Chapter 091 – 100

THE SORROWLESS FLOWERS
Thiện Phúc

VOLUME I

91. Ignorance
92. Human’s Life
93. Modern World
94. Old Age-Sickness-Death
95. Demonic Obstructions
96. Ten Armies of Mara according to the Nipata Sutta
97. Non-Attachment
98. Five Aggregates
99. Four Elements
100. Seven Elements

91. Ignorance

A Sanskrit term ‘Avidya’ means “Ignorance.” In Buddhism, Avidya is noncognizance of the four noble truths, the three precious ones (triratna), and the law of karma, etc. Avidya is the first link of conditionality (pratityasampada), which leads to entanglement of the world of samsara and the root of all unwholesome in the world. This is the primary factor that enmeshes (làm vướng víu) beings in the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. In a Buddhist sense, it refers to lack of understanding of the four noble truths (Arya-satya), the effects of actions (karma), dependent arising (pratitya-samutpada), and other key Buddhist doctrines. In Madhyamaka, “Avidya” refers to the determination of the mind through ideas and concepts that permit beings to construct an ideal world that confers upon the everyday world its forms and manifold quality, and that thus block vision of reality. “Avidya” is thus the nonrecognition of the true nature of the world, which is empty (shunyata), and the mistaken understanding of the nature of phenomena. Thus “avidya” has a double function: ignorance veils the true nature and also constructs the illusory appearance. “Avidya” characterizes the conventional reality. For the Sautrantikas and Vaibhashikas, “Avidya” means seeing the world as unitary and enduring, whereas in reality it is manifold and impermanent. “Avidya” confers substantiality on the world and its appearances. In the Yogachara’s view, “avidya” means seeing the object as a unit independent of consciousness, when in reality it is identical with it.

Ignorance means Unenlightened, the first or last of the twelve nidanas. Ignorance is Illusion or darkness without illumination, the ignorance which mistakes seeming for being, or illusory phenomena for realities. Ignorance of the way of escape from sufferings, one of the three affluences that feed the stream of mortality or transmigration. Sometimes ignorance means “Maya” or “Illusion.” It means complete darkness without illumination. The ignorance which mistakes seeming for being, or illusory phenomena for realities. Ignorance is the main cause of our non-enlightenment. Ignorance os only a false mark, so it is subject to production, extinction, increase, decrease, defilement, purity, and so on. Ignorance is the main cause of our birth, old age, worry, grief, misery, and sickness, and death. Ignorance is one of the three fires which must be allowed to die out before Nirvana is attained. The erroneous state of mind which arises from belief in self.

In Zen, ignorance is not seeing things as they really are. It is failing to understand the truth about life. As long as we have not develop our minds to obtain wisdom, we remain ignorant of the tru nature of things. According to Buddhism, ignorance means regarding the self as real. Due to ignorance, people do not see things as they really are, and cannot distinguish between right and wrong. They become blind under the delusion of self, clinging to things which are impermanent, changeable, and perishable. Once anger arises, one has nothing but “ignorance.” In order to eliminate “ignorance,” you should meditate on causality. All of our psychological problems are rooted in ignorance, in delusion. Ignorance is the crowning corruption. Our greeds, hates, conceits and a host of other defilements go hand in hand with our ignorance. The solutions are to be found in the problems themselves and hence we should not run away from our problems. Analyze and scrutinize the problems, and you will see that they are human problems, so do not attribute them to non-humans. Our real problems can be solved only by giving up illusions and false concepts and bringing our lives into harmony with reality and this can be done only through meditation. Ignorance is also thoughts and impulses that try to draw us away from emancipation. If we wish to liberate ourselves from these hindrances, we should first recognize them through meditation. Just as the Buddha described in His discourses how He would exclaim, “Mara! I see you.” Zen practitioners should remember that the purpose of disciplined meditation practice is to eliminate ignorance, to open the essential nature of mind, and to stabilize awareness. Through meditation, we concentrate on things with an undistracted awareness. We are not thinking about anything, not analyzing, not getting lost in flux of things, but just seeing the nature of what is happening in the mind. Through practices of meditation, our mind becomes clearer and clearer; it is to say ‘ignorance’ is gradually eliminated through the course of meditation. If you think that your mind can only be opened by a certain master out there, you are never cultivating in accordance with Buddhism at all. If you think someone out there can eliminate ignorance for you, you are not a devout Buddhist.

92. Human’s Life

The present birth is brought about by the craving and clinging karma-volition (tanha-upadana) of past births, and the craving and clinging acts of will of the present birth bring about future rebirth. According to Buddhism, it is this karma-volition that divides beings into high and low. According the Dhammapada (135), beings are hiers of their deeds; bearers of their deeds, and their deeds are the womb out of which they spring, and through their deeds alone they must change for the better, remark themselves, and win liberation from ill. According to modern biology, a new human life begins in that miraculous instant when a sperm cell from the father merges with an egg cell or ovum within the mother. This is the moment of birth. Science speaks of only these two physical common factors. Buddhism, however, speaks of a third factors which is purely mental. According to the Mahatanhasamkhaya-sutta in Majjhima Nikaya, by the conjunction of three factors does conception take place. If mother and father come together, but it is not the mother’s proper season, and the being to be reborn (gandhabba) does not present itself, a gern of life is not planted. If the parents come together, and it is the mother’s proper season, but the being to be reborn is not present, then there is no conception. If the mother and father come together, and it is the mother’s proper season and the being to be reborn is also present, then a germ of life is planted there. The third factor is simply a term for the rebirth consciousness (patisandhi-vinnana). It should be clearly understood that this rebirth consciousness is not a “self” or a “soul” or an “ego-entity” that experiences the fruits of good and evil deeds. Consciousness is also generated by conditions. Apart from condition there is no arising of consciousness.

According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path”, life according to Buddhism is suffering; suffering dominates all life. It is the fundamental problem of life. The world is suffering and afflicted, no being is free from this bond of misery and this is a universal truth that no sensible man who sees things in their proper perspective can deny. The recognition of this universal fact, however, is not totally denial of pleasure or happiness. The Buddha, the Lord over suffering, never denied happiness in life when he spoke of the universality of suffering. The psycho-physical organism of the body undergoes incessant change, creates new psycho-physical processes every instant and thus preserves the potentiality for future organic processes, and leaves the gap between one moment and the next. We live and die every moment of our lives. It is merely a coming into being and passing away, a rise and fall (udaya-vaya), like the waves of the sea. This change of continuity, the psycho-physical process, which is patent to us this life does not cease at death but continues incessantly. It is the dynamic mind-flux that is known as will, thirst, desire, or craving which constitutes karmic energy. This mighty force, this will to live, keeps life going. According to Buddhism, it is not only human life, but the entire sentient world that is drawn by this tremendous force, this mind with its mental factors, good or bad.

“Life is uncertain, death is certain.” This is a well-know saying in Buddhism. Knowing fully well that death is certain and is the natural phenomenon that veryone has to face, we should not be afraid of death. Yet all of us fear death because we do not think of its inevitability. We like to cling to our life and body and develop too much craving and attachment. A German monk named Nyanatiloka, reiterated the momentariness of existence from Visuddhi-Magga as follows: “All beings have only a very short instant to live, only so long as a moment of a slash of a lightning. When this is extinguished, the being is also extinguished. The beings of the last moment is now no longer living, and does not live now or will not live again later. The being of the present moment did not live previously, lives just now, but later will not live any more. The being of the future has not lived yet in the past, does not yet lived now, and will only live later.” In fact, this life is a long dream. Even when we wake up after our night sleep, is there any difference among the dreams we had last night and the years of our childhood? We feel that we are reincarnating every morning after the sleep or we feel that we are reincarnating every moment after the breath. Thus, is there any real us in this process of reincarnation? Surely, not at all! As a matter of fact, we have been changing endlessly. And we know we are the thoughts being manifested. That’s all!

Human beings have both pleasure and suffering, thus it’s easy for them to advance in cultivation and to attain Buddhahood; whereas the beings in the Deva realm enjoy all kinds of joy and spend no time for cultivation; beings in the realms of animals, hungry ghosts and hells are stupid, living in filth and killing one another for food. They are so miserable with all kinds of sufferings that no way they can cultivate. However, of all precious jewels, life is the greatest; if there is life, it is the priceless jewel. Thus, if you are able to maintain your livelihood, someday you will be able to rebuild your life. However, everything in life, if it has form characteristics, then, inevitably, one day it will be destroyed. A human life is the same way, if there is life, there must be death. Even though we say a hundred years, it passes by in a flash, like lightening streaking across the sky, like a flower’s blossom, like the image of the moon at the bottom of a lake, like a short breath, what is really eternal? Sincere Buddhists should always remember when a person is born, not a single dime is brought along; therefore, when death arrives, not a word will be taken either. A lifetime of work, putting the body through pain and torture in order to accumulate wealth and possessions, in the end everything is worthless and futile in the midst of birth, old age, sickness, and death. After death, all possessions are given to others in a most senseless and pitiful manner. At such time, there are not even a few good merits for the soul to rely and lean on for the next life. Therefore, such an individual will be condemned into the three evil paths immediately. Ancient sages taught: “A steel tree of a thousand years once again blossom, such a thing is still not bewildering; but once a human body has been lost, ten thousand reincarnations may not return.” Sincere Buddhists should always remember what the Buddha taught: “It is difficult to be reborn as a human being, it is difficult to encounter (meet or learn) the Buddha-dharma; now we have been reborn as a human being and encountered the Buddha-dharma, if we let the time passes by in vain we waste our scarce lifespan.”

