Two Ways to Watch the Mind
This page continues the sūtra's account of the one real realm into practice. Kṣitigarbha teaches the two contemplations built directly on it — the Mind-Only Contemplation and the Suchness Contemplation — a third way in for a mind still too fearful or thin in merit to take up either directly, and the ten signs by which any meditation practice, on any object at all, actually progresses toward mastery.
Mind-Only Contemplation
「善男子！若欲依一實境界修信解者，應當學習二種觀道。何等為二？一者唯心識觀，二者真如實觀。學唯心識觀者，所謂於一切時一切處，隨身口意所有作業，悉當觀察，知唯是心。乃至一切境界，若心住念，皆當察知，勿令使心無記攀緣，不自覺知。於念念間，悉應觀察。隨心有所緣念，還當使心隨逐彼念，令心自知。知己內心自生想念，非一切境界有念有分別也。所謂內心自生長短、好惡、是非、得失、衰利、有無等見，無量諸想。而一切境界，未曾有想，起於分別。
「當知一切境界自無分別想故，即自非長非短、非好非惡，乃至非有非無，離一切相。如是觀察，一切法唯心想生。若使離心，則無一法一想而能自見有差別也。常應如是守記內心，知唯妄念，無實境界，勿令休廢。是名修學唯心識觀。若心無記，不知自心念者，即謂有前境界，不名唯心識觀。
「又守記內心者，則知貪想、瞋想，及愚癡、邪見想。知善、知不善、知無記，知心勞慮種種諸苦。若於坐時，隨心所緣，念念觀知唯心生滅。譬如水流燈炎，無暫時住。從是當得色寂三昧。」
"Good son! If one wishes to cultivate faith and understanding in reliance on the one real realm, one should learn two contemplative paths. What are the two? First, the Mind-Only Contemplation; second, the Suchness Contemplation. As for learning the Mind-Only Contemplation: at all times and in all places, whatever deed of body, speech, or mind one takes up, one should observe it fully, knowing it to be only mind. And whenever the mind dwells on any thought concerning any realm at all, one should discern it fully, never letting the mind cling to things blankly, without self-awareness. In every single thought-moment, one should observe in this way. Whenever the mind has some object of thought, one should further let the mind follow along after that very thought, so that the mind comes to know itself. Knowing that one's own inner mind gives rise, of itself, to thought and imagining — not that any realm itself has thought or discrimination in it. That is to say, the inner mind gives rise, of itself, to notions of long and short, good and bad, right and wrong, gain and loss, decline and benefit, existence and non-existence, and every kind of measureless thought — while no realm has ever, of itself, had any thought or given rise to any discrimination.
"One should know that, since no realm has of itself any thought of discrimination, it is therefore neither long nor short, neither good nor bad, and so on down to neither existent nor non-existent, free of every mark. Observing in this way, one sees that all dharmas arise only from the mind's own imagining. If the mind were removed, there would not be a single dharma, a single thought, able to show itself as different from any other. One should constantly hold and keep watch over the inner mind in this way, knowing it to be only false thought, with no real realm to it, and never let this practice lapse. This is called cultivating the Mind-Only Contemplation. If the mind clings to things blankly, not knowing its own thoughts, and so supposes there to be a realm before it, this is not called the Mind-Only Contemplation.
"Furthermore, one who holds and keeps watch over the inner mind comes to know thoughts of greed, thoughts of anger, and thoughts of foolishness and wrong view; one knows what is wholesome, what is unwholesome, and what is neither; one knows the mind's every kind of wearying, troubled suffering. If, while sitting, one observes and knows, thought after thought, following whatever the mind takes as its object, that all is only the mind's own arising and ceasing — like a flowing stream or a lamp's flame, never abiding even for an instant — one will from this attain the samādhi of the stillness of form."
