The Fruit Mark

Next, the fruit mark should be understood. The fruit mark concerns two settings: first, the two stages of the ordinary person and the sage prior to the bodhisattva grounds, who have not yet attained the four virtues; second, the stages of the ten grounds themselves. Prior to the grounds, the four causes — faith and delight and the rest — serve as the pure cause of buddha-nature, functioning as the antidote to the four inverted views. What should be understood as their fruit is the dharmakāya's four marks, virtues, and pāramitās. The four inverted views are: with respect to the five aggregates, which are in truth impermanent, giving rise to the view of permanence; which are in truth suffering, giving rise to the view of bliss; which are in truth without self, giving rise to the view of self; and which are in truth impure, giving rise to the view of purity. Inversion has three aspects: what is eliminated by insight, what is eliminated by cultivation, and what is eliminated by neither. At the moment of seeing the truth, the inversion of view is removed; through settled concentration breaking the afflictions of thought, the inversion of conception is removed; and through what is eliminated by neither, the inversion of mind is removed.

As their antidotes, the four non-inverted views are taught. What are the four? With respect to the five aggregates: what did not previously exist now comes to exist, and what has come to exist must cease — hence they are, in truth, impermanent. Suffering when in pain, suffering when pleasure ceases, and suffering across all three feelings — hence they are, in truth, suffering. Impermanence serves as cause, impermanence as effect, and because they arise through dependence on other conditions, the effect is not self-determining; the cause is likewise so, coming to exist and then returning to non-existence, itself depending on a prior cause. Apart from this chain of cause and effect, there is no further, separate dharma that could serve as a self — hence "without self" is what is real. Impurity is of two kinds, physical and non-physical. Physical impurity is of three kinds: at the beginning, the impurity of the seed at the moment of entering the womb; in the middle, the great impurity of being sustained by food and drink after birth; at the end, every kind of impurity once the body is cast off and decomposes. Non-physical impurity refers to states such as elation, sorrow, unwholesome or indeterminate states, or fetters not yet freed from desire. It is for this reason that the sages, surveying the three realms, see them all as impure. All four of these — impermanence, suffering, no-self, impurity — are real, and are therefore not inversions.

Yet when measured against buddha-nature's own four virtues of permanence and the rest, these four "non-inverted" views themselves become, in turn, inversions — and it is precisely as their antidote that the four virtues of the Tathāgata's dharmakāya are established: the pāramitā of permanence, the pāramitā of bliss, the pāramitā of self, and the pāramitā of purity. As the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra says: "World-Honored One! These sentient beings give rise to an inverted mind, and, with respect to the five aggregates of clinging within, see permanence where there is impermanence, see bliss where there is suffering, see self where there is no self, and see purity where there is impurity. World-Honored One! All śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, through their understanding of emptiness, have never once seen the domain of the wisdom of all wisdoms — the Tathāgata's dharmakāya, which ought to be cultivated, they leave uncultivated. But if a follower of the Mahāyāna, through faith in the World-Honored One, forms, with respect to the Tathāgata's dharmakāya, the understanding of permanence, bliss, self, and purity, this person is not to be called inverted, but is said to have attained right view. How is this so? World-Honored One! The Tathāgata's dharmakāya is precisely the pāramitās of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. One who holds this view holds right view, and is a true child at the Tathāgata's own breast" — meaning one who remains always close to the Buddha's own heart. Furthermore, as to the Tathāgata's four pāramitās, since they deepen in sequence by way of their causes, they should be understood as stated here in reverse order, naming the later first: purity, self, bliss, permanence.

On account of the icchantika's hatred and turning away from the Mahāyāna — in order to reverse his delight in dwelling within the impurity of saṃsāra — cultivating the bodhisattva's faith and delight in the Mahāyāna teaching yields, as its fruit, the pāramitā of purity.

On account of all non-Buddhists mistakenly attaching to a self within the five aggregates, which are by nature without self — yet these very dharmas stand in contradiction to the mark of self you attach to, and are therefore permanently without self — the buddhas and bodhisattvas, by means of the wisdom of suchness, attain the pāramitā of no-self with respect to all dharmas. This pāramitā of no-self does not contradict the very mark of "no-self" you yourselves perceive; it is on this basis that the Tathāgata declares this mark to be permanently without self, since it is the true essential nature of all dharmas — and hence the pāramitā of no-self is itself called "the self." As the sūtra says in verse: "The twofold emptiness already purified, one attains a supreme self that is no-self; the Buddha, having attained this pure nature, sees no-self transformed into the self." All the non-Buddhists attach to the view that a self exists within the five aggregates of clinging. In order to reverse this false attachment, cultivating the perfection of prajñā and attaining the most excellent no-self yields, as its fruit, precisely the pāramitā of self.