According to the Sutra In Forty-Two Sections, Chapter 38, the Buddha asked a Sramana: “How long is the human lifespan?” He replied: “A few days.” The Buddha said: “You have not yet understood the Way.” The Buddha asked another Sramana: “How long is the human lifespan?” The other replied: “The space of a meal.” The Buddha said: “You still have not yet understood the Way.” The Buddha then asked another Sramana: “How long is the human lifespan?” The last one replied: “The length of a single breath.” The Buddha said: “Excellent! You understand the Way.”The Buddha taught on many occasions: “Human life is only as long as one breath, for breathing out (exhaling) without breathing (inhaling) means we have already died and stepped over into a new lifetime.” In fact, our lives are like the breath, or like the growing and falling leaves. In the old days, at temples, the novices always must sweep falling leaves together on the open grounds and walkways of the monasteries. The leaves fall, the novices sweep, and yet, even while the sweeping continues and the near end of a long path is being clear, the novices can look back to the far end they have already swept and see a new scattering of leaves already starting to cover their work. When we can really understand about falling leaves, we can sweep the paths every day and have great happiness in our lives on this changing earth.

In the Dharmapada Sutra, the Buddha taught: “It is difficult to obtain birth as a human being; it is difficult to have a life of mortals; it is difficult to hear the Correct Law; it is even rare to meet the Buddha (Dharmapada 182). Here I shall live in the rainy season, here in the winter and the summer. These are the words of the fool. He fails to realize the danger (of his final destination) (Dharmapada 286). Death descends and carries away that man of drowsy mind greedy for children and cattle, just like flood sweeps away a sleeping village (Dharmapada 287). Nothing can be saved, nor sons, nor a father, nor even relatives; there is no help from kinsmen can save a man from death (Dharmapada 288).” Thus, the Buddha continued to teach: “To live a hundred years, immoral and uncontrolled, is no better than a single-day life of being moral and meditative (Dharmapada 110). To live a hundred years without wisdom and control, is no better than a single-day life of being wise and meditative (Dharmapada 111). To live a hundred years, idle and inactive, is no better than a single-day life of intense effort (Dharmapada 112). To live a hundred years without comprehending how all things rise and pass away, is no better than a single-day life of seeing beginning and end of all things (Dharmapada 113). To live a hundred years without seeing the immortal state, is no better than a single-day life of one who sees the deathless state (nirvana) (Dharmapada 114). To live a hundred years without seeing the Supreme Truth, is no better than a single-day life of someone who see the highest law (Dharmapada 115).”

93. Modern World

The world today is not what it was half a century ago. Ideas of good and bad are fast changing, attitudes toward moral and immoral conduct are different and the general outlook on men and things is also very different. We are living in an age of rush and speed. It is tension, tension everywhere. If you stand at the corner of a busy street and scan the faces of the people hurrying feverishly by, you will notice that most of them are restless. They carry with them an atmostphere of stress. They are most pictures of rush and worry. Rarely will you find a picture of calm, content and repose in any of these faces. Such is the modern world. The world of today is characterized by inordinate haste leading to quick decisions and imprudent actions. Some shout when they could speak in normal tones and other talk excitedly at a forced pitch for long periods and finish a conversation almost exhausted. Any kind of excitement is a stress in the psychologist’s sense of the word, and stress causes the speeding up of bodily processes. It is not seldom that a person driving a vehicle gets agitated on seeing the green color of the traffic lights giving place to amber. The anxious man regards even a minor event as if it were a crisis or a threat. As a result man is worried and unhappy. Another feature of the modern world is its noisiness. “Music hatch charms,” they say, but today, even such music is not agreeable to many if there is no noise; louder the noise greater is the music to them. Those of us who live in big cities have no time to think of the noise, we are conditioned by it and accustomed to it. This noise, this stress, and strain have done much damage by way of ailments: heart disease, cancer, ulcers, nervous tension and insomnia. Most of our illnesses are caused by psychological anxiety states, the nervous tension of modern life, economic distress and emotional unrest.

Nervous exhaustion in man is increasing with the speeding up of life leading to delirious excitement. People often return home after work showing signs of nervous exhausation. As a consequence, man’s concentration is weakened and mental and physical efficiency is lowered. Man becomes easily irritated and is quick to find fault and pick a quarrel. He becomes morbidly introspective and experiences aches and pains and suffers from hyper-tension and sleeplessness. These symptoms of nervous exhausation clearly show that modern man’s mind and body require rest, rest of a high quality. Let us bear in mind that a certain aloofness, a withdrawing of the mind from susiness of life is a requisite to mental hygiene. Whenever you get an opportunity try to be away from the town and engage yourself in quiet contemplation, call it “yoga,” Concentration or meditation. Learn to observe the silence. Silence does so much good to us. It is quite wrong to imagine that they alone are powerful who are noisy, garrulous and fussily busy. Silence is golden, and we must speak only if we can improve on silence. The greatest creative energy works in silence. Observing silence is important. We absolutely do that in our meditation.

Thus in the Dharmapada Sutra, the Buddha taught: “Look upon the world as one would look upon a bubble, just as one would look upon a mirage. If a man thus looks down upon the world, the king of death does not see him (Dharmapada 170). Supposed this world is like a brilliantly ornamented royal chariot; the foolish are immersed in it, but the wise do not attach to it (Dharmapada 171). Whoever was formerly heedless and afterwards overcomes his sloth; such a person illuminates this world just like the moon when freed from clouds (Dharmapada 172). Whoever was formerly heedless and afterwards does good deeds; such a person illuminates this world just like the moon when freed from clouds (Dharmapada 173). This work is so dark that only a few can see it clearly, like birds escape from a net but very few of them fly up straight (Dharmapada 174).”

94. Old Age-Sickness-Death

Prince Siddhartha’s perception of the old age, sickness and death happened when he was very young. One day, with the permission from the King, Prince Siddhartha and his attendants set out a tour around the capital city. However, after exiting the East Gate not long, he saw a hunch-back old man with white hair and bare shoulders. The man was limping along very feebly and look pitiful, as if he could easily be blown away just by a slight gust of wind. The Prince immediately dismounted from the elephant, walked to the old man, and spoke to him in a caring manner. It turned out that the old man was deaf, with not even one tooth in his mouth. He was lonely and unprovided for because his children refused to support him. This aroused the Prince’s sympathy who offered to support the the old man through his old age, but the old man only asked the Prince to help bring back his rejuvenation and longevity instead. Hearing this, the Prince was speechless, sighted and instructed his attendants to return to the palace. A few days later, the Prince and his attendants toured the West Gate. Even though the King already ordered the area to be cleaned, and the sick and the poor were not allowed to stay outdoors, but not long after they set out, the Prince saw a sick man lying by the roadside on the verge of dying. He had a thin body and a bloated belly, and he was moaning. The Prince asked one of his attendants: “Why would the man become like this?” The attendant dared not to conceal the truth, he replied: “This is a sick man. He catches illness because his body is in disorder. Whether rich or poor, noble or lower classes, all have the body that is subject to disease and pain.” On hearing these words, the Prince felt ill and disturbed. He gave the order to return to the palace. After returning to the palace, the Prince was unhappy all day long. He was wondering why people would turn old and would contract diseases. With all the luxuries he had, he did not know how to alleviate the suffering of the masses and how to make them live in more comfort. The King was aware of the unhappiness of his son, but considered this a minor incident. He persuaded the Prince to continue on another tour. This time he decreed that all the people of the kingdom should help avoid any unpleasant encounters. The king even ordered Devadatta to accompany the Prince, as he believed Devadatta was excellent in archery and martial arts, which could help the Prince muster more courage. Not long after setting out of the South Gate, they accidentally came upon a funeral procession which blocked the way of the Prince’s carriage. The men who walked in front looked sad, while all the women were crying miserably. The Prince told Devadatta: “Let’s return to the palace.” Devadatta laughed at the Prince for his being afraid of dead people and said: “the true coward Prince.” The Prince thought, “Although Devadatta laugh at others, no one in the world could stay alive forever. It is only a matter of time before he joins the procession of the dead.” He was then in no mood to appreciate the scenery along the way. So he returned to the palace in total silence. In all these tours, the Prince always set out in high spirits but returned in a somber mood. Since then he remained silent and unhappy despite the fact that his beautiful wife and his good son were always by his side. Images of the old, the sick and the dead constantly haunted the mind of the Prince. He thought that even his beautiful wife and baby son could not escape from the cycle of old age, sickness and death. In his mind, human life was illusionary and unreal, like images of flowers in the air or the moon in the water. Another day while in the royal garden, the Prince observed the fish in the pond fighting among themselves for food, with the big fish eating the small and the small fish eating the shrimps. This was the fight for survival among living creatures with the strong preying on the weak. As for humans, they waged wars out of selfishness. The Prince was contemplating on its origin and how to stop it. Wine, women and songs could not arouse the interest of the Prince who was puzzled by the problems of old age, sickness, death, and impermanence. He wanted to seek out ways and means of emancipation from the sufferings of life. To him, this was the most important goal to achieve in human life. That was why the young Prince left his beautiful wife, baby son, and the luxurious life to become a homeless mendicant.

