{"id":1252,"date":"2024-02-01T11:45:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-01T16:45:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/?p=1252"},"modified":"2024-02-01T12:05:28","modified_gmt":"2024-02-01T17:05:28","slug":"perfect-enlightenment-26-buddha-teaches-25-expedient-practices-part-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/2024\/02\/01\/perfect-enlightenment-26-buddha-teaches-25-expedient-practices-part-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfect Enlightenment 26: Buddha Teaches 25 Expedient Practices, Part 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

Show scripture (Chinese).<\/span>

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

Chinese:<\/h2>\n

\u300c\u82e5\u8af8\u83e9\u85a9\u4ee5\u5bc2\u6ec5\u529b\u800c\u8d77\u81f3\u975c\uff0c\u4f4f\u65bc\u6e05\u6de8\uff1b\u6b64\u83e9\u85a9\u8005\uff0c\u540d\u5148\u4fee\u79aa\u90a3\uff0c\u5f8c\u4fee\u5962\u6469\u4ed6\u3002<\/p>\n

\u300c\u82e5\u8af8\u83e9\u85a9\u4ee5\u5bc2\u6ec5\u529b\u800c\u8d77\u4f5c\u7528\uff0c\u65bc\u4e00\u5207\u5883\u5bc2\u7528\u96a8\u9806\uff1b\u6b64\u83e9\u85a9\u8005\uff0c\u540d\u5148\u4fee\u79aa\u90a3\uff0c\u5f8c\u4fee\u4e09\u6469\u9262\u63d0\u3002<\/p>\n

\u300c\u82e5\u8af8\u83e9\u85a9\u4ee5\u5bc2\u6ec5\u529b\u7a2e\u7a2e\u81ea\u6027\uff0c\u5b89\u65bc\u975c\u616e\uff0c\u800c\u8d77\u8b8a\u5316\uff1b\u6b64\u83e9\u85a9\u8005\uff0c\u540d\u5148\u4fee\u79aa\u90a3\uff0c\u4e2d\u4fee\u5962\u6469\u4ed6\uff0c\u5f8c\u4fee\u4e09\u6469\u9262\u63d0\u3002<\/p>\n

\u300c\u82e5\u8af8\u83e9\u85a9\u4ee5\u5bc2\u6ec5\u529b\u7121\u4f5c\u81ea\u6027\u8d77\u65bc\u4f5c\u7528\uff0c\u6e05\u6de8\u5883\u754c\u6b78\u65bc\u975c\u616e\uff1b\u6b64\u83e9\u85a9\u8005\uff0c\u540d\u5148\u4fee\u79aa\u90a3\uff0c\u4e2d\u4fee\u4e09\u6469\u9262\u63d0\uff0c\u5f8c\u4fee\u5962\u6469\u4ed6\u3002<\/p>\n

\u300c\u82e5\u8af8\u83e9\u85a9\u4ee5\u5bc2\u6ec5\u529b\u7a2e\u7a2e\u6e05\u6de8\uff0c\u800c\u4f4f\u975c\u616e\u8d77\u65bc\u8b8a\u5316\uff1b\u6b64\u83e9\u85a9\u8005\uff0c\u540d\u5148\u4fee\u79aa\u90a3\uff0c\u9f4a\u4fee\u5962\u6469\u4ed6\u3001\u4e09\u6469\u9262\u63d0\u3002<\/p>\n

\u300c\u82e5\u8af8\u83e9\u85a9\u4ee5\u5bc2\u6ec5\u529b\u8cc7\u65bc\u81f3\u975c\uff0c\u800c\u8d77\u8b8a\u5316\uff1b\u6b64\u83e9\u85a9\u8005\uff0c\u540d\u9f4a\u4fee\u79aa\u90a3\u3001\u5962\u6469\u4ed6\uff0c\u5f8c\u4fee\u4e09\u6469\u9262\u63d0\u3002<\/p>\n

\u300c\u82e5\u8af8\u83e9\u85a9\u4ee5\u5bc2\u6ec5\u529b\u8cc7\u65bc\u8b8a\u5316\uff0c\u800c\u8d77\u81f3\u975c\u6e05\u660e\u5883\u6167\uff1b\u6b64\u83e9\u85a9\u8005\uff0c\u540d\u9f4a\u4fee\u79aa\u90a3\u3001\u4e09\u6469\u9262\u63d0\uff0c\u5f8c\u4fee\u5962\u6469\u4ed6\u3002<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Show scripture (English).<\/span>

