Turn That Hearing Back Upon Your Own Hearing

Sūtra: "World-Honored One, I have, further, attained this perfect penetration, cultivating and realizing the unsurpassed path thereby, and am, further, able to skillfully attain four inconceivable, effortless, wondrous virtues."

Commentary: This restates, once more, the very essence and function of self-realized perfect penetration. The first three lines here establish this essence; the next three give rise to its function — accordant above, one with below, this fruit already carried forward into further causal practice, advancing stage by stage — all of this stands upon the same samādhi described above. This restatement, "I have, further, attained this true perfect penetration" — "attained" means exactly this: obtained. "Cultivating and realizing the unsurpassed path thereby": this marks the gradual deepening of this same merit and practice, cultivation and realization nearing their own completion, and so attaining the unsurpassed buddha-path itself — Wenling mostly reads this in terms of the stage of equal enlightenment.

"Further able to skillfully attain," what follows: according with this essence, giving rise to function; and calling this "skillful attainment" means exactly this: requiring no deliberate intention at all, spontaneous and free, utterly wondrous, utterly spiritual, beyond thought, beyond comparison, beyond what words or thought could ever reach — the mouth wishing to speak of it finds words fail; the mind wishing to grasp it finds thought itself vanishes. All four of these virtues are effortless, unconditioned, inconceivable functions of virtue — "wondrous" here means exactly this same inconceivability.

Sūtra: "First, since I first attained this wondrous, wondrous hearing-mind, its very essence transcending hearing itself, seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing can no longer be kept separate from one another, forming a single, perfectly interfused, pure, precious awareness — and so I am able to manifest countless wondrous forms and proclaim boundless sacred mantras."

Commentary: This recounts how this same essence, once attained, gives rise to this function. This "first" stands foremost of the four, being the first inconceivable virtue. Tracing its own origin: because I received, from that Tathāgata Avalokiteśvara, the teaching of entering samādhi through hearing, reflecting, and cultivating, at first, within hearing itself, entering the stream to illuminate this nature directly, giving rise, from original awakening's own wondrous principle, to the wondrous wisdom of initial awakening — this wisdom illuminating this principle, both principle and wisdom alike wondrous — hence, "wondrous, wondrous hearing-mind." And, further, among the six sense-faculties' own natures, all wondrous natures, the ear-faculty alone surpasses every other faculty in its own wonder — this being exactly the wonder within this same wonder. First attaining this mind as the very root cause of cultivation, hence, "I first attained this wondrous, wondrous hearing-mind."

"Its very essence transcending hearing itself": "transcending" means exactly slipping free — that is, both the hearing that hears and what is heard exhausted, only this single essence of mind remaining, sense-faculty and sense-object both slipped free together. "Seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing" are exactly the six essences, four named standing for all six. "Can no longer be kept separate" means exactly this: seeing and the rest are no longer separated or obstructed by the six sense-faculties — the sense-object gone and the sense-faculty exhausted, turned back against the stream into a single whole, all six functions no longer operating separately — this belongs exactly to this faculty's own first untying, first attaining the emptiness of self. "Forming a single, perfectly interfused, pure, precious awareness": that is, no longer resting within any conjured city along the way, advancing gradually further still, and attaining the emptiness of dharmas, and the emptiness of both together — penetrating straight through to that very last, most stubborn barrier, arising and ceasing themselves extinguished, still cessation appearing of itself, subsiding back into this own original, true substance, forming this single, perfectly interfused, unobstructed, originally pure, precious, awakened, true mind. The interchangeable use of all six sense-faculties is called "perfectly interfused"; unstained by any sense-object is called "pure." Realizing and entering the mind of the three aspects of the tathāgatagarbha, this principle-substance of original awakening, exactly like a wish-fulfilling jewel — hence, "precious, awakened."

This precious, awakened, true mind has, from its very origin, always been pure, with not a single dharma to be found within it at all — this is exactly the empty tathāgatagarbha, exactly like the wish-fulfilling jewel's own substance, pure and unstained. This true mind, according with conditions, forms every dharma of the ten Dharma-realms — exactly like the wish-fulfilling jewel manifesting whatever color is placed before it; and this true mind, though according with conditions, its own essential substance never changes — exactly like the wish-fulfilling jewel, though manifesting every color, its own jewel-substance never changing at all.

"And so I am able to manifest countless wondrous forms" and what follows: this great function now appears. A single body able to manifest many forms — that is, manifesting heads, manifesting arms, manifesting eyes. "Proclaim boundless sacred mantras": calling a mantra "sacred" means exactly this: these are the sages' own secret words, unknown to those of lower rank, the secret mantras of those of higher rank. Holding and reciting them brings benefit, complete with a spiritual, wondrous power and function — hence also called "sacred mantras."

Sūtra: "Among these, I may manifest one head, three heads, five, seven, nine, or eleven heads, and so on, up to a hundred and eight heads, a thousand heads, ten thousand heads, or eighty-four thousand vajra-firm heads."

Commentary: This makes plain the manifestation of heads. "Among these" means among these countless wondrous forms. The head is where the five sense-faculties all gather together; of a single body, the head is honored above all, the head is held most precious of all — and so the bodhisattva manifests it first. Heads begin from a single one as their base number, increasing successively all the way to eighty-four thousand, matching the number of Dharma-gates, so as to counteract worldly toil and affliction. As the Sixth Patriarch put it: "this Dharma-gate of mine gives rise, from a single prajñā, to eighty-four thousand kinds of wisdom. Why is this? Because the world holds eighty-four thousand kinds of worldly toil and affliction — were there no such toil, wisdom would shine forth constantly of itself; what need, then, would there be to transform defilement into purity?" "Vajra-firm" is translated "solid and indestructible."

One might ask: "the bodhisattva manifests eighty-four thousand heads — how could such a thing be believed?" The answer: "this is exactly the bodhisattva's own inconceivable state — how could it ever be measured by an ordinary being's own understanding? Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, within a single pore, enters buddha-lands beyond number, one after another — manifesting many heads raises no more doubt than this at all; it is no different, indeed, from an ordinary human body, which itself already has eighty-four thousand pores."

Sūtra: "Two arms, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty, up to twenty-four, and so on, up to a hundred and eight arms, a thousand arms, ten thousand arms, or eighty-four thousand mudrā-arms."

Commentary: This makes plain the manifestation of arms. "Arms" are exactly the arms of the body. A single body's two arms serve as the base number, increasing successively all the way to eighty-four thousand, representing the Dharma-gates as explained above. "Mudrā" is translated "seal," meaning that each arm has its own hand, and each hand forms its own mudrā.

Sūtra: "Two eyes, three, four, nine, and so on, up to a hundred and eight eyes, a thousand eyes, ten thousand eyes, or eighty-four thousand pure, precious eyes."

Commentary: This makes plain the manifestation of eyes. An ordinary person has only two eyes; the deva-king Maheśvara has three — and so, alternating between even and odd numbers, these increase all the way to eighty-four thousand. "Pure, precious eyes" are exactly the Dharma-eye, perfectly bright and pure, unobstructed and unstained — exactly like the Buddha's own eyes, deep blue and utterly clear.

Sūtra: "Sometimes compassionate, sometimes majestic, sometimes in samādhi, sometimes full of wisdom, rescuing and protecting sentient beings, attaining great freedom."

Commentary: This compassion, majesty, samādhi, and wisdom are spoken here in relation to the heads, arms, and eyes described above. "Sometimes" carries the sense of no fixed pattern: sometimes manifesting a compassionate countenance, approachable and warm; sometimes a majestic countenance, awe-inspiring; sometimes lowering an arm to lift a being up — this is compassion; sometimes raising a fist, bold and vigorous — this is majesty; sometimes a compassionate eye, caring and attentive — this is compassion; sometimes a wrathful eye, fierce and forbidding — this is majesty; sometimes forming a mudrā in calm stillness — this is samādhi; sometimes touching a crown to bestow a prophecy — this is wisdom. Compassion is the mark of loving concern; majesty is the mark of bold valor; samādhi is the mark of still calm; wisdom is the mark of open clarity. Every mark manifested is entirely for the sake of rescuing and protecting sentient beings — "rescuing" means drawing them out, freeing them from suffering; "protecting" means holding them in mind, bringing them to happiness. Compassion, further, protects a being's own wholesome roots; majesty rescues a being from their own evil nature; samādhi protects against a being's own scatteredness; wisdom rescues a being from their own confusion. "Attaining great freedom": that is, through this same inconceivable, wondrous virtue, requiring no deliberate intention at all, manifesting spontaneously, freely accomplished, never once failing to suit whatever occasion arises. The forms being exactly this way, the mantras may be understood by the same example — certain, likewise, to rescue and protect just as freely!

Sūtra: "Second, since my hearing and reflection have escaped the six sense-objects entirely, like sound passing through a wall unobstructed, I can manifest any form and recite any mantra, bestowing fearlessness on beings, so that I am called, throughout countless lands, 'the Giver of Fearlessness.'"

Commentary: The previous section, on the same-substance forms and mantras, described a single body able to manifest countless wondrous forms, able to proclaim boundless mantras. This present section, on different-substance forms and mantras, discerns each capacity individually, manifesting many different forms as well — whatever form should be manifested in answer, that very form is manifested, each accompanied by its own mantra — and so it differs from the section above. It differs, too, from the thirty-two responses, where each response matches what is sought, each answering a being of the same kind — here, not restricted to any one kind sought, this section bestows fearlessness directly. It differs, further, from the fourteen kinds of fearlessness, where that blessing works invisibly — here, the response is manifest and direct.

The first four lines make plain this realized essence; what follows makes plain the function arising from it, and so, after this, its own name is given. "Second, since my hearing and reflection have escaped the six sense-objects entirely": that is, through hearing, reflecting, and cultivating, entering samādhi, every sense-faculty entirely uprooted, the six sense-objects slipping entirely loose — and so these sense-objects can no longer obstruct at all. These first two lines are the dharma itself; the two that follow are the analogy: like sound able to pass beyond a wall — though the wall stands there, it cannot obstruct the sound at all. Because this essence is already realized, I am thereby able to manifest this wondrous function, spontaneously, according with conditions, able to manifest any form, able to recite any mantra. "Reciting" means exactly reciting the mantras spoken by the ancient buddhas themselves — such as the Great, Perfect, Unobstructed Dhāraṇī of Great Compassion, spoken by the past Buddha Thousand-Radiance King, Calm Abiding, and others besides. Whatever form is manifested, whatever mantra is recited, all alike are able to bestow the power of fearlessness upon sentient beings — and it is entirely because this genuine virtue reaches so many that this broad renown has spread, so that sentient beings of every land, as numerous as motes of dust throughout the ten directions, all alike call me the Giver of Fearlessness.

Sūtra: "Third, through cultivating this original, wondrous, perfect penetration and pure root-nature, wherever I travel, beings are moved to offer their own bodies and treasures, seeking my compassion."

Commentary: The first three lines here are the moving cause; the four lines that follow are the moved effect. "Through cultivating this original, wondrous, perfect penetration": perfect penetration is exactly what every single sentient being already possesses in full — deluded, it fails to manifest, yet, even while caught within delusion, it is never actually lost — hence, "original, wondrous perfect penetration." "Pure root-nature" points exactly to the ear-faculty — the sense-faculty's own nature being exactly the tathāgatagarbha's own nature, originally pure of itself, the very root-faculty matched to this particular world's own capacity, hence "root-nature." The line above speaks of this nature already possessed while still deluded; this present line speaks of cultivating and realizing it, leaving defilement behind, and so attaining purity. Through realizing this pure essence, free of any defiling attachment whatsoever, one is thereby able to bring sentient beings to let go of their own stingy, grasping mind. And wherever I myself travel and teach, I am able to bring sentient beings, everywhere, to break through their own stinginess and greed, resolving with joy to give freely, offering up their own pearls and treasures, seeking my own compassion — and I receive these offerings, using them to carry out the Buddha's own work.

As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: among sentient beings, a stingy mind (that is, one unwilling to give) is hardest of all to break through, a mind of giving is hardest of all to resolve upon, and a mind that longs to give cannot be forced into being. Yet wherever this bodhisattva passes, sentient beings are moved of themselves to break through their own stinginess, to give freely, pleading for the bodhisattva's compassion — this is, indeed, truly inconceivable, brought about entirely through this same majestic, spiritual power. And who would know the great source of this power? It is entirely because this same ear-faculty has been cultivated, pure and free of any attachment, that it is able to move beings in this way. This very matter is confirmed in the Universal Gate chapter of the Lotus Sūtra: hearing the Buddha describe how Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva travels and teaches throughout every land, benefiting this Sahā world, the Bodhisattva Akṣayamati said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, I shall now make an offering to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva" — and, undoing the string of precious pearls about his own neck, worth a hundred thousand taels of gold, he offered it, saying: "Venerable one, please accept this offering of the Dharma, this precious pearl necklace" (though a pearl necklace is a precious thing, in substance an offering of wealth, it is called here an offering of the Dharma for two reasons: first, at the very moment of untying it to offer, he penetrated fully to the emptiness of all three wheels of this giving; second, this offering was made not for his own sake, but on behalf of every being, seeking to carry out the Buddha's own work and benefit sentient beings — and so it became an offering of the Dharma). At that time, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva was unwilling to accept it. Akṣayamati said again to Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva: "Venerable one, out of compassion for us, please accept this necklace" (Avalokiteśvara's refusal carried two senses: first, this offering was not made to the Buddha but to the bodhisattva directly, and, the Buddha not having commanded its acceptance, the bodhisattva did not presume to accept it; second, since it had just been untied from around the giver's own neck, accepting it in this manner seemed improper, and so it was declined. Akṣayamati's renewed request likewise carried two senses: first, to express his own sincere earnestness, hoping the Buddha himself would relay this request, so that it might certainly be accepted; second, this offering was made on behalf of every being, and so its acceptance, too, would be on behalf of every being — and so no impropriety was involved after all). At that time, the Buddha told Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva: you should, out of compassion for this Bodhisattva Akṣayamati, and for the four assemblies and the eight kinds of spirits, accept this necklace. Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva then, out of compassion for the four assemblies and the eight kinds of spirits, accepted the necklace, and divided it into two portions — one portion offered to the Buddha Śākyamuni, and the other offered to the stūpa of the Buddha Prabhūtaratna (having accepted it on behalf of every being, the bodhisattva likewise made this offering on behalf of every being as well, offering it up to these two honored ones — the Buddha being the unsurpassed field of merit — and, through this same relayed offering, returning its benefit to every sentient being, so that they might plant the very seed of buddhahood. This citation, drawn from the Lotus Sūtra, shows this bodhisattva's own words to carry real proof behind them).

Sūtra: "Fourth, having attained the Buddha's own mind and realized it to its very limit, I am able to make every kind of offering to the Tathāgatas of the ten directions and, at the same time, to every being of the six destinies throughout the Dharma-realm."

Commentary: The first two lines here recount this realized essence; what follows makes plain the function that arises from it. "I have attained the Buddha's own mind": that is, attained exactly the same hidden, causal-stage mind held by every buddha, every Tathāgata. Relying on this same causal mind, giving rise to the cultivation and realization of complete meaning, through this wondrous ear-gate, turning hearing back to illuminate this nature directly, realizing the Śūraṅgama samādhi, the ultimate, solid firmness underlying every single event — that is, realizing and entering the tathāgatagarbha directly, within which every mundane and transcendent dharma, without exception, is contained in full — and so I am able to be complete with every treasure, making offerings to both buddhas and sentient beings alike, seeing buddha and sentient being as not two different things at all, offering to both equally. "Realized it to its very limit": this should not be read as the ultimate fruit of wondrous enlightenment itself, since the bodhisattva is shown here still standing at the causal stage of equal enlightenment.

Sūtra: "Those who seek a spouse obtain one, those who seek a child obtain one, those who seek samādhi obtain it, those who seek long life obtain it, and so on, up to those who seek great nirvāṇa, who obtain that as well."