95. Demonic Obstructions

A Sanskrit term for “demon.” Mara, an ancient Indian term, implied the evil forces that disturb our minds. These are demonic forces that cause human beings to turn away from Buddhist practice and continue to flow in the cycle of births and deaths. “Demons” are called “mara” in Sanskrit. In Chinese, the word has connotation of “murderer” because demons usually plunder the virtues and murder the wisdom-life of cultivators. “Demons” also represent the destructive conditions or influences that cause practitioners to retrogress in their cultivation. Demons can render cultivators insane, making them lose their right thought, develop erroneous views, commit evil karma and end up sunk in the lower realms. These activities which develop virtue and wisdom and lead sentient beings to Nirvana are called Buddha work. Those activities which destroy good roots, causing sentient beings to suffer and revolve in the cycle of Birth and Death, are called demonic actions. The longer the practitioner cultivates, and the higher his level of attainment, the more he discovers how wicked, cunning and powerful the demons are. In Zen, mara is any delusion or force of distraction. “Demons” are called “mara” in Sanskrit. In Chinese, the word has connotation of “murderer” because demons usually plunder the virtues and murder the wisdom-life of cultivators. “Demons” also represent the destructive conditions or influences that cause practitioners to retrogress in their cultivation. Demons can render cultivators insane, making them lose their right thought, develop erroneous views, commit evil karma and end up sunk in the lower realms. These activities which develop virtue and wisdom and lead sentient beings to Nirvana are called Buddha work. Those activities which destroy good roots, causing sentient beings to suffer and revolve in the cycle of Birth and Death, are called demonic actions. The longer the practitioner cultivates, and the higher his level of attainment, the more he discovers how wicked, cunning and powerful the demons are. In the Nipata Sutta, the Buddha told Mara: “Sensual pleasures are your first army; discontent your second; your third is hunger and thirst; the fourth is called craving; sloth and torpor are your fifth; the sixth is called fear; your seventh is doubt, conceit and ingratitude are your eight; the ninth is gain, renown, honor and whatever fame is falsely received; and whoever both extols himself and disparages others has fallen victim to the tenth. This is your army, Mara, the striking force of darkness. One who is not brave enough cannot conquer it, but having conquered it, one obtains happiness.”

Demonic obstructions can be internal devil or external devil. Internal Devil or the “devil in the body,” meaning instinctive impulses or wicked ideas that disturb our righteous minds. However, for determined or devout practitioners, such a temptation acts to strengthen their will to seek the Way. As a result, the “devil in the body” will be served to protect the Buddha-law. External Devil or the “devil outside the body,” meaning temptation or pressure from the outside. In other words, “devil outside the body” means the speech and conduct of those who offer temptation, criticism, disturbance, and threats to those who endeavor to practice the Buddha’s teachings and spread them. Besides, there are other demonic obstructions such as temper, the god of lust, or sins. All of the above symbolize the passions that overwhelmed human beings as well as everything that hinders the arising of the wholesome roots and progress on the path of salvation and enlightenment. Mara is our greed, hatred, ignorance, pride, doubt, wrong views, evil views and all the other poisons bringing people unhappiness and grief. The temper, the murder, the destruction, or the personification of evil or death in Buddhist mythology. In Buddhism, Mara symbolizes the passions that overwhelm human beings as well as everything that hinders the arising of the wholesome roots and progress on the path of enlightenment. Mara is the lord of the sixth heaven of the desire realm and is often depicted with a hundred arms, riding on an elephant. According to legend, the Buddha Sakyamuni was attacked by Mara as he was striving for enlightenment. Mara wanted to prevent him from showing men the way that liberates them from suffering. Mara first called up a crowd of demons, but Sakyamuni did not fear them. Then he sent his most beautiful daughter to seduce Sakyamuni, but before the Buddha’s eyes she turned into an ugly hag, where upon Mara admitted conclusive defeat. One of the three kinds of demons. Celestial demons refers to the type of demon that resides in the Sixth Heaven, also called the Heaven of Free Enjoyment of Others’ Emanations. This type of demon possesses merits and blessings and enjoys the highest heavenly bliss in the Realm of desire, of which our world is but a small part. They then mistake such happiness and bliss as ultimate, and do not wish anyone to escape their influence. Celestial demons constantly obstruct the Buddha-truth and followers. When a practitioner has attained a fairly high level of cultivation, his mind-light develops and shines up to the realm of the Sixth Heaven. It is then discovered by the celestial demons, who seek ways to sabotage his cultivation. Such action can take many forms, threatening or cajoling, or even helping the practitioner attain false samadhi “wisdom” and spiritual power, with the aim of ultimately deceiving him. These demons take turns watching the practitioner constantly and without interruption, waiting for the opportunity. If the practitioner has a delusive thought, they pounce on him or steer him toward things contrary to the Way. The practitioner’s entire lifetime of cultivation is then over, for all practical purposes.

Demonic obstructiona can be demonic afflictions. These demons represent the afflictions of greed, anger, resentment, delusion, contempt, doubt and wrong views. They also include the demons of the Five Skandas, the Six Entrances, the Twelve Sense Fields, and the Eighteen Elements. These demons are also called “internal” as they created by topsy-turvy, delusive states of mind. Therefore, they must be overcome by the bright, enlightened mind. The human mind is easily moved, developing afflictions not only because of personal karma but also because of the common karma of living in an environment filled, for the most part, with evil beings. Some persons cannot resist the attractions of the five Dusts and thus fall into evil ways. Others, encountering adverse conditions, grow sad and mournful and lose their determination to progress. Such developments depending on their severity, render the cultivator despondent , indignant and ill, or worse still, cause him to abandon the Buddhist Order or even to commit suicide out of despair. More harmful still, they can lead to loss of respect and good will toward other cultivators, sometimes even hatred and avoidance of clergy and lay people alike. Loss of faith in cause and effect, bad karma and finally, descent upon the three Evil Paths are the end result. To counteract these demons, the practitioner should reflect that all afflictions are illusory, upsetting, suffocating, binding, evil and conducive only to suffering for both himself and others. To eliminate afflictions is to return to the True Mind, free and liberated, fresh and tranquil, bright and clear, happy and at peace, transcendental and wondrous. The cultivator should also meditate in the same way on all attachments, from the Five Skandas to the Eighteen Elements. In the Lotus Sutra, Sakyamuni Buddha said: “You should not be greedy and attached to gross and vile forms, sound, smell, taste, touch and dharmas. If you do, they will burn you up.” Manjusri Bodhisattva once asked a female deity, “How do you see the Eighteen Elements?” The deity replied, “They are similar to the eonic fire burning up the whole world.” These are words of warning, reminding us to eliminate the demons of afflictions. If the demons of afflictions or internal demons are not subdued, they will attract external demons which wreak havoc. The ancient have said: “If inside the door there are mean-spirited people, mean-spirited people will arrive at the door; if inside the door there are virtuous, superior people, noble superior people will arrive at the door.” As an example, when thieves try to enter a house through the side door, if the owner calmly scolds them in a loud voice, they will naturally be frightened and leave. If on the other hand, he is terrified and panic-stricken, and begs them to desist, he will unwittingly be inviting them into his house.

In the Awakening of Faith, the Patriarch Asvaghosha admonished: “There may be some disciples whose root of merit is not yet mature, whose control of mind is weak and whose power of application is limited, and yet who are sincere in their purpose to seek enlightenment, these for a time may beset and bewildered by maras and evil influences who are seeking to break down their good purpose. Such disciples, seeing seductive sights, attractive girls, strong young men, must constantly remind themselves that all such tempting and alluring things are mind-made; and, if they do this, their tempting power will disappear and they will no longer be annoyed. Or, if they have vision of heavenly gods and Bodhisattvas and Buddhas surrounded by celestial glories, they should remind themselves that those, too, are mind-made and unreal. Or, if they should be uplifted and excited by listening to mysterious Dharanis, to lectures upon the paramitas, to elucidations of the great principles of the Mahayana, they must remind themselves that these also are emptiness and mind-made, that in their essence they are Nirvana itself. Or, if they should have intimations within that they have atained transcendental powers, recalling past lives, or foreseeing future lives, or, reading others’ thoughts, or freedom to visit other Buddha-lands, or great powers of eloquence, all of these may tempt them to become covetous for worldly power and riches and fame. Or, they may be tempted by extremes of emotion, at times angry, at other time joyous, or at times very kind-hearted and compassionate, at other times the very opposite, or at times alert and purposeful, at other times indolent and stupid, at times full of faith and zealous in their practice, at other times engrossed in other affairs and negligent. All of these will keep them vacillating, at times experiencing a kind of fictitious samadhi, such as the heretics boast of, but not the true samadhi. Or later, when they are quite advanced they become absorbed in trances for a day, or two, or even seven, not partaking of any food but upheld inward food of their spirit, being admired by their friends and feeling very comfortable and proud and complacent, and then later becoming very erratic, sometimes eating little, sometimes greedily, and the expression of their face constantly changing. Because of all such strange manifestations and developments in the course of their practices, disciples should be on their guard to keep the mind under constant control. They should neither grasp after nor become attached to the passing and unsubstantial things of the senses or concepts and moods of the mind. If they do this they will be able to keep far away from the hindrances of karma.” According to the Flower Adornment Sutra, Chapter 38, there are ten kinds of possession by demons of Great Enlightening Beings. Enlightening Beings who can leave these ten can attain the supreme supportive power of Buddhas. The first possession is laziness. The second possession is narrowness and meanness of aspiration. The third possession is satisfaction with a little practice. The fourth possession is exclusivity. The fifth possession is not making great vows. The sixth possession is liking to be in tranquil extinction and annihilating afflictions, forgetting the Bodhi mind. The seventh possession is permanently annihilating birth and death. The eighth possession is giving up the practices of enlightening beings. The ninth possession is not edifying sentient beings. The tenth possession is doubting and repudiating the truth.

