The Ten Equal Dharmas and the Mind-Only Declaration

Commentary: Just as, within the Fifth Ground, the distinctions were three — the antidote to the pride of excellence, the excellence of the practice of the non-abiding path, and the excellence of its fruit — the Sixth Ground should likewise be understood, since it turns ever more excellent still. In what way more excellent? Within the Fourth Ground, the antidote to the pride of self-conceit in sentient beings and the pride of understanding the Dharma was already explained; within the Fifth Ground, the antidote to the pride that discriminates the purity of one's own person was already explained; now, within this Sixth Ground, the antidote to the pride that discriminates defiled dharmas from pure dharmas is explained, through the ten kinds of equal dharma.

Sūtra: At that time the bodhisattva Vajragarbha said: Sons of the Buddha! When a bodhisattva has already well brought to completion the path of the Fifth Ground and wishes to enter the Sixth Ground, the bodhisattva ground, he should, through ten kinds of equal dharma, enter into the Sixth Ground. What are the ten? First, the equality of all dharmas being without characteristic; second, the equality of all dharmas being without conception; third, the equality of all dharmas being without arising; fourth, the equality of all dharmas being without formation; fifth, the equality of all dharmas being tranquil and still; sixth, the equality of all dharmas being originally pure; seventh, the equality of all dharmas being without idle discourse; eighth, the equality of all dharmas being without grasping or rejecting; ninth, the equality of all dharmas being like an illusion, a dream, a shadow, an echo, the moon reflected in water, an image in a mirror, and a conjured apparition; and tenth, the equality of all dharmas in which existence and non-existence are not two. This bodhisattva, contemplating the characteristics of all dharmas in this way — because he removes defilement, because he accords with them, and because he is without discrimination — attains entry into the Sixth Ground, the bodhisattva's Abhimukhī, the Ground of Direct Presence, attaining a keen and sharp receptivity that accords with reality, though not yet attaining the receptivity of the unborn dharma.

Commentary: "The antidote to the pride that discriminates defiled dharmas from pure dharmas" refers to these ten kinds of equal dharma. Here, from "all dharmas being without characteristic" all the way to "all dharmas in which existence and non-existence are not two" — these mean that the twelve sense-fields, the own-nature of all dharmas, are equally without characteristic. Furthermore, the antidote to discriminating characteristics is of nine kinds: first, the notion of the self-characteristic of the twelve sense-fields — as the sūtra says, "the equality of all dharmas being without conception." Second, the aspect of mindfulness turning on and on — as the sūtra says, "the equality of all dharmas being without arising." Third, the aspect of arising turning on and on — as the sūtra says, "the equality of all dharmas being without formation." Fourth, the characteristic of defilement — as the sūtra says, "the equality of all dharmas being tranquil and still." Fifth, the characteristic of purity — as the sūtra says, "the equality of all dharmas being originally pure." Sixth, the characteristic of discrimination — as the sūtra says, "the equality of all dharmas being without idle discourse." Seventh, the characteristic of emerging and vanishing — as the sūtra says, "the equality of all dharmas being without grasping or rejecting." Eighth, the characteristic of self being without real existence — as the sūtra says, "the equality of all dharmas being like an illusion, a dream, a shadow, an echo, the moon reflected in water, an image in a mirror, and a conjured apparition." Ninth, the characteristic of formation and dissolution — as the sūtra says, "the equality of all dharmas in which existence and non-existence are not two." "Removing defilement" means departing far from the defilement of hindrance. "According with them" means according with the dharma of equal suchness. "Without discrimination" means not giving rise to any discriminating notion. "Keen and sharp" means the antidote to a subtle, minute pride, since the two grounds before this one countered only a coarse and middling pride. "Attaining a soft-and-middling receptivity that accords" means according with the receptivity of the unborn dharma. "Not yet attaining the receptivity of the unborn dharma" means that this receptivity accords with the receptivity of the unborn dharma, without yet being the receptivity of the unborn itself. This is called the antidote to the pride that discriminates defiled dharmas from pure dharmas. What, then, is the excellence of the practice of the non-abiding path?

Sūtra: This bodhisattva, having in this way contemplated the characteristics of all dharmas and accorded with them to their very attainment, moreover — because a supreme great compassion is foremost, because this great compassion grows and increases, because this great compassion is brought to its fulfillment, and because he contemplates the arising and ceasing of the world —

Commentary: "This bodhisattva, having in this way contemplated the characteristics of all dharmas, accords with them to their very attainment" means that he attains the very excellence of the practice of the non-abiding path. "The excellence of the practice of the non-abiding path" means that a great compassion, gathering in sentient beings of the past, present, and future without ever abandoning them, excels; that the wisdom regarding every dharma that is known is pure; that he contemplates, in every mode, the subtle and minute arising of causes and conditions; and that he abides neither in the world nor in nirvāṇa — as the sūtra says, "moreover, because a great compassion is foremost... all the way to because he contemplates the arising and ceasing of the world."

