Issue 272

“You say your mind is in your body, and your power of seeing is in your eyes,” the Buddha tells Ananda. But if your mind with its power to know is inside, you should know what your heart, liver, spleen, and stomach are like. Even if you cannot see them, you should be able to perceive things that are happening on the surface like the growing of your nails and hair. You should be able to imagine how many fractions of an inch they grow each second. In fact, the contraction of your muscle fibers, and the throb of your pulse should be clearly understood. You should know all about them. Why don’t you know these things? Why don’t you know?

If you cannot know what is inside at all, how can you know what is outside? Your mind is inside and you don’t know what’s going on inside you. So how could you know what is going on outside?

“Therefore you should know what you state is impossible when you say that the aware and knowing mind is in the body.”

“Your argument won’t stand,” the Buddha tells Ananda. “Since you don’t know what is inside you, therefore you should know that you state the impossible when you say that the aware and knowing mind is in the body.” After using various analogies and arguments, the Buddha tells Ananda directly that it is wrong to place the considering, distinguishing, thinking, knowing mind inside the body.

Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt of the “Driving Force of Subjective Wisdom” seminar on May 30th, 1988.

Now we are discussing the ‘Seven locations in acquiring the mind’. True mind is omnipresent. It does not have a place, so it’s wrong to say it’s inside, outside, in between, or anywhere. Yet it is present everywhere.

Someone may say: Ananda was being slightly wronged here. When the Buddha asked him this question, it took only a little bit before Ananda was caught off guard and rendered speechless. As the saying goes: ‘The mouth wants to speak but words are lost. The mind wants to reason but concepts are gone’. At that moment, it seemed that the Buddha’s words might be too strong and rhetorical. Yet if you investigate in further detail, the words spoken by the Buddha really have genuine principle! We are here to manifest the true mind and manifest the inherent wisdom. But Ananda always practiced erudition and did not apply his effort in cultivating the power of Samadhi, Precept and Wisdom. He was just broadly learned and has a strong memory. Therefore, at this point, the Buddha wanted to drive Ananda to his edge and challenged him. He was teaching Ananda that: “Since you can remember so many things, in time we’ll see if you can use them?” It’s just this point!

The Buddha told Ananda, “You said that you first see me, the Tathagata, and then you see next what’s outside the hall; then you should also see your heart, liver, spleen, and stomach. But you’re unable to see them. Even if you’re unable to see what’s outside, you still should be able to know things like the growing of your hair and nails; how your muscles contract, and the throb of your pulse. How come you don’t know either?”

So this is the drive! What’s the purpose of driving him? This is to push Ananda to the point that he can neither advance nor retreat. Only then can he “arise from an impasse”. This is also called ‘to take another step on top of a hundred-foot pole, to manifest the body in its entirety in all the worlds of the ten directions’. This is to pressure Ananda so that his ‘principles are exhausted and his words are lost’ and he is rendered speechless! This is the method used to drive Ananda to enlightenment.

End of the “Driving Force of Subjective Wisdom” seminar

Ananda bowed his head and said to the Buddha, “Upon hearing such expression of dharma as the Tathagata has proclaimed, I realize that my mind is actually outside my body.

Ananda’s argument that the mind is inside the body did not hold up. Shakyamuni Buddha jolted him out of his folly and shattered his viewpoint.

And so Ananda, who was well versed in etiquette, bowed his head, which means he prostrated himself, and said to the Buddha, “Upon hearing such expression of dharmas the Tathagata has proclaimed, I realize that my mind is actually outside my body.” “My mind is not in my body! It must be outside. I’m sure that’s where it is!” exclaims Ananda. Nobody knows when Ananda’s mind ran outside, but now he suddenly says that’s where it is.

“Why? For example, a lamp alight in a room will certainly illuminate the inside of the room first, and only then will it pour through the doorway to reach the recesses of the hall. For all living beings who do not see within their bodies but only see outside of them, it is as if the lighted lamp were placed outside the room, so that it cannot illuminate inside the room. This principle is certainly clear: it is absolutely beyond all doubt and exactly the Buddha’s entire meaning, and so it isn’t wrong, is it?”

“Why? Why did I say my mind is outside? For example, a lamp alight in a room will certainly illuminate the inside of the room first, and only then will it pour through the doorway to reach the recesses of the hall. If my mind were inside,” Ananda reasons, “I would certainly be able to see what is happening inside my body, in the same way that a lamp inside a room will certainly light up the room. “For all living beings who do not see within their bodies but only see outside of them, it is as if the lighted lamp were placed outside the room, so that it cannot illuminate the room.”

Since the Buddha said that living beings do not see their heart, liver, spleen, and stomach, Ananda thought that the mind is outside, like a lighted lamp outside the room and cannot illuminate what’s inside the room.

“This principle is certainly clear. This principle I have presented is certainly correct,” Ananda states emphatically. “It is absolutely beyond all doubt.” Ananda made an affirmative note in advance. “It is exactly the Buddha’s entire meaning. The principle that I now establish is the same as the Buddha’s complete meaning. I couldn’t be wrong, am I right? I believe the Buddha will agree, won’t he? It isn’t wrong, is it?” Although Ananda thought he’s certainly right, he still asked for confirmation.

Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt of the “Driving Force of Subjective Wisdom” seminar on June 14, 1988.

In this world, every person has his own strength and weakness. What was the Venerable Ananda’s strength? It is his erudition and photographic memory. From the many books that he has read and the lectures he has listened to, he committed a lot to his memory! Because of too much input in his memory, he was lost in what direction to follow and used his conscious mind to speculate what the ‘mind’ should be when asked by the Buddha.

Now he was being ambiguous and speaking haltingly. Sometimes, he’d say the ‘mind’ is inside. Sometimes, he’d say it’s outside. Sometimes, he’d say it’s in-between. He was searching everywhere to find this ‘mind’. He didn’t know that there is no need to seek for his mind because it is omnipresent. Ananda had not perceived his self-nature; hence, he did not understand his mind. This is not because he had a deviant view or poor sense of logic; he was so used to applying his conscious mind that every word and every thought he made was from his conscious mind! He had not reached the level to comprehend where the source of the proper dharma resides. As such, you can’t say that he’s logical or illogical, you also can’t say that he had proper views or he had deviant views. You can only say that he was deflected, becoming attached to deluded presumptions and deluded views. He had given rise to a huge attachment.

Because he had developed a huge attachment and could not overcome this predicament, everywhere he went was met with brambles, he hit the wall everywhere, and everything he did was not in accord with the dharma. The principle of the original source is such that: “When one comprehends the mind and penetrates its origin, not even an inch of soil exists in the great earth”. In the Dhyana school, it is said: “If one realizes the mind, not an inch of soil exists in the great earth”. If you can understand your mind, then the earth was not made up with the soil. What is it made of? It is adorned by the seven jewels. It’s a pity that you have not recognized this mind, hence you keep gathering garbage everywhere!

End of the “Driving Force of Subjective Wisdom” seminar