On account of śrāvakas dreading the suffering of saṃsāra's pleasure and pain, and abiding instead in the stillness of the cessation of saṃsāric suffering — in order to reverse this delight, cultivating the samādhi that breaks through emptiness yields, as its fruit, the pāramitā of bliss with respect to every mark, mundane and supramundane alike.

On account of the pratyekabuddha sage's failure to attend to the benefit of sentient beings, taking delight instead only in dwelling alone in stillness — in order to reverse this attitude, cultivating bodhisattva great compassion for the benefit of sentient beings, sustaining and protecting them without limit throughout the whole of saṃsāra, yields, as its fruit, the pāramitā of permanence.

In this way, these four causes — faith and delight in the Mahāyāna, the perfection of prajñā, the samādhi that breaks through emptiness, and bodhisattva great compassion — are able to accomplish the Tathāgata's dharmakāya's four virtuous pāramitās. It is for this reason that the Buddha says that, by means of these four virtues, all tathāgatas take the dharma-realm alone as supreme — like empty space, taking empty space itself as their outermost limit, beyond even the very last limit. What meaning do these four phrases reveal? Because of cultivating faith and delight in the Mahāyāna teaching, the buddhas attain the most utterly pure pāramitā — hence the dharma-realm alone is said to be supreme and highest. Because of cultivating the perfection of prajñā, they attain the pāramitā of utter no-self with respect to both the world of sentient beings and the world of physical containers — the five aggregates, the world of sentient beings, being the emptiness of person, and the land's four great elements, the world of physical containers, being the emptiness of dharma; it is because these are revealed by this twofold emptiness that it is said to be "like empty space." Because of cultivating the samādhi that breaks through emptiness and the rest, they attain freedom and spontaneity with respect to every dharma in every place — hence empty space itself is taken as their outermost limit. Because of cultivating bodhisattva great compassion, they perpetually give rise to a compassionate mind toward all sentient beings, protecting them without any limit at all — hence, "beyond even the very last limit." Even supposing there were something still beyond the very last limit, bodhisattva great compassion would still be able to surpass it. This concludes the general account of why the two stages prior to the grounds, the ordinary person and the sage, have not yet attained the four virtues.

Next, it should be understood that, at the ten grounds themselves, on account of four obstructions, the four virtues of the ultimate fruit have not yet been attained — they are attained only at the final moment of the vajra-like mind. Why? Because, beyond the three realms, there are three kinds of sages — śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas of great power — who, dwelling within the outflow-free realm, are subject to four enemy-obstructions, on account of which they do not yet attain the Tathāgata's dharmakāya's four virtuous pāramitās. The four are: birth-and-death through skillful means, through causes and conditions, of further existence, and of no further existence.

As to the first, birth-and-death through skillful means: this refers to the ground of ignorance, which is able to give rise to new outflow-free karma, just as ignorance gives rise to karmic formations. When an affliction, by way of skillful means, gives rise to an effect of the same kind, this is "causal and conditional," as when ignorance gives rise to unwholesome action; when it gives rise to an effect of a different kind, this is merely "skillful means," as when ignorance gives rise to wholesome action. The ground of ignorance's giving rise to new outflow-free karma is likewise so: giving rise to meritorious action is of the same kind, since it equally takes the conventional as its condition; giving rise to wise action is of a different kind, since wisdom is true prajñā. As to the second, birth-and-death through causes and conditions: this refers to the outflow-free karma produced by the ground of ignorance, bringing about only an effect of the same kind, as wholesome action produces only a pleasant fruit and unwholesome action only a painful retribution. Birth-and-death through skillful means is comparable to the stage of the ordinary person; birth-and-death through causes and conditions is comparable to the stage from stream-entry onward, where only prior karma is exercised and no new karma is produced. As to the third, birth-and-death of further existence: here the ground of ignorance serves as skillful means, and outflow-free karma serves as cause, giving rise to the mind-made bodies of the three kinds of sages — comparable to how the four kinds of clinging and karma-with-outflow give rise to a body born within the three realms. "Further existence" means a future rebirth still to come, as with an "upstream" non-returner who attains parinirvāṇa in a second, subsequent birth, one further birth still remaining. As to the fourth, birth-and-death of no further existence: here the final mind-made body of the three kinds of sages serves as the condition for what is called an "inconceivable falling back," comparable to how birth itself serves as the condition for old age and death. It is for this reason that the ground of ignorance is the basis on which every affliction depends, and every affliction is, in general, called "ignorance," since ignorance is the very root of all delusion — and since this root has not yet been utterly extinguished, arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and even bodhisattvas of self-mastery, still perfumed by the foul residue of every affliction, are unable to attain the great, unstained pāramitā of purity.