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

English:<\/h2>\n

\u201cSome bodhisattvas use the power of extinction to arise perfect quiescence and abide in purity. These bodhisattvas are called practitioners of dhy\u0101na first and \u015bamatha next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome bodhisattvas use the power of extinction, yet enter activity, and this quiescent function is practiced within all realms. These bodhisattvas are called practitioners of dhy\u0101na first and sam\u0101patti next.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome bodhisattvas use the various self natures of extinction power, and abiding in mental quiescence, produce transformations. These bodhisattvas are called practitioners of dhy\u0101na first, \u015bamatha next and sam\u0101patti last.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome bodhisattvas use the inactive self-nature of extinction power to engage in activity, then purify the objective realm and return to quiescence. These bodhisattvas are called practitioners of dhy\u0101na first, sam\u0101patti next and \u015bamatha last.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome bodhisattvas use the various purity of extinction power, then, abiding in mental equipoise, they produce transformations. These bodhisattvas are called practitioners of dhy\u0101na first, followed by simultaneous \u015bamatha and sam\u0101patti.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome bodhisattvas use extinction power to aid in the attainment of quiescence, and then give rise to transformations. These bodhisattvas are called practitioners of simultaneous dhy\u0101na and \u015bamatha, followed by sam\u0101patti.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome bodhisattvas use extinction power to aid in transformation, producing perfect quiescence which purifies and illuminates the world. These bodhisattvas are called simultaneous practitioners of dhy\u0101na and sam\u0101patti, followed by \u015bamatha.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Commentary:<\/h2>\n

Buddha answers Voice of Discernment by teaching the twenty-five expedient means. We have now introduced seventeen of them, and will proceed to the third set of alternating practices, the 18th<\/sup> to the 24th<\/sup> with dhy\u0101na as the main practice.<\/p>\n

While this set is said to have dhy\u0101na as the main practice, they are not dhy\u0101na only practices. Here the practitioner begins with dhy\u0101na, then one proceeds to the other two. As well, within dhy\u0101na itself, it is also inclusive of the other two practices. As discussed before, the dhy\u0101na practice is in fact \u015bamatha of dhy\u0101na, sam\u0101patti of dhy\u0101na, dhy\u0101na of dhy\u0101na.<\/p>\n

18. Dhy\u0101na first and \u015bamatha next.<\/span>

<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
    \n
  1. Dhy\u0101na first and \u015bamatha next. The practitioner begins with dhy\u0101na, through cessation-extinction all afflictions are severed. By severing afflictions, as we have said before, it is to cut off all sophistry and conceptuality, where one is not trapped within the names and concepts of all phenomena, the accomplishment of cessation-extinction. In cessation-extinction, afflictions naturally do not arise. At this point, all \u201cego self\u201d has been exhaustively severed (the obscuration of affliction), but the \u201cphenomenal self\u201d remains, for the practitioner may still grasped at “cessation-extinction.\u201d There is need to further practice \u015bamatha entering the ultimate quiescence. At this point, the phenomenal self is also extinct, because all concepts of any phenomena have been quelled.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the tantric practice, this is equivalent to the coalescence of development and perfection as the main practice, the practitioner at this point should already be familiar with the development dharma and the perfection dharma. In the practice of the coalescence, one falls into neither quiescence nor illusion to enter non-conceptuality. Yet, the practitioner may fall into the expectation of fruition through the practice, and thus may not enter \u201cthe liberation of wishlessness.\u201d Since there remains attachment to dharma, with an additional \u015bamatha practice, one rests in the realm of non-dwelling, leading to attainment.<\/p>\n

