TUỆ HIỂN LỘ CẢNH GIỚI CHÂN THẬT

Tài liệu này được trích ra từ chuỗi bài giảng về
KINH HOA NGHIÊM – Bài 488
do THIỀN SƯ THÍCH TUỆ HẢI
thuyết giảng tại Chùa Long Hương vào năm 2022.

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After cultivating and perfectly completing the virtue of Universal Goodness and All-Excellent Conduct, the prac-titioners’ wisdom is like that of an enlightened being as there is no disparity between theirs and an enlightened being’s perfect wisdom. So then, this person will then have the true knowing wisdom, directly seeing the reality of all phenomena. This as-is reality, true existence or truth body is unlike the realm of this earthly world. If we have not fully awakened to the cosmos of perfect absorption, then to us, there are still disparities in this phenomenal world. However, once we are fully immersed, we automatically exist as the very limitless enlightened wisdom. There is no other wisdom higher than this wisdom, but this supreme wisdom is not the same as the “conscious mind’s all-seeing and all-knowing awareness” as we have thought for so long. The superlative wisdom is not the subjectifying mind that simply sees all and knows all per se!

For example, after we rest for a long period of time in the quiescent mental sphere of emptiness and purity, we become devoid of thoughts. Then, our mind is pervading everywhere, and this mind sees and knows everything everywhere. That’s the way we have learned the Dharma, isn’t it? Speaking about our mind in this way is simple enough for everyone to understand and to nod in approval, because when the mind is pure, everything can be seen more clearly, more brilliantly and more transparently – the mind no longer makes any mistake with any outer, objectified appearances.

Since 1992, I composed the following verses:

From now on, to leisurely live in happiness

Brightly clear and non-mistaken about each and every condition

Non-mistaken, unconfused, unerring

Simply radiant,  just like that – how is it possible to fully express it!

At that moment, I thought that my clear, lucid knowing would never err as far as any outer phenomenon is concerned, so I misled myself into believing that I have reached the superlative truth. “From now on, to leisurely live in happiness” means that when one reaches this truth, practice exertion is no longer required; everything becomes effortless, because at that moment, the mind was ever radiant, ever knowing, ever penetrating, and ever pervading. This mind was unerring because it could clearly see everything everywhere, whether near or far, large or small.  I erroneously thought that I have reached ultimate fruition, because such experience of direct seeing and direct knowing was already too wonderful, and not so simple and easily accessible to all.

Then, slowly, I realized, “Oh my! This is not it!” It took me many years to finally realize that I put myself in a dead-lock believing in this so-called truth for many years from 1987 until 1995 when I finally discovered that this was not “it”! After I became Abbot of this temple, one time during a sealed retreat, some transformation took place and it caused me to look at everything from a very different perspective. It was because I suddenly heard a voice in space, and upon hearing the sound of it, the whole of space, too, is clearly resonating this very same sound in synchroneity. At that very moment, I began to fathom everything profoundly different, and I nearly decided to leave this physical body behind after so many years of facing ponderous challenges in life.

So then, at that precise momentness, it was actually “this all-knowing giving birth to the cosmic totality true knowing.”  The very first thing that took place was that I was no longer being subjectified – the I, the self, was no longer the subject. Clearly, there was no longer an “I” who knew. First of all, the “I” who used to know pervadingly came to a stoppage. For example, right now, I know. Right now, this knowing-awareness is my self or my beingness. Right now, I hear, I see, I smell, I taste, I touch, and I know, and I call myself “me” or “my self.” However, the moment true knowing manifests is when the “I”, the “me” completely collapses and is self-exhausted.

In the past, I used to tell others of the following story.  Once, a monk asked me: “Now, if I want to attain the Dharma truth, what should I do and how should I prepare?” The verbatim question was “How to prepare?” So I told him: “To prepare is to not have anything left to prepare for, that is the best preparation!” That was how I answered this monk.

To begin with, we think that we can relax, and let go of our body and mind all the way until there is no more to let go, and ultimately, we need to let go of that letting go, too. This is just an example. I have shown many people this practice, and there was a time when I tried to do the same. I tried to let go of my body and mind, and then let go of my letting go, so the sense of my beingness collapsed and I lost myself, or experience a sense of no-self for a moment. This experience happened because of the way I implemented the practice of letting go, and it means that I had to use effort to arrive at this. Sometimes it happened for five or ten minutes, sometimes for a whole day, and other times up to three or five days. This experience was quite usual for me at that time, although it was not meditative absorption. I can now assert that it was not meditative absorption; however, even though it was not, one can be completely without body and mind for many days. In 1993 it was like that for me while I was in retreat.

Until 1995, I finally came to terms with a totally different view than before. In the past, when I lost myself or when my “individualistic self” collapsed, so to speak, the “I” was still the one that knew everything and heard everything pervadingly. In general, in terms of sound, I simply had a direct knowing that extended as far as the limits of that sound; the same with form. Yet, strangely enough, while this conscious knowing still existed, I was also aware that there was no body and mind. This conscious knowing was not body and mind. We cannot underestimate this knowing, because it simply knows and is aware of everything pervasively without any mental mind generation. There was absolutely no movement of the conscious mind at that time. There was absolutely no thought in that mental state in order to compare or contrast. This state was quite similar to the unborn state where there was no birth and no mind, because there was absolutely no mental arising at all. However, when it comes to directly knowing the realm of truth, it is very different, absolutely strikingly different, because there is no longer an “I” as a subject to see the truth, nor an “I” who sees the true nature of all dharmas.