Zhixu calls this contemplation "破法執之利刀，燒煩惱之猛燄，證涅槃之要津，成菩提之秘訣，至簡至易，至妙至玄" ("the sharp blade that cuts through attachment to dharmas, the fierce flame that burns away affliction, the essential ford to nirvāṇa, the secret key to bodhi — utterly simple, utterly easy, utterly subtle, utterly profound"), and illustrates why the same object never carries one fixed nature by pointing to how differently it appears depending on who perceives it: in the classical simile he invokes, gods look on a single river and see lapis lazuli, fish see a den to dwell in, humans see clear water to drink, and hungry ghosts see pus, blood, and burning coals — "離彼四類有情心想，何嘗別有法相可得" ("apart from the minds of these four kinds of beings, when has there ever been some separate mark of the thing itself to be found?"). He pushes the same point further with a second example: one beautiful woman is seen by a man who desires her as lovely beyond compare, by a jealous wife as a rival to be resented, by a fish as a reason to dive for cover, by a bird as a reason to take flight, by a practitioner of the meditation on impurity as a walking latrine, by a sage as empty and arisen only through causes and conditions, by a bodhisattva as one more occasion on which the ten realms condition each other into being, and by a buddha's eye as nothing other than the true mark of reality itself. "舉此一法，總不出于十界各自心量" ("take up this single case, and it never goes beyond each of the ten realms' own measure of mind") — the woman herself contributes nothing fixed to any of these; every one of them is the viewer's own mind, and nothing else, showing itself as an object.
Suchness Contemplation
「得此三昧已，次應學習信奢摩他觀心，及信毗婆舍那觀心。習信奢摩他觀心者，思惟內心不可見相，圓滿不動，無來無去，本性不生，離分別故。習信毗婆舍那觀心者，想見內外色，隨心生，隨心滅。乃至習想見佛色身，亦復如是。隨心生，隨心滅，如幻如化，如水中月，如鏡中像。非心不離心，非來非不來，非去非不去，非生非不生，非作非不作。
「善男子！若能習信此二觀心者，速得趣會一乘之道。當知如是唯心識觀，名為最上智慧之門，所謂能令其心猛利，長信解力，疾入空義，得發無上大菩提心故。若學習真如實觀者，思惟心性無生無滅，不住見聞覺知，永離一切分別之想。漸漸能過空處、識處、無少處、非想非非想處等定境界相，得相似空三昧。得相似空三昧時，識想受行麁分別相不現在前。從此修學，為善知識大慈悲者守護長養，是故離諸障礙，勤修不廢，展轉能入心寂三昧。得是三昧已，即復能入一行三昧。入是一行三昧已，見佛無數，發深廣行心，住堅信位。所謂於奢摩他、毗婆舍那二種觀道，決定信解，能決定向。隨所修學世間諸禪三昧之業，無所樂著。乃至遍修一切善根菩提分法，於生死中無所怯畏，不樂二乘。以依能習向二觀心最妙巧便，眾智所依，行根本故。」
"Having attained this samādhi, one should next learn faithfully to contemplate the mind by calming, and faithfully to contemplate the mind by insight. To learn faithfully to contemplate the mind by calming is to reflect that the inner mind's mark, invisible as it is, is perfect and unmoving, without coming and without going, its very nature unborn, free of all discrimination. To learn faithfully to contemplate the mind by insight is to imagine and see inner and outer forms arising with the mind and ceasing with the mind — and, further, to practice imagining and seeing a buddha's own form-body in just the same way, arising with the mind and ceasing with the mind, like an illusion, like a conjured thing, like the moon reflected in water, like a form reflected in a mirror — neither the mind nor apart from the mind, neither coming nor not coming, neither going nor not going, neither arising nor not arising, neither made nor unmade.
"Good son! If one can faithfully practice these two contemplations of mind, one will swiftly come to enter the path of the One Vehicle. One should know that this Mind-Only Contemplation is called the gate of the most supreme wisdom, for it is able to make the mind forceful, to lengthen the power of faith and understanding, to swiftly enter into the meaning of emptiness, and to give rise to the unsurpassed mind of great bodhi. As for learning the Suchness Contemplation: one reflects that the nature of mind is unborn and unceasing, does not abide in seeing, hearing, feeling, or knowing, and is forever free of every discriminating thought. Gradually one comes to pass beyond the meditative states of the sphere of infinite space, the sphere of infinite consciousness, the sphere of nothingness, and the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, attaining a samādhi resembling emptiness. When one attains this samādhi resembling emptiness, the coarse discriminating marks of consciousness, perception, feeling, and mental formation no longer appear before one. From this point in one's cultivation, one is guarded and nurtured by good spiritual friends of great compassion, and so, free of every hindrance, one diligently cultivates without lapsing, and comes in turn to enter the samādhi of the stillness of mind. Having attained this samādhi, one is then able to enter the one-practice samādhi. Having entered this one-practice samādhi, one beholds buddhas beyond number, gives rise to a mind of deep and vast practice, and abides in the stage of firm faith — that is to say, one attains decisive faith and understanding regarding these two contemplative paths of calming and insight, and is able to turn decisively toward them. Whatever worldly meditative attainments one has cultivated, one takes no delight or attachment in them; and, going on to cultivate fully every wholesome root and factor of enlightenment, one has no fear amid birth and death, and takes no delight in the lesser vehicles. For it is by relying on the ability to practice and turn toward these two contemplations of mind, the most subtle and skillful of means, that one comes to rest on that which every wisdom depends, the very root of practice itself."