    <\/div>\n

    19. Dhy\u0101na first and sam\u0101patti next.<\/span>

    <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
      \n
    1. Dhy\u0101na first and sam\u0101patti next. One begins with dhy\u0101na as per the previous practice, follows by sam\u0101patti. The power of extinction gives rise to the power of transformation, the power of transformation comes into effect. The scripture says, \u201cThis quiescent function is practiced within all realms.\u201d One can also call this the coalescence of quiescence and functions, or in other words, the coalescent realm of wisdom and consciousness, where quiescent is the wisdom realm, the transformative power is the consciousness realm. The coalescence of the two is an entrance to the Buddha-Within state-of-mind, this way the practitioner becomes accomplished.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      In the tantric practice, the practitioner here attains cessation-extinction through the coalescence of development and perfection. But if the coalescent realm becomes dull and lifeless, then the function of sam\u0101patti should be awakened. Focus on the vitality aspect of the virtue of dharmakaya, use the life force to transform the conventional world. This is the practice of perfection dharma to meditate on the illusion, such that the coalescent realm one enters becomes lively and energetic. The realm can at this point justifiably be the vivacious coalescent realm of Buddha-Within. The sam\u0101dhi here is called the \u201cspirited activities of sam\u0101dhi\u201d (\u9748\u52d5\u4e09\u6469\u5730). It is a kind of antidote to a practice that has become lifeless (\u201cwithered practice\u201d or \u67af\u79aa).<\/p>\n

      <\/div>\n

      20. Dhy\u0101na first, \u015bamatha next and sam\u0101patti last.<\/span>

      <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
        \n
      1. Dhy\u0101na first, \u015bamatha next and sam\u0101patti last. The practitioner begins with dhy\u0101na as before. After attaining the dhy\u0101na extinction, one might become overly at ease in the illusory realm, the virtue of dhamakaya, then one should practice \u015bamatha, allowing one\u2019s state-of-mind to settle. However, one then become overly attached to the quiescence, one then need to practice the illusory sam\u0101patti as a balance.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        In the tantric practice, in practicing the coalescence of development and perfection, if one is biased towards the virtue of dharmakaya, one has to practice the development dharma; but for one to not become attached to transcending the illusory, there is further need to practice the perfection dharma to enter various illusory matters, perfecting dharma activities beneficial to sentient beings. This is also a form of \u201cspirited activities of sam\u0101dhi\u201d (\u9748\u52d5\u4e09\u6469\u5730).<\/p>\n

        <\/div>\n

        21. Dhy\u0101na first, sam\u0101patti next and \u015bamatha last.<\/span>

        <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
          \n
        1. Dhy\u0101na first, sam\u0101patti next and \u015bamatha last. Begin with dhy\u0101na as before. If one becomes overly at ease in dharmakaya (note that this is not the same as the previous case, where one has become overly at least in the virtue of dharmakaya), one then should further the practice of sam\u0101patti to awaken the virtue of dharmakaya, or one risks becoming biased towards the wisdom such that it is no longer a coalescence of wisdom and consciousness (a bias towards dharmakaya, thereby neglecting the form body). The sam\u0101patti practice awakens the realm of sa\u1e43bhogak\u0101ya, then with a subsequent \u015bamatha practice, one reintegrates with the realm of quiescence.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          In the tantric practice, in the coalescent practice, if one is biased towards dharmakaya, the perfection dharma is practiced such that one does not become attached to cessation-extinction. A subsequent practice of \u015bamatha allows the illusory realm to reintegrate with quiescence so as to transcend the manifestation as illusory, nor is it a manifestation mired in sophistry and conceptuality. More concretely, one abides in the coalescent realm of development and perfection by maintaining the pride of the self-manifested deity, one is biased towards neither luminosity nor the self-deity.<\/p>\n

          <\/div>\n

          22. Dhy\u0101na first, followed by simultaneous \u015bamatha and sam\u0101patti.<\/span>

          <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
            \n
          1. Dhy\u0101na first, followed by simultaneous \u015bamatha and sam\u0101patti. Begin with dhy\u0101na as before. To prevent dullness in the cessation-extinction realm, practice simultaneous \u015bamatha and sam\u0101patti to maintain liveliness. This is similar to the Chan<\/em> tradition where one attains cessation-extinction in the zen practice, who still participates in ordinary everyday activities. In the ordinary activities as everyday practices (\u5bb6\u5e38\u65e5\u7528), one accomplishes matters of quiescence without being mired in sophistry, which, like illusions, becomes everyday mundane activities.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            In the tantric practice, practicing the coalescence of development and perfection, one maintains the pride of the self-deity to abide in luminosity. To prevent dullness in the self-deity\u2019s state-of-mind, or dullness in the luminous realm, one practices development dharma and perfection dharma simultaneously. Cessation-extinction attains vitality through utmost quiescence, the utmost quiescence through cessation-extinction one becomes at ease. This is the feature of this type of practice. One can get a glimpse of this realm through Ghanavy\u016bhas\u016btra<\/em>.<\/p>\n