Zen practitioners should always remember that all circumstances are full of demonic obstructions. Zen practitioners should always remember these two types of demon, internal and external. Celestial demons are within the category of external demons; however, we described them separately to alert the practitioner to the dangerous, subtle havoc they can cause. In addition to the demons of afflictions, external demons and celestial demons described above, Buddhist sutras also mention “disease demons” and the “demons of death.” For disease will usually wither the practitioner’s efforts, while death in the midst of cultivation can make him retrogress. Thus, disease and death are called demons. In general, they represent obstacles to the way that affect the physical body, but they cannot harm and destroy the Bodhi-Mind in the true sense of the word “demon.” Considering the level of cultivation of today’s practitioners, they generally face harassment only from demons of afflictions or external demons. Such cultivators are not advanced enough to arouse opposition from celestial demons. However, should the latter set their minds to destroying someone, that person has little hope of escaping harm, unless his cultivation is examplary. In the Surangama Sutra, Sakyamuni Buddha, out of compassion for cultivators faced with many dangers along the Way, advised those who practiced meditation to recite mantras at the same time. This would enable them to rely on the power of the Buddhas to escape harm from demons and achieve correct samadhi. The Patriarch Yin Kuang once said: “At first glance, it would appear that the Surangama Sutra has a different viewpoint from Pure Land. However, upon closer scrutiny, that sutra, in its essence, actually praised and commended the Pure Land School. Why is this so? It is because, if even those who have attained the third level of sagehood can suffer retrogression caused by demons, we can see the crucial importance of Buddha Recitation and rebirth in the Pure Land: in the gathering and helping light of the Lord Amitabha Buddha, there is no more danger of demons. Not thoroughly understanding of the Buddhist Doctrines is the main reason of demonic obstructions. Most of the time, Zen practitioner does not understand the Dharma and is not skillful at reining in his mind, letting internal demons or afflictions spring up, which, in turn, attract external demons. If he can keep his mind empty and still and recite the Buddha’s name, external demons will be powerless and afflictions will gradually disappear. Thus, for the Pure Land practitioner, even if demonic obstacles do appear, they are few in number. Advanced Zen practitioners, on the other hand, face many demonic occurrences because they rely only on their own strength and self-power. A Zen follower should fulfill the following five conditions to be successful. If a Zen practitioner does not meet these five conditions, he is very easily subject to get harm from demons: he should keep the precepts strictly; his nature and roots should be quick and enlightened; he should have a clear understanding of the Dharma, skillfully distinguishing the correct from the deviant, the true from the false; he should be firm and stable in his determination; he should be guided by a good advisor, who has a thorough understanding of the sutras and many years experience in meditation.

96. Ten Armies of Mara according to the Nipata Sutta

The Buddha taught: “If the Buddha is one foot tall, the demons will make themselves ten feet tall; if the Buddha is ten feet tall, the demons stands just above the Buddha’s head. Nevertheless, if the Buddha grows taller still and exceeds the demons in heigth, the demons will surrender to the Buddha.” This teaching means if the Buddha is not taller than the demonds, he will be subverted. In the same manner, cultivatos should always ensure that his own Buddha is taller than that of the demons under any circumstances; otherwise, he will be subverted and vanquished. Therefore, cultivators who fail and retrogress should not blame external circumstances or anyone. They should only blame themselves, for being weaker than the demon. If they persist in holding fast to their vows and determination, demonic obstacles will disappear.

The first mara is Sensual Desires (Kama—p). We are usually attracted by sweet sounds, rich smells, beautiful ideas, and other delightful objects that touched all our six sense doors. As a natural result of encountering these objects, desire arises. Pleasant objects and desire are the two bases of sense pleasure. Besides, our attachments to family, property, work and friends are also considered troops of this first army.

The second mara is Discouragement (Arati—p). We always have a tendency not satisfied with what we have in our life. We may feel disatisfied with family, housing, food or with any other small things. To overcome this discontent, we should listen to the teachings of the Buddha on the impermanence of everything; then we can get rid of all kinds of attachments; then rapture, joy and comfort will arise naturally from our concentrated mind.

The third mara is Hunger and Thirst (Khuppipasa—p). Are we hungry of food? In fact, we may not be hungry for food but also for clothing, entertainment, and other hobbies such as collection of antiques, bonsai, and so on. This notion of hunger and thirst relates to the entire range of needs and requirements in both physical and mental areas. If we can restraint ourselves from these desires, then the third mara army cannot disturb us.

The fourth mara is Attachment (Tanha—p). When eyes contact pleasurable objects, ears listen to good sounds, nose smells good smell, tongues tastes tasteful food, body touches likeable things, and so on, cravings arise. Therefore, if we do not have mindfulness, cravings will arise.

The fifth mara is Sloth and Torpor (Thinamiddha—p). Sloth is sluggishness or dullness of mind. Its characteristic is lack of driving power. Its function is to dispel energy. It is manifested as the sinking of the mind. Its proximate cause is unwise attention to boredom, drowsiness, etc. Sloth is identified as sickness of consciousness or cittagelanna. According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path,” thina or Middha is sloth or morbid state of the mind and mental properties. It is not, as some are inclined to think, sluggishness of the body; for even the Arahats, the Perfect Ones, who are free from this ill also experience bodily fatigue. This sloth and torpor, like butter too stiff to spread, make the mind rigid and inert and thus lessen the practitioner’s enthusiasm and earnestness from meditation so that he becomes mentally sick and lazy. Laxity leads to greater slackness until finally there arises a state of callous indifference.

The sixth mara is Fear (Bhaya—p). Ordinary fear is a sinking sign of anger. When we cannot face the problem, we show no reaction outwardly and wait for the opportunity to run away. But if we can face our proble directly, with an open and relaxed mind, fear will not arise.

The seventh mara is Doubt (Vicikiccha—p). Doubt signifies spiritual doubt, from a Buddhist perspective the inability to place confidence in the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and the training. Doubting is natural. Everyone starts with doubts. We can learn a great deal from them. What is important is that we do not identify with our doubts. That is, do not get caught up in them, letting our mind spin in endless circles. Instead, watch the whole process of doubting, of wondering. See who it is that doubts. See how doubts come and go. Then we will no longer be victimized by our doubts. We will step outside of them, and our mind will be quiet. We can see how all things come and go. Let go of our doubts and simply watch. This is how to end doubting.

The eighth mara is Defamation-Mocking. If someone insults us and spreads tales about us, we should not mind. We should let it pass, come what may. The entire episode will eventually calm down all by itself. If someone mock us, even a little, we can not stand it, and it is a very uncomfortable sensation.

The ninth mara is Gain, praise, honour, and ill-gotten fame (Labha-siloka-sakkara-micchayasa—p). We become pleased when we gain benefits and are sad when we lose them. This shows a lack of samadhi-power. No matter what difficulties arise, we ought to take them in stride and n ot be upset when we lose out. When others praise us, it tastes as sweet as honey; it is a comfortable sensation. If we are praised by someone and he makes our name known, we should take it in stride and regard glory and honor as no more important than forst on the window pane at dawn.

The tenth mara is Self-praise and contempt for others (Attukkamsanaparavambhana—p). Conceit is really a fearsome mental state. It destroys gratitude; ant it makes more difficult for us to acknowledge that we owe any kind of debt to another person. It cause us to forget the good deeds others have done for us in the past. Because of conceit, we belittle and denigrate other people.

97. Non-Attachment

Our world is a world of desire. Every living being comes forth from desire and endures as a combination of desires. We are born from the desires of our father and mother. Then, when we emerge into this world, we become infatuated with many things, and become ourselves well-springs of desire. We relish physical comforts and the enjoyments of the senses. Thus, we are strongly attached to the body. But if we consider this attachment, we will see that this is a potential source of sufferings and afflictions. For the body is constantly changing. We wish we could remain alive forever, but moment after moment the body is passing from youth to old age, from life to death. We may be happy while we are young and strong, but when we contemplate sickness, old age, and the ever present threat of death, anxiety overwhelms us. Thus, we seek to elude the inevitable by evading the thought of it. The lust for life and the fear of death are forms of attachment. We are also attached to our clothes, our car, our storied houses, and our wealth. Besides, we are also attached to memories concerning the past or anticipations of the future.

According to the Vajra Sutra, the Buddha taught: “Anything with shape or form is considered a “dharma born of conditions.” All things born of conditions are like dreams, illusory transformations, bubbles of foam, and shadows. Like dewdrops and lightning, they are false and unreal. By contemplating everything in this way, we will be able to understand the truth, let go of attachments, and put an end to random thoughts.”

“All things born of conditions are like dreams,

Like illusions, bubbles, and shadows;

Like dewdrops, like flashes of lightning:

Contemplate them in these ways.”

According to the Sutra In Forty-Two Sections, Chapter 18, the Buddha said: “My Dharma is the mindfulness that is both mindfulness and no-mindfulness. It is the practice that is both practice and non-practice. It is words that are words and non-words. It is cultivation that is cultivation and non-cultivation. Those who understand are near to it; those who are confused are far from it indeed. The path of words and language is cut off; it cannot be categorized as a thing. If you are off (removed) by a hair’s breadth, you lose it in an instant.”