Commentary: What came above was offering equally to buddhas and to sentient beings; what follows here is the two kinds of giving, of wealth and of Dharma. "Those who seek a spouse obtain one, those who seek a child obtain one": this is spoken in relation to the human path, an offering of outer wealth — kingdoms, cities, spouses, and children all being exactly outer wealth. "Those who seek long life obtain it": this is spoken in relation to the human path and to the heavenly immortals, an offering of inner wealth — lifespan, form, and strength all being exactly inner wealth. This line should properly come before "seek samādhi": in the human realm, there are those who seek to extend their own years and add to their own lifespan; in the way of the immortals, there are those who seek a solid, indestructible body, a lifespan of a thousand or ten thousand years; and, in the heavenly path, too, there are heavens of long life — whoever seeks any of these obtains it, all through this same offering of wealth.

"Those who seek samādhi obtain it": this is spoken in relation to the gods of the upper two realms, and to the sagely assemblies of the three vehicles — whether seeking the four dhyānas and four formless absorptions, defiled meditative states, or seeking the undefiled samādhi of the śrāvaka, the pratyekabuddha, the three grades of worthy, or the ten grades of sage, in every case, samādhi is thereby attained; or whether seeking the great nirvāṇa with nothing further remaining, the ultimate virtue of severance itself, this too is thereby attained — all of this through this same offering of the Dharma. This is entirely because the great being, having realized this very mind of the tathāgatagarbha, this single, true Dharma-realm, this equal, true suchness, is thereby able to offer equally to both sentient beings and buddhas alike, this twofold giving of wealth and Dharma — how, then, could this effortless, wondrous power ever be fully grasped by thought? This closes the second section, elaborating these three categories in detail, and, together with it, closes the previous section as well, elaborating in detail how wondrous function arises from this same essence.

Sūtra: "Since you ask about perfect penetration: through the ear-faculty, by the perfectly illuminating samādhi, my conditioned mind became free, and, through the mark of entering the stream, I attained samādhi and accomplished bodhi. This is foremost."

Commentary: The Buddha earlier asked us all: awakening to the eighteen elements, which one brings you to perfect penetration? And by what skillful means did you enter samādhi? I, Avalokiteśvara, proceeded exactly from this wondrous ear-gate, relying on this root-faculty's own perfectly calm, unborn, unceasing nature, giving rise to wisdom's own contemplation — this being called "perfectly illuminating," that is, turning hearing back to illuminate this nature directly, illuminating all the way to the single mind's own original source, and thereby attaining samādhi — this being the very king of Śūraṅgama samādhi itself. These four words, "perfectly illuminating samādhi," the first two describe the causal-stage cultivation, and the last two describe the realized fruit. The line "my conditioned mind became free" is exactly this fruit carried forward into further causal practice — also called "carrying the fruit forward into causal practice" — encompassing all three sections described above. The word "conditioned" points exactly to the thirty-two responses, the fourteen kinds of fearlessness, and the four inconceivable virtues, each transforming and responding according to conditions, this wondrous function thereby arising, the mind attaining freedom. This closes the answer to the Buddha's question of which, among the eighteen elements, brings one to perfect penetration — I awakened to this wondrous ear-gate, exactly this root of perfect penetration.

"Through the mark of entering the stream, I attained samādhi": this closes the answer to the Buddha's question of by what skillful means one enters samādhi — through the mark of entering the stream, I attained samādhi. These four words, "through the mark of entering the stream," are exactly the entire course of practice belonging to hearing, reflecting, and cultivating, untying the six knots, breaking through the five aggregates. "Through" means exactly relying upon — relying on the ear-faculty, the most excellent, most perfectly complete faculty of all; and "through" also means exactly by means of — by means of the ear-faculty's own nature of hearing, giving rise to the wisdom of initial awakening. "Entering the stream" means going against the stream of birth and death, and entering the stream of nirvāṇa instead, proceeding from the shallow into the deep, entering all the way to arising and ceasing themselves extinguished, still cessation appearing of itself, thereby attaining samādhi — that is, exactly this illusion-like habituation of hearing and cultivation of hearing turned back, this vajra samādhi — named exactly attaining the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration. These five lines given in answer above encompass this entire sūtra's own title, and encompass, too, the essential meaning of the whole sūtra. "I proceeded from this wondrous ear-gate," this perfectly calm, unborn, unceasing nature, taken as the causal-stage mind — this is exactly the Tathāgata's own hidden cause. The word "illuminating" is exactly giving rise to wisdom's own contemplation, carrying out the effort of entering the stream to illuminate this nature directly, turning one's back on the sense-object while according with awareness — this is exactly the cultivation and realization of complete meaning. "My conditioned mind became free," responding universally according to conditions, whether responding invisibly or responding manifestly, the mind attaining freedom, spontaneously benefiting beings — this is exactly the bodhisattvas' own myriad practices. "I attained samādhi" is exactly attaining the Śūraṅgama's own great samādhi.

"Accomplished bodhi": this is accomplishing bodhi as the unsurpassed, ultimate fruit itself, perfectly attaining the three kinds of bodhi together — realizing the wondrous principle of the bodhi of true nature, fulfilling the wondrous wisdom of the bodhi of actual wisdom, and giving rise to the wondrous function of the bodhi of skillful means — hence, "accomplished bodhi." "I proceeded from the ear-gate, by the perfectly illuminating samādhi," above, is exactly attaining this original, bright awakening's own unborn, unceasing nature, taken as the causal-stage mind; this present line is exactly the subsequent, perfect accomplishment of cultivation and realization at the fruit stage.

"This is foremost": "this" means exactly this ear-faculty's own perfect penetration, foremost of all — this closes the answer, affirming the surpassing excellence of this Dharma-gate. This single gate of the ear-faculty is exactly the very gate the Buddha first told Ānanda of — the samādhi named the Great Buddha's Crown, the king of Śūraṅgama, complete with every practice, the single gate through which every Tathāgata of the ten directions has transcended, the one gate along this wondrously adorned path; it is also exactly the very gate Ānanda requested, to enter the jeweled hall; and it is also exactly the single gateway to nirvāṇa shared by every Bhagavān of the ten directions — hence, foremost.

And this "accomplished bodhi, this is foremost" is exactly Avalokiteśvara answering, on the Buddha's own behalf, Ānanda's original question — by what initial skillful means did every Tathāgata of the ten directions come to accomplish bodhi, through wondrous śamatha, samādhi, and dhyāna? This means exactly: I, proceeding from the ear-gate, awakened to this perfectly calm, unborn, unceasing nature, opening at once to this perfect understanding — this is exactly wondrous śamatha; giving rise to wisdom's own contemplation, relying on the ear-faculty as the very root of cultivation, turning hearing back to illuminate this nature directly, giving rise thereby to perfect cultivation — this is exactly wondrous samādhi; responding and transforming according to conditions, the mind attaining freedom, abiding securely within this perfect samādhi, every practice flourishing forth at once — this is exactly wondrous dhyāna. Complete with these three forms of samādhi together, perfectly accomplishing the Śūraṅgama's own great samādhi, accomplishing unsurpassed bodhi itself — it is exactly this ear-faculty alone that is foremost. Awakening to the sense-faculty's own nature as the causal-stage mind is the very first skillful means; cultivating and realizing through the sense-faculty is the initial skillful means (that is, the skillful means for entering the first abiding of the initial resolve); attaining these two supreme qualities and giving rise to these three functions, benefiting beings according to conditions, is skillful means as well. Ānanda, able to ask after the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration, awakening thoroughly to this method of accomplishing bodhi, changing course from his own one-sided reliance on mere hearing, turning instead toward the very gate of the ear-faculty, turning back falseness and returning to truth — this is exactly being complete with these three kinds of wisdom, swiftly realizing perfect penetration — what further need is there, then, to wait for the Buddha to command Mañjuśrī to select once more?

Sūtra: "World-Honored One, that Buddha, that Tathāgata, praising me for so excellently attaining this Dharma-gate of perfect penetration, conferred on me, in the midst of the great assembly, the prophecy of my own name, Avalokiteśvara."

Commentary: This closes this account of the surpassing excellence of self-benefiting practice. "That Buddha, that Tathāgata" is exactly the ancient Tathāgata Avalokiteśvara, who taught me to enter samādhi through hearing, reflecting, and cultivating — and I, receiving this teaching, took up the practice, and thereby attained perfect penetration. "Praising me for so excellently attaining this Dharma-gate of perfect penetration" is exactly this same praise given to me — "excellently attaining" means exactly this: little effort spent, yet swift results gained, since attaining the perfect faculty, compared with an imperfect one, differs as much as a single day from a whole kalpa. "Conferred on me, in the midst of the great assembly, the prophecy of my own name, Avalokiteśvara": this is exactly conferring, upon this same self-benefiting practice of cultivation and realization, the very name belonging to this causal stage — properly conferred at the moment perfect penetration is itself realized, and, teacher and disciple's own paths thus in perfect accord, conferring, too, this very same name in common.

Sūtra: "Because I observe and listen, becoming perfectly bright throughout the ten directions, this name Avalokiteśvara has spread throughout the worlds of the ten directions."

Commentary: What came above named this bodhisattva in terms of the person; this line names this bodhisattva in terms of the dharma itself. This dharma is exactly the dharma of cultivation and realization — through my own contemplating and illuminating the ear-faculty, this nature of hearing, perfectly illuminating the whole Dharma-realm, nothing but this wondrous, awakened brightness — sentient beings of the ten directions who recollect my own name are, without exception, perfectly and brightly known by me, not through any deliberate thought or intention on my part at all, bestowing happiness and drawing out suffering, freely accomplished — and so sentient beings of the ten directions, every one of them, call upon my own name, and this name Avalokiteśvara has thereby spread throughout the worlds of the ten directions. Sentient beings of the ten directions all share a karmic affinity with this bodhisattva, worshipping, recollecting, and making offerings more than to any other bodhisattva at all. This closes the second section, Avalokiteśvara's own extended account — and, together with it, closes the sages' various accounts above, the second subsection, the assembly's own accounts of their original cause.

Sūtra: "At that time the World-Honored One, seated upon his lion-throne, from all five parts of his own body at once, emitted precious light, pouring far out to bathe the crowns of every Tathāgata and every son of the Dharma-king, every bodhisattva, throughout the ten directions, as numerous as motes of dust."

Commentary: This follows directly upon every sage's own account of perfect penetration, all twenty-five gateways now opened — and though every single gateway is capable of realizing perfect penetration, Avalokiteśvara's own ear-faculty is foremost among them all. "At that time" means exactly the moment right after every sage had finished their own account, and the Buddha manifests this auspicious sign. "World-Honored One" refers to our own founding teacher, Śākyamuni. "Upon his lion-throne": the lion is king among beasts, roaming without fear; the Buddha is king within the Dharma, teaching without fear — hence this throne is named for the lion. "From all five parts of his own body": that is, from the Buddha's entire body — the head, the two hands, and the two feet making up these five parts — emitting precious light all at once; this light pouring far out to bathe the crowns of every Tathāgata as numerous as motes of dust, and every son of the Dharma-king, every bodhisattva, throughout the ten directions. This displays the overall mark of perfect penetration — this wondrous principle of perfect penetration, self and other, cause and fruit, interpenetrating one another completely: the buddhas stand for the fruit, the sages stand for the cause, and this light pouring mutually into one another displays exactly this same interpenetration of self and other, cause and fruit. Now, the Buddha's own light bathing every buddha's own crown is exactly one's own fruit penetrating through another's own fruit; bathing the bodhisattvas' own crowns is exactly one's own fruit penetrating through another's own cause. And the reason this light must bathe the crown specifically is to display this wondrous principle of perfect penetration as the very foremost of crown-teachings.

Sūtra: "And every one of those Tathāgatas, likewise from all five parts of their own bodies at once, emitted precious light, coming from every direction, as numerous as motes of dust, to bathe the Buddha's own crown, and to bathe, too, the crowns of every great bodhisattva and arhat within the assembly."

Commentary: This is the light of these other buddhas bathing our own Buddha's crown — host and guests bathing one another's crowns in turn. This displays exactly how every buddha shares one and the same path, this crown-teaching without the slightest duality, a single tathāgatagarbha mind alone. Every buddha takes this as their own hidden cause; every bodhisattva, relying on this, gives rise to their own myriad practices — none of them ever departing from this very same mind.

Sūtra: "Forest trees and pools alike proclaimed the sound of the Dharma; every ray of light crossed and interwove with every other, exactly like a net woven of precious thread. Every being in this great assembly attained what they had never known before, and all, universally, attained the vajra samādhi."

Commentary: What came above displayed the overall mark of perfect penetration — this same wondrous principle of perfect penetration, realized by every buddha alike. This present passage displays the individual marks of perfect penetration — form, sound, and every other dharma, each and every dharma perfectly interfused with every other. Forest trees and pools (where water gathers, the larger body is called a pool, the smaller a marsh) belong to the insentient — yet they all proclaim the sound of the Dharma, becoming, as it were, sentient — exactly as, in the Land of Bliss, water flowing among flowers and wind blowing through rows of trees all alike proclaim the sound of the Dharma; this is exactly the sentient and the insentient sharing one and the same substance. "Every ray of light crossed and interwove with every other, exactly like a net woven of precious thread": our own Buddha's light bathing every other buddha, and every other buddha's light bathing our own Buddha, ray crossing ray, weaving into one another, exactly like a net of precious thread, one and the same substance, undivided, neither mixed together in confusion nor scattered apart. This is exactly every place alike being one and the same true Dharma-realm, displaying how every sage's own Dharma-gate is, at once, the same and yet different, different and yet the same, mutually pervading and mutually adorning one another — heaven and earth manifesting this auspicious sign, every direction filled with this same auspicious mark, forming this true realm of perfect penetration itself. Every being in this great assembly, their own eyes beholding this auspicious mark, their own ears hearing the sound of the Dharma, their own bodies present within this Dharma-assembly, their own crowns bathed in the Buddha's own light — every one of them attained what they had never known before.

"All, universally, attained the vajra samādhi": this is exactly making principle plain through actual events, awakening to this nature through this very mark, awakening clearly to the ultimate, solid, unshakeable principle-nature underlying every single event — that is, universally attaining this very vajra samādhi the great being himself realized, called exactly penetrating through to the very bottom source of every dharma, unmoving and indestructible. This displays a shared awakening: the aggregates, entrances, fields, elements, and seven great elements are, all of them, originally the tathāgatagarbha, this wondrous, true suchness itself — and though every sage's own gateway of entry differs, the perfect penetration each one realizes is, in the end, one and the same.

Sūtra: "At that very moment, the heavens rained down lotus flowers of every treasure, blue, yellow, red, and white, interspersed and intermingled, and the empty sky of the ten directions turned the color of the seven treasures."

Commentary: "At that very moment" means exactly the moment the buddhas emitted this light and manifested this auspicious sign. The heavens rained down flowers, making offerings to this ocean-vast assembly of buddhas and sentient beings alike; the flowers rained down were exactly lotus flowers of every treasure, divided into four colors — blue, yellow, red, and white — interspersed with one another, intermingled together in profusion; and, all at once, the empty sky of the ten directions filled entirely with these precious flowers, turning the color of the seven treasures. The flowers' four colors represent practice; the treasures' own light represents wisdom. A lotus flower bears its cause and fruit at the same time — the flower already being, at once, the fruit — representing how the causal-stage mind is already complete with the fruit-stage awakening, and this fruit-stage awakening never departs from the causal-stage mind. The hundred treasures' four colors represent wisdom and practice unfolding together in profusion; their interspersing and intermingling represents wisdom and practice being, at once, identical with one another; and the empty sky turning the color of these treasures represents principle and wisdom mutually adorning one another.

Sūtra: "This Sahā world's own great earth, mountains, and rivers, all at once, disappeared entirely from view; one saw only the ten directions' own lands, as numerous as motes of dust, merged together into a single world, and hymns of pure praise sounded forth of themselves."

