The Fruit of Realization

Root Text: If a practitioner, cultivating calming and insight in this way, is able to fully understand that every dharma arises from mind alone, and, being merely a causally-conditioned, illusory appearance, is unreal and therefore empty — and, knowing this emptiness, no longer grasps at the mark or name of any dharma at all — this is calming through embodying true reality. At this point, one no longer sees, above, any fruit of buddhahood to be sought, nor, below, any sentient being to be brought across. This is called the contemplation moving from the conventional into emptiness, also called the contemplation of the two truths, also called the wisdom-eye, also called the wisdom that knows all things generally.

Commentary: The nine chapters above are now complete: the first five, skillful means, being supporting practice; the sixth through ninth, actual practice. Having established both the primary and supporting practices as the genuine cause, there must, correspondingly, be a fruit-stage realization to which they lead — hence this tenth chapter explains the fruit realized. "Realization" here means the false mind coming into silent accord with reality itself. "Fruit" means the fruit of awakening — for wherever there is cause there must be fruit; this is realizing the fruit already inherent within one's own mind.

We sentient beings, ever since falling into delusion, pass now through heaven, now through hell — yet this mind of ours has never diminished by the slightest degree; every buddha of the ten directions has accomplished perfect, complete awakening — yet this same mind has never increased by the slightest degree either. This is what is meant by "unchanged in the ordinary being, unchanged in the sage"... In truth, the cause is never separate from one's own mind, and the fruit, too, is never separate from one's own mind — cause and fruit are entirely contained within this one mind... The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: "Whatever dharmas arise are manifested by mind alone; every cause and effect, every world, down to the smallest mote of dust, is given substance by mind."

But if every dharma exists because of mind, from what, then, does mind itself arise? One should know, as already explained, that an object has, from the start, no arising of its own, existing only because of mind — and, likewise, mind, too, has, from the start, no arising of its own, existing only because of its object. From this it can be seen that every circumstance is itself the very cause and condition giving rise to mind, and mind is, in turn, the very cause and condition of every circumstance — each mutually serving as cause and condition for the other. The inward six faculties serve as cause; the outward six sense-objects serve as condition. A sense-object is not, in itself, a sense-object — it exists only because of a faculty; and a faculty, at root, has no faculty of its own — it exists only because of its object. Hence, because of an object, various minds arise; and because an object ceases, various minds cease.

Since an object has, from the start, no arising of its own, existing only because of mind, one sees that the object itself has no arising; and since mind, too, has, from the start, no arising of its own, existing only because of its object, one sees that mind itself has no arising either — the sense-object is empty, and the faculty is empty as well. Hence the root text says: "Being merely a causally-conditioned, illusory appearance, unreal, and therefore empty." But if its very substance is, from the start, empty, why then does every dharma appear to exist at all? One should know that every dharma, without exception, arises through the coming-together of causes and conditions, an illusory, provisional arising; when causes and conditions separate, this illusory appearance is called ceasing — arising is merely conditioned arising, ceasing merely conditioned ceasing, an illusory arising-and-ceasing — while the very substance of every dharma is, at root, unborn, at root unfindable...

Stated in terms of the three natures: our very first moment of non-awareness serves as cause, transforming and manifesting further through condition, and so the illusory faculties, body, and outward world are conjured forth — inherently not existing, and yet seemingly existing — and sentient beings falsely cling to this as truly, substantially existing: this is the imagined nature. Yet every dharma, arising as it does through conditions, belongs entirely to illusory appearance, not to what is truly real — existing, and yet not truly existing, an illusory appearance given a name: this is the dependent nature. Having, at root, no fixed nature of its own, every existing thing being illusory, its very substance being empty, being mind alone, with nothing outside of mind, inherently free of discrimination: this, in its very substance, is the perfected, complete, real nature. Contemplating in this way, no discrimination arises, and idle thought no longer flows — this is called calming through embodying true reality.

Commentary: In general, cultivating the śamatha of emptiness-contemplation should proceed by relying on the stillness of one's own substance — "the stillness of one's own substance" meaning the inherent nature's own unmovingness. Among the three aspects of the tathāgatagarbha, this belongs to the "empty" tathāgatagarbha — a solitary, spiritual light shining forth alone, entirely free of sense-faculty and sense-object, seeing with utter clarity that there is not a single thing there at all, with no distinction whatsoever, within it, between self and other, right and wrong, this and that. Fully understanding that this very thought presently before us, from the start, has no mark of its own — a thought that is itself no-thought, merely given the provisional name "thought" — this becomes the object of contemplation. And contemplating this single, thoughtless thought is itself the contemplating wisdom — precisely the moment when the preceding thought has already ceased and the following thought has not yet arisen, a single, solitary, vivid thought standing in between — this contemplating wisdom observing this same objectless, inherently thoughtless state: at this point, object and wisdom become one and the same — what idle thought could possibly arise, and what thought of even the Buddha could possibly be conceived?