98. Five Aggregates

“Skandha” in Sanskrit means “group, aggregate, or heap.” In Buddhism, Skandha means the trunk of a tree, or a body. Skandha also means the five aggregates or five aggregates of conditioned phenomena (constituents), or the five causally conditioned elements of existence forming a being or entity. According to Buddhist philosophy, each individual existence is composed of the five elements and because they are constantly chanching, so those who attempt to cling to the “self” are subject to suffering. Though these factors are often referred to as the “aggregates of attachment” because they are impermanent and changing, ordinary people always develop desires for them. According to The Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, the five aggregates are composed of form, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. Generally speaking, the five aggregates mean men and the world of phenomena. Things that cover or conceal, implying that physical and mental forms obstruct realization of the truth. An accumulation or heap, implying the five physical and mental constituents, which combine to form the intelligence or nature, and rupa. The skandhas refer only to the phenomenal, not to the non-phenomenal. In order to overcome all sufferings and troubles, Buddhists should engage in the practice of profound Prajnaparamita and perceive that the five aggregates are empty of self-existence. The Buddha reminded Sariputra: “O Sariputra, Form is not different from Emptiness, and Emptiness is not different from Form. Form is Emptiness and Emptiness is Form. The same can be said of feelings, perceptions, actions and consciousnesses.” We, ordinary peole, do not see the five aggregates as phenomena but as an entity because of our deluded minds, and our innate desire to treat these as a self in oder to pander to our self-importance. According to the Sangiti Sutta in the Long Discourses of the Buddha, there are five aggregates (Five Skandhas). The aggregates which make up a human being. The five skandhas are the roots of all ignorance. They keep sentient beings from realizing their always-existing Buddha-Nature. The five aggregates are considered as maras or demons fighting against the Buddha-nature of men. In accordance with the Dharma, life is comprised of five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, mental formation, consciousness). Matter plus the four mental factors classified below as feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness combined together from life. The real nature of these five aggregates is explained in the Teaching of the Buddha as follows: “Matter is equated to a heap of foam, feeling is like a bubble, perception is described as a mirage, mental formations are like a banana tree and consciousness is just an illusion.

According to the Surangama Sutra, book Two, the Buddha reminded Ananda about the five skandhas as follows: “Ananda! You have not yet understood that all the defiling objects that appear, all the illusory, ephemeral characteristics, spring up in the very spot where they also come to an end. They are what is called ‘illusory falseness.’ But their nature is in truth the bright substance of wonderful enlightenment. Thus it is throughout, up to the five skandhas and the six entrances, to the twelve places and the eighteen realms; the union and mixture of various causes and conditions account for their illusory and false existence, and the separation and dispersion of the causes and conditions result in their illusory and false extinction. Who would have thought that production, extinction, coming, and going are fundamentally the everlasting, wonderful light of the treasury of the Thus Come One, the unmoving , all-pervading perfection, the wonderful nature of true suchness! If within the true and permanent nature one seeks coming and going, confusion and enlightenment, or birth and death, there is nothing that can be obtained. Ananda! Why do I say that the five skandhas are basically the wonderful nature of true suchness, the treasury of the Thus Come One?” The Buddha taught in the Sati Patthana Sutra: “If you have patience and the will to see things as they truly are. If you would turn inwards to the recesses of your own minds and note with just bare attention (sati), not objectively without projecting an ego into the process, then cultivate this practice for a sufficient length of time, then you will see these five aggregates not as an entity but as a series of physical and mental processes. Then you wil not mistake the superficial for the real. You will then see that these aggregates arise and disappear in rapid succession, never being the same for two consecutive moments, never static but always in a state of flux, never being but always becoming.” And the Buddha continued to teach in the Lankavatara Sutra: “The Tathatagata is neither different nor not-different from the Skandhas.” (Skandhebhyo-nanyo-nanayas-tathagata).

The first aggregate is the Form Skandha. The Form Skandha or the aggregate of matter (four elements of our own body and other material objects such as solidity, fluidity, heat and motion comprise matter). The aggregate of form includes the five physical sense organs and the corresponding physical objects of the sense organs (the eyes and visible objects, the ears and sound, the nose and smell, the tongue and taste, the skin and tangible objects). There are several different categories of rupa. Inner rupa as the organs of sense (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body). Outer rupa as the objects of sense (colour, sound, smell, taste, touch). Visible objects (white, blue, yellow, red, etc.). Invisible objects (sound, smell, taste, touch). Invisible immaterial or abstract objects. Form is used more in the sense of “substance,” or “something occupying space which will resist replacement by another form.” So it has extension, it is limited and conditioned. It comes into existence when conditions are matured, as Buddhists would say, and staying as long as they continue, pass away. Form is impermanent, dependent, illusory, relative, antithetical, and distinctive. Things with shape and features are forms. Forms include all colors which can dim our eyes. Ordinarily speaking, we are confused with forms when we see them, hear sounds and be confused by them, smell scents and be confused by them, taste flavors and be confused by them, or feel sensations and be confused by them. In the Classic of the Way and Its Virtue, it is said: “The five colors blind the eyes; the five musical notes deafen the ears; and the five flavors dull the palate.” Therefore, in the Heart Sutra, the Buddha taught: “If we can empty out the Aggregate of Form, then we can realize a state of there being ‘no mind inside, no body outside, and no things beyond.’” If we can follow what the Buddha taught, we are no longer attached to Forms, we are totally liberated. According to the Suragama Sutra, the Buddha taught: “Ananda! Consider this example: when a person who has pure clear eyes look at clear, bright emptiness, he sees nothing but clear emptiness, and he is quite certain that nothing exists within it. If for no apparent reason, the peson does not move his eyes, the staring will cause fatigue, and then of his own accord, he will see strange flowers in space and other unreal appearances that are wild and disordered. You should know that it is the same with the skandha of form. Ananda! The strange flowers come neither from emptiness nor from the eyes.” The reason for this, Ananda, is that if the flowers were to come from emptiness, they would return to emptiness. If there is a coming out and going in, the space would not be empty. If emptiness were not empty, then it could not contain the appearance of the arisal and extinction of the flowers, just as Ananda’s body cannot contain another Ananda. If the flowers were to come from the eyes, they would return to the eyes. If the nature of the flowers were to come from the eyes, it would be endowed with the faculty of seeing. If it could see, then when it left the eyes it would become flowers in space, and when it returned it should see the eyes. If it did not see, then when it left the eyes it would obscure emptiness, and when it returned, it would obscure the eyes. Moreover, when you see the flowers, your eyes should not be obscured. So why it is that the eyes are said to be ‘pure and bright’ when they see clear emptiness? Therefore, you should know that the skandha of formis empty and false, because it neither depends on causes and conditions for existence nor is spontaneous in nature. The skandha of form relates to the physical body, while the remaining four concern the mind. The skandha of rupa (or that which has form). According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path,” matter contains and comprises the Four Great Primaries which are traditionally known as, solidity, fluidity, heat or temperature, and motion or vibration. However, they are not simply earth, water, fire and wind, though conventionally they may be so called. In Buddhist thought, especially in the Abhidhamma, the Higher Doctrine, they are more than that.

The second aggregate is the feeling or sensation. Feeling is knowledge obtained by the senses, feeling sensation. It is defined as mental reaction to the object, but in general it means receptivity, or sensation. Feeling is also a mind which experiences either pleasure, unpleasure or indifference (pleasant, unpleasant, neither pleasant nor unpleasant). The Aggregate of Feelings refers to the feelings that we experience. For instance, a certain state arises, we accept it without thinking about it, and we feel comfortable or uncomfortable. When we eat some delicious food and its flavor makes us feel quite pleasant, this is what we mean by feelings. If we wear a fine suit and it makes us feel quite attractive, this is also what we mean by feelings. If we live in a nice house that we feel like it, this is a feeling. If we drive a nice car that we love to have, this also a feeling. All experiences that our body accepts and enjoys are considered to be the Aggregate of Feelings. When we meet attractive objects, we develop pleasurable feelings and attachment which create karma for us to be reborn in samsara. In the contrary, when we meet undesirable objects, we develop painful or unpleasurable feelings which also create karma for us to be reborn in samsara. When we meet objects that are neither attractive nor unattractive, we develop indifferent feelings which develop ignorant self-grasping, also create karma for us to be reborn in samsara. All actions performed by our body, speech and mind are felt and experienced, Buddhism calls this “Feeling” and the Buddha confirmed in the Twelve Nidanas that “Feeling” creates karma, either positive or negative, which causes rebirths in samsara. Ananda! Consider the example of a person whose hands and feet are relaxed and at ease and whose entire body is in balance and harmony. He is unaware of his life-processes, because there is nothing agreeable or disagreeable in his nature. However, for some unknown reason, the person rubs his two hands together in emptiness, and sensations of roughness, smoothness, cold, and warmth seem to arise from nowhere between his palms. You should know that it is the same with the skandha of feeling. Ananda! All this illusory contact does not come from emptiness, nor does it come from the hand. The reason for this, Ananda, is that if it came from emptiness, then since it could make contact with the palms, why wouldn’t it make contact with the body? It should not be that emptiness chooses what it comes in contact with. If it came from the palms, it could be readily felt without waiting for the two palms to be joined. What is more, it it were to come from the palms, then the palms would know when they were joined. When they separated, the contact would return into the arms, the wrists, the bones, and the marrow, and you also should be aware of the course of its entry. It should also be perceived by the mind because it would behave like something coming in and going out of the body. In that case, what need would there be to put the two palms together to experience what is called ‘contact?’ Therefore, you should know hat the skandha of feeling is empty and false, because it neither depends on causes and conditions for existence nor is spontaneous in nature. According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path,” all our feelings are included in the group of “Aggregate of feeling”. Feelings are threefold: pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. They arise dependent on contact. Seeing a form, hearing a sound, smelling an odor, tasting a flavor, touching some tangible thing, cognizing a mental object, either an idea or a thought, man experiences feeling. When, for instance, eye, form and eye-consciousness (cakkhu-vinnana) come together, it is their coincidence that is called contact. Contact means the combination of the organ of sense, the object of sense, and sence-consciousness. When these are all present together there is no power or force that can prevent the arising of feeling. Practitioners of mindfulness should always contemplate various kinds of feelings such as pleasant, unpleasant and neutral feelings. To understand thoroughly how these feelings arise, develop after their arising, and pass away. To contemplate that “feelings” only arise when there is contact between the senses. To contemplate all of the above to have a better understanding of “feelings.” No matter what kinds of feelings, pleasant, unpleasant or indifference, they all lead to sufferings.

