Sutra of Complete Enlightenment

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cjdevries
Posts: 598
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2015 8:06 pm

Sutra of Complete Enlightenment

Post by cjdevries »

Reading Master Sheng-yen's commentary on the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment. Here are some of my favorite sections:

"Virtuous man, for example, because of an illusory illness [of the eye], a flower is falsely seen in an empty sky. When the illusory illness [of the eye] is eliminated, one does not say: 'Now that this illness is eliminated, when will other illnesses arise?' Why? Because the illness and the flower are not in opposition. Likewise, when the flower vanishes into the empty sky, one does not say: 'When will flowers appear in the sky again?' Why? Because the sky originally has no flowers! There is no such thing as appearing and vanishing. Birth and death and nirvana are like the appearing and vanishing [flowers in the sky], while the perfect illumination of wondrous enlightenment is free from flowers or illnesses.
"Virtuous man, you should know that the empty sky does not temporarily exist and then temporarily not exist. How much more so in the case of the Tathatgata who is in accordance with Complete Enlightenment, which is comparable to the equal intrinsic nature of empty space."

Sutra
"Manjushri, you should know that all Tathagatas, from their original-arising causal ground, use wisdom to enlighten and penetrate ignorance. Realizing that ignorance is like a flower in the sky, they are thus liberated from the continuance [of birth and death]. Like a person [seen] in a dream who cannot be found when [the dreamer] awakens, awareness is like empty space. It is impartial and equal, and ever unmoving. When enlightenment pervades all ten directions, the Buddha path is accomplished. there is no place where illusions vanish, and there is no attainment in accomplishing the Buddha Path, for the intrinsic nature is already wholly complete. By this, bodhisattvas can give rise to the bodhi-mind. Sentient beings in the Dharma-ending Age through this practice will avoid erroneous views. "

Commentary
People who meditate sometimes have illusory experiences. On one retreat I observed a woman looking at the sky, and I asked her what she saw. She pointed to what she thought was Bodhisattvas Avalokiteshvara. I told her there was nothing in the sky. She said, "Shifu, do not deceive people. If I can see bodhisattvas, surely you must be able to." Similarly, believing that the body and mind are the self is also and illusion. I say this knowing that most people think I am talking non-sense. Yet we are deluded, and because of our ignorance we continue through an endless cycle of birth and death.
We desperately cling to the belief that the body and mind are self, that they are indispensable, inseperable. This belief limits us, constrains us, and causes us to be controlled by wandering thoughts and external phenomena in the environment. On the other hand, if we can control our minds and think the thoughts we want to think, then we control the environment.


Sutra
"Virtuous man, unsurpassable wondrous enlightenment pervades all ten directions. From it arise the Tathagatas and all dharmas, which are equal and dientical to one another and of the same substance. [Likewise], the various methods of cultivation are, in reality, not different [from one another]. Though there are countless expedient methods for becoming attuned to the nature of enlightenment, if one categorizes them according to their different naturs, there are three kinds.
Virtuous man, if, after awakening to pure Complete Enlightenment, bodhisattvas with pure enlightened minds engage in the cultivation of stillness, they will cleanse and settle all thoughts. Becoming aware of the agitation and restlessness of consciousness, they will cause their wisdom of stillness to manifest. Their bodies and minds, [which will be realized as adventitious] guests and dust will be permanently extinguished. Inwardly, they will experience lightness and ease in quiescence and stillness. Because of this quiescence and stillness, the minds of all Tathagatas in all ten directions will be revealed like reflections in a mirror. This expedient is called samatha."

Commentary
Even though the ultimate goal for all bodhisattvas is the same, he asks the Buddha to explain the many different gates through which each one can enter into Complete Enlightenment. The Buddha concurs, saying that the Buddhadharma is indeed universal, that there are no differences to be distinguished within it. Nonetheless, the methods of practice and gates of entry are innumerable. If one were to classify the methods, however, they would fall into three categories. The first is samatha, the second, samapatti, and the third, dhyana.
Samatha is a method of gradual parctice and enlightenment. Its purpose is to help practitioners progress from mental confusion to concentration to the stage of no-mind. Ch'an Master Yongjia Xuanjue (665-713) said that the practice of samadhi begins with samatha. Samatha aims at directly stilling the mind...To ignore problems when they arise, at least in the context of practice, is samatha. It is not easy to do. On the other hand you should not ignore problems in everyday life...Samatha is a meditation method. During meditation, problems that arise in your mind are thoughts and should be ignored. Ignoring them does not mean blocking them; rather, you note them and then drop them. You do not let wandering thoughts go on and on. You do not let yourself fall asleep on the cushion. Allowing thoughts to continue and falling asleep are not ways of "ignoring problems". You should check your posture and maintain mindfulness. The aim of samatha is to still the mind directly, to control the mind and its thoughts. The aim is not to build more barriers or to become lazy.
If you practice samatha correctly, eventually your mind will rest on one subject, that is, thoughts may still arise, one after the other, but they will all be the same thought. If, in fact, the mind stops on one thought and no longer moves, it is samadhi. While one practices samatha, there is not contact with the environment or other people. You are in meditation, with your mind on one thought.