Zhixu notes that the visualization described here — inner and outer forms, and finally a buddha's own form-body, arising and ceasing with the mind — is the very same technique classical meditation manuals teach as the eight liberations, the eight bases of mastery, and the ten bases of totality, disciplines a śrāvaka practices as a fairly modest "contemplation that does not destroy dharmas" (不壞法觀). Practiced with the understanding this sūtra has just spent Part 4 establishing, the identical technique becomes something else entirely: "今以圓解修之，便成圓行" ("practiced now with this perfect understanding, it becomes perfect practice"). Nothing about the outward form of the exercise changes; what changes is only whether the practitioner still takes the visualized form to be something separate from mind, waiting out there to be pictured, or already knows it for what this sūtra has said it is.
He closes his discussion of both contemplations with a single image for how they function together: "此心如水，十界月影恒於中現，而非外來。此心如鏡，十界形像對至即現，而無出入" ("this mind is like water, in which the reflected moons of the ten realms are forever present, without coming from outside; this mind is like a mirror, in which the forms of the ten realms appear the instant anything arrives, without their entering or leaving"). Calming and insight, on this reading, are not two separate techniques applied in sequence to two separate objects, but the same water and the same mirror, described first as stillness and then as the appearing of every possible reflection within that very stillness.
Sharp and Dull, and When Faith Falters
「復次，修學如上信解者，人有二種。何等為二？一者利根，二者鈍根。其利根者，先已能知一切外諸境界，唯心所作，虛誑不實，如夢如幻等，決定無有疑慮，陰蓋輕微，散亂心少。如是等人，即應學習真如實觀。其鈍根者，先未能知一切外諸境界，悉唯是心，虛誑不實故，染著情厚，蓋障數起，心難調伏，應當先學唯心識觀。
「若人雖學如是信解，而善根業薄，未能進趣。諸惡煩惱，不得漸伏。其心疑怯，畏墮三惡道，生八難處。畏不常值佛菩薩等，不得供養聽受正法。畏菩提信難可成就。有如此疑怖及種種障礙等者，應於一切時一切處，常勤誦念我之名字。若得一心，善根增長，其意猛利，當觀我法身，及一切諸佛法身，與己自身，體性平等，無二無別，不生不滅，常樂我淨，功德圓滿，是可歸依。
「又復觀察己身心相，無常、苦、無我、不淨，如幻如化，是可厭離。若能修學如是觀者，速得增長淨信之心，所有諸障，漸漸損減。何以故？此人名為學習聞我名者，亦能學習聞十方諸佛名者；名為學至心禮拜供養我者，亦能學至心禮拜供養十方諸佛者；名為學聞大乘深經者；名為學執持書寫供養恭敬大乘深經者；名為學受持讀誦大乘深經者；名為學遠離邪見，於深正義中不墮謗者；名為於究竟甚深第一實義中學信解者；名為能除諸罪障者；名為當得無量功德聚者。此人捨身，終不墮惡道、八難之處，還聞正法，習信修行，亦能隨願往生他方淨佛國土。」
"Furthermore, those who cultivate the faith and understanding described above are of two kinds. What are the two? First, sharp faculties; second, dull faculties. Those of sharp faculties are those who already know that every external realm is made only by mind, deceptive and unreal, like a dream, like an illusion, with decisive certainty and no lingering doubt — their hindrances are light, and their scattered thoughts are few. People such as this should learn the Suchness Contemplation directly. Those of dull faculties are those who do not yet know that every external realm is entirely only mind, deceptive and unreal — their attachments run deep, their hindrances arise often, and their minds are difficult to tame; they should first learn the Mind-Only Contemplation.