Commentary: Precisely at this very moment, as the buddhas emitted this light and manifested every kind of auspicious mark, this Sahā world's own great earth, mountains, and rivers — the circumstantial retribution belonging to this world — all at once disappeared entirely from view, and one saw only the lands of the ten directions, as numerous as motes of dust, merged together into a single world, self and other no longer separated, one single substance, perfectly interfused. Of this passage, the first three lines display every falseness dissolving away; what follows displays this one single truth standing alone, revealed. Falseness emptied and truth revealed — this is exactly arising and ceasing themselves extinguished, still cessation appearing of itself, exactly this true realm of perfect penetration itself — and, reaching this point, hymns of pure praise sound forth of themselves. "Pure" means exactly undefiled; a hymn is a chant of praise — the Sanskrit hymns of the Western Regions are exactly like the hymns of our own land, that is, songs of praise and homage. Sounding forth of themselves, in perfect measure, no different at all from heavenly music resounding through the sky. This displays the very music of the Dharma belonging to perfect penetration, accomplished spontaneously, of itself. This closes the second section, the Buddha commanding every sage to give their own account.

Sūtra: At that time the World-Honored One ... said to Mañjuśrī, Dharma-Prince: "You have now heard these twenty-five great bodhisattvas and arhats, beyond further training, each describe the means by which they first attained the path — all of them cultivating genuine perfect penetration, their practices, in truth, without any real difference of superior or inferior, earlier or later."

Commentary: This is the Buddha commanding Mañjuśrī to make this selection. Earlier, in the section on awakening to and entering perfect penetration, it was already said: "attaining the perfect faculty, compared with an imperfect one, differs as much as a single day from a whole kalpa," and further: "select carefully, among these, whichever one you find yourself able to enter through, and I shall make this plain for you, so that you may advance." Because Ānanda did not know which faculty was truly the most perfect one, the Buddha, though quietly indicating the ear-faculty, found Ānanda still failing to grasp this — and so Ānanda requested that the Tathāgata give one final, direct instruction, withdrawing his own quiet hint, hoping instead for the Buddha's own explicit teaching. And so the Buddha commanded every sage to give their own account of their causal-stage cultivation and realization, each one declaring this to be foremost. Ānanda, once again, remained at a loss — and so the Buddha commanded Mañjuśrī to select among these approaches to perfect penetration. Mañjuśrī, being the very great wisdom at the very root, and, in ages past, the teacher of seven buddhas, receives this command to make this selection for two reasons: first, though the Buddha had earlier had everyone enter deeply through a single gate, he had, in the end, never yet explicitly stated which gate this was — and now, with every gate set forth together, it is fitting, in principle, that a single gate be determined once and for all. Second, though every sage's own account describes a genuine skillful means, it is a pity that not every one of them matches this particular world's own capacity and wisdom — only Avalokiteśvara's own method precisely suits this occasion — and so this one selection determines, once and for all, to set aside every other gate, and take up the ear-gate alone.

And so the Tathāgata specially addressed Mañjuśrī, Dharma-Prince: you now behold these twenty-five bodhisattvas and arhats — all called "beyond further training," since, for one of the perfect teaching, cultivation itself is identical with there being nothing further to cultivate. "Each describe the means by which they first attained the path, all of them cultivating genuine perfect penetration": each one describes their own initial resolve, all the way to attaining the path itself — nothing other than the eighteen elements of sense-faculty, sense-object, and consciousness, together with the seven great elements, taken up as their own respective starting point, this skillful means — each one declaring that, relying on this same cultivation, genuine perfect penetration was ultimately attained in every case, each calling their own method foremost.

"Their practices, in truth, without any real difference of superior or inferior, earlier or later": the practice each of these sages cultivated, and the perfect penetration each of them realized, are, in the final analysis, one and the same, without any real distinction of superior or inferior, without any real difference at all. Though returning to this same single origin admits of no duality, in actual practice these skillful means are many-gated indeed — and the particular gate each one entered through does differ, in skill or clumsiness, in swiftness or slowness. This is exactly like a thousand paths and nine great roads, all alike converging upon the royal capital. Judged by this alone, these twenty-five gateways should admit of no selection at all!

Sūtra: "I now wish Ānanda to awaken clearly: among these twenty-five practices, which one best matches his own capacity? And, after I have passed away, for the beings of this world who enter the bodhisattva vehicle and seek the unsurpassed path, which gateway of skillful means will bring them to success most readily?"

Commentary: What came above addressed Ānanda directly. Though the state realized is, in every case, equal, the very gate through which one enters can hardly be equally matched to this particular world's own capacity in every instance, nor equally suited to ordinary, sustained practice in every instance either. "I now wish Ānanda to awaken clearly: among these twenty-five practices, which one best matches his own capacity?" Ānanda, foremost in broad learning, is accustomed to relying on the ear-faculty — hence Mañjuśrī's own selection, further on: "why not turn that hearing which retains the Buddha's own teaching back upon your own hearing?" What follows extends this same concern to beings yet to come: "after I have passed away, for the beings of this world" in this final age, their own capacities growing ever duller, awakening growing ever harder to attain — should the faculty matched to this particular world not be selected, then, even should they enter the bodhisattva vehicle, setting aside the lesser and aspiring to the greater, seeking the unsurpassed path, they would still find it difficult to reach this path's own ultimate end. And so the Buddha commands Mañjuśrī to make this selection, first conveying this same intention: first, matched to this one class of capacity, Ānanda's own; second, matched to the beings of this world in the age of the Dharma's decline; third, cultivating the true cause; fourth, attaining the ultimate fruit — and so asks which gateway of skillful means will bring them to success most readily.

Sūtra: "Mañjuśrī, Dharma-Prince, receiving the Buddha's own compassionate command, rose at once from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and, relying upon the Buddha's own majestic, spiritual power, spoke this verse in reply to the Buddha:"

Commentary: This is the sūtra-compiler's own account of this occasion. "Mañjuśrī, Dharma-Prince, receiving the Buddha's own compassionate command" means exactly this: reverently receiving our own Buddha's compassionate instruction — that is, this very matter of making this selection, as conveyed above — hence the verse further on: "fit to teach Ānanda, and all those, sunk in this final age, who need only cultivate through this one faculty [that is, the ear-faculty] to surpass every other approach." "Rose at once from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet": even a great being already at the fruit stage still follows this same standing custom upon receiving a command. "Relying upon the Buddha's own majestic, spiritual power": relying upon the Buddha's own majestic virtue and spiritual power, blessing him — since these twenty-five sages stand equal in stature with Mañjuśrī himself, being real persons in their own right, how, without relying on the Buddha's own majestic, spiritual power, could he presume to rank and judge them on his own? And replying in verse, rather than in prose, makes it easy to hold in memory, strung together like flowers on a thread, so that, having heard it, one might reflect on it and put it into practice.

Sūtra: "The nature of the sea of awareness is calm and perfectly complete; perfectly complete, this same calm awareness is originally wondrous; this original brightness gives rise to illumination, and to what is illuminated; and, this illuminated object established, the very nature that illuminates is thereby lost."

Commentary: The first two lines here describe the true source relied upon — exactly this original, true mind already possessed, exactly the tathāgatagarbha's own nature. This is exactly like an earlier passage, where, before distinguishing brightness from its absence, the sūtra first named this nature as originally twofold awareness, and, before refuting the conditioned and the unconditioned, first named these two words, "true nature." "Sea of awareness" should not be read as an analogy at all, but rather as directly naming the very nature of awareness itself as a sea — exactly as the Avataṃsaka Sūtra speaks of a "sea of buddha-lands," a "sea of kalpas," and so on. Were this taken as an actual sea of water, one would fall into the fault of an analogy that does not truly match what it illustrates — for this sea of awareness has no boundary at all, in any direction, and no bottom at all, in any depth, unlike a sea of water, which still has both a shore and a bottom. Of "the nature of the sea of awareness," the word "nature" points to the great aspect of substance; "calm and perfectly complete," "perfectly complete, calm," refer to the great aspect of characteristics; and "originally wondrous," "original brightness," speak of the great aspect of function. "Calm and perfectly complete" means that this sea of awareness, calm and unmoving, embraces the ten thousand things within it completely — this being exactly stillness that is nonetheless illuminating, unchanging while constantly according with conditions. "Perfectly complete, this same calm awareness" means that, though this sea of awareness embraces the ten thousand things completely, it remains, in the end, calm and unmoving — this being exactly illumination that is nonetheless still, according with conditions while constantly unchanging. "Wondrous" means originally wondrous of itself, not through any act of construction; "bright" means originally bright of itself, requiring no exertion of effort at all — and, being originally wondrous, originally bright, not a single thought arises, everything already complete exactly as it is, of itself. Within this, the word "wondrous" already carries the sense of "bright" within it — set against "calm and perfectly complete" above, "originally wondrous" carries this same sense, and "perfectly complete, calm" carries this same sense of "original brightness."

"This original brightness gives rise to illumination, and to what is illuminated; and, this illuminated object established, the very nature that illuminates is thereby lost": these two lines describe the false source relied upon — exactly the very first, most fundamental non-awakening, exactly this independent, arising mark of ignorance, from which every false dharma, without exception, arises in dependence. And so these two words, "original brightness," in this line, follow directly from the same words above. "Original brightness," not falsely giving rise to any illuminating function at all, is simply this original brightness itself, not a single thing present within it — yet now, upon this very nature of original brightness, a false illuminating function arises, and this illumination is itself a false illumination — exactly what the sūtra said earlier: "the nature of awareness is necessarily bright; mistakenly, this becomes 'awareness that is bright.'" "Gives rise to... what is illuminated" means exactly this: because of this false illumination, a false object illuminated arises — exactly what was said earlier: "awareness is not something to be illuminated; because of this illumination, an object is established." Once this false realm illuminated is thus established, this true, illuminating nature is thereby lost — exactly what is meant by: where a mark is present, feeling attaches to it; where no mark is present, it remains hidden — exactly as confused clouds, once they arise, are certain to obscure the very sun of wisdom. And so this original tathāgatagarbha, already possessed, is thereby transformed into the storehouse-consciousness of ignorance itself.

Sūtra: "Deluded by this falseness, empty space came to be; depending on this empty space, world-systems were established; thought, settling, formed these lands; and knowing and awareness became sentient beings."

Commentary: This makes plain how, from truth, falseness first arises, and this falseness comes to form world-systems, sentient beings, and the continuity of karmic fruit, three continuities in all. Because this false object had already been established, the original light of wisdom is thereby transformed into a false seeing capable of seeing — wishing to see this original consciousness, yet unable to know it, this original consciousness could never actually be seen at all, and so one grows deluded regarding the nature of emptiness, falsely forming, instead, a mere blank void — hence, "deluded by this falseness, empty space came to be," exactly what was called, earlier, "darkened and dulled into emptiness"; relying directly upon ignorance, empty space appears first of all. The next line, "depending on this empty space, world-systems were established": since this original consciousness could not be seen at all, and yet one remained fixed on wishing to see it, emptiness and this seeing stood opposed to one another, this stubborn attachment seeking something to condition — exactly like straining the eyes until they grow weary, staring fixedly — and, depending on this same darkened, dulled emptiness, congealing this dark state into the physical dharmas of the four elements — hence, "depending on this empty space, world-systems were established," exactly what was called, earlier, "within this darkness, congealing darkness into form."

"Thought, settling, formed these lands; and knowing and awareness became sentient beings": the first of these two lines is exactly what Wenling called false thought congealing to form the insentient lands; the second means false thought and awareness forming sentient beings, possessed of feeling. This arises in dependence on the storehouse-consciousness of ignorance, giving rise to both the circumstantial and direct retributions, and thereby to both the seeing-portion and the appearing-portion. As the Zhǐzhǎng commentary puts it: this speaks specifically of the subtle marks within this original consciousness, not of its coarser marks, so as to show that the path of delusion has not strayed far at all, and that finding one's way back to this same source remains easy.

Sūtra: "This empty space arose within the great sea of awareness, like a single bubble forming upon the ocean; every land, defiled, as numerous as motes of dust, arises depending on this same empty space; once the bubble bursts, this empty space itself was never truly there at all — how much less, then, the three states of existence themselves?"

Commentary: The first four lines make plain how every dharma suddenly arises; the last two make plain how every dharma returns to cessation — that is, the sense of returning from falseness to truth. In the passage above, "deluded by this falseness, empty space came to be" — this empty space arises within the great sea of the mind of awareness itself, merely like a single bubble appearing upon the ocean. The mind of awareness is likened here to the ocean; empty space is likened to the bubble — how could their size ever be compared? "Every land, defiled, as numerous as motes of dust, arises depending on this same empty space": "defiled" points exactly to the world of sentient beings described above, complete with the outflow of desire, the outflow of existence, and the outflow of ignorance. "Lands as numerous as motes of dust" point exactly to the world of physical vessels described above, each and every one arising in dependence on this same empty space, never once stepping outside it — making all the more plain just how minute and insubstantial, how utterly false, this all truly is! These four lines are exactly what was described earlier as giving rise to worldly toil and affliction, arising to form world-systems, settling to form empty space — empty space being what is shared in common, and world-systems being what differs from one place to the next; apart from these, there is neither sameness nor difference, only the true, unconditioned dharma itself.

"Once the bubble bursts, this empty space itself was never truly there at all — how much less, then, the three states of existence themselves?": the nature of emptiness is exactly like this bubble — whatever arises is certain to cease, and, examined closely, this very arising and ceasing is itself nothing but a false view. Once the bubble bursts, empty space itself was never truly there at all — how much less, then, the three states of existence within this same empty space? The three states of existence are exactly the three realms — existence within desire, existence within form, and existence within formlessness. This wondrous principle, having no beginning at all, falsely forms these three realms — exactly like water congealing into ice, a thing that no longer melts away, hence called "existence." Taking, further, the middle three realms' own nine grounds, these become nine states of existence; broadly expanding this to the four continents, the four evil destinies, the six desire heavens together with the Brahmā heaven, the four dhyānas, the four formless absorptions, the heaven of no-thought, and the non-returners' own heavens, this becomes twenty-five states of existence in all. And, depending on this same emptiness, sharing one and the same substance, safety and danger are, in the end, a single matter — and so, once this ceases, all of it ceases together. Knowing, then, that the bubble's own nature was never real to begin with, its cessation returning it, in the end, to the very ocean itself, one thereby knows that the nature of emptiness, too, was never truly there to begin with, its cessation returning it, in the end, to the very nature of the tathāgatagarbha itself.

Sūtra: "Returning to this single origin, this nature admits of no duality — yet the skillful means for doing so are many-gated indeed. Every sage's own realized nature is, without exception, fully penetrated — whether entered with the stream or against it, each is itself a skillful means; yet, for one just beginning to enter samādhi, swiftness and slowness are by no means the same."

Commentary: What came above made plain that returning to this cessation is indeed possible, already pointing the way back to this same original source; this present passage makes plain the meaning of perfect penetration's own accordance and reversal, meaning exactly this: simply extinguish the false, discriminating state of consciousness, and one may, of oneself, return to this same original, already-possessed nature of the tathāgatagarbha. And once this nature of the tathāgatagarbha is returned to, its principle admits of no duality at all — yet, should one wish to enter this same non-dual principle, the skillful means for doing so are many-gated indeed, exactly as a single capital city may still be reached by many different roads.

"Every sage's own realized nature is, without exception, fully penetrated — whether entered with the stream or against it, each is itself a skillful means": every sage, realizing and entering this nature, finds nothing whatsoever left unpenetrated — whether through the three categories and seven great elements, entered by cultivating with the stream, or entered by cultivating against it, all twenty-five gateways alike serve as gateways of skillful means, exactly like a thousand paths and nine great roads, every one of them reaching the imperial capital. As Master Gushan put it: "Avalokiteśvara's own ear-faculty is entered with the stream; every other sage's own faculty is entered against it — matched to this particular world's own capacity is 'with the stream'; not matched to this particular world's own capacity is 'against the stream.'" As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: "following the flow of sense-object and consciousness, winding one's way, in the end, to the path itself, is called entering with the stream — that is, perfect penetration through the six sense-objects and six consciousnesses, and through the great elements of fire up through consciousness; exactly like following the road leading away from the capital, circling far around before finally arriving there. Going against the sense-faculty's own outward flow, and turning back to enter this nature directly, is called entering against the stream — that is, perfect penetration through the six sense-faculties and through the great element of the faculties; exactly like going against the road leading away from the capital, turning around and arriving there at once." Observe how every one of the sense-faculties' own accounts of perfect penetration carries this same language of turning and reversing, and this distinction becomes plain at once!