The third aggregate is the thought, cognition or perception, or aggregate of perception. Activity of recognition or identification or attaching of a name to an object of experience. Perceptions include form, sound, smell, taste, bodily impression or touch, and mental objects. The Aggregate of Thoughts refers to our thinking processes. When our five sense organs perceive the five sense objects, a variety of idle thoughts arise. many ideas suddenly come to mind and are suddenly gone: ideas of forms, ideas of feelings. According to the Surangama Sutra, Đức Phật dạy: “Ananda! Consider the example of a person whose mouth waters at the mention of sour plums, or the soles of whose feet tingle when he thinks about walking along a precipice. You should know that it is the same with the skandha of thinking. Ananda! You should know that the watering of the mouth caused by the mention of the plums does not come from the plums, nor does it come from the mouth.” The reason for this, Ananda, is that if it were produced from the plums, the plums should speak for themselves, why wait for someone to mention them? If it came from the mouth, the mouth itself should hear, and what need would there be to wait for the ear? If the ear alone heard, then why doesn’t the water come out of the ear? Thinking about walking along a precipice is explained in the same way. Therefore, you should know that the skandha of thinking is empty and false, since it neither depends upon causes and conditions for existence, nor is spontaneous in nature. According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path,” the function of perception is recognition of objects both physical and mental. Perception, like feeling, also is sixfold: perception of forms, sounds, smells, tastes, bodily contacts, and mental objects. Perception in Buddhism is not used in the sense that some Western philosophers like Bacon, or Descartes, etc. used the term, but as a mere sense perception. There is a certain affinity between awareness (a function of consciousness) and recognition (a function of perception). While consciousness becomes aware of an object, simultaneously the mental factor of perception takes the distinctive mark of the object and thus distinguishes it from other objects. This distinctive mark is instrumental in cognizing the object a second and a third time, and in fact, every time we become aware of the object. Thus, it is perception that brings about memory.

The fourth skandha is the Formation Skandha, impression, or mental formation. Aggregate of mental formation is a conditioned response to the object of experience including volition, attention, discrimination, resolve, etc. The Aggregate of Activities refers to a process of shifting and flowing. The Aggregate of Activities leads us to come and go, to go and come without end in a constant, ceaseless, flowing pattern. Our idle thoughts compel us to impulsively do good or do evil, and such thoughts then manifest in our actions and our words. According to the Surangama Sutra, the Buddha taught: “Ananda! Consider, for example, a swift rapids whose waves follow upon one another in orderly succession, the ones behind never overtaking the ones in front. You should know that it is the same with the skandha of mental formation. Ananda! Thus the nature of the flow does not arise because of emptiness, nor does it come into existence because of the water. It is not the nature of water, and yet it is not separate from either emptiness or water. The reason for this, Ananda, is that if it arose because of emptiness, then the inexhaustible emptiness throughout the ten directions wold become an inexhaustible flow, and all the worlds would inevitably be drown. If the swift rapids existed because of water, then their nature would differ from that of water and the location and characteristics of its existence would be apparent. If their nature were simply that of water, then when they became still and clear they would no longer be made up of water. Suppose it were to separate from emptiness and water, there isn’t anything outside of emptiness, and outside of water there isn’t any flow. Therefore, you should know that the skandha of mental formation is empty and false, since it neither depends upon causes and conditions for existence nor is spontaneous in nature.” According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path,” aggregate of volational formations include all mental factors except feeling and perception. The Abhidhamma speaks of fifty-two mental concomitants or factors (cetasika). Feeling and perception are two of them, but they are not volitional activities. The remaining fifty are collectively known as mental or volitional formations. Volition (cetana) plays a very important role in the mental realm. In Buddhism, no action is considered as “kamma” if that action is void of volition. And like feeling and perception, it is of six kinds: volition directed to forms, sounds, smells, tastes, bodily contacts and mental objects.

The fifth skandha is the Skandha of Consciousness. Aggregate of consciousness includes the six types of consciousness (seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and mental consciousness). Awareness or sensitivity to an object, i.e. the consciousness associates with the physical factors when the eye and a visible object come into contact, an awareness of a visible object occurs in our mind. Consciousness or a turning of a mere awareness into personal experience is a combined function of feeling, perception and mental formation. The Aggregate of Consciousness refers to the process of discrimination. As soon as a situation appears, we begin to discriminate in our thoughts about that situation. For example, when we see something beautiful, we have thoughts of fondness towards it; and when we hear ugly sounds, we have thoughts of dislike for those sounds. All such discriminations are part of this Aggregate. According to the Surangama Sutra, the Buddha taught: “Ananda! Consider, for example, a man who picks up a kalavinka pitcher and stops up its two holes. He lift up the pitcher filled with emptiness and, walking some thousand-mile way, presents it to another country. You should know that the skandha of consciousness is the same way. Thus, Ananda, the space does not come from one place, nor does it go to another. The reason for this, Ananda, is that if it were to come from another place, then when the stored-up emptiness in the pitcher went elsewhere, there would be less emptiness in the place where the pitcher was originally. If it were to enter this region, when the holes were unplugged and the pitcher was turned over, one would see emptiness come out. Therefore, you should know that the skandha of consciousness is empty and false, since it neither depends upon causes and conditions for existence nor is spontaneous in nature.” According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path”, Aggregate of consciousness is the most important of the aggregates; for it is the receptacle, so to speak, for all the fifty-two mental concomitants or factors, since without consciousness no mental factors are available. Consciousness and the factors are interrelated, inter-dependent, and co-existent. Aggregate of consciousness has six types and its function is varied. It has its basis and objects. All our feelings are experienced through the contact of sense faculties with the external world. Although there is this functional relationship between the faculties and their objects, for instance, eye with forms, ear with sounds, and so on, awareness comes through consciousness. In other words, sense objects can not be experienced with the particular sensitivity without the appropriate kind of consciousness. Now when eye and form are both present, visual consciousness arises dependent on them. Similarly with ear and sound, and so on, down to mind and mental objects. Again, when the three things, eye, form, and eye-consciousness come together, it is their coincidence that is called “contact”. From contact comes feeling and so on. Thus, consciousness originates through a stimulus arising in the five sense doors and the mind door, the sixth. As consciousness arises through the interaction of the sense faculties and the sense objects, it also is conditioned and not independent. It is not a spirit or soul opposed to matter. Thoughts and ideas which are food for the sixth faculty called mind are also dependent and conditioned. They depend on the external world which the other five sense faculties experience. The five faculties contact objects, only in the present, that is when objects come in direct contact with the particular faculty. The mind faculty, however, can experience the sense object, whether it is form, sound, smell, taste, or thought already cognized by the sense organs. For instance, a visible object, with which the eye came in contact in the past, can be visualized by the mind faculty just at this moment although the object is not before the eye. Similarly with the other sense objects. This is subjective, and it is difficult to experience some of these sensations. This sort of activity of the mind is subtle and sometimes beyond ordinary comprehension.

99. Four Elements

Four great elements of which all things are made (produce and maintain life). These four elements are interrelated and inseparable. However, one element may preponderate over another. They constantly change, not remaining the same even for two consecutive moments. According to Buddhism, matter endures only for 17 thought-moments, while scientists tell us that matter endures only for 10/27th of a second. No matter what we say, a human body is temporary; it is created artificially through the accumulation of the four elements. Once death arives, the body deteriorates to return to the soil, water-based substances will gradually dry up and return to the great water, the element of fire is lost and the body becomes cold, and the great wind no longer works within the body. At that time, the spirit must follow the karma each person has created while living to change lives and be reincarnated into the six realms, altering image, exchange body, etc in the cylce of births and deaths. According to the Sastra on the Prajna Sutra, there are four hundred and four ailments caused by the four elements in the body: One hundred one fevers caused by the Earth element. One hundred one fevers caused by the Fire element. One hundred one chills caused by the water element. One hundred one chills caused by the Wind element.

Solid matter or earth. Prithin means the element of extension, the substratum of matter. Without it objects have no form, nor can they occupy space. The qualities of hardness and softness are two conditions of this element. After death, these parts will decay and deteriorate to become soil. For this reason, they belong to the Great Soil. Earth is considered as one of the four poisonous snakes in a basket which imply the four elements in a body (of which a man is formed). According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path,” solidity is the element of expansion. It is due to this element of expansion that objects occupy space. When we see an object we only see something extended in space and we give a name to it. The element of expansion is present not only in solids, but in liquids, too; for when we see the sea stretched before us even then we see the element of expansion or Pathavi. The hardeness of rock and the softness of paste, the quality of heaviness and lightness in things are also qualities of the element of expansion, or are particular states of it.

Water, fluidity, or liquid. Unlike the earth element it is intangible. It is the element which enables the scattered atoms of matter to cohere together. After death, these water-based substances will dry up. In other words, they have returned to water. Fluidity is considered as one of the four poisonous snakes in a basket which imply the four elements in a body (of which a man is formed). According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path,” fluidity is the element of expansion. It is the element that heaps particles of matter together without allowing them to scatter. The cohesive force in liquids is very strong, for unlike solids, they coalesce (stick together) even after their separation. Once a solid is broken up or separated the particles do nor recoalesce. In order to join them it becomes necessary to convert the solid into a liquid by raising the temperature, as in the welding of metals. When we see an object we only see an expansion with limits, this expansion or shape is possible because of the cohesive force.

Fire or heat. Fire element includes both heat and cold, and fire element possesses the power of maturing bodies, they are vitalizing energy. Preservation and decay are due to this element. After death, the element of fire is lost and the body gradually becomes cold. Heat is considered as one of the four poisonous snakes in a basket which imply the four elements in a body (of which a man is formed). According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path,” temperature is the element of heat. It is the element which matures, intensifies or imparts heat to the other three primaries. The vitality of all beings and plants is preserved by this element. From every expansion and shape we get a sensation of heat. This is relative; for when we say that an object is cold, we only mean that the heat of that particular object is less than our body heat, in other words, the temperature of the object is lower than the temperature of our body. Thus, it is clear that the so-called “coldness”, too, is an element of heat or temperature, of course in a lower degree.