"If a person, though studying this faith and understanding, has only a thin karmic root of goodness and is unable to make progress, unable gradually to subdue their manifold afflictions, their mind may grow doubtful and fearful — afraid of falling into the three evil destinies, of being born in one of the eight difficult conditions, afraid of not constantly meeting buddhas and bodhisattvas, and so being unable to make offerings and hear the true Dharma, afraid that faith in bodhi is too difficult to accomplish. Whoever has such doubt, fear, and every kind of hindrance should, at all times and in all places, constantly and diligently recite my name. If one attains one-pointedness of mind, one's root of goodness will grow, and one's intention becomes forceful — one should then contemplate that my Dharma-body, and the Dharma-body of every buddha, are equal in nature to one's own body, without duality, without distinction, unborn and unceasing, eternal, blissful, self, and pure, perfect in merit — this is what one may take refuge in.
"One should also observe the marks of one's own body and mind as impermanent, suffering, without self, impure, like an illusion, like a conjured thing — this is what one may become weary of and turn away from. If one is able to cultivate this contemplation, one will swiftly increase one's pure faith, and every hindrance will gradually diminish. Why is this? Because such a person is one who has learned to hear my name, and so is also one who has learned to hear the names of the buddhas of the ten directions; one who has learned to bow with utmost sincerity and make offerings to me, and so is also one who has learned to do so for the buddhas of the ten directions; one who has learned to hear the profound sūtras of the Great Vehicle; one who has learned to hold, copy, revere, and make offerings to the profound sūtras of the Great Vehicle; one who has learned to uphold and recite the profound sūtras of the Great Vehicle; one who has learned to depart far from wrong views, and does not fall into slander regarding the profound and true meaning; one who has learned faith and understanding regarding the ultimate, profound first truth; one who is able to remove every obstruction of offense; one who will attain a measureless mass of merit. Such a person, when this body is relinquished, will never fall into an evil destiny or one of the eight difficult conditions, but will again hear the true Dharma, practice with faith, and, according to their vow, be able to be born in a pure buddha-land in another region."
Zhixu insists this is not a two-tier system in which duller practitioners get a lesser method while sharper ones get the real one — the two contemplations are two doors onto a single room, not two different destinations. "鈍根之人不可即修真如實觀，而利根之人不妨亦修唯心識觀，但以理攝事則名真如實觀，從事入理則名唯心識觀耳" ("a dull-faculty person should not attempt the Suchness Contemplation directly, but a sharp-faculty person is not thereby barred from also practicing the Mind-Only Contemplation — gathering phenomena back into principle is simply what we call the Suchness Contemplation, and entering principle by way of phenomena is simply what we call the Mind-Only Contemplation"). He also flags a specific danger this passage's ordering is meant to prevent: the temptation to skip the disciplined moment-by-moment observation of one's own arising thoughts and objects, and leap straight to declaring everything already empty and non-dual — a shortcut the Awakening of Faith's own companion treatise on cessation-and-contemplation explicitly warns beginners against.
On the name-recitation prescribed for a mind too fearful to proceed directly, Zhixu treats it as a full third practice rather than a consolation prize — a genuine skillful means built from the same architecture as the first two: reciting the name while it holds together with a sense of one's own precariousness is already an application of the Mind-Only Contemplation, since the name itself is nothing apart from mind; contemplating that Kṣitigarbha's Dharma-body and one's own are equal and undivided is already the Suchness Contemplation in miniature. Fear of the path, on this reading, is met not by being talked out of it, but by a practice built to the exact scale of a mind still too frightened for the direct approach — which is exactly the diagnosis Part 6 returns to at far greater length.