"Yet, for one just beginning to enter samādhi, swiftness and slowness are by no means the same": these two lines make plain exactly why a selection is needed at all. Given what was said above — that whether entered with the stream or against it, each is itself a skillful means, and that every Tathāgata of the ten directions is able to realize any Dharma-gate whatsoever — what need, then, could there possibly be for any selection at all? But for one just beginning to resolve on practice, wishing to enter samādhi (referring here to the Śūraṅgama's own great samādhi), attaining the perfect faculty, as against an imperfect one, differs as much as a single day from a whole kalpa. Failing to attain the perfect faculty, one finds the path difficult and slow — though one may cultivate for several kalpas, this falls short of even a single day's progress through the perfect faculty; attaining the perfect faculty, one finds the path easy and swift — cultivating for a single day alone may equal several kalpas of progress otherwise. Because of this same difference in swiftness and slowness, in difficulty and ease, these paths are by no means equal — and so a selection cannot but be made. This closes the first section, opening this selection at its very source.

Sūtra: "Form, born of thought, congeals into a sense-object; the essence of mind can never see through it directly. How, then, could something never clearly seen through bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: The Buddha said earlier that these sages' own practices carry no real difference of superior or inferior at all — this was spoken in terms of every sage alike having realized the very nature of the tathāgatagarbha. But now, for a beginning practitioner seeking to cultivate and realize samādhi, there is indeed a real difference of swiftness and slowness, of difficulty and ease — and so a selection cannot but be made! This section examines and sets aside the six sense-objects' own accounts of perfect penetration. First, Upaniṣada, awakening through contemplating the emptiness of form's own nature. This means: form relies on nothing but false thought, congealing to form itself, becoming an obstructing sense-object — should one attempt to see through it directly with the very essence of mind, one could never bring it to full clarity in the end; for the very substance of this form-object is, at its root, formed from congealed darkness — how, then, could a beginning practitioner ever rely on so unclear, so impenetrable a thing, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Sound itself is mixed together with language; it carries nothing but names, phrases, and their flavor of meaning; a single one of these can never contain every other. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Second, Ajñātakauṇḍinya, awakening through hearing the sound of the Dharma. "Sound" here means unmediated sound itself; "language" means sound bent into speech — and this one thing, sound, cannot avoid being mixed together with language and written words. "It carries nothing but names, phrases, and their flavor of meaning": a name expresses a thing's own essential nature — a single word taken directly as a label, such as saying "vase," without specifying which vase; a phrase expresses some particular distinction — such as adding further words, "flower vase"; and a sentence expresses a connected whole, many words joined together. What is here called "flavor" is exactly the flavor of meaning expressed through this same phrasing and structure — carrying nothing more than this same name, phrase, and flavor of meaning. And a single name can never contain every other name within it, a single phrase can never contain every other phrase within it, a single meaning can never contain every other meaning within it — how, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so limited a thing, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Fragrance is known only in contact; apart from contact, it was never there to begin with; the awareness of it can never be constant. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Third, Gandhavyūha, the Fragrance-Adorned Youth, awakening through the sense-object of fragrance. Fragrance can only be known through the nose-faculty when the two make contact; should they be apart, not in contact, there is originally no fragrance there at all. And the sense-faculty capable of awareness can never remain constantly in contact with the sense-object it is aware of — when the sense-object makes contact, this awareness is present; when the sense-object departs, this awareness disappears along with it entirely — how, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so inconstant a thing, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "The very nature of taste is not something inherent of itself; it appears only at the moment of tasting; this awareness can never remain constantly one with it. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Fourth, Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata, awakening through the sense-object of taste. Yet the very substance and nature of this taste-object is not inherent of itself, knowing that it has flavor on its own. "Inherent of itself" means spontaneous, self-existing — only when this taste-object makes contact with the tongue-faculty does one come to know that it has flavor at all. The tongue-faculty's own nature, capable of this awareness, can never remain constantly one with what it is aware of — how, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so inconstant a thing, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Touch is made plain only through what is touched; without something touched, touch cannot be made plain at all; whether in contact or apart, this nature is never fixed. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Fifth, Bhadrapāla, awakening through the sense-object of touch. Yet this touch-object carries no fixed nature of its own — only when the body-faculty, capable of awareness, makes contact with some external, unaware object does one come to feel cold, warmth, roughness, smoothness, and every other such favorable or unfavorable mark, and only then is this properly called "touch." The first "touch" here refers to the touch-object itself; the second "touch" refers to whatever external object the body-faculty comes into contact with — and so this means: the touch-object can only be made plain and manifest through some object the body-faculty comes into contact with. "Without something touched, touch cannot be made plain at all": lacking any object touched, the mark of this touch-object could never be made plain at all. This nature of contact or separation is, by its own nature, never fixed at all — how, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so inconstant a thing, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Mental objects are called an inner sense-object; relying on this object, there must always be something it depends on; subject and object here can never fully interpenetrate one another. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Sixth, Mahākāśyapa, awakening through the mental object. This mental object is not the same substantial reality as the outer five sense-objects — it is exactly the shadow-remainder left behind by these five sense-objects, settling within the mental sphere alone, conditioned by the mind alone; combined with the outer five sense-objects, this belongs entirely to mental objects, an isolated shadow-object — hence called an inner sense-object. "Relying on this object, there must always be something it depends on": relying on the outer five sense-objects' own shadow-remainder, there is always some remaining shadow it depends upon — the outer sense-object being what leaves this remainder behind, and the inner sense-object being this remainder itself. But there are five outer sense-objects, and their remainders must arise in some sequence, one before another; there are, correspondingly, five inner sense-objects, whose shadows are likewise not without their own order. When mental conditioning first arises, it fixes upon only a single object at a time, releasing one to take up the next — subject and object here can never fully interpenetrate or pervade one another at once — how, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so limited a thing, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "The nature of seeing, though utterly clear, sees what is in front, but not what is behind; of the four intermediate directions, it lacks fully half. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Of the six sense-faculties, only five are named here, since the ear-faculty alone remains, held back to be selected. First, Aniruddha, awakening through the nature of seeing. Yet the nature of this seeing-faculty, that is, the eye-faculty, though utterly clear and penetrating, if considered in terms of the four cardinal directions, sees only what lies in front, and to the left and right, but not what lies behind — hence, "sees what is in front, but not what is behind." Considered, further, in terms of the four intermediate directions, it sees only the two in front, not the two behind — hence, "of the four intermediate directions, it lacks fully half": three parts in ten hold merit, one part in ten holds none. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so imperfect a faculty, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "The breath through the nose passes out and in; yet, at the very moment before you, there is no breath crossing at all; broken apart this way, it cannot fully interpenetrate. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Second, Kṣudrapanthaka, awakening through contemplating the nose-faculty. This "breath" is exactly the air passing through the nose — going out, it passes to the outside; coming in, it passes to the inside — hence, "passes out and in," exactly what was said earlier: there is an outward breath and an inward breath. "At the very moment before you, there is no breath crossing at all": at the very moment the outward breath is exhausted, it cannot immediately turn inward; at the very moment the inward breath is exhausted, it cannot immediately turn outward — and, at this brief pause between the outward and inward breath, called "the very moment before you," there is no breath crossing over at all, and hence no merit present there — exactly what was said earlier: "lacking any crossing point in between." Judged by this, three parts in ten hold merit, and one part is lacking entirely. "Broken apart this way, it cannot fully interpenetrate": and, further, broken into separate parts, each with its own separate basis — an outward breath without an inward one, an inward breath without an outward one — and, at this very point where they break apart, they cannot interpenetrate one another at all. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so imperfect a faculty, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "The tongue does not enter without some cause; through taste alone does its awareness arise; taste gone, this awareness is nowhere to be found. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Third, Gavāṃpati, awakening through the tongue-faculty. As Wenling put it: the tongue is not able to become aware apart from taste on its own accord — this is exactly what is meant by "without some cause." "Without some cause" means exactly without any cause at all — that is, this tongue-entrance does not, without cause, come to know flavor; only because the taste-object makes contact with the tongue-faculty does this aware knowing then arise. Should the taste-object vanish away, this aware knowing is originally nowhere to be found at all — how, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so inconstant a faculty, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

The Standard Meaning Commentary raises a question: the ear, apart from sound, still hears stillness, and this is said to be its own basic nature — why, then, is the tongue, apart from taste, tasting blandness, not likewise said to be constant? The answer: the ear's own capacity for awareness apart from its object is constant and universal throughout — apart from sound, hearing stillness, this being even more perfectly complete than hearing sound itself, something people easily grasp, as the sūtra says elsewhere: "whether moving, near or far, stillness has no boundary at all." The tongue-faculty's own awareness of taste, by contrast, extends no further than these three inches of tongue — even its awareness in contact is already inferior, and its awareness apart from contact, this bland flavor, is fainter and dimmer still — how, then, could it ever be compared to the ear's own constant nature, so plainly manifest?

Sūtra: "The body-faculty is exactly the same as what it touches; neither one, on its own, is a perfect awareness or a perfect contemplation; each has its own bounded limit, unable to merge with the other in the dark. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Fourth, Pilindavatsa, awakening through contemplating the truth of suffering by way of the body-faculty. This body-faculty is exactly the same as the touch-object it possesses — as an earlier stanza said: "touch is made plain only through what is touched; without something touched, touch cannot be made plain at all." Now the body-faculty stands in exactly this same position: the body's own capacity for awareness likewise depends on what it touches to be made manifest; lacking any touch-object, it cannot be made manifest at all. "Neither one, on its own, is a perfect awareness or a perfect contemplation": the single word "perfect" governs both "awareness" and "contemplation" together — "perfect awareness" is an independent, complete substance; "perfect contemplation" is an absolute, complete wisdom. This body-faculty and the touch-object described earlier are, neither one, this perfect awareness or this perfect contemplation. This is precisely because the knowing that arises only in contact depends on sense-faculty and sense-object meeting one another to be manifest at all — and so the touch-object described earlier, apart from this body-faculty, has its own mark hidden away entirely, certainly no independent, complete substance, nor any absolute, complete wisdom either. And this body-faculty, apart from the touch-object described earlier, likewise has its own knowing dissolved away entirely, likewise no independent, absolute complete substance or complete wisdom. These two lines together make plain that knowing arises only once contact occurs. "Each has its own bounded limit, unable to merge with the other in the dark": further, the body-faculty and the touch-object, one belonging to what has knowing, the other to what lacks it, each has its own bounded limit, each its own measure, unable, once separated, to merge together in hidden accord — this line makes plain that, once separated, there is no longer any knowing at all. Present in contact, absent apart — this nature is never fixed at all. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so inconstant a faculty, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "The mind-faculty is mixed together with scattered, disordered thought; a state of calm, clear knowing can never actually be found there at all; thought and its notions cannot be shed. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Fifth, Subhūti, awakening through the mind-faculty. "The mind-faculty" refers exactly to the faculty of mental knowing, that is, the mind-faculty itself. The mind-faculty is exactly the seventh, manas consciousness; the sixth consciousness relies on this seventh as its own root, hence "mind-faculty." "Mixed" means intermingled; "scattered, disordered thought" is exactly the sixth, discriminating consciousness — this consciousness being, among every consciousness, the most disordered, the strongest, and the hardest of all to tame. "A state of calm, clear knowing can never actually be found there at all": this means that, even shedding this discriminating consciousness entirely, a state of calm, clear knowing can, in the end, never actually be found there at all — and so thought and its notions cannot all be shed away at once. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so mixed and disordered a faculty, never fully shed, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Seeing-consciousness is mixed together from three things meeting at once; inquire into its own root, and it is found to have no real mark at all; its own substance was never fixed to begin with. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: This examines and sets aside the six consciousnesses. At the very start of this sūtra, the six consciousnesses were named as the very root of birth and death, not something to be mistakenly relied upon in cultivation — and so discarding consciousness and relying on the sense-faculty became this sūtra's own central purpose. Yet each sage's own account of perfect penetration still included all six consciousnesses among the twenty-five, showing that every sage's own realized nature is, without exception, fully penetrated, and that whether entered with the stream or against it, each is itself a skillful means. Mañjuśrī now sets these aside once more, precisely because, for one just beginning to enter samādhi, swiftness and slowness are by no means the same. First, Śāriputra, awakening through the eye-consciousness. "Seeing-consciousness" should properly read "seeing, consciousness" — "seeing" belongs to the eye, that is, this is exactly eye-consciousness. "Mixed together from three things meeting at once": sense-faculty and sense-object meet one another, and consciousness arises between them — subject and object spoken of together. This is exactly the eye's own instantaneous, moment-by-moment discrimination — outwardly facing the form-object, inwardly facing the eye-faculty, and, arising falsely in between, this instantaneous, coarse discrimination is exactly the eye-consciousness. Since it depends on its own substance, and relies, in turn, on sense-faculty and sense-object both, hence, "mixed together from three things meeting at once." "Inquire into its own root, and it is found to have no real mark at all": that is, inquiring into the very root of this consciousness thus arisen, it is found to come from nowhere at all. First, it does not arise from the sense-faculty alone — for the sense-faculty alone, without any sense-object, cannot give rise to it by itself. Second, it does not arise from the sense-object alone — for the form-object, itself without any knowing, cannot be the cause that gives rise to consciousness. Third, it does not arise jointly from sense-faculty and sense-object combined — for the sense-faculty possesses knowing, while the sense-object lacks it entirely, and so any consciousness thus jointly arisen ought to be half with knowing and half without — yet this is not in fact the case at all. And so, examined as a whole, this consciousness proves entirely false and unreal, and is therefore said to have no real mark at all. Its own substance was never fixed to begin with — how, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so inconstant a consciousness, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "This mind's own hearing penetrates the ten directions completely — yet this arises from a great, causal power built up over ages; a beginning practitioner cannot enter through it. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Second, Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, awakening through the ear-consciousness. "This mind's own hearing" is exactly the ear-consciousness, able to penetrate the ten directions completely, hearing perfectly without any obstruction at all — yet all of this arises from cultivating the practice of the Dharma-realm, accomplished entirely through this same great, causal power built up over ages; it is by no means the case that the ear-consciousness itself is naturally capable of such a function — this requires, rather, a bodhisattva already at a profoundly advanced stage. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so distant, so long-accumulated a cause, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "This contemplation through the nose was, from the start, a provisional skillful means, meant only to gather in and settle a scattered mind; once settled, this becomes a mind that dwells on something. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Third, Sundarananda, awakening through the nose-consciousness. "Contemplation through the nose" means holding, at the very tip of the nose, this contemplation of whiteness. "From the start, a provisional skillful means": this was, from the very start, a skillful, provisional method, set up matched to a particular capacity, not something the nose-consciousness itself inherently possesses — the nose-consciousness's own function being simply to discriminate fragrant from foul. The next line describes exactly the intent behind this provisional method: meant only to gather in this scattered mind, bringing it to a temporary rest, nothing more. The third line says: once there is a mind capable of dwelling, this whiteness at the tip of the nose becomes exactly the object it dwells upon. But the true mind dwells upon nothing at all — how, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on this mind that dwells upon something, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Expounding the Dharma plays with sound and written words alone; Pūrṇa's own great awakening was already accomplished before this; names and phrases are not, themselves, undefiled dharmas. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Fourth, Pūrṇa, awakening through the tongue-consciousness. The tongue-consciousness, in expounding the Dharma, does nothing more than play with sound, spoken language, and written words. And Pūrṇa's own great awakening, his own accomplishment of arhatship, came, in fact, from a power of eloquence already built up across boundless kalpas beforehand — this being exactly how he was able to accomplish this at all, not through any single moment's function of the tongue-consciousness itself. Names, phrases, and written words belong to the category of factors dissociated from mind, classed among conditioned dharmas, not undefiled dharmas at all. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so conditioned a dharma, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Keeping or breaking the precepts governs only the body; whatever is not of the body, this cannot restrain at all; from the start, it never reaches every dharma. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Fifth, Upāli, awakening through the body-consciousness. "Keeping or breaking the precepts" means keeping the precepts against sexual misconduct, killing, and stealing, wishing to remain pure, never allowing these to be transgressed — yet this restrains only the body-consciousness, nothing beyond its own scope. As for false speech, idle chatter, harsh speech, and divisive speech, the body-consciousness has no way to restrain these at all — this does not even fully extend to the two karmic acts of speech and mind, how much less, then, to a bodhisattva's own pure moral discipline, all the way to the eighty-thousand subtle practices, every Dharma-gate there is? Hence, "from the start, it never reaches every dharma." How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so limited a Dharma-gate, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it? The Zhǐzhǎng commentary raises a question: Upāli held to the body first, and then, in sequence, held to the mind as well, attaining mastery of both alike — why, then, does this verse speak only of restraining the body? The answer: this is spoken specifically in terms of a beginning practitioner. In general, when a beginner first takes up the precepts, sexual misconduct, killing, stealing, and false speech must be severed first — false speech may still be dealt with somewhat more gradually, but sexual misconduct, killing, and stealing are the most urgent of all. Yet holding to the mind directly is indeed difficult — and so one first uses the body-consciousness to restrain the body. Once the body-consciousness no longer gives rise to any deviant impulse, free of any evil contact, sexual misconduct, killing, and stealing naturally cease to occur at all — this is exactly restraining the body. But as for the mind stirring with the impulse toward sexual misconduct, killing, or stealing, or the mouth uttering false or idle speech, it is by no means the case that these are not meant to be severed as well — it is only that the body-consciousness alone cannot hold these in check, and not everyone succeeds at this in the same way. How, then, could Upāli have entered perfect penetration by relying on this alone?

