The Cause Mark

Next, there are four causes able to remove four obstructions and attain the Tathāgata's nature — this should be understood. The four causes are: first, faith and delight in the Mahāyāna; second, non-discriminating prajñā; third, the samādhi that breaks through attachment to emptiness; fourth, bodhisattva great compassion. The four obstructions are: first, hatred and turning one's back on the Mahāyāna; second, the view of self and its attendant attachments; third, dread of saṃsāra; fourth, an unwillingness to attend to benefiting others. The first obstructs the icchantika, the second obstructs the non-Buddhist, the third obstructs the śrāvaka, and the fourth obstructs the pratyekabuddha. It is by these four afflictions that these four kinds of persons are prevented from seeing their own inherently pure dharmakāya.

To speak briefly, there are three kinds of beings in the world: first, those who delight in the continued existence of saṃsāra; second, those who delight in the extinguishing of the existence of saṃsāra; third, those who delight in neither, for whom both existence and extinguishing are set aside. As to the first, there are two kinds: first, those who hate and turn their backs on the path of liberation, having no nature for nirvāṇa at all, and definitely delight in saṃsāra and take no delight in nirvāṇa. Second, those who have already fallen into a fixed position — "fixed position" meaning neither sage nor ordinary person, neither advancing nor retreating, taking hold of nothing — yet who are, nominally, persons within the Buddhist fold, turning their backs on the Mahāyāna teaching. It is on account of such a person that the Buddha said: "I am not his teacher, and he is not my disciple. Śāriputra! This person passes from a lesser darkness into a greater darkness, and from that greater darkness into utter, blinding darkness. He takes darkness as his friend, and further takes the icchantika as his friend" — hence I say that this person has these two kinds of delight.

As to the second, those who delight in the extinguishing of the existence of saṃsāra, there are two kinds: first, those who fall into what is not skillful means; second, those who fall into what is skillful means. As to the first, there are, again, two kinds: non-Buddhists, of the ninety-six varieties, and those who, though nominally within the Buddhist fold, hold the very same attachment as the non-Buddhists — because, taking hold of the true teaching, they give rise to a mistaken attachment to a self, and so fail to penetrate the true doctrine's meaning. It is on account of such a person that the Buddha said: "If one does not have faith and delight in true emptiness, one is no different from a non-Buddhist." Furthermore, there are persons of excessive pride who take emptiness itself as a fixed view, as though it were the true gate of liberation, and, on this basis, give rise to an attachment to emptiness — holding that both existence and non-existence, in every case, are simply emptiness. This attachment amounts to sheer nothingness, and, being sheer nothingness, the entire structure of cause and effect and the two truths is thereby lost, and one falls into a wrongful nihilism. Every wrongful attachment can, in principle, be dissolved by means of emptiness — yet this particular attachment, having arisen precisely on the basis of emptiness itself, cannot be remedied at all. It is on account of such a person that the Buddha said to Kāśyapa: "If a person gives rise to a view of self as vast as Mount Sumeru, I would still permit it — why? Because it can be eliminated. But if a person of excessive pride gives rise to an attachment to emptiness no larger than a quarter of a hair's tip, I would sternly rebuke him and would never permit it at all."

As to the second, those who fall into skillful means, there are two kinds: first, śrāvakas, who cultivate practice for their own benefit alone, seeking only their own liberation and not the benefit of others. Second, pratyekabuddhas, who have neither the wish nor the deed of benefiting others, but merely give rise to an attitude of equanimity — "no wish" meaning taking no delight in benefiting others, "no deed" meaning having entirely no undertaking of saving others, seeking only their own awakening and benefit. Equanimity is a mind that abides in impartiality, wishing to benefit no one yet also causing no harm, awakened entirely alone — hence the name "solitary awakener." Those śrāvakas who fall into skillful means are exactly the same. It is like the two monks Madhyāntika and Aśvaka, who neither one attended when the Buddha entered parinirvāṇa, and only appeared, summoned, when Kāśyapa later convened the compiling of the Dharma treasury. Kāśyapa rebuked them, saying: "Did you attain the sagely path under the Buddha, or not?" They answered that they had indeed. He rebuked them further: "This is a grave fault of yours. From now on, the Buddhadharma shall be entrusted to you to uphold and maintain; should you fail to act in accord with the Dharma, the fault and the loss shall be yours alone." Those two men accepted this in shame, repented, and received his instruction, carrying it out with reverence.