Seeking Rebirth in a Pure Land
「復次，若人欲生他方現在淨佛國者，應當隨彼世界佛之名字，專意誦念，一心不亂。如上觀察者，決定得生彼佛淨國，善根增長，速獲不退。當知如上一心係念思惟諸佛平等法身，一切善根中，其業最勝。所謂勤修習者，漸漸能向一行三昧。若到一行三昧者，則成廣大微妙行心，名得相似無生法忍。以能得聞我名字故，亦能得聞十方諸佛名字故；以能至心禮拜供養我故，亦能至心禮拜供養十方諸佛故。以能得聞大乘深經故，能執持書寫供養恭敬大乘深經故，能受持讀誦大乘深經故。能於究竟甚深第一實義中不生怖畏，遠離誹謗，得正見心，能信解故。決定除滅諸罪障故，現證無量功德聚故。所以者何？謂無分別菩提心，寂靜智現，起發方便業，種種願行故。能聞我名者，謂得決定信利益行故。乃至一切所能者，皆得不退一乘因故。若雜亂垢心，雖復稱誦我之名字，而不名為聞。以不能生決定信解，但獲世間善報，不得廣大深妙利益。如是雜亂垢心，隨其所修一切諸善，皆不能得深大利益。」
"Furthermore, if a person wishes to be born in a pure buddha-land currently existing in another region, they should, in accordance with the name of the buddha of that world, recite it single-mindedly, with one-pointed and undistracted mind. One who observes as described above will certainly be born in that buddha's pure land, their root of goodness will grow, and they will swiftly attain non-retrogression. One should know that this single-minded holding in mind and reflection on the equal Dharma-body of all buddhas is, among every root of goodness, the most excellent karma of all. Whoever cultivates it diligently will gradually be able to turn toward the one-practice samādhi; and one who reaches the one-practice samādhi accomplishes a vast and subtle mind of practice, called the attainment of a semblance of the forbearance of the unborn. Because one is able to hear my name, one is also able to hear the names of the buddhas of the ten directions; because one is able to bow with utmost sincerity and make offerings to me, one is also able to bow with utmost sincerity and make offerings to the buddhas of the ten directions. Because one is able to hear the profound sūtras of the Great Vehicle, one is able to hold, copy, revere, and make offerings to the profound sūtras of the Great Vehicle, and able to uphold and recite the profound sūtras of the Great Vehicle. One does not give rise to fear regarding the ultimate, profound first truth, departs far from slander, and attains a mind of right view, able to have faith and understanding. One is certain to remove every obstruction of offense, and presently realizes a measureless mass of merit. Why is this? Because it is the non-discriminating bodhi-mind, the manifestation of still wisdom, that gives rise to skillful deeds and every kind of vow and practice. To be able to hear my name means to attain decisive faith and beneficial practice; and everything else one is thereby able to do all becomes a cause of non-retrogression from the One Vehicle. But if one's mind is confused and defiled, then even though one recites my name, this is not called truly hearing it — since one is unable to give rise to decisive faith and understanding, one obtains only a worldly, wholesome reward, and not the vast, deep, and subtle benefit. Such a confused and defiled mind, whatever good it cultivates, is never able to obtain deep and great benefit."
Zhixu makes explicit what this passage leaves implicit: name-recitation practiced this way is not a lesser substitute for the two contemplations, waiting to be upgraded once a practitioner is ready for something more sophisticated — it already is both of them, performed through a different door. "以繫念名字，而當唯心識觀，思惟法身，而當真如實觀，故即能向一行三昧也" ("holding the name in mind is itself the Mind-Only Contemplation; reflecting on the Dharma-body is itself the Suchness Contemplation — this is exactly why it is able to lead to the one-practice samādhi"). He backs this with the Amitābha Sūtra's own teaching that rebirth in Sukhāvatī cannot be attained "with few good roots and little merit," and reads sustained, single-minded name-recitation as itself constituting that abundant merit — the very same practice this site's own Amitābha Sūtra and Immeasurable Life Sūtra pages describe from the Pure Land side, here derived instead from this sūtra's own architecture of the one real realm and its two contemplations.
On the closing warning about a "confused and defiled mind" (雜亂垢心) — Zhixu reads 雜 (confused), 亂 (disordered), and 垢 (defiled) as corresponding respectively to failing to realize that mind and name are not two things (at the level of initial understanding), failing to steady that realization into settled contemplation, and failing to carry it through to the fruit of the one-practice samādhi. He does not deny that reciting the name with a still-confused mind brings real benefit — he grants it plainly, "亦獲世間種種善報，所謂現離衰惱，後生人天" ("one still obtains every kind of worldly, wholesome reward — being freed of present misfortune, and being born in future lives among gods or humans") — but insists this is a different order of benefit than the "vast, deep, and subtle" result promised to sincere practice, exactly the same distinction the sūtra has drawn since its very first wheel-cast in Part 1.
