(Continued from issue #303)
Ananda said, “Living beings in the world take it to be upside-down. I do not know what is right-side up and what is upside-down.”
Ananda said, “Living beings in the world take it to be upside-down, I do not know what is right side up and what is upside down.” At this time, Ananda had faced many setbacks because he had previously answered rashly; now he has learned his lesson, so he does not speak for himself. He said: “Of all beings in the world, all people would say it is upside-down. And I, Ananda, am now confused. I don’t know what to call right-side up and what to call upside-down.” He won’t decide himself, he’s really slippery. This way, if he’s wrong, it won’t have been his own opinion in the first place, it will have been that of “living beings.”
The Buddha said to Ananda, “If people of the world take this as upside down, what do people of the world take to be right-side up?”
Ananda said, “They call it right-side up when the Thus Come One raises his arm, with the fingers of his tula-cotton hand pointing upward in the air.”
The Buddha said to Ananda, “If people of the world as you say the living beings of the world take this as upside down, what do people of the world, all the living beings, take to be right-side up, I ask you?”
Ananda said, “They call it right-side up when the Thus Come One raises his arm, with the fingers of his tula-cotton hand pointing upward in the air. When you hold your arm over your head, Buddha, that’s called right-side up.” He said he didn’t know, and after finishing speaking, he added that everyone says so. This means: ‘If it’s wrong, don’t blame me. If it’s wrong, it’s not my fault.’ In other words, while one is ‘giving credit to others and taking blame for oneself’, he is ‘taking credit for himself and shifting blame to others.’
The Buddha then held up his hand and said: “Worldly people are doubly deluded when they discriminate between an upright and inverted hand.
The Buddha then held up his hand and said: “Worldly people are doubly deluded when they discriminate between an upright and inverted hand.” If this right-side up and upside-down is swapped, people in the world will have two different views, which will be different from the previous perspective.
This is all double confusion, getting more confusion within confusion, and not understanding the concept of ‘upright and inverted’! Pointing upwards, you say it’s upright; pointing downwards, you say it’s inverted; it’s really deluded to call one right-side up and the other upside-down just because the position changes! Basically the hands themselves are not different.
“In the same way they will differentiate between your body and the Thus Come One’s pure Dharma body and will say that the Thus Come One’s body is one of proper and universal knowledge, while your body is upside down.”
In the same way they will differentiate between your body and the Thus Come One’s pure Dharma body and will say that the Thus Come One’s body is one of proper and universal knowledge, while your body is upside down. As such, from confusion within confusion, you should know that from differentiating your body and the Thus Come One’s pure Dharma body, the ‘seeing-nature’ is invented. The Thus Come One’s body is called “proper and universal knowledge”; yours is an upside-down self-nature. The Thus Come One has proper knowledge of all and universally knows all. He knows what is ‘proper’ and what is ‘upside-down’. On the contrary, you are upside-down. You take what is proper as upside-down and what is upside-down as proper.
“Closely examine your bodies and the Buddha’s for this upside-downness: what exactly does the term ‘upside down’ refer to?”
Thereupon Ananda and the entire great assembly were dazed, and they stared unblinking at the Buddha. They did not know in what way their bodies and minds were upside down.
The Buddha said, “Closely observe and examine your body in comparison to the Buddha’s body for this so-called upside-downness. From where does the term ‘upside-down nature’ come from? What exactly does the term ‘upside-down’ refer to?”
Thereupon Ananda and the entire great assembly were dazed. After hearing what the Buddha said, Ananda was completely at a loss, not knowing what is proper and what is upside-down. They couldn’t understand, just as the blind who cannot see. And they stared unblinking at the Buddha. They didn’t take their eyes off the Thus Come One. They did not know in what way their bodies and minds were upside-down. They couldn’t figure how their bodies and mind were upside down. They were confused.
The Buddha’s compassion arose and he took pity on Ananda and on all in the great assembly and he spoke to the great assembly in a voice that swept over them like the ocean-tide.