Sūtra: This bodhisattva, having contemplated the arising and ceasing of the world, gives rise to this thought: every distinction in the world among the places where beings receive a body and are born is entirely on account of clinging in craving to a self; were one to depart from this clinging to self, there would be no place in the world where birth occurs. The bodhisattva further gives rise to this thought: these ordinary beings, blinded by ignorance and clinging in craving to a self, in the darkness and obstruction of their lack of wisdom, constantly seek after existence and non-existence, and, forever following false thoughts, wrongly practice a false path, gathering and giving rise to false conduct — conduct that is sinful, conduct that is meritorious, and conduct that is unmoving. Through this conduct, the seed of mind is aroused, since it is defiled and bound up with the notion of grasping. This arouses a body of future birth, aging, and death, giving rise once more to future existence: karma serves as the ground; ignorance serves as the covering; the moisture of craving serves as the wetting; the watering of the mind of self, and the net of manifold views, cause it to grow — and thus the sprout of name-and-form is born. Once born, it grows; once name-and-form has grown, it forms the sense-faculties; once the sense-faculties are formed, they encounter one another in turn and give rise to contact; contact, encountering its object, gives rise to feeling; after feeling comes the craving for what is longed for; because there is craving, grasping arises; once grasping has grown, existence arises; once existence is accomplished, the body of the five aggregates arises. Once the body of the five aggregates has grown, within the five paths it gradually declines and changes — this is called aging; the decline and change of aging, once it ceases, is called death. After death, every feverish affliction arises, and, on account of this feverish affliction, the entire mass of grief, sorrow, suffering, and affliction arises. This gathering through causes and conditions has no gatherer — it gathers of itself, spontaneously; and it has no one who brings it to cessation — it ceases of itself, spontaneously. This bodhisattva, according with this, contemplates in this way the gathering of causes and conditions.

Commentary: Here, "every distinction in the world among the places where beings receive a body and are born" means every distinction in birth and death across the five paths — this is called the distinction among all that exists in the world. This gathering through causes and conditions should be understood through three gates of contemplation: first, the distinction of accomplishing an answer to a difficulty; second, the distinction belonging to the truth of ultimate meaning; and third, the distinction belonging to worldly truth. What, then, is the distinction of accomplishing? First, this makes manifest that there is only the gathering of causes and conditions, explaining the meaning of no-self: it accomplishes the point that every distinction in the world among the places where beings receive a body and are born is entirely on account of clinging in craving to a self, and that, were one to depart from this clinging to self, there would be no place in the world where birth occurs — thus the meaning of no-self is accomplished. Were there, in ultimate meaning, truly a characteristic of self, then the mind that clings to self would itself be the wisdom of ultimate meaning, and it ought not to be born into any place in the world where a body is received. And further, were there, in ultimate meaning, truly a characteristic of self, then, were one to depart from clinging to self, one ought still to be constantly born into the world. This meaning is made manifest, as the sūtra says, "every distinction in the world among the places where beings receive a body and are born is entirely on account of clinging in craving to a self; were one to depart from this clinging to self, there would be no place in the world where birth occurs." What, then, is the distinction of answering? If there is truly no self, how can one cling to a self? Here there ought to be just this difficulty raised — and the sūtra itself answers it, saying that beings, blinded by ignorance, cling in craving to a self. This is made manifest, as the sūtra says, "the bodhisattva further gives rise to this thought: these ordinary beings, blinded by ignorance, cling in craving to a self." Given that there is truly no self, by what sequence does one come to cling in craving to a self, and thereby come to be born into a place in the world where a body is received? This too is made manifest, as the sūtra says, "in the darkness and obstruction of their lack of wisdom, they constantly seek after existence and non-existence" — and thus the distinction that answers the difficulty is made. Here, "lacking wisdom" and "existence and non-existence" mean seeking after permanence and seeking after annihilation; this makes manifest that ignorance and craving-for-existence are the very root of these two portions of continued existence — and thus, "forever following false thoughts, they wrongly practice a false path, gathering and giving rise to false conduct — conduct that is sinful, conduct that is meritorious, and conduct that is unmoving." "Forever following false thoughts" makes manifest the cause that is ignorance. "Wrongly practicing a false path" makes manifest an incorrect practice with regard to the place of liberation. "Gathering and giving rise to false conduct" makes manifest the bodhisattva's own supreme meaning, since, though a bodhisattva likewise engages in existence, this is not called false conduct. "Through this conduct, the seed of mind is aroused, since it is defiled and bound up with the notion of grasping" all the way to "according with this, he contemplates the gathering of causes and conditions" — here, "the seed of mind is aroused" makes manifest the very substance of birth, aging, and death. "Giving rise once more to future existence" means that, according with this, one takes hold of and accomplishes conduct that is sinful, meritorious, and the rest: "karma serves as the ground" — since, as already said, the darkness and obstruction of ignorance serve as the covering; "the constant seeking after existence and non-existence" — since the moisture of craving serves as the wetting; and thus one abides, and thus the mind is born: "I" and "what is mine," the notion of "I" and of "mine" being pride itself, "I am born" and "I am not born" — all such things are the net of manifold views. "It ceases of itself, spontaneously" means that it ceases through its own very nature, not through cessation brought about by wisdom's own causal power. In this way, the difficulty is answered and the gathering of causes and conditions is explained, and the meaning of no-self is thereby accomplished. What, then, is the distinction of characteristics? If there are no causes and conditions, then by what characteristic does the practice of the gathering of causes and conditions abide?

