{"id":1185,"date":"2023-07-20T09:29:59","date_gmt":"2023-07-20T13:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/?p=1185"},"modified":"2023-07-20T12:03:36","modified_gmt":"2023-07-20T16:03:36","slug":"perfect-enlightenment-21-majestic-virtue-unhindered-all-roads-lead-to-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/2023\/07\/20\/perfect-enlightenment-21-majestic-virtue-unhindered-all-roads-lead-to-rome\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfect Enlightenment 21: Majestic Virtue Unhindered: All Roads Lead to Rome"},"content":{"rendered":"

Translator’s note:<\/em><\/p>\n

In the previous columns (18<\/a>, 19<\/a>, 20<\/a>), bodhisattva <\/em>Pure Wisdom asked if there were any differences in the realization by sentient beings, bodhisattvas, and buddhas. While the realization is oneness, Buddha illustrated the stages of practice in spite of Pure Wisdom’s casting it in terms of “differences in realization.” In this column, we will come to the key to the sutra where Buddha will begin to illustrate the meditation practices of <\/em>\u015bamatha, <\/em>sam\u0101patti and <\/em>dhy\u0101na.<\/em><\/p>\n

As usual, click here for the table of contents<\/a> to revisit the dialogue between Buddha and previous bodhisattvas.<\/em><\/p>\n

Show scripture (Chinese).<\/span>

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Chinese:<\/h2>\n

\u65bc\u662f\u5a01\u5fb7\u81ea\u5728\u83e9\u85a9\u5728\u5927\u773e\u4e2d\u5373\u5f9e\u5ea7\u8d77\uff0c\u9802\u79ae\u4f5b\u8db3\u53f3\u9076\u4e09\u531d\uff0c\u9577\u8dea\u53c9\u624b\u800c\u767d\u4f5b\u8a00\uff1a\u300c\u5927\u60b2\u4e16\u5c0a\uff01\u5ee3\u70ba\u6211\u7b49\u5206\u5225\u5982\u662f\u96a8\u9806\u89ba\u6027\uff0c\u4ee4\u8af8\u83e9\u85a9\u89ba\u5fc3\u5149\u660e\u627f\u4f5b\u5713\u97f3\uff0c\u4e0d\u56e0\u4fee\u7fd2\u800c\u5f97\u5584\u5229\u3002\u4e16\u5c0a\uff01\u8b6c\u5982\u5927\u57ce\u5916\u6709\u56db\u9580\uff0c\u96a8\u65b9\u4f86\u8005\u975e\u6b62\u4e00\u8def\uff0c\u4e00\u5207\u83e9\u85a9\u838a\u56b4\u4f5b\u570b\u53ca\u6210\u83e9\u63d0\u975e\u4e00\u65b9\u4fbf\u3002\u552f\u9858\u4e16\u5c0a\uff01\u5ee3\u70ba\u6211\u7b49\u5ba3\u8aaa\u4e00\u5207\u65b9\u4fbf\u6f38\u6b21\uff0c\u5e76\u4fee\u884c\u4eba\u7e3d\u6709\u5e7e\u7a2e\uff1f\u4ee4\u6b64\u6703\u83e9\u85a9\u53ca\u672b\u4e16\u773e\u751f\u6c42\u5927\u4e58\u8005\uff0c\u901f\u5f97\u958b\u609f\uff0c\u904a\u6232\u5982\u4f86\u5927\u5bc2\u6ec5\u6d77\u3002\u300d\u4f5c\u662f\u8a9e\u5df2\u4e94\u9ad4\u6295\u5730\uff0c\u5982\u662f\u4e09\u8acb\u7d42\u800c\u5fa9\u59cb\u3002<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Show scripture (English).<\/span>

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

English:<\/h2>\n

Then the bodhisattva Majestic Virtue Unhindered arose from his seat in the great assembly. He bowed to the feet of the Buddha and circumambulated him three times to the right. He then knelt down with his hands clasped and addressed the Buddha saying: \u201cGreatly Compassionate World Honoured One, you have analyzed for us at length this accordance with the enlightened nature, causing the enlightened minds of the bodhisattvas to effloresce and receive the Buddha’s Perfect Voice, and causing them to receive excellent benefit which is not caused by religious practice. World Honoured One, it is like a great city which has four gates on its exterior\u2014those who come from various directions are not limited to one path. Similarly, all bodhisattvas who adorn Buddha-lands and who perfect enlightened wisdom are not limited to a single expedient method. World Honoured One, my only wish is that you explain in detail for us the gradations of all the expedient methods. In general, how many kinds of religious practitioners are there? Please allow the bodhisattvas and sentient beings of the degenerate age who are seeking the great vehicle to quickly attain awakening and to sport about in the Tath\u0101gata\u2019s great ocean of cessation-extinction.\u201d Saying this, he prostrated to the ground. He asked this question three times in succession.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Commentary:<\/h2>\n