The Buddha’s compassion arose and he took pity on Ananda and on all in the great assembly. Because Ananda had requested the Buddha to show great compassion, the Buddha fulfilled Ananda’s wishes. At that moment, the Buddha displayed compassion and he spoke to the great assembly in a voice that swept over them like the ocean-tide. Gathering them in with the tremendous power of his voice, he captured their total attention and then explained for them.
“All of you good people! I have often said that form and mind and all conditions, as well as phenomena pertaining to the mind – all the conditioned phenomena – are manifestations of the mind only. Your bodies and your minds all appear within the wonder of the bright, true, essential, wonderful mind.”
Having given rise to great compassion, the Buddha said, “All of you good people!” referring to the large number of good men and women who were there. “I have often said that form and mind and all conditions, as well as phenomena pertaining to the mind – all the conditioned phenomena – are manifestations of the mind only.” He said, “In the past I have said this again and again.” All these conditioned phenomena are not beyond our present single thought of true mind.
“Form” refers to the form phenomena, and “mind” to the mental aspects. According to the Shastra of the Door to Understanding the Hundred Dharmas,
Eleven form phenomena
eight mental aspects
Fifty-one mental constructs
belonging to the mind
Twenty-four phenomena
which do not interact
Six unconditioned phenomena
Totaling to a hundred dharmas
There are eleven form phenomena and eight mental aspects. The mental aspects belong to the eighth consciousnesses of the “mind-king.”
There are fifty-one mental constructs belonging to the mind, here referred to as the servants of the mind.
And there are twenty-four phenomena which do not interact; that is, they do not interact with form phenomena, with mental constructs, or with unconditioned phenomena.
Finally, six unconditioned phenomena making a total of 100 dharmas.
“All the conditions” refer to four kinds of conditions:
1) conditions based on immediate causes;
2) augmenting conditions;
3) sequential conditions, which are also called equal non-intermittent conditions;
4) and conditioned conditions.
All phenomena are produced from conditions and do not extend beyond the manifestation of a single thought of the true mind. From where do all phenomena – the mountains, the rivers, the great earth, houses, corridor, buildings, the vegetation, and all the myriad appearances – come into being? They come forth from minds; all the myriad things are contained within the mind. It is not that these things contain the mind; but rather the opposite: absolutely everything in the environment, both natural and manmade, is contained in a single thought of the mind; and all are produced from the mind. If you recognize your original true mind, all these things cease to exist!
“Your bodies and your minds all appear within the wonder of the bright, true, essential, wonderful mind.” “Your body” refers to the body you now have, and “your mind” refers to your conscious mind. Both are manifested in the wonderful mind. Is it the case that above and beyond the conscious mind there is yet another wonderful mind? No. It is just in the basic substance of the conscious mind that there is the wonderful mind, but because people don’t know how to use the wonderful mind, they think their conscious mind is their mind. Actually, they are mistaking a thief for their son, and for that reason they become confused!
“Why do I say that you have lost track of what is fundamentally wonderful in you, the perfect, wonderful bright mind, and that in the midst of your bright and enlightened nature, you mistake the false for the real because of ignorance and delusion?”
“Why do I say that you, all of you people, have lost track of what is fundamentally wonderful in you, the perfect, wonderful bright mind, the fundamentally wonderful permanently dwelling true mind which is fundamentally perfect, subtle, wonderful, and bright, such an extremely precious radiant wonderful nature, and that in the midst of your bright and enlightened nature, you mistake the false for the real because of ignorance and delusion? You think you understand clearly about the pure nature and bright substance of your permanently dwelling true mind, but actually you do not understand! You have not perceived that you have a perfect wonderful bright mind, the precious light of your wonderful nature. You think the conscious mind that you perceive is your mind. You think that it is the mind which you are clear about, which you have understood and become enlightened to. But actually, that is only confusion within confusion, and you have not understood! It is your upside-downness, it is the problem of your mistaking a thief for your son.
(To be continued …)