...Hence, at this point, one no longer sees, above, any buddha-path to be accomplished, nor, below, any sentient being to be brought across; there is nothing in the buddha-realm to grasp, and nothing in the demon-realm to reject; fully understanding that, within the realm of suchness, even the provisional names of "sentient being" and "buddha" are entirely gone, and that, within this assembly of equality, no form of self or other is to be seen at all...

One should know that sentient beings of this final age carry a heavy obstruction of what-is-already-known, and cultivating calming and insight to accomplish concentration and wisdom is genuinely difficult indeed — but if one, honestly and wholeheartedly, holds fast to a single recitation of Amitābha's name, this is itself moving from the conventional into emptiness: holding this name until the mind becomes single-pointed and unconfused, one moves from having thought into no-thought, from having birth into the unborn — and when this recitation reaches the point where subject and object are both forgotten, this is what is called "reciting emptiness, the true recitation" — itself cultivating the contemplation moving from the conventional into emptiness, also called the contemplation of the two truths. Contemplating the ultimate truth dissolves every dharma; contemplating the conventional truth establishes every dharma. A practitioner contemplating that every dharma, being merely causally-conditioned and illusory, is unreal and therefore empty, is precisely the contemplation of true emptiness; yet, though causes and conditions are unreal, empty, with nothing there at all, this does not prevent the whole array of differentiated phenomena from still appearing — this is precisely the contemplation of the conventional truth...

This is also called the wisdom-eye, also called the wisdom that knows all things generally. An ordinary being's own fleshly eye, obstructed by the illusory film of views and thought, sees every dharma as truly, substantially existing; but once one attains the principle of emptiness, one sees every dharma as, in every case, markless, since the wisdom-eye fully understands this emptiness. "The wisdom that knows all things generally" is able to understand every inward dharma and inward name, and every outward dharma and outward name — hence it is called this. Knowing that "the wisdom that knows all things generally," "the contemplation of the two truths," "the wisdom-eye," and the rest, are all merely different names for the very same contemplation moving from the conventional into emptiness — different in name, one and the same in substance.

Root Text: Should one remain fixed within this contemplation alone, one falls into the stage of the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha. Hence a sūtra says: the assembly of śrāvakas themselves lamented, saying, "Were we to hear of purifying a buddha-land or teaching and transforming sentient beings, our minds would take no joy in it at all. Why is this? Every dharma is, in every respect, empty and still, unborn and unceasing, neither great nor small, outflow-free and unconditioned — reflecting in this way, no joy arises in us." One should know that anyone who sees the unconditioned and takes this to be entering the correct stage will, in the end, never be able to give rise to the mind of complete awakening — this is precisely because concentration predominates, and the buddha-nature is not seen.

Commentary: What follows below cites proof of the fault in clinging to this state. One should know that the Tathāgata's own teaching is always matched to the particular occasion and capacity, and since capacities differ by the thousands, the teachings given likewise differ by the ten thousands — yet however different, traced to their final destination, the underlying principle is one and the same. As it is said: "There are many gates of skillful means, but no second road back to the source."

This is enough to show that every contemplative gate the Tathāgata taught is nothing but a skillful means toward buddhahood — first drawing beings in with the hook of desire, and only afterward leading them into the Buddha's own wisdom; skillful means was never meant as the final destination itself. Hence it is said: remaining fixed within this contemplation alone, one falls into the stage of the śrāvaka or pratyekabuddha. One who awakens to the path by hearing the sound of the Four Noble Truths is called a śrāvaka... "Pratyekabuddha," in Sanskrit — Mount Gu explains this as "one awakened through conditions," also "one awakened alone"...

One should know that whether pratyekabuddha or solitary awakener, both are merely the very first, entry-level effort within the Hīnayāna of the Buddha's own teaching — remaining fixed here, unwilling to press further forward, one loses the great benefit of the Buddhadharma entirely... A person of this kind, having entirely severed the views and thought of the three realms, escapes the very cage of birth-and-death... and so grows deeply weary of it — regarding the three realms as a prison, and birth-and-death as a hated enemy, guarding this true emptiness alone, unwilling to emerge and take up conventional existence to guide others, embracing an entirely passive, world-renouncing stance instead, drinking the wine of this samādhi and falling into the pit of the unconditioned — this is precisely the kind of person the Tathāgata rebukes as "a scorched sprout, a rotten seed."