Sūtra: This bodhisattva further gives rise to this thought: failing to truly and really know the ultimate meaning of these truths is called ignorance; the karmic fruit produced by ignorance is called formations; in dependence on formations there is the initial mind of consciousness; arising together with consciousness there are the four aggregates received, which are called name-and-form; once name-and-form has grown, there are the six sense-bases; when the sense-faculty, its object, and consciousness — these three things — come together, contaminated contact is born; because contact arises together with it, there is feeling; because feeling becomes tainted through attachment, it is called craving; because craving grows, it is called grasping; from grasping there arises contaminated karma, which is called existence; because there is karma, there is a karmic fruit, which is called birth; when the aggregates of birth grow and then decline and change, this is called aging; once aging has occurred, the aggregates decay, and this is called death; at the moment of death's parting, when a foolish person, clinging in craving, feels a burning in the mind, this is called grief; when this breaks into a cry of weeping, this is called sorrow; when the five sense-faculties encounter their objects, this is called suffering; when the mind-faculty encounters its object, this is called distress; and when sorrow and suffering turn ever more numerous, this is called affliction. In this way there is nothing but a tree of suffering that grows, with no maker of it at all. The bodhisattva gives rise to this thought: were there a maker, there would be a deed done by that maker; and were there no maker, there would be no deed done — and, in ultimate meaning, there is neither any maker nor any deed done.

Commentary: Here, "the karmic fruit produced by ignorance" refers to name-and-form. Within this, consciousness is what name-and-form depends upon, since name-and-form arises together with consciousness, and consciousness and name-and-form depend upon one another in turn. If there is no maker, then within this the discrimination of any deed done is likewise absent — this explains the portion of existence within the gathering of causes and conditions. Since its own substance has no deed done within it, this is what should be understood as the sequential contemplation of the gathering of causes and conditions belonging to the portion of existence. What, then, is the distinction belonging to the truth of ultimate meaning? It is that, once this truth of ultimate meaning is thus realized, one thereby attains liberation from that very contemplation.

Sūtra: This bodhisattva gives rise to this thought: the three realms are deceptive and illusory — they are nothing but the making of one mind alone.

Commentary: "Being nothing but the making of one mind" means that the entire triple world turns on mind alone. What, then, is the distinction belonging to worldly truth? According with the contemplation of worldly truth, one thereby enters the truth of ultimate meaning. This contemplation is of six kinds: first, the contemplation of what defilement depends upon; second, the contemplation of causes; third, the contemplation that gathers in faults; fourth, the contemplation that guards against faults; fifth, the contemplation neither of weariness nor of its absence; and sixth, the deep contemplation. Here, "the contemplation of what defilement depends upon" means that the portion of existence within causes and conditions depends upon one mind.

Sūtra: The twelve links of dependent origination taught by the Tathāgata himself are all grounded in this one mind. Why is this so? In accordance with the matter at hand, craving and desire arise together with mind — this very matter is itself consciousness, and this very matter is itself formations; because formations deceive the mind, this is called ignorance; because ignorance arises together with mind, this is called name-and-form; once name-and-form has grown, this is called the six sense-bases; the portion belonging to the six sense-bases is called contact; because contact arises together with it, this is called feeling; once feeling is without any satisfaction, this is called craving; because craving grasps and does not let go, this is called grasping; this portion of existence, coming together, gives rise to existence itself; what existence gives rise to is called birth; when birth changes and ripens, this is called aging; and when aging decays, this is called death.

Commentary: This is the contemplation of the gathering of causes and conditions through the union of defilement with the one mind, distinguished according to the two truths. "The contemplation of causes" is of two kinds: first, the contemplation of causes belonging to another; and second, the contemplation of causes belonging to oneself. What, then, is the contemplation of causes belonging to another?