Furthermore, since the subtle mark of delusive thought stirred by this ground of ignorance has not yet come to rest, they are utterly unable to attain the great pāramitā of self, free of activity and free of conception. Because the outflow-free karma arising from subtle delusive thought gives rise to the three kinds of mind-made bodies, they are unable to attain the great pāramitā of bliss, utterly free from the suffering of cause and effect. And so long as one has not yet realized the Tathāgata's ambrosial realm, where the difficulty of karma's arising and of its utter extinction are both overcome, and has not yet realized the realm beyond inconceivable falling back, one is unable to attain the great pāramitā of permanence, utterly free from any distinction such as old age and death. Furthermore, it should be understood that the ground of ignorance corresponds to the difficulty of affliction; outflow-free karma, to the difficulty of karma; the three kinds of mind-made bodies, to the difficulty of karmic retribution; and inconceivable falling back, to the difficulty of fault. So long as one remains within the three kinds of mind-made bodies, one is without the pāramitās of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. It is the Tathāgata's dharmakāya alone that possesses these: because it has utterly extinguished every affliction and its habitual residue, it is called utterly pure; because every false attachment, to self or to no-self, has been stilled, it is called the great self; because the cause and effect of the mind-made body have been utterly exhausted, it is called great bliss; and because saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are equally and fully penetrated, it is called great permanence.

Next, it should be understood that each of the four virtues has two grounds. First, there are two reasons why the Tathāgata's dharmakāya has the great pāramitā of purity: its inherent purity, called the general aspect, shared by both sages and ordinary beings alike; and its purity free of defilement, called the particular aspect, belonging only to the fruit of buddhahood. There are, further, two grounds for the great pāramitā of self: because it is free from the non-Buddhists' extreme attachment to a self, there is no attachment to self; and because it is free from the two vehicles' extreme attachment to no-self, there is no false attachment to no-self either — both these attachments having been stilled, it is called the great pāramitā of self. There are, further, two grounds for the great pāramitā of bliss: because the mark of the arising of all suffering has been utterly extinguished without remainder, its habitual residue entirely uprooted; and because the mark of the cessation of all suffering has been realized, the three kinds of mind-made body, once extinguished, not arising again — this is called the great pāramitā of bliss. There are, further, two grounds for the great pāramitā of permanence: that impermanent saṃsāra suffers no further diminishment, free from the extreme of annihilation; and that abiding, permanent nirvāṇa admits of no further increase, free from the extreme of eternalism. It is by being free from both these extremes that it is called the great pāramitā of permanence. Hence the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra says: "To see all conditioned formations as impermanent is called the view of annihilation, not right view. To see nirvāṇa as permanently abiding is called the view of eternalism, not right view." It is for this reason that the Tathāgata's dharmakāya, free from both these views, is called the great pāramitā of permanence. By way of this gate of the true dharma-realm's own principle, nirvāṇa is precisely saṃsāra, and cannot be separated from it. This is precisely entering the gate of non-duality — being neither one nor two, abiding in the place of non-abiding. By extinguishing all afflictions, one does not abide in saṃsāra; by one's original vow, one does not abide in nirvāṇa either. Through prajñā, afflictions are extinguished; through great compassion, the original vow is fulfilled. Hence the Acintyabuddhaviṣaya Sūtra says, in verse: "The afflictions themselves become factors of awakening; saṃsāra itself becomes nirvāṇa. Cultivating this great skillful means — the buddhas are truly inconceivable."