Gradually Becoming Buddha, and Ten Signs of Progress
「善男子！當知如上勤心修學無相禪者，不久能獲深大利益，漸次作佛。深大利益者，所謂得入堅信之位，成就信忍故。入堅法位，成就順忍故。入正真位，成就無生忍故。又成就信忍者，能作如來種性故。成就順忍者，能解如來行故。成就無生忍者，得如來業故。
「漸次作佛者，略說有四種。何等為四？一者，信滿法故作佛。所謂依種性地，決定信諸法不生不滅，清淨平等，無可願求故。二者，解滿法故作佛。所謂依解行地，深解法性，知如來業無造無作，於生死涅槃不起二想，心無所怖故。三者，證滿法故作佛。所謂依淨心地，以得無分別寂靜法智，及不思議自然之業，無求想故。四者，一切功德行滿足故作佛。所謂依究竟菩薩地，能除一切諸障，無明夢盡故。
「復次，當知，若修學世間有相禪者，有三種。何等為三？一者，無方便信解力故，貪受諸禪三昧功德而生憍慢，為禪所縛，退求世間。二者，無方便信解力故，依禪發起偏厭離行，怖怯生死，退墮二乘。三者，有方便信解力，所謂依止一實境界，習近奢摩他、毗婆舍那二種觀道故，能信解一切法唯心想生，如夢如幻等。雖獲世間諸禪功德，而不堅著，不復退求三有之果。又信知生死即涅槃故，亦不怖怯，退求二乘。
「如是修學一切諸禪三昧法者，當知有十種次第相門，具足攝取禪定之業，能令學者成就相應，不錯不謬。何等為十？一者，攝念方便相。二者，欲住境界相。三者，初住境界，分明了了知出、知入相。四者，善住境界得堅固相。五者，所作思惟，方便勇猛，轉求進趣相。六者，漸得調順，稱心喜樂，除疑信解，自安慰相。七者，剋獲勝進，意所專者，少分相應，覺知利益相。八者，轉修增明，所習堅固，得勝功德，對治成就相。九者，隨心有所念作，外現功德，如意相應，不錯不謬相。十者，若更異修，依前所得而起方便，次第成就，出入隨心，超越自在相。是名十種次第相門，攝修禪定之業。」
"Good son! One should know that whoever diligently cultivates the markless meditation described above will, before long, obtain deep and great benefit, and gradually become a buddha. As for the deep and great benefit, it means entering the stage of firm faith and accomplishing the forbearance of faith; entering the stage of firm dharma and accomplishing the forbearance of accordance; entering the stage of true reality and accomplishing the forbearance of the unborn. And whoever accomplishes the forbearance of faith is thereby able to become of the Tathāgata's own lineage; whoever accomplishes the forbearance of accordance is thereby able to understand the Tathāgata's own practice; whoever accomplishes the forbearance of the unborn thereby attains the Tathāgata's own karma.
"As for gradually becoming a buddha, there are, in brief, four kinds. What are the four? First, becoming a buddha through the fullness of faith — this means, resting on the ground of one's lineage, deciding with certainty that all dharmas are unborn and unceasing, pure and equal, with nothing further to wish for or seek. Second, becoming a buddha through the fullness of understanding — this means, resting on the ground of understanding and practice, deeply understanding the nature of dharmas, knowing the Tathāgata's karma to be without making and without doing, giving rise to no dual notion regarding birth-and-death and nirvāṇa, the mind having nothing to fear. Third, becoming a buddha through the fullness of realization — this means, resting on the ground of the purified mind, attaining the non-discriminating, still wisdom of the Dharma, and the inconceivable, spontaneous karma, with no notion of seeking anything further. Fourth, becoming a buddha through the fullness and completion of every meritorious practice — this means, resting on the ultimate ground of the bodhisattva, being able to remove every hindrance, the dream of ignorance entirely ended.
"Furthermore, one should know that those who cultivate worldly meditation with marks are of three kinds. What are the three? First, one who, lacking the power of skillful means and faith and understanding, covets the meditative attainments and takes pleasure in them, giving rise to conceit, becomes bound by meditation itself, and falls back to seeking worldly ends. Second, one who, likewise lacking that power, gives rise through meditation to a one-sided practice of aversion, fearing birth-and-death, and falls back into the lesser vehicles. Third, one who possesses the power of skillful means and faith and understanding — that is, one who, relying on the one real realm and drawing near to the two contemplative paths of calming and insight, is able to believe and understand that all dharmas arise only from the mind's own imagining, like a dream, like an illusion — such a one, though attaining every worldly meditative accomplishment, does not become rigidly attached to it, and does not fall back to seeking the fruit of the three realms of existence; and, believing and knowing that birth-and-death is itself nirvāṇa, likewise feels no fear, and does not fall back into seeking the lesser vehicles.