Sūtra: "Spiritual powers themselves have their root in causes accumulated in past lives; what has this to do with mental discrimination? Thought that conditions an object is never apart from that same object. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Sixth, Mahāmaudgalyāyana, awakening through the mind-consciousness. What cannot be fathomed is called "spiritual"; what moves freely, without obstruction, is called "power." Though Mahāmaudgalyāyana's own spiritual powers arose from turning consciousness back to its own calm, clear source, the light of his own mind bursting forth — tracing this to its own deep root, this came, in fact, from causes accumulated and long cultivated across past lives. And so, upon encountering the Buddha and hearing the Dharma, he attained accomplishment at once — one thereby knows this had its own long history behind it, having nothing whatsoever to do with the mind-consciousness itself! "Mental discrimination" is exactly the mind-consciousness — the discrimination that arises facing the mental object, conditioning it thought after thought; present when joined to this mental object, absent when apart from it — hence, "thought that conditions an object is never apart from that same object," "object" here being exactly this mental object itself. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so conditioned, so grasping a consciousness, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Should one contemplate the nature of earth, it is a solid, obstructing thing, not something that penetrates through anything at all; it is a conditioned thing, not the sage's own true nature. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: This examines and sets aside the seven great elements' own accounts of perfect penetration — the first five great elements paired with sense-objects, the sixth paired with consciousness, and the seventh paired with the sense-faculties. First, Dharaṇiṃdhara Bodhisattva, awakening through the great element of earth, through leveling roads. Should one contemplate the very nature of the great element of earth, this state proves to be a solid, congealed, obstructing thing, not a mark that penetrates through anything at all. Dharaṇiṃdhara's own leveling and filling of roads still belongs to conditioned activity, not yet the true, undefiled nature itself — "sage" here meaning exactly "true" — only afterward, encountering the teaching of leveling the mind itself, did he return to this true, sagely nature. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so conditioned a dharma, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Should one contemplate the nature of water, it is formed entirely through thought and mental notions, not the true, real, suchness-nature of unmoving thusness; and thusness itself is never reached through discriminating awareness or contemplation. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Second, Candraprabha, the Youth of Moonlight, awakening through contemplating the great element of water. Should one take the very nature of the great element of water as the object of contemplation, this state is formed entirely through thought and mental notions, not the true, real principle of unmoving thusness itself. To accord with this principle of unmoving thusness, one must attain the very wisdom of unmoving thusness itself — yet giving rise to a discriminating mind, to awareness and contemplation, fails to accord with it at all — hence, "thusness" can never be entered through the discriminating awareness and contemplation belonging to the six consciousnesses. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on this discriminating, contemplating mind, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Should one contemplate the nature of fire, revulsion at existence is not the same as true freedom from desire; this is no skillful means for a beginning practitioner. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Third, Ucchuṣma, awakening through contemplating the great element of fire. Should one take the very nature of the great element of fire as the object of contemplation — Ucchuṣma's own revulsion at the fire of lust, seeking thereby to leave desire behind, only reached true freedom from desire once body and mind were both entirely severed, and even this very severing itself no longer remained. But not every beginning practitioner is caught by so heavy a habit of lust — some have little desire, others none at all — why, then, should they necessarily rely on this same method as their own skillful means? How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so unsuited a dharma, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Should one contemplate the nature of wind, motion and stillness are never without some counterpart opposing them; and whatever stands opposed to a counterpart is not the unsurpassed awakening itself. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Fourth, Ratnaprabha, Dharma-Prince, awakening through contemplating the great element of wind. Should one take the very nature of the great element of wind as the object of contemplation — though he contemplated everywhere, within and without, and found all of it turned by nothing but the power of this same false, conditioned wind, this great element of wind still has both motion and stillness, and so belongs to the cycle of arising and ceasing, an impermanent dharma, never without some counterpart opposing it. And, having some counterpart opposing it, it can hardly be the very substance of unsurpassed awakening itself. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so impermanent a dharma, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

The Standard Meaning Commentary raises a question: does not the Dharma-gate of turning hearing back likewise enter through motion and stillness — how, then, does it differ from this? The answer: that method gradually sheds both sense-objects of motion and stillness, so as to take up the very nature of hearing, itself free of motion and stillness, as its own skillful means for a beginning practitioner. This present method, by contrast, takes up the very nature of wind, which still has both motion and stillness, as its own gate of entry — and so the two differ greatly indeed; how, then, could one ever use this same objection against the other?

Sūtra: "Should one contemplate the nature of emptiness, its own dull benightedness is, from the start, no awareness at all; and what lacks awareness differs entirely from bodhi itself. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Fifth, Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva, awakening through contemplating the great element of space. Should one take the very nature of the great element of space as the object of contemplation, closely observing how the four elements have nothing to depend upon, how false thought itself arises and ceases, how empty space admits of no duality, how every buddha-land is, at root, the same — this very empty space itself, though, is exactly what darkened dullness produces: "dull" means exactly obscured, and "benighted" means exactly inert. Taking this obscured inertness as its own mark, its own substance is, from the start, not this same function of a spiritually bright, aware knowing at all. "What lacks awareness differs entirely from bodhi itself": lacking this function of spiritually bright, aware knowing, it differs, of itself, entirely from bodhi. The Sanskrit bodhi translates as "the path of awakening" — exactly this unsurpassed path of awakening realized through perfect penetration itself. To now seek this same bright, aware fruit through a cause of dull benightedness is no different at all from drilling into ice to get fire. How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so unaware a thing, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Should one contemplate the nature of consciousness, this consciousness observed is never something constantly abiding; and the very mind that holds it in mind to observe is itself already false. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Sixth, Maitreya Bodhisattva, awakening through contemplating the great element of consciousness. Should one take the very nature of consciousness as the object contemplated, closely observing how the ten directions are nothing but consciousness alone — yet this very nature of consciousness, arising and ceasing moment after moment without pause, is, in truth, never a constantly abiding nature at all. And the very mind that holds this in mind to observe it is already false to begin with — how much more so, then, this great element of consciousness observed, which could hardly fail to be false as well? How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on so inconstant a mind, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

Sūtra: "Every conditioned activity is impermanent; the very nature of this recollection is, from the start, subject to arising and ceasing; cause and fruit here, at this present moment, do not correspond to one another. How, then, could this bring one to perfect penetration?"

Commentary: Seventh, Mahāsthāmaprāpta, Dharma-Prince, through the great element of the faculties. According to the usual order, the great element of the faculties ought properly to come sixth — yet here Maitreya's great element of consciousness is placed ahead of it, and Mahāsthāmaprāpta's great element of the faculties comes last of all, showing plainly how this bodhisattva, knowing full well that he wished to cultivate the Śūraṅgama's own great samādhi, deliberately yielded the final, most honored place to Avalokiteśvara alone — seeking, instead, the one method able to reach beings of sharp and dull capacities alike, benefiting all three roots of capacity together: this very method of recollecting the Buddha. Whatever involves movement and change belongs entirely to conditioned activity, and every conditioned activity is impermanent. Yet Mahāsthāmaprāpta himself said: gathering in all six sense-faculties together at once, this pure recollection continuing without a break — and, being this same "gathering in together," this belongs exactly to the great element of the faculties. One can see, from this, that recollecting the Buddha is neither mere recitation with the mouth, nor recollection with the sixth, discriminating mind of consciousness, but rather the mind-faculty gathering in all six sense-faculties together to recollect. Though called "pure recollection," this remains, in the end, a recollection with something still present in it; and, being called "continuing," it can hardly avoid arising and ceasing — hence, "the very nature of this recollection is, from the start, subject to arising and ceasing." Taking this recollection of the Buddha as the cause, and rebirth in the Pure Land as the fruit, cause and fruit correspond to one another perfectly, and so of ten thousand who cultivate it, ten thousand attain rebirth there. But should one take this same cause, subject to arising and ceasing, and seek thereby to directly realize perfect penetration, which is itself unborn and unceasing, cause and fruit would stand at odds with one another, stimulus and response no longer corresponding — hence, "cause and fruit here, at this present moment, do not correspond to one another." How, then, could a beginning practitioner rely on this mind, subject to arising and ceasing, and hope to swiftly attain perfect penetration through it?

As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: considered as a whole, all twenty-four sages, judged by what they themselves realized, must stand equal to Avalokiteśvara — yet, tracing the reason their own gateways of entry were not taken from this same root faculty, four conditions may be given in brief for why they must be set aside here: first, not matched to this particular world's own capacity; second, not well suited to a beginning practitioner; third, requiring some further support besides; fourth, not something that can be cultivated as an ordinary, sustained practice. This, in reverse, shows the ear-faculty to be exactly matched to this world's own capacity, well suited to a beginning practitioner, requiring no further support, and cultivable as an ordinary, sustained practice for all. This same intention appears again in the verse that follows, anticipated here in advance. This closes the second section, examining and setting aside these gateways in turn.

Sūtra: "I now say to the World-Honored One: where the Buddha appears, in the Sahā world, the true substance of teaching in this land lies in purity found through sound and hearing. To take hold of samādhi, one truly enters through hearing itself."

Commentary: Every other gate having already been examined and set aside above, this present passage now selects the ear-faculty itself, and so it says: I now say again to the World-Honored One: the Buddha appears in the Sahā world — translated "able to endure," since this Sahā world is complete with every kind of suffering, and its sentient beings are able to endure and bear all of it. The Tathāgata, wherever he appears, is certain to establish his own teaching according to that particular world's own capacity — for should the teaching fail to match the capacity, its transformative power falls short. As the Vimalakīrti Sūtra puts it: in some buddha-lands, light itself carries out the Buddha's own work; in others, the Buddha's own bodhi tree carries it out; in others, gardens, groves, terraces, and pavilions; in others, empty space and echoing sound; in others, spoken sound and language; in others, silence, without any speech at all — each matched to its own particular capacity, the very substance of teaching differing from world to world. Now, in the Buddha's own age, those who benefited from hearing his teaching were many, and, even in this final age, it is likewise from this same world's own sentient beings, whose ear-faculty is especially sharp, that one is able, through the very nature of hearing, to reach every boundless distinction of principle and phenomenon. And so, matched to this particular world's own capacity, sound itself is used to carry out the Buddha's own work — this being exactly how the sharpness of this hearing-faculty is brought fully to bear. While the Tathāgata remained in the world, those who benefited from hearing his teaching were many; and, even in this final age, it is likewise through his own teaching that many attain awakening and entry. This means: in the ordinary course of things, sound alone serves as the substance of teaching — yet this is merely a substance borrowed according to outward appearance. The true substance of teaching in this particular world, originally pure of itself, pervading the whole Dharma-realm, lies in nothing but this very nature of hearing that hears sound.

"To take hold of samādhi, one truly enters through hearing itself": this is precisely because the teaching expresses the very nature of the tathāgatagarbha, and the nature of hearing lies closest of all to this same nature of the tathāgatagarbha. Yet, though understanding itself may rest on both sound and hearing together, cultivating samādhi should properly take up the nature of hearing alone — and so, whoever wishes to take hold of and realize samādhi, that is, the Śūraṅgama's own great samādhi, must, in truth, enter through the ear-faculty's own nature of hearing. As Avalokiteśvara recounted directly: that buddha taught me to enter samādhi through hearing, reflecting, and cultivating. And so, relying on this same teaching, at first, within hearing itself, carrying out the effort of entering the stream to illuminate this nature directly, untying the six knots and passing beyond the three emptinesses, breaking through the five aggregates and attaining these two supreme qualities — and so, from the very moment this selection among the sense-faculties began, all the way to this very point, the ear-faculty is now decisively pointed out as the very root of perfect penetration, the most wondrous Dharma-gate there is!

Sūtra: "Leaving suffering, attaining liberation — how excellent is Avalokiteśvara!"

Commentary: This section shows that the Dharma-gate of the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration, precisely because Avalokiteśvara, the very person who realized it, is so exceptional, must itself be a method well worth treasuring. These two lines briefly praise the merit and virtue of this same self-benefiting practice. "Leaving suffering" means leaving behind both kinds of suffering in birth and death — by fixed portions, and by inconceivable transformation — that is, exactly untying the six knots and passing beyond the three emptinesses. "Attaining liberation" means attaining the bliss of both kinds of liberation — freedom from bondage, and freedom itself — that is, exactly breaking through the five aggregates and attaining these two functions. This speaks of the very substance and function that will benefit others, already possessed within oneself, and so is classed here as self-benefiting practice — and carries, in truth, two distinct senses: first, a sense of simple truth, as if to say, "leaving suffering, attaining liberation — how true this is of Avalokiteśvara, this very person!" Second, a sense of praising what is good, as if to say, "leaving suffering, attaining liberation — how excellent this is, this very method of Avalokiteśvara!"

Sūtra: "Through kalpas numerous as the sands of the Ganges, entering buddha-lands as many as dust motes, gaining great, self-mastering power, bestowing fearlessness on all beings."

Commentary: This section broadly displays the merit and virtue of benefiting others. The first line makes plain how this extends vertically through all three times — "through kalpas numerous as the sands of the Ganges" displays the great length of time across which this teaching and guidance has continued. The second line makes plain how this extends horizontally throughout the ten directions — "entering buddha-lands as many as dust motes" displays the vast breadth of places where this body is manifested. The third line displays the very words used of the thirty-two responses — this effortless, wondrous power, freely accomplished. The fourth line displays the very words used of the fourteen kinds of fearlessness — bestowing this power of fearlessness, blessing sentient beings in full. And these third and fourth lines together display, in summary, the four inconceivable virtues as a whole: following the first inconceivable virtue came the words "rescuing and protecting sentient beings, attaining great freedom"; following the second inconceivable virtue came the words "bestowing fearlessness upon beings." Joined together with the two lines above, these form four lines in all, displaying, in summary, how every one of these wondrous functions reaches to the utmost limit of kalpas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, and extends to the utmost limit of lands as numerous as motes of dust — displaying, in summary, these two senses of constancy and universality together, truly skillful and wondrous indeed.

Sūtra: "The wondrous sound, the sound that observes the world, the pure Brahmā-sound, the sound of the ocean tide — bringing safety to a world in trouble, bringing ever-abiding freedom beyond it."

