Happening Now in Buddha’s Mind: The Sutra That Explains the Profound Meaning
Now we find ourselves in Buddha’s mind. The sutra says that this mind is vast and "well-apportioned," so there is room for everyone, you included.
In the first post in this series on The Sutra That Explains the Profound Meaning, we presented the "Ouch! Ouch!" koan and The Three Kinds of Essencelessness.
Now we find ourselves in Buddha’s mind. The sutra says that this mind is vast and "well-apportioned," so there is room for everyone, you included.
In this post we’ll introduce you to some essential context that's necessary to more fully appreciate the corner you’re probably in. We'll then share the central organizing principle of the ten chapters that make up this sutra, and finally turn to the beginning of the sutra for the central question that will be addressed in various guises throughout the text.
The sutra is an expression of the Buddha’s mind
If you are interested in sutra study, you might appreciate this tip—every sutra begins with five considerations (and we add a sixth) that foreshadow the teaching(s) that will be delivered throughout the sutra. If you glaze over during the introductory paragraphs, you might miss the subtle meaning of all that follows.
Here are the six:
- Who heard the sutra that is now sharing it with us (always Ananda);
- When it was heard (this sutra was heard “at one time”);
- Who gave the teaching (the Buddha);
- Where it was given (more on that below);
- Who received it (specifically who was in the audience when it was first taught—we'll return to this in future posts);
- And the question that begins the sutra (more on that in a moment).
Now let’s look at #4: where was the The Sutra That Explains the Profound Meaning first taught?
As the sutra begins, we find the Buddha, "Absorbed in the Dharma of the nonexistence of defining characteristics [...]." "Absorbed" means "samadhi," so that’s a hint at where the Buddha is at, i.e. "the samadhi of the nonexistence of defining characteristics." Further, the Buddha was in
We pause to highlight just a few of the words here: immeasurable; supreme brilliance; great rays of light; innumerable universes; limitless; and unimpeded.
Like we said, we begin the The Sutra That Explains the Profound Meaning in the mind of Buddha. Without sliding past the place where this teaching is offered, and without lingering in this immeasurable, limitless, well-apportioned palace, let’s now turn and look at the central organizing principle.
Central Organizing Principle
The basis, the path, and the fruit. That’s it.
The great dharma master Woncheuk (613–696), commenting on the central organizing principle, said,
An ultimate basis refers to the object of awareness—not any old conditioned object, but the ultimate object. What is the ultimate object? We’ll return to that in a moment.
The path of practice refers especially to stopping and seeing, and specifically how that unfolds. Implicit is the accomplishment of thoroughgoing ethical inquiry (aka, the precepts). One of the foundations of the Buddha's crystal palace described above is "the root of supreme virtue." This refers to purifying all unwholesome karma and going beyond the wholesome and unwholesome.
The path of practice rises from that ultimate basis, so you might say that this sutra teaches the practice of awakening. And because the basis and the practice are the ultimate, they naturally realize the Buddhahood fruit.
The first four chapters in The Sutra That Explains the Profound Meaning define the ultimate as true reality or tathata. The next five chapters elucidate the path. It is here that we find both the Three Natures (imaginary; other-dependent; and ultimate), a detailed teaching on stopping and seeing (the likely topic for this fall here on the Vine), as well as the stages of the Bodhisattva path. The final chapter focuses on the fruit or result, i.e. the Buddha’s bodies and activities to awaken beings.
The vital question
One of the Bodhisattva interlocutors in the first chapter is named One Who Asks in Accord with Principle. They ask the following to a Bodhisattva named One Who Explains the Thought That is the Profound Meaning:
"'All phenomena are nondual, all phenomena are nondual,' how is it that all phenomena are nondual?"
Woncheuk notes that according to the Yogācārabhūmi there are generally five types of questions:
- Asking due to not understanding;
- Asking due to doubt;
- Asking for the benefit and well-being of others;
- Asking to test;
- Asking to provoke.
Woncheuk classifies One Who Asks in Accord with Principle’s question as the third type. You see, both of the Bodhisattvas involved in this drama are highly advanced trainees, described in the sutra as being "...firmly settled and engaged in a vast state [...]." So, One Who Asks in Accord with Principle truly has the capacity to ask in accord with principle—and does. Both One Who Asks in Accord with Principle and One Who Explains the Thought That is the Profound Meaning play fully with the great mystery, asking a question for our benefit. In other words, they do their Bodhisattva practice.
Sutra study, of course, is about this practice (the same relationship we highlighted above between the basis, the path, and the fruit). You may find that to ask a question for the benefit and well-being of others requires a shift from self-regard (letting go of stinky self-obsessions) to an awareness of the group and the aspiration to uplift the dharma together.
In that spirit, we invite you to raise a question in the comment section for this post of this third type. What can you ask that will be of benefit and well-being for others (especially in terms of their realizing the fruit of Buddhahood)?