            <\/div>\n

            23. Simultaneous dhyana and \u015bamatha, followed by sam\u0101patti.<\/span>

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

            23. Simultaneous dhyana and \u015bamatha, followed by sam\u0101patti. Begin with dhy\u0101na as before, but one also practices cessation. This is a realm of simultaneous cessation-extinction and utmost quiescence, where one attains vitality through the utmost quiescence, the utmost quiescence through cessation-extinction one becomes at ease. This is the feature of this type of practice. One can get a glimpse of this realm from Ghanavy\u016bhas\u016btra<\/em>.<\/p>\n

            Cessation-extinction through utmost quiescence to attain vitality is analogous to bodhisattvas entering the kingdom of Ghanavy\u016bha <\/em>(dense array of ornaments). This entrance can be said to be through cessation-extinction. In the realm of Ghanavy\u016bha, buddhas and bodhisattvas are seen in dense retinues, an arising through cessation-extinction. The ability to give rise is vitality; the utmost quiescence through cessation-extinction one becomes at ease, it is analogous to the scripture says, bodhisattvas upon entering the kingdom see a little buddha seated inside a large buddha. This is what is being at ease in the realm of cessation-extinction. All buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest the body of solemn adornment, regardless of big or small, they are at ease in the transformation.<\/p>\n

            From the realm described above, one further practices sam\u0101patti, relying on the power of realization, one furthers enters illusory activities, transforming vitality to the benefits of sentient beings.<\/p>\n

            In the tantric practice, practitioners commit to simultaneous meditation of coalescence of development and perfection, and development dharma. Here, the development dharma is divided into three stages to be part of the simultaneous practice with the coalescence of development and perfection. The three stages are development of development, perfection of development, coalescence of development. Relying on the power of the simultaneous practice, one can transcend both quiescence and illusion, through transcending sophistry and conceptuality (utmost quiescence), all phenomena arise like illusion. In other words, the awaken awareness coalesces with development, in the nature of perfect enlightenment, there is the arising of all phenomena. A further practice of perfection dharma, given the arising of all phenomena, perfection pervades everywhere. One becomes at ease.<\/p>\n

             <\/p>\n

            <\/div>\n

            24. Simultaneous practice of dhy\u0101na and sam\u0101patti, followed by \u015bamatha.<\/span>

            <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
              \n
            1. Simultaneous practice of dhy\u0101na and sam\u0101patti, followed by \u015bamatha. The practitioner begins with simultaneous dhy\u0101na and sam\u0101patti. This is a coalescence between cessation-extinction with illusion. Within cessation-extinction the illusory realm arises, where the illusory realm does not depart from the cessation-extinction. The Huayan school describes this practice as Indranilamukt\u0101<\/em>, the blue gem in the Indra heaven. The gem is a wish-fulfilling gem manifesting all worldly illusory appearances. The appearances manifested through a gem can be said to be the illusory arising within cessation-extinction; the appearances manifested through a rock can be said to be a manifestation not departing from cessation-extinction. Therefore, the analogy with the Indra gem illustrates the realization realm of simultaneous dhy\u0101na and sam\u0101patti.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              In the tantric practice, this is analogous to the simultaneous practice of the coalescent practice and the perfection dharma. Here the perfection dharma is also divided into three stages, the development of perfection, the perfection of perfection, the coalescence of perfection. Relying on the power of the simultaneous practice, the practitioner attains cessation-extinction and illusion-like simultaneously. Subsequently, one integrates this meditation realm with the utmost quiescence, perfectly realize the Buddha-Within, the coalescent realm of wisdom and consciousness. Cessation-extinction is the wisdom realm, illusion-like is the consciousness realm. The simultaneous integration with utmost quiescence, one surpasses the conceptuality of wisdom and consciousness. From the ultimate transcendence from conceptuality, one realizes perfect enlightenment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              Commentary: Buddha answers Voice of Discernment by teaching the twenty-five expedient means. We have now introduced seventeen of them, and will proceed to the third set of alternating practices, the 18th to the 24th...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252"}],"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=1252"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1254,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252\/revisions\/1254"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}