Commentary: As Wenling put it: expounding the Dharma without any hindrance at all is "the wondrous sound"; seeking out a voice to rescue it from suffering is "the sound that observes the world"; a sound whose own nature clings to nothing at all is "the pure Brahmā-sound"; and responding without ever missing the proper moment is "the sound of the ocean tide." Now, expounding the Dharma within the thirty-two responses, and reciting mantras within the four inconceivable virtues, both arise through the bodhisattva's own wondrous, discerning wisdom, contemplating and determining exactly which dharma, once expounded, will bring liberation — and so the Dharma is expounded, or a mantra recited, accordingly; all of this is exactly the power of this wondrous sound. Rescuing from the eight dangers within the fourteen kinds of fearlessness, and bestowing fearlessness within the four inconceivable virtues, both arise through the bodhisattva's own contemplative wisdom, observing how the world's own voices, reciting the bodhisattva's own name, all attain liberation thereby; all of this is exactly the power of this sound that observes the world. Removing the three poisons within the fourteen kinds of fearlessness, and breaking through stinginess and greed within the four inconceivable virtues, both arise through this bodhisattva's own sound, its very nature pure, clinging to nothing at all; all of this is exactly the power of this pure Brahmā-sound. Answering every kind of prayer within the thirty-two responses, answering these two specific prayers within the fourteen kinds of fearlessness, and answering every broad request within the four inconceivable virtues, all arise through the bodhisattva expounding the Dharma at exactly the right moment, this response never once missing its proper time; all of this is exactly the power of this sound of the ocean tide. Yet the Lotus Sūtra names, further, a sound that surpasses every worldly sound — and this alone is missing here, leaving the section on holding the name with nothing to attach it to. Since the bodhisattva's own single name carries exactly the same merit as holding the names of sixty-two Ganges' sands of other sons of the Dharma-king together, this single name belongs precisely to this same sound surpassing every worldly sound — and so, understood this way, all five sounds are complete here after all! The two lines "bringing safety to a world in trouble, bringing ever-abiding freedom beyond it" carry a meaning that reaches forward to embrace the inconceivable virtues described later: worldly people, hoarding through stinginess and greed, anxious over gain and loss alike, are, none of them, ever truly at peace — and the third inconceivable virtue, breaking through stinginess and moving beings to give, rescues precisely this same affliction, bringing them all to safety. And those who cultivate practice wishing to leave the world behind, yet mistakenly apply the causal-stage mind, fail to reach this path's own ultimate end — and the fourth inconceivable virtue, where those who seek great nirvāṇa obtain great nirvāṇa, realizes this transcendent, unsurpassed path of awakening, attaining the unborn, the unceasing, neither departing nor arriving, ever-abiding bliss itself.

Sūtra: "I now declare to the Tathāgata, exactly as Avalokiteśvara has described: it is like a person sitting quietly while drums sound from all ten directions at once — all ten are heard at exactly the same moment; this alone is truly, perfectly real."

Commentary: This displays how the ear-faculty is complete with three kinds of true reality — the very true cultivation of correct samādhi itself, certain to swiftly realize perfect penetration, requiring no further support at all. "I" is Mañjuśrī's own self-reference; declaring this now to the Tathāgata, explaining why every other sage has been set aside, and the ear-faculty alone selected — exactly as Avalokiteśvara has described: I proceeded from the ear-gate, by the perfectly illuminating samādhi — this being exactly why perfect penetration is swiftly realized through it. This does not mean that the verse below was itself spoken by Avalokiteśvara; the verse remains, throughout, Mañjuśrī's own words, drawing on the earlier tally of the six sense-faculties, together with the meaning of the Buddha's own words in the section testing constancy through the striking of a bell, elaborating further upon them, so as to reveal the ear-faculty's own original wonder.

"It is like a person sitting quietly": taking up the single matter of hearing a drum as an example standing for hearing every sound alike, hence, "it is like sitting quietly" — dwelling in a still, quiet place, distinguished from a noisy time, since, even at a noisy time, the nature of hearing remains constantly perfect and complete, though one fails, at such a time, to notice this at all. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: "drums sound from all ten directions at once" means struck together, at exactly the same moment; "all ten are heard at exactly the same moment" means heard with no order of before or after at all. This reveals how the ear-faculty's own nature of hearing is, in every single person, originally perfect and complete of itself — exactly like the very largest, most perfectly round pearl, suspended in the sky, its brightness shining everywhere at once; every sound, like a reflection, appearing all at once, mingled together, without the slightest dimming at all. "This alone is truly, perfectly real": this wondrous meaning of being, from the very start, perfect and complete, pervading the ten directions entirely, true without the slightest falseness, real without the slightest emptiness.

Sūtra: "The eye cannot see through an obstruction; neither can the mouth, nor the nose. The body knows only by touching; the mind's thoughts are scattered, without order. But sound, heard through a wall, near or far, can always be heard — a thing the other five faculties cannot equally claim. This alone is truly the real, all-penetrating one."

Commentary: This shows the ear-faculty surpassing the other five sense-faculties. The second and third lines invert the usual word order; and the word "mouth" here stands for "tongue," since the tongue is within the mouth, and so is represented by it. The eye can see only form within its own unobstructed range, unable to see anything at all beyond some obstruction — exactly like being unable to see outside through a window, or unable to see the inner organs through the skin. If even something near and thin already blocks and obstructs sight, how much more so something distant and thick? "The body knows only by touching": that is, the body-faculty likewise must have a sense-object make contact with the body before any function of tactile knowing arises at all. The mouth and nose faculties, together with the sense-objects of taste and fragrance, are exactly the same — separated by even the slightest distance, and awareness ceases entirely. The mind is the mind-faculty, further mixed with mental consciousness, its thoughts and notions scattered and disordered, without any clear thread at all — and if thought and notion cannot even be shed, how, then, could they ever penetrate through anything at all?

"But sound, heard through a wall, near or far, can always be heard": this says that the ear-faculty, even in the midst of its own ordinary activity, already displays this spiritual, penetrating mark — hearing a sound through a wall, still without the slightest obstruction at all. Those who do not understand this say that sound is simply able to pass through; those who do understand know, rather, that this is because the nature of hearing is calm, clear, pervading everywhere, perfectly complete. The telephone offers direct proof of this: it is not that sound itself travels to the ear, nor that the ear itself travels to where the sound is — even across a distance of several thousand miles, question and answer pass back and forth as though standing face to face, and this is entirely because the nature of hearing pervades everywhere at once. "Near or far, can always be heard": "far" means distant, and "near" means close — every sound whatsoever, without exception, can be heard. "A thing the other five faculties cannot equally claim": hearing through a wall is something the eye-faculty cannot do, unable to see beyond any obstruction at all; hearing near and far alike is something the three faculties of smell, taste, and touch cannot do, losing all awareness the moment the sense-object departs; and hearing a drum struck amid stillness, hearing every strike together at once, is something the mind-faculty cannot do, scattered and disordered as it is. Considered this way, the function of these five other faculties can never equal that of the ear-faculty — how much less, then, could sense-objects, consciousness, and the other great elements, none of them even belonging to the class of sense-faculties at all, ever equal it? This reveals how the ear-faculty's own nature of hearing is, in every single person, originally penetrating of itself — exactly like a great flood submerging everything in its path, thatched huts and bamboo fences alike, penetrating through everything entirely, without the slightest obstruction anywhere at all. "This alone is truly the real, all-penetrating one": this wondrous meaning of being, from the very start, penetrating, pervading everywhere without obstruction, true without the slightest falseness, real without the slightest emptiness.

Sūtra: "The nature of sound admits of both motion and stillness; within hearing itself, these appear as presence and as absence. Should there be no sound, this is called 'no hearing' — yet this is not truly the case that hearing itself has no nature at all."

Commentary: This contrasts hearing with the sound-object to reveal that the nature of hearing is ever-abiding. The first four lines have nothing to do with motion or stillness as such — sound is the general mark, and motion and stillness are its particular marks; this draws on the meaning already given in the section testing constancy through the striking of a bell. When Rāhula first struck the bell, the very nature of that sound belonged to motion; once struck for a long while, the sound faded away, both the strike and its echo cut off entirely, and, set against this motion, this was called stillness. "Within hearing itself, these appear as presence and as absence": this means that these two marks of motion and stillness cycle back and forth, appearing and disappearing, constantly within this same calm, clear substance of the nature of hearing. At the moment Rāhula struck the bell again, this motion made the sound appear plainly, as presence; once struck for a long while and the sound faded away, this stillness made the sound disappear silently, as absence. Ordinary people, caught in this inversion, go so far as to mistake sound itself for hearing — and so, at a moment with no sound present, they call this "no hearing" at all, not knowing that, at just such a moment without sound, the very nature of hearing is felt all the more to have no boundary whatsoever — hence, "yet this is not truly the case that hearing itself has no nature at all."

Sūtra: "Where sound is absent, this is not the ceasing of hearing; where sound is present, this is not, either, the arising of hearing. Arising and ceasing, these two, are entirely absent from it — this alone is truly the ever-abiding, real one."

Commentary: These four lines set aside both arising and ceasing together. As explained above, at a moment without sound, the nature of hearing has not, in fact, ceased at all — and, by this same example, one may know that, at a moment with sound present, the nature of hearing has not, either, in fact arisen at all. One thereby knows that the nature of hearing is calm, clear, and ever-abiding, remaining constant no matter what passes through it — when sound is present, hearing registers this as motion; when sound is absent, hearing registers this as stillness — yet its own substance carries not the slightest mark of arising or ceasing at all, hence, "arising and ceasing, these two, are entirely absent from it." This reveals how the nature of hearing is, in every single person, originally ever-abiding of itself — exactly like the great emptiness of space, forever without any arising or ceasing at all. "This alone is truly the ever-abiding, real one": is this not exactly this wondrous meaning of the ever-abiding, true mind, this pure, bright substance of nature, true without the slightest falseness, real without the slightest emptiness!

Sūtra: "Even in the midst of dreaming, hearing is not absent simply because one is not thinking of it. Awareness and its own contemplation lie beyond mere thought — body and mind alike can never reach it."

Commentary: This sets aside mere thought, so as to reveal that the nature of hearing is ever-abiding. Thought is exactly what the sixth, scattered-state mental consciousness produces, and dreaming, too, is exactly what this same sixth, independently operating mental consciousness manifests. Now, it is said that, even in the midst of dreaming, having entirely forgotten the motion and stillness of the world outside this dream, with no thought of it whatsoever remaining — even so, this nature of hearing is not, on account of this absence of thought, thereby extinguished into nothingness at all. As with a person deeply asleep, hearing the sound of pounding grain and mistaking it for the ringing of a bell or drum — one can see, from this, that the nature of hearing does not become nonexistent simply because thought of it is absent. "Awareness and its own contemplation lie beyond mere thought — body and mind alike can never reach it": the word "awareness" here is exactly this nature of hearing's own original substance; the word "contemplation" points to this nature of hearing's own illuminating function — and this illuminating function is exactly stillness that is nonetheless constantly illuminating, requiring no thought at all, transcending thought entirely. The body-faculty, together with the eye, nose, and tongue faculties, and the mind, which is the mind-faculty — these five faculties, facing this same dream, are none of them able to make contact with the five sense-objects outside this dream, and so have no awareness of them at all. The ear-faculty alone is able to reach a sound from outside this same dream — a single call, and one awakens at once — surpassing what the mind and body, all the rest, could never reach. These three kinds of true reality belonging to perfect penetration's own constancy are, every one of them, already present and complete within our own ordinary, everyday use — not something that comes into being only after cultivation and practice. Should one be able to rely on this, turning hearing back to hear one's own nature, cultivating and realizing perfect penetration thereby, this is exactly like a sail catching a following wind on calm water — certain to arrive both easily and swiftly indeed.

Sūtra: "In this Sahā world of ours, teaching through sound and discourse can be made fully plain."

Commentary: This makes plain that the ear-faculty's own path of practice matches exactly this particular world's own capacity. "This Sahā world" translates as "able to endure" — since this particular world is complete with every kind of suffering, capable of bringing a practitioner's own power of forbearance to completion. Though this speaks in terms of place, it is, in truth, because this particular world's own sentient beings have an especially sharp ear-faculty that the Buddha carries out his own work through sound, establishing every sound, name, phrase, and written word, every sūtra and treatise, so that their own principle and meaning can be fully expressed, and mind and nature can be fully understood. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: whatever is contained within what is thus made plain is nothing but an expression of this perfectly calm, wondrously bright nature itself — and this wondrous nature lies nowhere but within this very faculty capable of hearing itself. Sentient beings ought, then, to be able to proceed from this heard sound and discourse, and turn hearing back upon this same faculty capable of hearing — only this brings one to the true point at all! And, this being so, the meaning of the section that follows already has its own clear origin here.

Sūtra: "Sentient beings, deluded regarding this original hearing, follow after sound instead, and so turn endlessly in the wheel; Ānanda, for all his own strength of memory, could not avoid falling into deviant thought. Is it not exactly this: following what one sinks into, or turning the stream back to attain freedom from falseness?"

Commentary: This makes plain that the affliction lies in following after sound. This particular world's own sentient beings already have a sharp ear-faculty, and the Tathāgata already carries out his own work through sound — and so whoever hears this sound ought, by rights, to be freed from turning endlessly in the wheel! Yet, helplessly, sentient beings remain deluded regarding this original hearing — "sentient beings" here refers specifically to those given to mere intellectual cleverness, deluded and unawakened, unable to grasp the path through mere words, unable to hear the teaching and contemplate the mind directly; the very hearing capable of hearing is exactly this wondrous, bright mind-nature itself — yet they simply follow along with whatever sound-teaching they hear, only adding further idle theorizing, and so bring this endless turning upon themselves. "Ānanda, for all his own strength of memory, could not avoid falling into deviant thought": this cites an actual case as proof — Ānanda himself, for all his own prodigious memory, holding every Tathāgata's own twelve divisions of scripture throughout the ten directions, this pure, wondrous principle as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, still could not avoid falling into deviant thought, turned about by mere objects, nearly drowning within a brothel, entirely without freedom of his own. "Is it not exactly this: following what one sinks into, or turning the stream back to attain freedom from falseness?": the words "is it not" pick up, decisively, everything said above; the eight words that follow name the affliction and its remedy together, coming down to nothing more than being deluded regarding this original hearing, or not being deluded regarding it. Deluded, one follows what one sinks into — "following" being exactly this same "following after," "what" being exactly the sound-object, and "sinks into" being exactly this endless turning — meaning that following after sound inevitably leads to this same endless turning, exactly as every buddha, speaking with one and the same voice, has declared: "Ānanda, should you wish to know it, this innate ignorance, arising together with you, is exactly what turns you in this wheel — the very root of the knot of birth and death is nothing but your own six sense-faculties, nothing else at all." Not deluded, one turns the stream back instead — turning back this same faculty of hearing, turning hearing back to hear its own nature. "Attain freedom from falseness" means attaining this true, ever-abiding nature, never turning in this wheel at all — exactly as every buddha has further declared: "and should you further wish to know it, this unsurpassed bodhi, which brings you to swift realization, peaceful, blissful liberation, the still, wondrous, ever-abiding — this, too, is nothing but your own six sense-faculties, nothing else at all." These two lines are, again, exactly what another verse elsewhere puts: "delusion and obscurity are exactly ignorance itself; bringing this to light is exactly liberation itself." Should one be able to bring this to light, turning the stream back, turning hearing back upon itself, one thereby attains this same great, unobstructed liberation. For a beginning practitioner, at every moment, in every place, turning solely toward the ear-faculty, turning hearing back to hear one's own nature — there is nothing else to it at all — and, of itself, news of one's own arrival home follows naturally. How could this not be both swift and easy to cultivate? This closes the first section, fully displaying the wonder of this gate.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, listen carefully: I rely now on the Buddha's own power to proclaim the vajra king, the illusion-like, inconceivable true samādhi, mother of all buddhas."

