{"id":911,"date":"2022-09-27T09:30:31","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T13:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/?p=911"},"modified":"2022-11-01T14:41:55","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T18:41:55","slug":"perfect-enlightenment-6-manjusri-inquiring-into-tathagatas-primordially-arisen-pure-causal-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/2022\/09\/27\/perfect-enlightenment-6-manjusri-inquiring-into-tathagatas-primordially-arisen-pure-causal-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Perfect Enlightenment 6: Ma\u00f1ju\u015br\u012b Inquiring Into \u201cTath\u0101gata\u2019s Primordially Arisen Pure Causal Ground\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Show scripture (Chinese).<\/span>

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

Chinese:<\/h2>\n

\u65bc\u662f\u6587\u6b8a\u5e2b\u5229\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\u9858\u70ba\u6b64\u6703\u8af8\u4f86\u6cd5\u773e\uff0c\u8aaa\u65bc\u5982\u4f86\u672c\u8d77\u6e05\u6de8\u56e0\u5730\u6cd5\u884c\uff0c\u53ca\u8aaa\u83e9\u85a9\u65bc\u5927\u4e58\u4e2d\u767c\u6e05\u6de8\u5fc3\uff0c\u9060\u96e2\u8af8\u75c5\uff0c\u80fd\u4f7f\u672a\u4f86\u672b\u4e16\u773e\u751f\u6c42\u5927\u4e58\u8005\u4e0d\u58ae\u90aa\u898b\u3002\u300d\u4f5c\u662f\u8a9e\u5df2\u4e94\u9ad4\u6295\u5730\uff0c\u5982\u662f\u4e09\u8acb\u7d42\u800c\u5fa9\u59cb\u3002<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Show scripture (English).<\/span>

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

English:<\/h2>\n

Ma\u00f1ju\u015br\u012b Bodhisattva then arose from his seat in the great assembly. He bowed his head to the Buddha’s feet and circumambulated him three times to the right.<\/p>\n

He then knelt down with his hands clasped and addressed the Buddha, saying: \u201cGreatly Compassionate World Honoured One! Please, for all members of this assembly who have come for your dharma, teach us about the dharma practice of the Tath\u0101gata\u2019s primordially arisen pure causal ground. Also, please teach the bodhisattvas to arouse pure bodhicitta in the great vehicle and become free from all illnesses, such that they can cause the future sentient beings of the degenerate age who seek the great vehicle not to fall into mistaken views.\u201d Having said this, he prostrated to the ground. He asked this question three times in succession.<\/p>\n

Commentary:<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Ma\u00f1ju\u015br\u012b is the first bodhisattva who asked questions. He asked, \u201cGreatly Compassionate World Honoured One! Please, for all members of this assembly who have come for your dharma, teach us about the dharma practice of the Tath\u0101gata\u2019s primordially arisen pure causal ground.\u201d As I have written in the introduction, this is in essence a request for a teaching on the Buddha-Within (Tathagatagarbha), because the Buddha-Within is<\/em> the causal ground.<\/p>\n

Here, \u201cprimordially arisen pure causal ground\u201d refers the foundation that is primordially pure, naturally pristine. Because it is primordial and natural since the beginningless time, subsequently in the scripture, there is not a single explanation given by Buddha is not given on the basis of it being primordial and natural since the beginningless time. Then, on the basis of this causal ground, all meditations (\u201cdharma practice\u201d) can awaken the primordial awareness. The awareness of this primordial awareness is naturally the primordial wisdom. The realm of this natural wisdom is the Buddha-Within that is pure and greatly equanimous since the beginningless time. Nothing is not primordial and natural, since the beginningless time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