For example, at a certain stage of meditative absorption, when we look at things, or hear sounds, we thoroughly and directly fathom the truth of form is formless and of sound soundless. If we remain in this absorption, we will definitely have a lucid direct knowing that even though this form appears, it is immovable, and this sound, too, even though it is heard, is equally immovable. Because everything rests in its own utterly immovable beingness, it prompts us to think that our seeing and hearing is Suchness, and that Suchness is this form and sound, and this form and sound are pure Suchness. However, once we arrive at this state, we will realize with clarity that it is still not yet the cosmic totality perfect truth. It is nevertheless not so simple to realize this miscue though, because, if everything, seemingly and presumably, is already Suchness, whether seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, then what else is there to further anticipate? However, this is not, definitely not yet, the realm of truth or true Dharma-body!

So what does it mean when True Wisdom, and not simply true knowing, appears? First of all, this True Wisdom is, in one aspect, similar to the same all-knowing awaereness as in the old days. That is, prior to the dawning of True Wisdom, we also knew pervasively. We also penetrated the truth of all dharmas’ genuine form as Voidness without any characteristic signs. That was the extensity of this conscious mind’s all-knowing; it was simply “self-knowing or mind’s all-knowing.” This all-knowing also pervades, quiescent, empty-hollow, without any thought movement. So True Wisdom and conscious mind’s all-knowing are quite similar in the sense that they are both clear, radiant, lucidly unimpeded, and both directly know form and sound synchronically.

In general, it means that all forms and sounds appear synchronically in singularity to the practitioner. How-ever, that is not yet True Wisdom! Thus, once we reach here, we can assert that we can only arrive at this state progressively from one phase to another, and not instan-taneously.

In 1995 when the noumenal state of perfect truth manifested, I, literally, lost myself once again – the slightest trace of self was utterly exhausted so that it now became the “totality all-pervasive knowing.”  Prior to that, I subjectively and pervadingly knew everything. It was my mind’s all-knowing that knew everything pervadingly. Even so, there was still a subtle self somewhere somehow, although this subtle self was not conspicuously visible. By contrast, without any spiritual realization, every little thing involves this self, so every-thing turns out to be I see, I hear, I smell, I touch, I know and I understand.

When both the coarse and subtle ‘I’ completely exhaust, one is rendered utterly powerless. The “I” absolutely has no more impact on this body and mind! One’s body and mind become just as another dharma or phenomenon that is being present in the state of perfect truth; it is no longer one’s own body and mind per se. It is really truly just one single dharma! Apparently, the body can be sitting on the cushion, on this land, on this globe or in space, but it is exceedingly, indescribably minuscule. Compared to the globe, this body is excessively diminutive and it is simply a tiny, tiny dot on the surface of the globe. Once the totality all-pervasiveness manifests, it lucidly knows both the bright and the dark side of the globe synchronically, whereas now, the side facing the sun is bright and the other side is dark, which is something everyone is already aware of.

The point is that, although the body is still there, the old and familiar all-knowing conscious mind that we are priorly accustomed to has vanished.  At that point, there is no longer an “I” that is aware of everything!  For the time being, we can settle for a surface-level understanding of this idea. Nevertheless, at that moment of genuine experience, the old and the familiar have utterly exhausted, leaving no traces left. The body and mind are no longer in control, and are rendered completely powerless.

Thus, regarding this utterly unobstructed total clarity, we can use certain expressions to describe it so that one can see the difference between true mind-consciousness versus True Wisdom. Prior to the emergence of True Wisdom, one knows, sees, smells and tastes pervadingly. This all-knowing pervades everything. Whereas now, although total clarity is still pervasive, it is no longer the conscious “mind’s all-knowing” but the ubiquitous “totality all-pervasive knowing.” Here, they are very distinct. At this point in one’s absorption, everywhere is the all-pervasive knowing, or the perfect truth, and the whole phenomenal sphere in its entirety is, indeed, nothing but the true totality of wisdom. At this point, the trees, the grass, the leaves, the flowers, the sky and earth, the moon, the stars, the universe, and those with form or without form are but this singular ubiquitous, omnipresent all-pervasive knowing – the cosmic totality wakeful wisdom-awareness!

So, later on, I composed another poem about how “all-pervasive knowing simply exists as such.” [1]  It is purely omniscience in existence. There is nothing that can be dual in this existence, and no disparity can be found within the existence of the “totality all-pervasive knowing.” In actuality, there is no searching, and no one searching – absolutely no one here that we can find even if we want to. It is simply the totality all-pervasive knowing, and all forms are vividly revealed and manifest as this totality all-pervasiveness. When I say that all forms are vividly revealed, it does not mean that all forms appear in front of us. No, not that kind of appearance or manifestation! It is not like how the chrysanthemum flowers on this table appear to us in front of us. It is not form that is appearing in front of our eyes or sound appearing to our ears – it is not at all like that.

On the contrary, everything simply is being present and reveals itself nakedly and vividly. Everything is nakedly, vividly being present. Form no longer appears through our eye faculty and sound no longer appears through our sound faculty. At that moment, anything that has form, or is formless, in this entire spacious cosmos, manifests unpretentiously as its own original, pure true form. And what is extraordinary here? Here, the true form of all appearances is neither large or small. There is nothing large or small as we are seeing as of now. Right now, how can we possibly prove that this plumule is as big as that large leaf? We can never prove anything as such based on its weight and mass. Definitely not!

Yet, when the realm of truth is vividly present, we cannot possibly use any kind of logical reasoning to persuade someone that one appearance is smaller (or larger) than another, even if we want to. It is no longer large or small as we now see in space, but at that moment, everything exists pervasively concurrently. Everything is simply omnipresent in the present vastness. Everything is simply the totality of all-pervasiveness pervading the entirety of the cosmic expanse, and this expanse is not the same familiar dimensional space where we can see form appearing in front of our eyes.