Commentary: This calls Ānanda by name and tells him directly: should you truly wish to turn the stream back and turn hearing back upon itself, you must listen closely to my own words. I now rely upon our own Buddha's majestic, spiritual power, and so proclaim, for your sake, the very samādhi Avalokiteśvara has realized — you ought to give rise to a mind that treasures it deeply. "Vajra king": complete with the three great aspects of substance, characteristics, and function — its substance solid, indestructible; its characteristics bright, illuminating everything; its function sharp, able to sever ignorance itself — exactly the hidden treasury of the three virtues. "King" carries the sense of freedom, without obstruction; the earlier fascicle's own words, "precious, awakened," are here already contained within these same three words. "Illusion-like, inconceivable": "illusion" is the analogy — from nothing, suddenly something, and, though present, as if not present at all — meaning that the samādhi cultivated is a cultivation with nothing cultivated, this cultivation itself being no cultivation at all. "Inconceivable" means beyond what mind can think or mouth can discuss — meaning that what is cultivated is swift beyond measure, transcending both the worldly and the transcendent alike, exactly as an earlier verse put it: "this illusion-like samādhi carries one, in the snap of a finger, beyond even the rank of no further training" — and so one knows this to be exactly so. "True samādhi, mother of all buddhas": fascicle one already told Ānanda and the whole assembly of a samādhi named the Great Buddha's Crown, the king of Śūraṅgama, complete with every practice, the single gate through which every Tathāgata of the ten directions has transcended, along this wondrously adorned path; and the verse in fascicle five put it: "every Bhagavān of the ten directions shares this single road, this one gateway to nirvāṇa." One can see, from this, that every buddha of the ten directions transcends through this very same single gate, entering this same gateway to nirvāṇa — and this is exactly why it is called "the mother of buddhas," since every buddha is born from it. The samādhi thus realized is a true samādhi indeed — this natural, inherent, fundamental samādhi of one's own nature, not the same as a samādhi brought about through deliberate effort, which still has its own entering, abiding, and emerging. This very naming already indicates the skillfulness of this cultivation, skillful in four distinct senses: simple, essential, easy, and swift. Relying on the ear-faculty alone, entering deeply through this single gate — this is exactly "simple." Entering this single, unfalse state, all six faculties of knowing becoming pure together, all at once — this is exactly "essential." Turning solely toward this same faculty, turning the stream back, turning hearing back upon itself — this is exactly "easy." From entering the stream and letting go of what was heard, all the way to still cessation appearing of itself — this is exactly "swift." Complete with these four senses together, this true samādhi is thereby accomplished.

Sūtra: "You have heard countless buddhas' secret gateways, yet, if the outflow of desire is not cleared away first, accumulated learning only becomes a further fault."

Commentary: This restrains excessive learning, revealing its own fault. You, Ānanda, are foremost of all in broad learning — together with me, you first resolved on bodhi under the Buddha Śūnyarāja; I have always applied myself diligently in practice, while you have always delighted in broad learning instead. Given this, the buddhas you have encountered are as numerous as motes of dust, and, through the power of this broad learning, you have upheld and preserved the treasury of the Dharma, coming to hear every secret, profound Dharma-gate there is, without exception. "If the outflow of desire is not cleared away first": devoting yourself solely to broad learning, never stirring the power of samādhi, the habituated seed of this outflow of desire is never cleared away first. "Accumulated learning only becomes a further fault": because this outflow of desire was never cleared away first, this accumulated, broad learning becomes, instead, a further fault — not only hearing the ordinary Buddha-dharma, but even hearing the most secret, profound teachings, all of it amounting to nothing but following after sense-objects, turning endlessly in the wheel!

Sūtra: "Why not turn that hearing which retains the Buddha's teaching back upon your own hearing?"

Commentary: This decisively chooses between the two, turning hearing back upon itself. It decisively sets aside hearing that follows after sense-objects, and takes up, instead, hearing that turns back upon itself. In the first line, the first "Buddha" refers to the Buddha's own body, and the second refers to the Buddha's own Dharma; in the second line, the first "hearing" belongs to the hearing-faculty, and the second belongs to the very nature of hearing. And so this warns him directly: taking up your own hearing-faculty, holding fast to the Dharma every buddha has spoken — why not recognize this original hearing directly, and turn this same hearing-faculty back upon itself, to hear this very nature of hearing instead? This section is the actual text teaching this turning of hearing back upon itself. Observing this, hearing this single nature of hearing alone already surpasses boundless broad learning — and one sees, too, just how simple and essential this truly is!

Sūtra: "Hearing does not arise on its own — it is given its very name because of sound. Turn hearing back, and free it from sound; once freed, what name would even apply to it?"

Commentary: This section speaks in ordinary terms of the method itself. Taking up this practice of turning hearing back upon itself — how is it cultivated, how is it realized? First it makes plain transcending the realm of sentient feeling; then it shows transcending the realm of physical vessels. "Hearing does not arise on its own": "hearing" here refers to false hearing, exactly this sense-faculty congealed by grasping at sense-objects, not something that arises spontaneously of itself at all. "It is given its very name because of sound": because of these two false sense-objects, motion and stillness, something sticks and congeals into a single, calm, essential, bright substance, giving rise to this very essence of listening; this essence of listening reflects sound, curling sound inward to form this same sense-faculty — and, from the beginningless past onward, this very name, "ear-faculty," its own root-origin, thereby comes to exist, taken to be the pure, physical four elements, hence named the very substance of the ear — this being exactly hearing gathered and congealed into this substance of the sense-faculty itself. The next two lines say: since this faculty was congealed precisely by grasping at sound, it must, in turn, wait upon being freed from sound before it can be untied. Turning back to contemplate this very nature capable of hearing, becoming free of the sound-object heard — this is exactly entering the stream and letting go of what was heard, all the way to the two marks of motion and stillness becoming utterly unarisen, turning this hearing-faculty back upon itself, turning hearing back to hear one's own nature, thereby becoming free of the sound-object entirely. "What can be freed" points exactly to this hearing-faculty — congealed earlier by grasping at sense-objects, now freed by turning this same faculty back upon itself. "What name would even apply to it": this means that, the sense-object already freed, the sense-faculty is exhausted along with it — what name, then, could still be given to any "faculty" at all? These two lines are exactly what corresponds to "increasing this gradually, both the hearing and what is heard were exhausted" — even the very name of the hearing ear-faculty capable of hearing is lost along with it, only this single, wondrous nature remaining. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: these four lines are likened to water that originally froze into ice because of cold — and so this ice must be freed from this same cold before it can return to being water once more!

Sūtra: "Once a single sense-root returns to its source, all six roots find liberation together."

Commentary: This is exactly what a later passage, on the three gradual stages, puts as: "the sense-object no longer conditioned at all, the sense-faculty has nothing left to pair with." It is also exactly turning back against the stream into a single whole, all six functions no longer operating. One might doubt: does untying only a single faculty leave the other five still knotted? One should know that, although there are six faculties, their own substance is, at root, one and the same — considered horizontally, across all six faculties, when knotted, they are knotted together, and when untied, they are untied together, all six faculties sharing one and the same formation and dissolution. This matches exactly the vertical account of the six knots: for each and every faculty, considered in terms of delusion arising from truth, proceeding from this nature all the way to the sense-object, from subtle to coarse, there is, in each case, this same sequence of six knots; and, considered in terms of returning from falseness to truth, proceeding from the sense-object back to this nature, from coarse to subtle, there is likewise this same sequence of six knots — such that, the moment one knot forms, all six faculties form this same knot together, all the way through each of the six; and, the moment one knot is untied, all six faculties are untied together, from this one knot through all six. Untying the knot proceeds solely from the ear-faculty, entering against the stream. The six knots: first motion, second stillness, third the sense-faculty, fourth awareness, fifth emptiness, sixth extinction. Here, once a single faculty has already returned to its own root and source, this awakened nature appearing before one, no longer following after sense-objects to form a knotted faculty — among these six knots, only the first three, of motion, stillness, and the sense-faculty, need be untied, and all six faculties are thereby freed together. Is this not, then, the very simplest thing — a single faculty returning to its own source? Is this not, then, the very most essential thing — all six faculties freed together? And once all six faculties are thus freed, the world of sentient beings can no longer bind or entangle one at all!

Sūtra: "Seeing and hearing are like an eye's illusion; the three realms are like flowers conjured in the sky. Once hearing is turned back and the illusion at the root removed, the dust dissolves, and awareness becomes perfectly pure."

Commentary: This analogy makes plain how, from truth, falseness first arises, and how, from falseness, one returns to truth once more. The skilled illusionist is exactly the one who performs this act, likened here to true suchness's own capacity to accord with conditions. The illusion performed is exactly this conjuring trick, likened here to the ignorance that brings about actual events. The men and women conjured are exactly these figures the illusionist creates, likened here to the six sense-faculties. The single mechanism pulling them is exactly the mechanism that moves these men and women, likened here to this single, essential, bright substance. Originally relying on this single essence, divided into six functions — seeing, in the eye, all the way to knowing, in the mind — this is what is meant by "though every limb appears to move," likened to the six sense-faculties' own differing functions. "A single mechanism pulls them all": likened to this single, essential, bright substance alone, taking on different functions according to conditions. "Still that mechanism": resting this mechanism, no longer pulling it, likened to turning this single faculty's own essential, bright substance back, bringing it to return to its own source. "And stillness returns": these figures of men and women, every limb now unmoving, all six faculties freed together. "Every illusion then has no nature of its own": the very illusory place relied upon likewise comes to have no nature of its own, dissolving away entirely into nothing at all — that is, the world of physical vessels, too, is thereby transcended.

Sūtra: "It is like a skilled illusionist in the world conjuring men and women out of nothing: though every limb appears to move, a single mechanism pulls them all. Still that mechanism, and stillness returns; every illusion then has no nature of its own."

Sūtra: "The six sense-roots are exactly the same: originally relying on a single, bright essence, divided into six that seem to work together. Let just one place come to rest, and all six functions likewise fail to arise. Every trace of defilement dissolves at once, becoming perfect, bright, pure, and wondrous."

Commentary: This applies the analogy to the dharma itself, saying that the nature within the six sense-faculties is likewise exactly like these figures of men and women the illusionist creates. This single, essential brightness arises in dependence on truth and falseness joined together, serving as the general mark underlying all six essences — exactly what this sūtra elsewhere calls the subtle, ādāna consciousness. The six sense-faculties are what depend upon this; this single essence is what they depend upon — hence, "originally relying on a single, bright essence, divided into six that seem to work together." Divided, in dependence on this, into six distinct natures, joined together with sense-faculty and sense-object alike — though these natures number six, their own substance is, at root, one and the same. This corresponds to the illusionist above, conjuring men and women — though every limb appears to move, a single mechanism pulls them all. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: two lines should be supplied here — though these six functions appear to differ, only a single, essential brightness turns them — matching exactly the analogy's own "though every limb appears to move" in full. "Let just one place come to rest" points exactly to the ear-faculty turning hearing back to illuminate this nature directly, corresponding to "still that mechanism" in the analogy. "And all six functions likewise fail to arise" points to seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, sensing, and knowing — this single essence already turned back, these six functions no longer operating separately, corresponding to "and stillness returns" in the analogy. Up to this point, the analogy makes plain being freed from the entanglement of the realm of sentient feeling. The last two lines correspond to "every illusion then has no nature of its own": "defilement" points exactly to the world of physical vessels, this world defiled by the six sense-objects. "Dissolves at once" is exactly what an earlier passage in this sūtra called: mountains, rivers, and the great earth transformed, the moment it is attended to, into unsurpassed knowledge and awareness. "Becoming perfect, bright, pure, and wondrous": free of any division between the sentient and the insentient is called "perfect"; free of any obscuring by ignorance is called "bright"; free of any defilement by sense-faculty or sense-object is called "pure"; free of the obstruction of bondage, functioning interchangeably, manifesting freely, is called "wondrous" — this further makes plain, through analogy, the transcending of the world of physical vessels.

Sūtra: "Any remaining trace still marks one still in training; brightness brought to its very limit is exactly the Tathāgata."

Commentary: "Remaining trace" means this: ignorance not yet entirely severed is called a remaining, subtle trace — as with a bodhisattva of equal enlightenment, who still retains one final portion of the subtlest arising mark of ignorance not yet exhausted, still counted among those still in training. "Brightness brought to its very limit is exactly the Tathāgata": this means that, this original brightness realized to its own utmost limit, ignorance entirely exhausted and purified, this is exactly the ultimate Tathāgata himself. Since this Dharma-gate is already so wondrous, and its cultivation and realization so skillful, even accomplishing buddhahood itself becomes no difficulty at all — and this is exactly why the ear-gate alone has been selected.

Sūtra: "Great assembly, and you, Ānanda — turn back your inverted mechanism of hearing; hear your own nature by reverse-hearing, and that nature becomes the unsurpassed path. This, truly, is what perfect penetration is."

Commentary: Having thus selected and settled upon the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration, Mañjuśrī now urges the whole assembly to cultivate this same practice universally. This means: the effort of turning hearing back upon itself is both easy and swift, its actual effect exactly as described — and so he calls out to the great assembly, urging them not to remain deluded regarding this original hearing, and urging you, Ānanda, not to rely on mere strength of memory any further — true perfect penetration admits of no other method at all, lying solely in reversing this inverted mechanism of hearing that follows after sense-objects, turning hearing back to hear one's own nature of hearing instead. This very nature is exactly this perfectly calm, unborn, unceasing nature, exactly the original, pure substance of bodhi and nirvāṇa themselves, the true, real cause of buddhahood itself. And so this nature is decisively affirmed to bring one, without fail, to the unsurpassed buddha-path, this ultimate, final fruit itself. The final line means: though the Dharma-gates of perfect penetration are many, should one wish to settle, decisively, on what is truly real, then, for a beginning practitioner, nothing more is needed than cultivating this very nature of hearing alone.

Sūtra: "This is the one road to nirvāṇa for buddhas numerous as dust motes. Every Tathāgata of the past has already accomplished this gate; every bodhisattva now present is, at this very moment, entering this perfect brightness; and every practitioner still to come should rely on exactly this same method. I myself have realized it through this very gate — not Avalokiteśvara alone."

Commentary: This is exactly the one great road of wondrous practice, shared by every buddha of the ten directions and three times, as numerous as motes of dust, leading to bodhi's own home, entering the very gate of nirvāṇa. Every Tathāgata of the past has already accomplished buddhahood — this is exactly this gate already accomplished. Every bodhisattva now present, though not yet a buddha, now enters, each of them, this same perfect brightness by relying on this gate — "perfect brightness" carrying exactly the sense of purity brought to its utmost, light penetrating everywhere. Every practitioner still to come must, without fail, rely on this very method of the ear-faculty turning hearing back upon itself, cultivating exactly this way. Not only do every buddha and bodhisattva enter through this very gate — I, Mañjuśrī, myself have also cultivated and realized it through this same turning of hearing back upon itself, and not Avalokiteśvara alone. One thereby knows this method to be the one road cultivated in common across all three times, the one gate every buddha alike enters through — and you, too, ought to enter through this same wondrous ear-gate. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: were he simply urging others to cultivate this practice without cultivating it himself, and others then failed to follow his own urging, this would fall short — and so, taking the lead himself, and thereby leading the assembly to enter together with him, everyone is glad to join in — and this is exactly why Mañjuśrī makes plain that he, too, has cultivated and realized this same practice through the ear-faculty, so as to inspire in others this same necessary trust and confidence.

Sūtra: "It is truly as the World-Honored One has asked of me, seeking the skillful means to save those of this final age who seek to leave the world behind: for accomplishing the mind of nirvāṇa, Avalokiteśvara's way is best."

Commentary: This closes the answer. The single line "Avalokiteśvara's way is best" fulfills the very command given — since the Buddha earlier commanded this selection among the accounts of perfect penetration, this answer now reports back on that same command. "Truly" means genuinely — as the Buddha himself has said, genuinely exactly as the Buddha has commanded, showing trust in and compliance with the Buddha's own intention. The four lines that follow restate the very intention conveyed in that earlier command to make this selection: I now wish Ānanda to awaken clearly — among these twenty-five practices, which one best matches his own capacity? And, after I have passed away, for the beings of this world who enter the bodhisattva vehicle and seek the unsurpassed path, which gateway of skillful means will bring them to success most readily? "Seeking from me these various skillful means": that is, asking me, regarding these twenty-five sages' own approaches of skillful means, which single approach best matches Ānanda's own capacity, selecting a single method as the one ordinarily cultivable by all. And Ānanda, foremost in broad learning, has always been accustomed to relying on the ear-faculty — this answers the first intention. "To save those of this final age": this is exactly the earlier "after I have passed away, for the beings of this world," wishing them to be freed from birth and death — for this world's own beings have the sharpest ear-faculty of all, following sound and so turning endlessly in the wheel, or turning the stream back and attaining freedom from falseness — this answers the second intention. The two lines, "for accomplishing the mind of nirvāṇa," "seeking those who wish to leave the world behind": this is exactly the earlier "entering the bodhisattva vehicle, seeking the unsurpassed path," the third and fourth intentions. "Seeking those who wish to leave the world behind" means first growing weary of and turning away from the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha's own lesser vehicles, resolving instead to diligently seek unsurpassed bodhi — that is, exactly turning from the lesser toward the greater, accomplishing this ultimate mind of nirvāṇa itself.