An ordinary being experiences through mind-consciousness, therefore, all experiences are also limited by conceptuality. The realm of such experiences is neither primordial and natural, nor is it since the beginningless time. Because the experiences are felt according to conceptuality, what is attained is at most the realm of conceptuality. This realm is unrefined, and can at best be considered conceptual. For example, consider the taste of a piece of candy, human beings would surely call it sweet, and perhaps a variety of labels to further describe the kind of sweetness that it has. This appears to be more refined. In reality, no matter how hard one tries to describe it, the description is never the true taste of this piece of candy. Words are not the actual taste, and therefore coarse and unrefined. One can also say that all conceptually created labels must be unrefined.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe exactly attained sam\u0101dhi\u201d attained by buddhas and bodhisattvas on the tenth ground (bh\u016bmi<\/em>) are called primordial awareness. \u201cPrimordial awareness\u201d refers to feelings that are free from labels, and no longer conceptually contrived. In the candy example, however it is flavoured, it is tasted as such. This awareness is then deservedly called primordial. What La\u1e45k\u0101vat\u0101ra-s\u016btra<\/em> called \u201cwhat is exactly seen by mind-itself\u201d (\u552f\u5fc3\u6240\u81ea\u898b) refers exactly to the realm of primordial awareness. Here, \u201cseen\u201d already includes the experiences of sight, sound, scent, taste, and touch. By \u201cseen,\u201d it could easily be \u201cwhat is exactly heard by mind-itself\u201d or \u201cwhat is exactly smelled by mind-itself\u201d as well. Since it is \u201cexactly X by mind-itself,\u201d there is no longer a trace of conceptuality, and therefore, \u201cprimordially arisen\u201d and \u201cpure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The body of tath\u0101gata (\u5982\u4f86\u6cd5\u8eab) can be said to be primordially pure; the wisdom of tath\u0101gata (\u5982\u4f86\u6cd5\u667a) can be said to be primordially pure; the realm of tath\u0101gata (\u5982\u4f86\u6cd5\u754c) can be said to be primordially pure; this should be easily understood. Said this way, however, the mundane, the conventional, the ordinary is being left out. To express this primordial purity in a more fair and balanced way, then it should be called the Buddha-Within that is the natural coalescence of wisdom and consciousness since the beginningless time. This way, not only is it inclusive of the dharmakaya (realm and wisdom), it also embraces of all worlds as the spontaneous natural arising of dharmakaya. These worlds are also primordial and pure, they only become obscured and therefore defiled by the conceptuality of ordinary beings. Like a piece of candy, its taste is naturally as such, but people like to pile on the adjectives, if it has a coffee and dairy flavours, then it has to be caf\u00e9 au lait. When someone tastes it, biased by the \u201ccaf\u00e9 au lait\u201d label, one has also become trapped by the concept of coffee and milk. But this taste experience comes from the add-on, and no longer the original taste through \u201cwhat is exactly tasted by mind-itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point, it should become clear what is this \u201cprimordially arisen pure causal ground.\u201d The teaching that Ma\u00f1ju\u015br\u012b asked for is this causal ground and the dharma practice according to it, or as explained earlier, the practice to the Buddha-Within. Then, what good does it do? The scripture says,<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 the bodhisattvas arouse pure bodhicitta in the great vehicle and become free from all illnesses, such that they can cause the future sentient beings of the degenerate age who seek the great vehicle not to fall into mistaken views.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Buddha\u2019s time, he established many, many teachings according to people\u2019s many different aptitudes and preferences. Despite the differences, the end-goal is the same primordial awareness (\u201cthe exactly attained sam\u0101dhi\u201d). Ma\u00f1ju\u015br\u012b asked the Buddha for an overview, so that those who entered through the various teachings should now understand what dharma practice is the definitive practice. The entrances towards the Buddha-Within are many, they include the four noble truths, Consciousness-Only, Madhyamaka, and so on. If one becomes attached to a specific sectarian view and considers it the definitive, it then becomes an illness. Buddha\u2019s teaching in the S\u016btra of Perfect Enlightenment<\/em> can be seen as a teaching to become free from illnesses.<\/p>\n

This good is not only beneficial from the perspective of bodhisattvas, ordinary people can benefit as well. Therefore, the scripture refers to \u201cthe future sentient beings.\u201d Those who seek the great vehicle (buddha-y\u0101na) can benefit from the teaching in the S\u016btra of Perfect Enlightenment<\/em> \u201cnot to fall into mistaken views.\u201d Nowadays, Buddha-Within is often labelled as non-Buddhist. Some malign it as a teaching catered only to outsiders. These are exactly mistaken views in the degenerate age (sad-dharma-vipralopa<\/em>). If the Buddha-Within is merely an introduction to Buddhism catered to outsiders, why bothered illustrating it with so many scriptures? Here, right at the opening, we have Ma\u00f1ju\u015br\u012b inquiring into the Buddha-Within. The entire scripture itself is all about the practice of the Buddha-Within. To perfect enlightenment, it is to perfect awareness of the body, wisdom, and realm of tath\u0101gata, the perfect awareness of the coalescent Buddha-Within realm of wisdom and consciousness.<\/p>\n

During the latter days of dharma, it has become typical to accuse Buddhist fundamental teachings as inauthentic. The S\u016btra of Perfect Enlightenment<\/em> is the root scripture for Huayan school; the Golden Light S\u016btra<\/em> (Suvar\u1e47aprabh\u0101sottamas\u016btrendrar\u0101ja\u1e25<\/em>) is the root scripture for Tiantai school; \u015a\u016bra\u1e45gama S\u016btra<\/em> is the fundamental scripture for the Buddhist practice; Arousing Faith in the Mah\u0101y\u0101na<\/em> is the fundamental discourse for entering the one Buddha vehicle. These scriptures have all been maligned as forgeries. While their content may appear profoundly obscured, not a single detail contradicts the teaching of Buddha. What kind of a person is capable of creating a forgery, for what purpose and to what end? A person who is capable of writing such texts, they could have used their own name to publish it. Those who were able to present the view and the practice in these scriptures, they were at least bodhisattvas at an advanced level. A highly accomplished bodhisattvas would authored forgeries? Given the circumstances, the line in the scripture on \u201ccaus[ing] the future sentient beings of the degenerate age who seek the great vehicle not to fall into mistaken views\u201d has become loud and clear.<\/p>\n

This concludes the discussion on Ma\u00f1ju\u015br\u012b\u2019s question. We will discuss Buddha\u2019s answer next.<\/p>\n

Click\u00a0here<\/a>\u00a0for what has been posted so far in the series.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Ma\u00f1ju\u015br\u012b is the first bodhisattva who asked questions. He asked, \u201cGreatly Compassionate World Honoured One! Please, for all members of this assembly who have come for your dharma, teach us about the dharma...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":836,"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\/911"}],"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=911"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1050,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/911\/revisions\/1050"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vbatoronto.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}