Pursuing the Buddha Bodhi via Chan

 

Quotes:

“Studying the Dharma without recognizing the original mind is of no benefit."

The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra, Chapter 1

 

「不識本心，學法無益。」

《六祖大師法寶壇經》 自序品第一

 

Remarks:

The ultimate reality of all phenomena is this inherently self-existing original mind called the ālaya-vijñāna (ālaya-consciousness) or tathāgatagarbha. All sentient beings owe their existence to their own tathāgatagarbha, which before awakening is given the name “ālaya-consciousness.” The ālaya-consciousness is precisely the eighth consciousness or the reality-suchness, to which all enlightened Chan practitioners have awakened.

 However, since ancient times, there have always been Chan practitioners who declare that “awakening means immediate attainment of the ultimate Buddhahood” soon after they have attained direct realization of the ālaya-consciousness. Unfortunately, they fell prey to what is called “wild Chan,” thus the deviant discourses they disseminated misled Buddhist learners of both their own time and the present day. 

Practitioners fall victim to “wild Chan” usually for the following reasons: (1) they do not truly understand the content of Chan awakening and how this awakening should be positioned with respect to the cultivation sequence of prajñā, the wisdom regarding the ultimate reality; (2) they do not understand that the scriptural teachings associated with the third turning of the Dharma Wheel are discourses on the training in higher wisdom, i.e., the knowledge-of-all-aspects, undertaken by enlightened bodhisattvas on or above the First Ground of the Bodhisattva Path; (3) their understanding about the stages of cultivation in the Bodhisattva Path is incorrect; and (4) they are unable to comprehend and realize the Buddha’s implicit teachings of the ultimate reality in the Āgamas.

To guard against "wild Chan" and its undesirable consequences, a Buddhist practitioner should understand that while attaining Chan awakening is highly important, it is equally crucial to acquire thorough understanding of the content of Chan awakening, and to which stage this awakening corresponds on the Bodhisattva Path. In the Great-Vehicle cultivation of prajñā, Chan awakening corresponds only to the initial phase of the Path of Vision; it is a long way before the First Ground on the Bodhisattva Path[1], where proficient comprehension of prajñā is attained.

Only when practitioners decide to pursue the Great Vehicle will Buddhas help them realize the ultimate reality - tathāgatagarbha, through which they can become great bodhisattvas in the Great Vehicle after correct Chan awakening.

#tathagatagarbha #Chan #enlightenment #agamas #bodhisattvapath 

[1] Bodhisattva path (i.e. totaling 52 cultivation stages)