Sutra
"Virtuous man, if, after awakening to pure Complete Enlightenmetn, bodhisattvas with pure enlightened minds realize the nature of mind and realize that the six sense faculties and sense objects are illusory projections, they will then generate illusion as a means to eliminate illusion. Causing transformations and manifestations among illusion, they will enlighten illusory sentient beings. By generating illusions, they will experience lightness and ease in great compassion. All bodhisattvas who practice in such a manner will advance gradually. That which contemplates illusion is different from illusion itself. Nevertheless, contemplating illusion is itself an illusion. When all illusions are permantently left behind, the wondrous cultivation completed by such bodhisattvas may be compared to the spouting of seeds from soil. This expedient is called samapatti.

Commentary
At a higher level there is samapatti, which literally means "equally arriving." It is a stage where bodhisattvas do not depart from samatha and samadhi, yet they still interact with the world. They are in a state of stillness, which is samatha, but they continue to perform functions, among them compassionate acts for sentient beings. When one practices samapatti well, there is nothing inside or outside one's mind, yet the existence of objects is not negated. One still responds to the environment. It is like a mirror which does not move, yet myriad reflected images can appear before it. The aim of samatha is to place the mind at a point of perfect stillness and quiescence. Any illusory condition can be reflected. An illusory condition is anything that can be perceived by the senses....These three illusions- the physical world, the mental world, and Buddhas-nature- arise so that beings who take illusions to be real can be freed from them. Thus samapatti, a method of illusion, helps beings free themselved from illusions...With samatha there is not interaction with sentient beings. You practice by yourself. With samapatti, you use various expedient illusions to help illusory beings in their illusory environments. In the process you cultivate great compassion, from which comes lightness and ease. Bodhisattvas who use the method of samapatti and help other beings enhance their own practice.

Sutra
"Virtuous man, if, after awakening to pure Complete Enlightenment, bodhisattvas with pure, enlightened minds grasp on to neither illusory projections nor states of stillness, they will understand thoroughly that both body and mind are hindrances. [Awakening from] ignorance, their [minds] wil be illuminated. Without depending on all sorts of hindrances, they will permanently transcend the realms of hindrance and nonhindrance and make fulluse of the world as well as the body and mind. They will manifest in the phenomenal world [without any obstruction], just as the sound of a musical instrument can travel beyond [the body of the instrument]. Vexations and nirvana will not hinder each other. Inwardly, they will experience lightness and ease in quiescent-extinction in wondrous enlightenment, which is beyond the reach of body and mind and the reach of self and others. Al sentient beings and all life are only drifting thoughts. This expedient method is called dhyana.

Commentary
In the Lankavatara Sutra it is said that genuine Buddhadharma is aprt from words and language. Words and language encompass all means of expression, whether they be sounds, gestures, symbols, or anything else that can be transmitted or received by the senses. The same sutra also says that genuine Buddhadharma is apart from all mental activities- thoughts and feelings. Therefore, no matter what we think, feel, say, or do, none of it is genuine Buddhadharma. Whether our minds are scattered, one-pointed, or unified does not matter. They are still impure minds. Only when there is no-mind- no self centered activity- can it be said that the mind is pure. This is dhyana, Ch'an.

Once when I held a retreat in Taiwan, one of the participants was an elderly, devout Buddhist. I told the participants, "There's no Buddha, no bodhisattvas, no Pure Land, no deities. Put all such ideas out of your mind. Just ask yourself where you came from before this life and what you are at this moment!"
The old man came to me and told me he had to leave. When I asked him why, he said, "For over thirty years I've been practicing with the support of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. I have gotten through hard times believing that in some future time I will become a Buddha or bodhisattva. Now you are telling me none of it exists. If I believe you, then I must conclude that I've wasted half my life. I can't do that, so I'm leaving." And he did.
Apparently, this man had never read the Sutra of Complete Enlightenment, or if he did, then he did not understand it. The sutra is filled with Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Pure Lands. It talks of deities, methods of practice, and many other things. But when you reach the dhyana level, there is nothing. Dhyana in the sutra describes the sudden enlightenment method. To successfully practice the sudden enlightenment method, there can be no attachments. To be enlightened, you must leave everything behind, including your self. Only in leaving behind your self can you perceive your Buddha-nature, the nature of emptiness.
The sutra speaks of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Pure Lands because there are different levels of practice. We must use our bodies, our mental activities, and our external environments to practice to attain various levels of samadhi. To attain the highest level of enlightenment, however, we must leave it all behind.
"Please call me by my true names so I can wake up; so the door of my heart can be left open: the door of compassion." -Thich Nhat Hanh

"Ask: what's needed of you" -Akong Rinpoche

"Love never claims, it ever gives. Love ever suffers, never resents, never revenges itself." -Gandhi
zengen
Posts: 233
Joined: Tue May 05, 2015 1:38 am
Location: Canada

Re: Sutra of Complete Enlightenment

Post by zengen »

I liked reading through these sections as well as the commentaries. Thank you for sharing :smile:
There is no meaning to cyclic existence.
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