Air, wind, motion, or energy of motion. Air element is the element of motion in the body. After death, breathing ceases, body functions become catatonic or completely rigid because the great wind no longer works within the body. Air is considered as one of the four poisonous snakes in a basket which imply the four elements in a body (of which a man is formed). According to Most Venerable Piyadassi in “The Buddha’s Ancient Path,” wind or air is the element of motion. It is diplacement, This, too, is relative. To know whether a thing is moving or not we need a point which we regard as being fixed, by which to measure that motion, but there is no absolutely motionless object in the universe. So, the so-called stability, too, is an element of motion. Motion depends on heat. In the complete absence of heat atoms cease to vibrate. Complete absence of heat is only theoretical, we can not feel it, because then we would not exist, as we, too, are made of atoms.

100. Seven Elements

In the Surangama Sutra, book Three, Ananda said to the Buddha, “World Honored One, the Thus Come One has often spoken of the mixture and union of causes and conditions, saying that the transformations of everything in the world are created from the mixing and uniting of the four elements. Why does the Thus Come One reject causes and conditions and spontaneity as well? I do not know how to understand your meaning now. Please be so compassionate as to instruct us living beings in the final meaning of the Middle Way, in the Dharmas which are not idle theories.” The Buddha then taught Ananda about the Seven Great Elements as follows: “Ananda! You have renounced the small vehicle dharmas of the sound-hearers and those enlightened to conditions and have resolved to diligently seek unsurpassed Bodhi. Because of that, I will now explain the foremost truth to you. Why do you still bind yourself up in the idle theories and false thoughts current among people of the world. Although you are very learned, you are like someone who can discuss medicines but cannot distinguish a real medicine when it is placed before you. The Thus Come One says that you are truly pitiful. Listen attentively now as I explain this point in detail for you and also for those of the future who cultivate the Great Vehicle, so that you all can penetrate to the real appearance.Ananda! According to what you said, the mixing and uniting of the four elements create the myriad transformations of everything in the world. Ananda! If the nature of those elements does not mix and unite in substance, then they cannot combine with other elements, just as empty space cannot combine with forms. Assuming that they do not mix and unite, they are then only in a process of transformation in which they depend on one another for existence from beginning to end. In the course of tranformation they are produced and extinguished, being born and then dying, dying and then being born, in birth after birth, in death after death, the way a torch spun in a circle forms an unbroken wheel of flame. Ananda! The process is like water becoming ice and ice becoming water again.” The Buddha told Ananda:

Ananda! Consider the nature of earth; its coarse particles make up the great earth, its fine particles make up motes of dust, down to and including motes of dust bordering upon emptiness. Ananda! If one divides those fine motes of dust, their appearance is at the boundaries of form. Then divide those into seven parts. Ananda! If mote of dust bordering upon emptiness is divided and becomes emptiness, it should be that emptiness can give rise to form. Just now you asked if mixing and uniting doesn’t bring about the transformations of everything in the world. You should carefully consider how much emptiness mixes and unites to make a single mote of dust bordering upon emptiness, since it makes no sense to say that dust bordering on emptiness is composed of dust bordering on emptiness. Moreover, since motes of dust bordering upon emptiness can be reduced to emptiness, of how many motes of such form as this must emptiness be composed? When these motes of form mass together, a mass of form does not make emptiness; when emptiness is massed together, a mass of emptiness does not make form. Besides, although form can be divided, how can emptiness be massed together? You simply do not know that in the treasury of the Thus Come One, the nature of form is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true form. Pure at its origin, it pervades the dharma realm. It accords with living beings’ minds, in response to their capacity to know. It is experienced to whatever extent is dictated by the law of karma. Ignorant of this fact, people in the world are so deluded as to assign its origin to causes and conditions or to spontaneity. These mistakes, which arise from the discriminations and reasoning processes of the conscious mind, are nothing but the play of empty words which have no real meaning.

Ananda! Fire, which has no nature of its own, depends upon various causes and conditions for its existence. Consider a family in the city that has not yet eaten. When they wish to prepare food, they hold up a speculum to the sun, seeking fire. Ananda! Let us look into your suggestion that the fire comes forth from mixing and uniting. By way of example, you and I and the twelve hundred fifty Bhiksus unite together to form a community. However, a careful analysis of the community reveals that every member composing it has his own body, birthplace, clan, and name. For instance, Sariputra is a Brahman, Uruvilva is of the Kasyapa clan, and, Ananda, come from the Gautama family. Ananda! Suppose fire existed because of mixing and uniting. When the hand holds up the speculum to the sun to seek fire, does the fire come out of the speculum? Does it come out of the moxa tinder? Or does it come from the sun? Suppose, Ananda, that it came from the sun. Not only would it burn the moxa tinder in your hand, but as it came across the groves of trees, it should burn them up as well. Suppose that it came from the speculum. Since it came out from within the speculum to ignite the moxa tinder, why doesn’t the speculum melt? Yet your hand that holds it feels no heat; how, then, could the speculum melt? Suppose that the fire came from the moxa tinder. Then why is fire generated only when the bright mirror comes into contact with the dazzling light? Furthermore, Ananda, on closer examination, you will find the speculum held in hands, the sun high up in the sky, and moxa tinder grown from the ground. Where does the fire come from? How can it travel some distance to reach here? The sun and the speculum cannot mix and unite, since they are far apart from each other. Nor can it be that the fire exists spontaneously, without an origin. You simply do not know that in the treasury of the Thus Come One, he nature of fire is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true fire. Pure at its origin, it pervades the dharma realm. It accords with living beings’ minds, in response to their capacity to know. Ananda! You should know that fire is generated in the place where a speculum is held up to the sunlight, and fire will be generated everywhere if specula are held up to the sunlight throughout the dharma realm. Since fire can come forth throughout the whole world, can there be any fixed place to which it is confined? It is experienced to whatever extentis dictated by the law of karma. People in the world, ignorant of this fact, are so deluded as to assign its origin to causes and conditions or spontaneity. These mistakes, which arise from the discriminations and reasoning processes of the conscious mind, are nothing but the play of empty words which have no real meaning.

Ananda! Water is by nature unstable. It may keep on flowing or come to a stop. Kapila, Chakra, Padma, and Hasta, and other great magicians of Sravasti often hold up instruments to the light of the full moon at midnight to extract from the moon the essence of water to mix with their drugs. Does the water come out of the crystal ball? Does it exist of itself in space? Or, does it come from the moon? Ananda! Suppose the water came from the distant moon. Water then should also flow from all the grass and trees when the moonlight passes over them on its way to the crystal ball. If it does flow from them, why wait for it to come out of the crystal ball? If it does not flow from the trees, then it is clear that the water does not descend from the moon. If it came from the crystal balls, then it should flow from the crystal all the time. Why would they have to wait for mindnight and the light of the full moon to receive it? If it came from space, which is by nature boundless, it would flow everywhere, until everything between earth and sky was submerged. How, then, could there still be travel by water, land, and space? Furthermore, upon closer examination you will find that the moon moves through the sky, the crystal ball is held in by the hand, and the pan for receiving the water is put there by someone; but, where does the water that flows into the pan come from? The moon and the crystal balls cannot mix or unite, since they are far apart. Nor can it be that the essence of water exists spontaneously without an origin. You still do not know that in the treasury of the Thus Come One the nature of water is true empty, and the nature of emptiness is true water. Pure in its origin, it pervades the dharma realm. It accords with living beings’ minds, in response to their capacity to know. A crystal ball is held up at a certain place, and there water comes forth. If crystal balls were held up throughout the dharma realm, then throughout the dharma realm, water would come forth. Since water can come forth throughout the entire world, can there be any fixed place which it is confined? It is experienced to whatever extent is dictated by the law of karma. People in the world, ignorant of this fact, are so deluded as to assign their origin to causes and conditions or to spontaneity. These mistakes, which arise from the discriminations and reasoning processes of the conscious mind, are nothing but the play of empty words which have no real meaning.

Ananda! By nature, the wind has no substance, and its movements and stillness are erratic. You always adjust your robe as you enter the great assembly. When the corner of your ‘samghati’ brushes the person next to you, there is a slight breeze which stirs against that person’s face. Does this wind come from the corner of the Kashaya, does it arise from emptiness, or is it produced from the face of the person brushed by the wind? Ananda! If the wind comes from the corner of the ‘kashaya,’ you are then clad in the wind, and your kashaya should fly about and leave your body. I am now speaking Dharma in the midst of the assembly, and my robe remains motionless and hangs straight down. You should look closely at my robe to see whether there is any wind in it. It can not be that the wind is stored somewhere in the robe, either. If it arose from emptiness, why wouldn’t the wind brush against the man even when your robe did not move? Emptiness is constant in nature; thus, the wind should constantly arise. When there was no wind, the emptiness should disappear. You can perceive the disappearance of the wind; but, what would the disappearance of emptiness look like? If it did arise and disappear, it could not be what is called emptiness. Since it is what is called emptiness, how can it generate wind? If the wind came from the face of the person by your side, it would blow upon you while you set your robe in order. Why would it blow backwards upon the person from whom it was generated? Upon closer examination, you will find that the robe is set in order by yourself, the face blown by the wind belongs to the person by your side, and the emptiness is tranquil and not involved in movement. Where, then, does the wind come from that blows in this place? The wind and emptiness cannot mix and unite, since they are different from each other. Nor should it be that the wind spontaneously exists without an origin. You still do not know that in the treasury of the Thus Come One the nature of wind is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true wind. Pure at its origin, it pervades the dharma realm. It accords with living beings’s minds, in response to their capacity to know. Ananda! In the same way that you, as one person, move your robe slightly, and a small wind arises, so a wind arises in all countries if there is a similar movement throughout the dharma realm. Since it can be produced throughout the world, how can there be any fixed place to which it is confined? It is experienced to whatever extent is dictated by the law of karma. People in the world, ignorant of this fact, are so deluded as to assign their origin to causes and conditions or to spontaneity. These mistakes, which arise from the discriminations and reasoning processes of the conscious mind, are nothing but the play of empty words which bear no real meaning.