"Avalokiteśvara's way is best": as the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: the only method fully according with all four of the Buddha's own intentions stated earlier is Avalokiteśvara's own ear-gate, foremost of all. Since the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration is exactly the hearing-faculty of one foremost in broad learning himself, it alone is able to match Ānanda's own capacity precisely — this accords with the first intention. Since every single person already possesses this faculty, cultivable at every depth alike, it is able to universally save the beings of this final age — this accords with the second intention. Since it first attains the emptiness of self, and then sheds attachment to dharmas as well, it is able to answer those who seek to leave the world behind — this accords with the third intention. Since arising and ceasing are themselves extinguished, still cessation appearing of itself, it is able to accomplish this mind of nirvāṇa — this accords with the fourth intention. And, further, the first two of these accord with matching capacity, while the last two accord with matching principle — capacity and principle both matched at once, the Buddha's own intention fulfilled in full — and this is exactly why Avalokiteśvara's own gate alone surpasses every other gate!

Sūtra: "As for all the other skillful means, these too are all the Buddha's own majestic power — teachings given on the spot, to release beings from their immediate distress, not methods meant for long, sustained cultivation; taught, shallow or deep, according to the occasion."

Commentary: Apart from Avalokiteśvara's own ear-faculty perfect penetration, every other one of the twenty-four sages' own Dharma-gates of skillful means cultivated relies entirely on the Buddha's own majestic virtue and spiritual power, enabling them, through whatever circumstance they happen to encounter, to shed and be freed from worldly toil. These two words, "not... meant for," govern the line that follows as well: not a method that can be cultivated as an ordinary, sustained practice — for, were it truly so cultivable, there would be no need to rely on the Buddha's own majestic, spiritual power at all, and one would simply advance in cultivation spontaneously, entering perfect penetration of one's own accord. Nor, either, is it a teaching that can be given equally to those of shallow and of deep attainment at the same time — for, were shallow and deep alike able to receive the same teaching, there would be no need to shed worldly toil through some particular circumstance at all, and every one of the three roots of capacity would be universally benefited, with no capacity left unreached.

Yet, among these various gates, there are cases where the Buddha's own majestic blessing is plainly shown — as when Aniruddha lost his sight, and the Buddha showed him the light of joyful seeing; or when Kṣudrapanthaka lacked the ability to recite, and the Buddha taught him to regulate the breath and gather in the mind. And there are cases that make plain being freed from worldly toil through some particular circumstance — as when Ucchuṣma, given to excessive lust, was taught by the Buddha to contemplate the fire of desire; or when Nanda's own mind, scattered, was taught by the Buddha to contemplate the tip of his own nose. Not everyone shares these same circumstances — how, then, could these ever serve as an ordinary, universally cultivable practice? And, further, these methods suit only those of shallow attainment; they are ill-suited to those of deep attainment. As with Samantabhadra's own great, accumulated cause, Pūrṇa's own long-cultivated eloquence, Subhūti's own understanding of emptiness, or Śāriputra's own pure seeing — all of these belong to a profound mind. How, then, could a beginning practitioner, of only shallow wisdom, ever enter through any of these? Only Avalokiteśvara's own Dharma-gate of the ear-faculty can be taught equally to shallow and deep alike, cultivated in common over the long term by all — and, as the very first, initial gateway of entry, nothing whatsoever surpasses it! This closes the fifth section, reporting back on this command.

Sūtra: "I bow in homage to the tathāgatagarbha, undefiled and inconceivable — may it bless all beings yet to come, free of doubt regarding this one gate. It is an easy, ready means — fit to teach Ānanda, and all those, sunk in this final age, who need only cultivate through this one faculty to surpass every other approach. Such, truly, is the real mind of the matter."

Commentary: The first two lines here admit of two readings. First, as bowing in reverence to this venerable dharma: this single gate of the ear-faculty, the very substance of samādhi cultivated and realized, is exactly the principle-substance the Buddha spoke of earlier, the three aspects of the tathāgatagarbha's own inherently pure nature; and the function of this same samādhi realized belongs to the undefiled, unconditioned, inconceivable function of actual events. This is exactly the Tathāgata's own true suchness, this dharma-body, the complete substance and great function together — hence bowing in reverence, seeking this same blessing. Second, as bowing in reverence to the Three Jewels: "tathāgatagarbha," "tathāgata" being exactly the Buddha Jewel; "garbha" meaning exactly this treasury-mind, the Dharma Jewel. "Undefiled" and "inconceivable" point, in meaning, to the sages of perfect penetration, the Saṅgha Jewel — "undefiled" pointing to the great arhats, having already severed the afflictions of views and thought; "inconceivable" pointing to the bodhisattvas, their own spiritual functions beyond all reckoning. And so I bow in reverence, wishing to seek this same blessing for practitioners yet to come. "Free of doubt regarding this one gate": this admits of two readings as well. First, free from any doubt arising at all — blessing sentient beings so that, regarding this Dharma-gate, they are certain to believe and follow it, free of any doubt whatsoever. Second, free from any confusion arising at all — blessing sentient beings so that, regarding this Dharma-gate, they are certain to understand and awaken to it, free of any confusion whatsoever. This is exactly this skillful means for a beginning practitioner, swift rather than slow, easily accomplished. Why is this so? Because, even before cultivation begins, this mark of perfect penetration is already, of itself, fully present and complete — and so, through this added cultivation, within a single act of turning hearing back upon itself, one may, in the snap of a finger, transcend even the rank of no further training, all the way to entering the abidings and accomplishing buddhahood itself, requiring not many kalpas at all — how could this not be easily accomplished indeed?

"Fit to teach Ānanda, and all those, sunk in this final age": from Ānanda all the way to every being of this final age, all alike are matched to this same capacity. Because Ānanda, foremost in broad learning, has an especially sharp ear-faculty, this method is fit to teach him — this answers exactly the Buddha's own charge, at the time of commanding this selection: wishing Ānanda to awaken clearly, among these twenty-five practices, which one best matches his own capacity? And, since teaching through sound and discourse can be made fully plain in this Sahā world, even beings sunk in this final age remain fit to be taught through this same ear-gate — this answers exactly the earlier "after I have passed away, for the beings of this world, which gateway of skillful means will bring them to success most readily?" The two lines, "who need only cultivate through this one faculty to surpass every other approach," make plain that, cultivating through this single gate of the ear-faculty alone, the perfect penetration thereby realized already surpasses that of all twenty-four other sages — and whoever wishes to cultivate the Śūraṅgama's own great samādhi has, in this true, essential key to cultivating the mind, nothing more than exactly this. From Mañjuśrī's own reception of this command to make this selection, all the way to this final request for blessing, it is this ear-faculty's own turning of hearing back upon itself alone that has been selected! This closes the second section, the Tathāgata's own teaching of entering deeply through a single gate.

Sūtra: "At this, Ānanda and the whole assembly, body and mind alike now clear, received this great instruction — beholding the Buddha's own bodhi and great nirvāṇa exactly like a person who, having traveled far on some matter, not yet returned home, has nonetheless come to understand clearly his own home, and the road that leads back to it."

Commentary: This describes Ānanda's own class of capacity — their own cognitive obstruction light, and so able to awaken at once; yet their own afflictive obstruction still heavy, and so not yet able to realize this directly. And the perfect, sudden teaching's own central purpose lies entirely in thorough awakening — realization itself need not be a cause for worry. Ānanda, moreover, is himself a great, provisional manifestation — even without direct realization, what obstruction could this possibly pose? "At this" points exactly to the moment right after Mañjuśrī's own verse of selection — at this very time, Ānanda and the whole assembly, this one class of capacity, each and every one of them, body and mind alike, now clear. This differs from the "body and mind bright and clear" described after the verse in fascicle five — there, body and mind were made bright and clear specifically regarding the sequence of the knot's own formation and the sequence of its own untying, yet it was not yet known which single gate was the very gate to enter through, nor by what method one ought to cultivate. This present "clear" carries the sense of a sudden, thorough understanding. Having heard Mañjuśrī's own verse of selection, plainly pointing out — why not turn that hearing which retains the Buddha's teaching back upon your own hearing? and — for accomplishing the mind of nirvāṇa, Avalokiteśvara's way is best — they now understand clearly that the very gate to enter through lies in the ear-faculty alone, and that cultivation and realization lie solely in turning the stream back. And, further, understanding that, once the ear-faculty is untied, the sense-faculties of all six locations are untied together with it — this is exactly "body... clear," since the sense-faculty is itself the body; and understanding that, once the nature of hearing is restored, the nature of all six locations is restored together with it — this is exactly "mind... clear," since this nature is itself the mind. "Received this great instruction": because they had not yet known, before this, which was the very gate to enter through, hoping instead for the Buddha's own hidden transmission of it — and so the Tathāgata commanded every sage to give their own account of their own gate, and then had Mañjuśrī make this plain selection among them, striking obliquely, borrowing indirect words to convey it — and, reaching this point at last, they attained this sudden, thorough understanding, this achievement entirely due to receiving this great instruction.

"Beholding the Buddha's own bodhi and great nirvāṇa": the explanation for this has already appeared earlier and need not be repeated. Now, having received this great instruction, beholding the Buddha's own twin fruits of wisdom and severance, this method of cultivation and realization, clear and no longer obscured — and so an analogy is given to make this plain. "Exactly like a person": likening Ānanda and the whole assembly, before a single thought had yet stirred, dwelling securely in their own home village of bodhi and nirvāṇa — until, suddenly, ignorance and non-awakening, a single thought stirring at once, the three subtle marks arising vigorously, the six coarse marks contending with one another — turning their backs on awareness to join with sense-objects, flowing outward and forgetting the way back — exactly like traveling far away on some matter, journeying back and forth through the six destinies, month after month, year after year, not only failing to return home, but even the very road back to this home village nearly forgotten entirely. Now, fortunate enough to encounter the Tathāgata's own every kind of instruction, and to hear Mañjuśrī's own commanded selection, though not yet attaining perfect penetration directly, a resembling understanding has nonetheless arisen — already knowing the sequence of untying the knot at the ear-faculty, that turning the stream back attains freedom from falseness at once — exactly like coming to understand clearly one's own home, and the road that leads back to it. Though not yet dressed for the triumphant journey home, they have, nonetheless, already come to know this very road home — exactly this unsurpassed vehicle's own wondrous path of practice!

Sūtra: "Throughout the whole assembly gathered there — the eight kinds of heavenly and dragon spirits, those still in training within the two lesser vehicles, and every bodhisattva newly resolved on bodhi, numbering, in all, as many as ten Ganges' sands — every one of them realized their own original mind, leaving sense-objects far behind and departing from defilement, attaining the pure Dharma-eye."

Commentary: This speaks specifically of Mātaṅgī's own class of capacity, their own afflictive obstruction light, and so able to realize this directly, at once. Yet, for a practitioner of the perfect and sudden teaching, awakening itself reaches all the way through, though realization still admits of shallow and deep degrees. Mātaṅgī, having earlier heard the mantra and been sustained by its own inconceivable power, realized the third fruit directly, at once — and here, hearing this verse, awakening at once, and, riding this same awakening, severing her own remaining habits of thought directly, at once, and so is classed here together with this same group. Whenever this sūtra recounts a realization, it generally proceeds from the deeper to the shallower — and these three groups here, considered specifically in terms of the perfect teaching's own stages, are: first, the first of the ten abidings; second, the seventh of the ten faiths; third, the first of the ten faiths. "Throughout the whole assembly gathered there" names, in summary, every capacity present within this assembly. "The eight kinds of heavenly and dragon spirits" ought to be sharp-facultied ordinary beings; "those still in training within the two lesser vehicles" ought to be beginning practitioners not yet fixed in their own vehicle; and "every bodhisattva newly resolved on bodhi" ought to be beginners of the perfect teaching itself. These beings' own past causes run genuinely deep, and though their present stage remains shallow, all alike belong to those with a light afflictive obstruction, and so are able, riding this same awakening, to realize this directly — their number reaching as many as ten Ganges' sands, one may well say how many, indeed, whose capacity had already ripened! "Every one of them realized their own original mind": every one of them awakened to and realized this same, already-possessed, true mind — this mind being exactly this perfectly calm, unborn, unceasing nature found at the very gateway of the six sense-faculties themselves; the same mark of mind Ānanda and the others attained at the close of fascicle three, called their own original, wondrous mind — only, there, they merely awakened to it, while here, it is genuinely realized. This is precisely because, for one of the perfect teaching, the initial and the final mind are, in the end, no different at all — and so, at the very first abiding, one already realizes this same, already-possessed, true mind directly! "Leaving sense-objects far behind and departing from defilement, attaining the pure Dharma-eye": as the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it, this is exactly what fascicle four called the marks of perception as sense-object, and the sentiments of consciousness as defilement, both left far behind together — the awareness and what it was aware of becoming empty leaves sense-objects far behind; emptiness and what was emptied being extinguished departs from defilement. "Attaining the pure Dharma-eye": the Adornment Treatise explains the pure Dharma-eye as the stage of the path of seeing at the first ground — and, according to the perfect teaching, this is exactly the very first of the ten abidings. For, once arising and ceasing are themselves extinguished, still cessation appearing of itself, this is exactly the pure Dharma-eye itself. This stage is exactly realizing, all the way through, the causal-stage mind of perfect penetration, forming the very first step of the fruit stage — exactly what the close of fascicle four called: "your own Dharma-eye will, at that very moment, grow clear and bright."

Sūtra: "The bhikṣuṇī Prakṛti, upon hearing this verse spoken, attained arhatship."

Commentary: Prakṛti is exactly Mātaṅgī herself — "left the household," in our own language, named bhikṣuṇī, "nun" meaning exactly "woman." Upon hearing Mañjuśrī speak this verse, she advanced further still, attaining arhatship — that is, exactly the seventh of the ten faiths of the perfect teaching, borrowing this lesser vehicle's own title to name this greater, ordinary stage. Considered in terms of perfect penetration, this corresponds exactly to this same faculty's own first untying, first attaining the emptiness of self — the text here corresponding precisely to "both the hearing and what is heard were exhausted."

Sūtra: "And boundless sentient beings, every one of them, resolved upon this unequaled, equal, unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening."

Commentary: This describes bodhisattvas newly resolved on bodhi, exactly the first of the ten faiths of the perfect teaching. Their number, called "boundless," makes their own inconceivability all the more plain. As the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom puts it: asama, translated "unequaled, equal," since the fruit of buddhahood, bodhi itself, is precisely unequaled — meaning that no dharma whatsoever could ever stand equal to it. Now, since every one of them has been able to resolve upon this very mind of accomplishing buddhahood, this is called: regarding what admits of no equal at all, now able to equal it — hence, "unequaled, equal." Anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, joined together, forms exactly the single word "buddha" — this very title standing alone, above and beyond all nine Dharma-realms. Explained from the last term upward: "saṃbodhi" translates "correct awakening," surpassing the six ordinary destinies' own non-awakening; "samyak" translates "correctly equal," surpassing the two lesser vehicles' own inability to hold self and other equally, seeking only their own benefit, unwilling to benefit others; "anuttarā" translates "unsurpassed," surpassing even a bodhisattva's own remaining superior — for even a bodhisattva of equal enlightenment still has wondrous enlightenment above them, still counted a "superior being with something above them still" — only the Buddha, this one alone, stands worthy of this title in full. The Precious Mirror Commentary puts it: what this present capacity had sought, up to this point, was called only a road, or a gate, or, at most, a bestowed dwelling — not yet knowing that there was, all along, an original home of one's own. Now, after hearing of the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration, the sūtra's own compiler speaks directly of a "home" — displaying precisely how this present assembly has come to understand their own mind clearly, something never received from another at all, its own meaning exactly like an original home, not to be compared with any merely bestowed dwelling. And so this very turning of hearing back through the ear-faculty is exactly the path and gate by which one returns to nirvāṇa's own homeland, back to bodhi's own home. This closes the first great section, selecting the sense-faculty and entering directly.