold Noble Truths (the truth concerning sorrow,
the cause of sorrow, the cessation of sorrow and the path to nirvana.)
- to become an Arhat.
To practice the Twelve Causations Method (the causations are:
spiritual ignorance; blind volition; consciousness; mental functions
and the formation of physical elements; the six sense-organs;
contact with external objects; sensation; desire for pleasure;
grasping what one desires; the state of existing; birth; old age
and death) - to become a Pratyeka Buddha.
To practice the Six Paramitas (charity; observing the precepts;
perseverance; energy; meditation, and wisdom) - to become a Bodhisattva.
To practice "objectless compassion" (the compassion
of a Buddha which, based on the realization of the void, arises
without perceiving any object) - to become a Buddha in the present
life.
According to my observation, in the present world, practitioners
of small "root of goodness" make up the great majority
while people with great "root of goodness" are difficult
to find. Ordinary people can never understand my realization. Commoners
with little intelligence, be they masters or ordinary monks, can
never fathom my depth of understanding, nor can those who have practiced
for Bodhisattvahood for a long time. It is an unparalleled event
in the present age that I have realized " the meditation for
luminosity" in the teeth of repeated slanders. In the world
today, there are only methods to urge people to do good so as to
be born human again or to join the celestial beings. The truly great
methods of cultivation are nowhere to be found. It can be seen from
this that people with great "root of goodness" are really
rare nowadays.
The "meditation of luminosity" advocated by our Ling
Xian Sect came into being in the right time. not only can it initiate
beginners, or facilitate the intermediate practitioners, it can
also help the most advanced cultivators to attain ultimate realization.
It is much clearer now than ever which Dharma door is superior.
The meditation of luminosity is unequalled.
For this I have composed the following verse:
Most superior is the meditation of luminosity,
Which can hardly be fathomed by ordinary men.
Embraced by the land of eternal tranquil light,
One can become a Buddha here and now.
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