Yet one must also understand that this state of empty, outflow-free realization is itself of the very greatest importance, and must never be dismissed as merely Hīnayāna — as it is said, "gathered together from the ten directions, each one studying the unconditioned — this is the very field where buddhas are chosen, and one returns having passed with an empty mind." The hardest step for anyone studying the Buddhadharma to actually take is precisely this first step of empty, outflow-free effort... Once one is able to reach this principle of emptiness and outflow-freedom, the conventional and the middle become far easier to reach as well! But clinging one-sidedly to this empty stillness, fixed on the notion of the unborn and unceasing, neither great nor small, one falls into a one-sided emptiness instead — hence one must, further, move from emptiness into existence, empty and yet not empty, all the way to the middle way itself.

Our own society holds that taking reciting the Buddha's name as one's true refuge is entirely fitting here — moving from having thought into no-thought, from having birth into realizing the unborn. On the surface, this looks passive: severing affliction, resolving birth-and-death, leaving this world of endurance behind to head toward the Pure Land. Yet once born in the Pure Land, one immediately realizes this wondrous fruit, and, riding one's own vow, returns again to broadly bring sentient beings across — hence what appears passive is, in truth, active.

Root Text: If a bodhisattva, for the sake of every sentient being, wishes to accomplish every buddha-dharma, one should not cling to the unconditioned and rest content in one's own stillness alone. At this point one should cultivate the contemplation moving from emptiness into the conventional, clearly observing that, although the nature of mind is itself empty, when it meets its various conditions it is nonetheless able to give rise to every dharma, exactly like an illusory transformation — though nothing fixed or real about it, it nonetheless carries every kind of differentiated mark of seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing.

Commentary: A follower of the two lesser vehicles, realizing one-sided emptiness, takes this to be the final destination, unwilling to emerge from emptiness into conventional existence to teach and transform sentient beings. A bodhisattva is not like this — seeking the path above and transforming beings below, possessing the virtue of benefiting both self and other. From the very first arising of the resolve, giving rise to the four universal vows toward the Four Noble Truths, benefiting both self and other, understanding every dharma to be illusory, one does not hesitate to use illusion to work with illusion — hence, for the sake of every sentient being, accomplishing every buddha-dharma...

The Tathāgata's own dharma is precisely the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the eighteen distinctive qualities, and the rest. One should know that a bodhisattva likewise brings these same qualities to accomplishment, understanding them as illusory, yet not hesitating to carry out illusory buddha-work and bring illusory sentient beings across — hence one should never cling to the unconditioned and rest content in one's own stillness alone. At this point one should cultivate the contemplation moving from emptiness into the conventional, understanding the unconditioned itself to be illusory — and so the unconditioned becomes capable of everything; understanding stillness itself to be illusory — stillness is then no longer merely stillness. A bodhisattva who fully understands this gives rise to a vast, expansive mind, bringing every sentient being across...

Fully understanding this illusory nature is what is called the contemplation moving from emptiness into the conventional. "Clearly" carries the sense of examining thoroughly, without falsehood; "contemplation" means observation — that is, clearly examining and observing one's own mind's inherent nature: though it has no direction and no fixed measure, ultimately unfindable, yet, meeting whatever circumstance and object arise, it is nonetheless able to give rise to every dharma — reaching, above, the four sagely realms, and, below, the six ordinary destinies, every mundane and transmundane dharma alike arising because of this very nature of mind. Though existing, it is empty; existing, it is not truly existing — hence it is said, "exactly like an illusory transformation." Though nothing fixed or real about it, it is not existing, and yet exists; and it carries, too, every kind of differentiated mark of seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing...

The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: "Empty space is, in itself, no particular appearance at all, and yet does not refuse to let every appearance play itself out within it." Empty space here is a metaphor for one's own mind — meaning that one's own mind has the capacity to follow conditions, and so every dharma manifests through it; but people of the world take this illusory transformation to be truly, substantially real, exactly as a magician's silk scarf, transformed into the illusion of a rabbit or a horse, is mistaken by onlookers for the real thing. The Mahāyāna Calming and Insight Treatise says: "What is called 'contemplation' is this: though one knows that what was originally unborn is, now, likewise unceasing, mind's own nature, arising through conditions, cannot help but carry a certain illusory, worldly function — exactly like the experience of a dream, not truly existing, and yet existing — hence it is called contemplation."

One should know that every dharma, without exception, is illusory — existence is illusory, emptiness is illusory, the middle way is illusory, the buddhas of the ten directions are illusory, and even our own building of this place of practice today, carrying out this very Buddhist work, is illusory as well. Great Master Yongming said: "Subduing the demonic armies within the mirror, carrying out great buddha-work within a dream, broadly bringing across illusory sentient beings, realizing illusory bodhi itself."