As to the third, those who delight in neither: these are practitioners of the Mahāyāna of the very sharpest faculties, who neither resemble the icchantika in delighting in saṃsāra, nor fall into what is not skillful means, sharing the non-Buddhists' attachment, nor fall into skillful means, like followers of the two lesser vehicles. Such a person fully practices the path of equality between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, abiding in the place of non-abiding: though engaging in saṃsāra, he is not defiled by it; though engaging in nirvāṇa, he is not attached to it as pure either — it is only that, for the sake of great compassion, he does not abandon saṃsāra, and, for the sake of prajñā, he does not abandon nirvāṇa. "Not departing from nirvāṇa" distinguishes him from the śrāvaka's attachment to permanently abiding in the unconditioned; "not abandoning saṃsāra" distinguishes him from the icchantika's delight in saṃsāra. One who delights in and clings to saṃsāra is called an icchantika. A person nominally within the Buddhist fold who has fallen into a fixed position is likewise counted as an icchantika. These two kinds of persons both fall within the assembly fixed toward wrong destiny. One who falls into what is not skillful means belongs to the assembly of undetermined destiny. One who falls into skillful means, and one who delights in neither, having attained the former two causes and cultivating the path of equality — such a person belongs to the assembly rightly fixed toward correct destiny.

Apart from those who have given rise to the Mahāyāna practice free of obstruction, the remaining four kinds of persons — the icchantika, the non-Buddhist, the śrāvaka, and the pratyekabuddha — fail to see buddha-nature on account of four obstructions. What are the four? First, hatred and turning one's back on the Mahāyāna — the icchantika's obstruction. As its antidote, the Buddha taught bodhisattvas to cultivate faith and delight in the Mahāyāna teaching. Second, giving rise to attachment to a view of self among all dharmas — the non-Buddhist's obstruction. As its antidote, the Buddha taught bodhisattvas to cultivate the perfection of prajñā. Third, fixedly clinging to the notion of suffering and a mind of dread with respect to saṃsāra — the śrāvaka's obstruction. As its antidote, the Buddha taught bodhisattvas to cultivate the samādhi that breaks through emptiness. This samādhi can be attained from the first ground onward, breaking through attachment to a reified emptiness and the rest — upon entering it, one is neither caught in existence nor non-existence, and yet is not apart from them either, comparable to the eighth ground's simultaneous contemplation of the ultimate and the conventional. What distinguishes it from the eighth ground is that, from the eighth ground onward, there is no longer any entering or emerging from contemplation, whereas at the first ground, entering this contemplation is the same as the eighth ground's, but emerging from it is different. Fourth, turning away from the work of benefiting sentient beings and forming an intention to abandon them — the pratyekabuddha's obstruction. As its antidote, the Buddha taught the cultivation of bodhisattva great compassion. Bodhisattva great compassion takes benefiting others as its very work; this makes clear that the pratyekabuddha merely contemplates dependent origination for himself alone, having no intention of saving others, and so lacks great compassion — the śrāvaka is exactly the same. It is in order to extinguish these four obstructions that these four causes serve to let bodhisattvas cultivate their way to the unsurpassed, pure perfection of the dharmakāya; this is called the pure cause of buddha-nature.

A person such as this is called a child of the Buddha, and being a child of the Buddha carries four senses: first, cause; second, condition; third, support; fourth, fulfillment. As to the first, cause: there are two — buddha-nature, and faith and delight. Of these two, buddha-nature is unconditioned, while faith and delight are conditioned. Faith and delight, with respect to the nature, serve as the revealing cause of attaining buddha-nature, being able to manifest the true, causal nature; with respect to practice, they serve as the generative cause, being able to give rise to the whole of one's practice. Second, condition: this refers to the perfection of prajñā, which is able to give rise to the bodhisattva's own body, being the condition for the household of unconditioned virtue. Third, support: this refers to the samādhi that breaks through emptiness and the rest. Those who delight in mere conventional existence cling to a fixed notion of annihilation, supposing there is nowhere that bliss and purity ultimately exist; the bodhisattva's cultivation of this samādhi is able to remove this attachment, and by its strength, the bodhisattva's dharmakāya becomes firm and unwavering. Fourth, fulfillment: this refers to how the bodhisattva's great compassion, benefiting others, is inexhaustible — since suchness itself is inexhaustible and sentient beings are without number, the work of benefiting them is likewise inexhaustible; this is buddha-nature serving as the cause of the household of what is to be attained. The first, cause, is like the portion belonging to the father's own body; the second, condition, is like the mother; the third, support, is like the womb; and the fourth, fulfillment, is like the wet-nurse — and it is by these four senses that bodhisattvas are called children of the Buddha.