The seventh bodhisattva who asked questions was Majestic Virtue Unhindered. In terms of the practice though, he was the sixth bodhisattva.<\/p>\n

We have touched on the subject on the stages of practice (“expedient means”) previously with Pure Wisdom (columns 18<\/a>, 19<\/a>, 20<\/a>)<\/em>. Now Majestic Virtue Unhindered went directly into the specifics. For bodhisattvas who intend to enter perfect enlightenment, what practices can lead one to this goal? Here, Majestic Virtue Unhindered used an analogy:<\/p>\n

World Honoured One, it is like a great city which has four gates on its exterior\u2014those who come from various directions are not limited to one path.<\/p>\n

This analogy is like the idiom \u201call roads lead to Rome.\u201d Every road is an expedient means towards Rome. How does one become familiar with these roads? How do these roads lead to Rome? They are in essence what Majestic Virtue Unhindered asked.<\/p>\n

Meditation practices as a game... click to show more.<\/span>

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This inquiry into the practice is still only provisional, not definitive, and thus was labeled by Majestic Virtue Unhindered as \u201csporting about in the Tath\u0101gata\u2019s great ocean of cessation-extinction.\u201d It is none other than a game in the Tath\u0101gata\u2019s great ocean of cessation-extinction. Viewed in this light, the point of S\u016btra of Perfect Enlightenment<\/em> should become clear, that the ultimate perfect enlightenment is not attained through the meditation practice, because they are all games — this point deserves further explanation. D\u014dgen of S\u014dt\u014d school of Zen deemed this sutra a forgery because there are multiple practices discussed in it, which according to him, goes against the idea of \u201cshedding mind and body\u201d (\u8eab\u5fc3\u812b\u843d), not realizing that what was said in the text is only an expediency, and not the ultimate. Being judgemental, he deemed the expediency inauthentic, D\u014dgen himself was trapped by the concept of \u201cshedding mind and body,\u201d giving rise to the ego self as well as the dharma self.<\/p>\n

During meditation and conduct practices, the observational aspect must also correspond to the objective appearances. Because regardless of the appearance, it is at best an appearance, like a diseased eye seeing sky-flowers, or the illusion of a (spinning) wheel of fire. Since the practices are to correspond to illusory appearances (translator\u2019s note: \u201cyoga\u201d), they are merely games. Labelling them as games does not mean they are unimportant. Unless the practitioner is of utmost sharp faculty, where the instant one knows of the illusion one also becomes free from it — perfect enlightenment is attained the moment one is free from illusion — many rely on these games as a gradual practice. Within an illusion, one commits to the illusory practices, and one becomes liberated from the illusory practices. (Translator\u2019s note<\/em>: A common metaphor is the mirror images in the mirror, or Master Tam\u2019s metaphor of TV drama on the TV screen.)
\n<\/div>\n

The illusory practices within an illusion... click to show more.<\/span>

\n<\/span><\/strong>What does it mean by \u201cone commits to the illusory practices within an illusion\u201d? Consider the analogy of lucid dreaming. Within a dream one experiences various dream worlds, prior to awakening, one considers everything in the dream as real. If someone tells the dreamer that it is all a dream, that it is illusory, the dreamer would not believe it. Because in the dream, the fire burns, and the water can drown someone. All things in the dream are seen as reality. If within it, one realizes that it is only a dream, then it becomes a game, and through the game-playing, the truth of the dream reveals itself. In the Nyingma tradition, the dream-and-illusion practice is established this way.<\/p>\n

Now bodhisattva Majestic Virtue Unhindered inquired into the expedient means, it is like the expedient means of allowing lucid dreaming. Following these practices, it becomes possible to become free from the illusion within an illusion. The moment of liberation is like waking up from a dream, so that perfect enlightenment can be realized. Exactly because these expedient means are like games, they allow awareness to reveal itself. While the path differs from the ones taken by a practitioner of sharp faculty, but the fruition is the same (oneness). Now with the question of Majestic Virtue Unhindered, we have arrived to the key to practicing perfect enlightenment.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Subsequently, Buddha would introduce three types of expedient means: \u015bamatha<\/em>, sam\u0101patti<\/em> and dhy\u0101na<\/em>. They are akin to the roads to Rome. While the paths themselves are different, they enter into the same vehicle (translator\u2019s note: \u201cyana\u201d in Mahayana or Buddhayana), which practitioners who wish to realize perfect enlightenment should know.<\/p>\n

Translator’s note: In the next column<\/a>, Buddha will illustrate of the <\/em>\u015bamatha, <\/em>sam\u0101patti and <\/em>dhy\u0101na.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Translator’s note: In the previous columns (18, 19, 20), bodhisattva Pure Wisdom asked if there were any differences in the realization by sentient beings, bodhisattvas, and buddhas. While the realization is oneness, Buddha illustrated...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1185"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1209,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions\/1209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}