Ananda! The nature of emptiness has no shape; it is only apparent because of form. For instance, Sravasti is far from the river, so when the Sratriyas, Brahmans, Vaishyas, Sudras, Bharadvajas, Chandalas, and so forth, build their homes there, they dig wells seeking water. Where a foot of earth is removed, there is a foot of emptiness; where as many as ten feet of earth are removed, there are ten feet of emptiness. The depth of the emptiness corresponds to the amount of earth removed. Does this emptiness come out of the dirt, does it exist because of the digging, or does it arise of itself without a cause? Moreover, Ananda, suppose this emptiness arose of itself without any cause. Why wasn’t it unobstructed before the earth was dug? Quite the contrary, one saw only the great earth; there was no emptiness evident in it. If emptiness came about because of the removal of the earth, we should have seen it entering the well as the earth was removed. If emptiness was not seen entering the well when the earth was first removed, how can we say that emptiness came about bcause of the removal of the earth? If there is no going in or coming out, then there is no difference between the earth and emptiness. Why, then, doesn’t emptiness come out of the well along with the earth in the process of digging? If emptiness appeared because of the digging, then the digging would bring out emptiness instead of the earth. If emptiness does not come out because of the digging, then the digging yields only earth. Why, then, do we see emptiness appear as the well is dug? You should consider this event more carefully. Look into it deeply, and you will find that the digging comes from the person’s hand as it means of conveyance, and the earth exists because of a change in the ground. But what cause the emptiness to appear? The digging and the emptiness, one being substantial and the other insubstantial, do not function on the same plane. They do not mix and unite. Nor can it be that emptiness exists spontaneously without an origin. The nature of emptiness is completely pervasive, it is basically unmoving. You should know that emptiness and earth, water, fire, and wind are together called the five elements. Their natures are true and perfectly fused, and all are the treasury of the Thus Come One, fundamentally devoid of production and extinction. Ananda! Your mind is murky and confused, and you do not awaken to the fact that the source of the four elements is none other than the treasury of the Thus Come One. Why do you not take a look at emptiness to see whether it is subject to such relativities as coming and going? Do you know at all that in the treasury of the Thus Come One the nature of enlightenment is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true enlightenment. Pure at its origin, it pervades the dharma realm. It accords with living beings’ minds, in response to their capacity to know. Ananda! If in one place there is a well empty of earth, there will be emptiness filling up that one place. If there are wells empty of earth in the ten directions, there will be emptiness filling them up in the ten directions. Since it fills up the ten directions, is there any fixed location in which emptiness is found? It is experienced to whatever extent is dictated by the law of karma. People in the world, ignorant of this fact, are deluded as to assign their origin to causes and conditions or to spontaneity. These mistakes, which arise from the discriminations and reasoning processes of the conscious mind, are nothing but the play of empty words which bear no real meaning.

Ananda! Seeing-awareness does not perceive by itself. It depends upon form and emptiness for its existence. You are now in the Jeta Grove where you see brightness in the morning and darkness in the evening. Deep in the night you will see brightness when the moon arises and darkness when no moon is visible. The brightness and darkness are discerned by the seeing. Is the seeing identical in substance with brightness, darkness, and emptiness, or are they not the same substance? Are they the same and yet different, or are they not the same and yet not different? Ananda! Suppose seeing were one with brightness, darkness, and emptiness. It so happens that where there is darkness there is no brightness, and where there is brightness there is no darkness, because the two cancel each other out. If it were one with brightness, it would cease to exist in darkness. Such being the case, how could it perceive both brightness and darkness. If brightness and darkness differ from each other, how can they form a unity with seeing, which transcends production and destruction. Suppose that the essence of seeing were not of one substance with brightness and darkness, and that you were separate from light, darkness, and emptiness. Then what shape and appearance would the source of the seeing have, as you distinguish it? In the absence of darkness, brightness, and emptiness, the seeing would be the same as hair on a turtle or horns on a hare. How could we establish the seeing-perception without the presence of the three qualities of brightness, darkness, and emptiness? How could we say that the seeing was one with darkness and brightness, since brightness and darkness are opposite? Yet, how can we say that it was different from the three qualities mentioned, since in their absence the seeing-perception can never be established. How could we say that the seeing was not one with emptiness, since no boundary is established between them when they are separated from each other? How could we say that they were not different, since the seeing always remains unchanged, regardless of whether it is perceiving brightness or perceiving darkness. You should examine this even greater detail, investigate it minutely, consider and contemplate it carefully. The light comes from the sun and darkness from the absence of the moon; penetration belongs to emptiness, and solidity returns to the earth. From what does the essence of seeing arise? Seeing has awareness, and emptiness is inanimate; they do not mix and unite. Nor can it be that the essence of seeing arise spontaneously without an origin. If the faculties of seeing, hearing, and knowing are by nature all pervasive and unmoving, you should know that the stable, boundless emptiness, together with the unstable elements such as earth, water, fire, and wind, are together known as the six elements. They are , in nature, true and perfectly fused and thus are the treasury of the Thus Come One, fundamentally devoid of production and destruction. Ananda! Your nature is so submerged that you have not realized that your seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing are basically the treasury of the Thus Come One. You should contemplate seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing to see whether they are subject to production and extinction; whether they are identical or different; whether they are not subject to production and extinction; and whether they are not identical and not different. You still don’t know that in the treasury of the Thus Come One the nature of seeing is enlightened brightness; the essence of enlightenment is bright seeing. Pure at its origin, it pervades the dharma realm. It accords with living beings’ minds in response to their capacity to know. Consider, for example, the sense-organ of seeing. Its seeing pervades the dharma realm. The same is true of the lustre of the wonderful virtue of hearing, smelling, tasting, contact, and knowing. Since they fill emptiness in the ten directions throughout the dharma realm, how could there be any fixed location in which they are found? It is experienced to whatever extent is dictated by the law of karma. People in the world, ignorant of this fact, are so deluded as to assign its origin to causes and conditions or to spontaneity. These mistakes, which arise from the discriminations and reasoning processes of the conscious mind, are nothing but the play of empty words which have no real meaning.

Ananda! The nature of consciousness has no source, but is a false manifestation based on the six organs and objects. Now, take a look at the entire holy assembly gathered here. As you glance at each one in turn, everything you see is like what is seen in a mirror, where nothing has any special distinction. However, your consciousness will identify them one by one, for example, Manjusri, Purna, Maudgalyayana, Subhuti, and Sariputra. Does the discerning faculty of the conscious mind come from seeing, from forms, or from emptiness, or does it arise suddenly without a cause? Ananda! Suppose your consciousness came from seeing. If there were no brightness, darkness, form, and emptiness. If these four did not exist, you could not see. With seeing non-existent, what would be the origin of your consciousness? If your consciousness arose from form rather than from seeing, it would not see either in brightness or in darkness. In the absence of brightness and darkness, it would not see form or emptiness, either. In the absence of form, where would your consciousness come from? If it came from emptiness, it is neither an appearance nor the seeing. Since it does not see, it is unable by itself to discern brightness, darkness, form, or emptiness. Since it is not an appearance, it is in itself devoid of external conditions. Therefore, there is no place for seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing to be established. Since its location is devoid of these two, the consciousness that arises from emptiness would be the same as non-existent. Even if it did exist, it would not be the same as a thing. Even if your consciousness came forth from it, how would it discern anything? If it suddenly comes forth without a cause, why can’t you discern the moonlight within the sunlight. You should investigate this even more carefully, discriminate it in detail, and look into it. The seeing belongs to your eyes; the appearances are considered to be the environment; what has an appearance is existent; what is without any appearance is non-existent. What, then, are the conditions that cause the consciousness to come into being? The consciousness moves and the seeing is quiet; they do not mix and unite. Smelling, hearing, awareness, and knowing are the same way. Nor should it be that the condition of consciousness exists spontaneously without an origin. If this conscious mind does not come from anywhere, you should know that the same is true of the mind, which makes distinctions, and the seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing, which are all complete and tranquil. Their nature is without an origin. They and emptiness, earth, water, fire, wind are together called the seven elements. Their true natures are perfectly fused, and all are the treasury of the Thus Come One, fundamentally devoid of production and extinction. Ananda! Your mind is coarsed and shallow, and so you do not realize that the seeing and hearing are the treasury of the Thus Come One, and you do not discover that knowing is the same way. You should contemplate these six locations of consciousness: are they the same or different? Are they empty or existent? Are they neither the same nor different? Are they neither empty nor existent? You basically do not know that in the treasury of the Thus Come One the nature of consciousness is bright and knowing. Enlightened brightness is the true consciousness. The wonderful enlightenment is tranquil and pervades the dharma realm. It encompasses the emptiness of the ten directions and issues forth in it. How can it have a location? It is experienced to whatever extent is dictated by the law of karma. People in the world, ignorant of this fact, are so deluded as to assign its origin to causes and conditions or to spontaneity. These mistakes, which arise from the discriminations and reasoning processes of the conscious mind, are nothing but the play of empty words which have no real meaning.