"Whoever cultivates any and every meditative practice in this way should know there are ten sequential signs that together encompass the whole karma of meditative concentration, and enable the practitioner to accomplish correspondence without error or mistake. What are the ten? First, the sign of gathering the attention by skillful means. Second, the sign of wishing to abide in the object. Third, the sign of first abiding in the object, clearly and distinctly knowing when one emerges from it and when one enters it. Fourth, the sign of abiding well in the object and attaining firmness. Fifth, the sign of the reflection one undertakes becoming forceful in its skillful means, turning to seek further progress. Sixth, the sign of gradually attaining harmony, a joy that satisfies the mind, the removal of doubt, faith and understanding, and self-reassurance. Seventh, the sign of achieving real advancement, so that whatever one's mind is set upon shows some degree of correspondence, and one becomes aware of its benefit. Eighth, the sign of one's cultivation turning ever clearer, one's practice growing firm, attaining superior merit, and accomplishing its remedy. Ninth, the sign that whatever the mind thinks and does, merit appears outwardly, corresponding to one's wish, without error or mistake. Tenth, the sign that, should one take up some further, different cultivation, one is able, relying on what has already been attained, to raise up skillful means, accomplish it in sequence, move in and out of it freely at will, and pass beyond it in mastery. These are called the ten sequential signs that encompass the karma of cultivating meditative concentration."
Zhixu traces the three grades of forbearance in this passage to a lineage he calls, in a phrase that has become one of his most quoted lines, the actual scriptural root of Tiantai's own "six identities" framework: "天台六即，蓋本諸此" ("Tiantai's six identities are, in fact, rooted in this very passage"). He maps the sūtra's four ways of "becoming a buddha" onto that same six-stage ladder — becoming a buddha through the fullness of faith corresponds to the stage of contemplative practice; through understanding, to the semblance stage; through realization, to partial attainment; through the completion of every practice, to the ultimate stage — and adds that every one of the six stages, from the very first, is already fully identical in nature to buddhahood itself, which is exactly why the doctrine is called "identity" (即) rather than a ladder one climbs toward something categorically different at the top.
On the three kinds of worldly meditator, Zhixu's point is that the same meditative attainment — the same four dhyānas, the same immeasurable states of mind — carries entirely different consequences depending on whether it rests on this sūtra's foundation. Without it, deep meditative bliss breeds either prideful attachment that drags a practitioner back toward worldly ends, or an overcorrection into aversion so total it collapses into the lesser vehicles' flight from saṃsāra altogether; anchored in the one real realm, the very same states can be enjoyed without either failure, precisely because the practitioner already knows, and does not merely believe, that "生死即涅槃" ("birth-and-death is itself nirvāṇa"). On the closing ten signs, Zhixu is explicit that they belong to no single technique: "縱令修學唯心識觀、真如實觀、出世無相禪者，亦必有此十種次第相門，方獲成就" ("even one cultivating the Mind-Only Contemplation, the Suchness Contemplation, or any other transcendent, markless meditation must still pass through these same ten sequential signs before attaining accomplishment") — a universal account of how any meditative practice actually deepens, offered here as the fitting close to the sūtra's entire teaching on contemplation before Part 6 turns to reassuring those who fear they cannot walk this path at all.
Part 5 Complete
This closes Part 5: the two contemplations built directly on the one real realm — Mind-Only Contemplation, watching the mind generate every realm it seems only to perceive, and Suchness Contemplation, resting directly in mind-nature's own unborn stillness; name-recitation offered as a third door, fully equal to the other two, for a mind still too fearful to proceed by either; the four ways of gradually becoming buddha that Zhixu traces as the scriptural root of Tiantai's own six identities; and the ten signs by which any meditation practice whatsoever, on any object at all, actually deepens toward mastery. Part 6 closes the sūtra: Kṣitigarbha's own explanation of why he is called the Skillful Reassurer, answering in turn the fainthearted, the confused, and the presumptuous, before the sūtra names itself and closes.
Continue to Part 6 — Answering the Fear of Emptiness →