But back to One Who Asks in Accord with Principle’s question, "All phenomena are nondual, all phenomena are nondual,' how is it that all phenomena are nondual?"
Don’t slide by this question! It is raised for your benefit and well-being! However, to penetrate the depths of a question like this, you might need to sit quietly with it for a long while...so take your time.
But we’ll give you one suggestion about one aspect of the question: there is a serious rub between "phenomena" and "nondual." Each and every phenomena, after all, is dual, as it is always this thing that is not this other thing. So how is it, how could it be, that things that only arise in duality are nondual?
Fortunately, we have One Who Explains the Thought That is the Profound Meaning to first unpack what is meant by "phenomena." They say,
"With respect to all phenomena, 'all phenomena' are of just two kinds: conditioned and unconditioned."
What’s the meaning of this? Conditioned dharmas are all things created by karma through dependent origination. Unconditioned dharmas (from the Yogacara perspective) include several things that have no referent: suchness, space, motionlessness, and nirvana.
More simply put, Woncheuk kindly cites Asanga saying,
"Conditioned is conceptual. Thus, unconditioned means nonconceptual."
And further, Gunamati saying,
"Grasping at characteristics is conditioned; not grasping is unconditioned."
So now we understand that the "all phenomena" in One Who Asks in Accord with Principle’s question refers to conditioned and unconditioned phenomena and the unconditioned is nonconceptual and not graspable. One might think, then, that the unconditioned (i.e., suchness, etc.) is nondual but conditioned things are dual. But then all phenomena would not be nondual.
In order to more fully appreciate how it is that all phenomena are nondual, we need to understand the Three Natures. So we’ll first explain those three and then return to summarizing One Who Explains the Thought That is the Profound Meaning’s answer to the question at hand.
The Three Natures of Cognition through which we perceive the world
The Three Natures:
1. The imagined nature, i.e, our conceptual projections;
2. The dependent nature, i.e., the flow of cause and effect;
3. The perfected nature, i.e., the ultimate reality, aka, suchness.
The first nature is the conventional way of seeing the world, and the source of suffering. The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism (DDB), succinctly summarizes this perspective as follows:
The second nature of cognition is seeing that all phenomena are dependent on other phenomena which in turn arise dependent on other phenomena. DDB:
For the third nature of cognition, the perfected, ultimate nature, DDB has:
Given the Three Natures, so what?
A Bodhisattva finds liberation in directly, distinctly perceiving each of the Three Natures. For example, the sutra says,
At this point, we recommend reading the above a few times with a deep, calm mind.
The incisive answer
Now, what do these Three Natures have to do with the two kinds of phenomena, the conditioned and unconditioned?
One Who Explains the Thought That is the Profound Meaning continues their answer with this explanation:
So, neither the conditioned nor the unconditioned are conditioned nor unconditioned. Then what the heck are we talking about?
There are at least two ways to understand the above explanation. First, although One Who Asks in Accord with Principle is speaking from the perfected, ultimate nature, when beings hear conditioned and unconditioned they hear both terms of the imagined or imputed nature of cognitions.
So, for most beings, both are just ideas. They are neither the perfected conditioned nor the perfected unconditioned.
For the second way of understanding how all phenomena are nondual, both the conditioned and the unconditioned, we’ll turn to The Analysis of the Middle and the Extremes, a text composed by the Bodhisattva Maitreya and brought into the human world by Asanga (quoted in Woncheuk’s commentary):
The difference between those who perceive the world through imagery, imputed projections and a wise person is further explained in the sutra through this analogy: a magician stands at a crossroads gathering grasses, leaves, twigs, pebbles or stones, and displays various magical forms, such as a herd of elephants, collections of gems, pearls, lapis lazuli, conch-shells, crystal, and coral; collections of wealth, grain, treasuries, and granaries.
A confused person looks at these and thinks that the elephants, gems, and treasuries really exist. They emphatically apprehend and emphatically assert how they see and hear. They make conventional declarations about what is true and what is false. They need to take a closer look.
Those who aren’t confused but are endowed with wisdom recognize that these are grasses, twigs, pebbles, and stones. They hear and see these things and think: “This herd of elephants, etc., does not exist.” They don’t make conventional declarations about what is true and false.
The sutra, and our next post, then takes up the issue of the “inexpressible reality.” More to say about that soon. For now, our lips are sealed.
Sources
Wisdom of Buddha: The Samdhinirmocana Sutra, translated by John Powers.
The Samdhinirmocana Sutra, Volume 1 and 2: A Modern Translation of the Scripture with Two Foundational Commentaries, translated and commentary by Yasunari Kato.
The Noble Great Vehicle Sūtra: Unraveling the Intent (Saṃdhinirmocana), translated and edited by the Buddhavacana Translation Group's Gregory Forgues and Casey Kemp.
Recently at Shake Out Your Sleeves And Go
Shake Out Your Sleeves And Go