...We, learning this illusory contemplation, gain benefit without end: understanding that our own lotus society is itself illusory, we do not hesitate to run this illusory society in earnest, in order to bring illusory beings across; understanding that reciting the Buddha's name is itself illusory, we do not hesitate to recite this illusory buddha's name single-mindedly, and even to carry out illusory activities, expound illusory sūtras. Vimalakīrti, having realized this illusory nature, was able to fit eighty-four thousand jeweled lion-thrones within his own small room; Māyā, having practiced this same illusory contemplation, was able to hold the entire trichiliocosm within her own womb. In this turbid age, it is extremely difficult simply to exist at all — being able to study this movement from emptiness into the conventional, practicing this illusory contemplation, is the single most essential method for benefiting both self and other.

Root Text: When a practitioner contemplates in this way, though knowing every dharma to be, in the end, empty and still, one is nonetheless able to cultivate every kind of practice within this very emptiness, like planting trees in empty space — able, too, to discern sentient beings' own measureless faculties and inclinations, and so teach the Dharma in measureless ways. If one is able to accomplish unhindered eloquence, one is thereby able to benefit sentient beings of all six destinies. This is called the expedient calming that accords with conditions — that is, the contemplation moving from emptiness into the conventional, also called the contemplation of equality, also called the Dharma-eye, also called the wisdom of the paths of practice. Remaining within this contemplation, since the power of wisdom predominates, one sees the buddha-nature but not with full clarity. Though a bodhisattva accomplishes both of these two contemplations, they are still called expedient contemplative gates, not correct contemplation itself.

Commentary: A practitioner who has genuinely accomplished the contemplation moving from emptiness into the conventional, though fully understanding that everything, inward body and mind and outward world alike, sentient and non-sentient alike, is, in the end, empty and still, is nonetheless able, within this very emptiness and stillness, to cultivate every kind of illusory practice — building a place of practice, carrying out buddha-work — exactly like planting trees in empty space, fully understanding it to be illusory and unreal; like the path a fish leaves in water or a bird's track through the sky, gone the instant it passes, leaving no trace behind; treating illusory illness with illusory medicine, expounding illusory sūtras, teaching illusory dharmas — and though teaching measureless dharmas to bring across measureless sentient beings, the one who brings across and those brought across alike are, without exception, illusory...

Once a bodhisattva's own wisdom of the paths of practice has fully manifested, one is thereby able to accomplish unhindered eloquence. This unhindered eloquence is of four kinds, also called the four kinds of unhindered wisdom: unhindered eloquence in meaning, unhindered eloquence in the Dharma itself, unhindered eloquence in expression, and unhindered eloquence in joyful teaching. Possessing these four forms of eloquence, one is fully able to benefit every sentient being of the six destinies, fully understanding this illusory, unhindered, condition-according skillful means — this is called the expedient calming that accords with conditions...

Just as Chan Master Yongming Yanshou carried out one hundred and eight separate tasks every single day — for another person this would be an exhausting burden, yet the master himself considered it no burden at all, since, within his own mind, not a single thought arose, with nothing there at all; though busy, he was never truly busy; though laborious, he never truly labored — since none of it, without exception, was anything but illusory. This is precisely the achievement of the expedient calming that accords with conditions. One should know that this expedient, condition-according approach suits us best of all — as when eating, turning to observe the very one who eats; as when drinking tea, turning to observe the very one who drinks...

An ancient worthy said: "Following conditions, one recognizes one's own nature — with neither the illusory nor the real remaining." And again: "Walking is itself dhyāna, sitting is itself dhyāna." And again: "Walking is itself Amitābha, sitting is itself Amitābha." All of this points to precisely this same function...

This is the contemplation moving from emptiness into the conventional, also called the contemplation of equality — moving from the emptiness of nirvāṇa into the conventional existence of birth-and-death, understanding that this emptiness was never bare emptiness alone, but empty and yet not empty, emptiness and the conventional practiced together — hence it is called the contemplation of equality... Also called the Dharma-eye, also called the wisdom of the paths of practice. The Dharma-eye observes the conventional alone. "The wisdom of the paths of practice" means a bodhisattva, transforming others, using every path to bring forth every wholesome seed within sentient beings...

A bodhisattva bringing beings across must, without fail, possess this wisdom of the paths of practice before the Dharma-eye can shine perfectly complete — otherwise bringing beings across becomes extremely difficult. Śāriputra, though possessing very great wisdom, once had two disciples — one a goldsmith, the other a grave-keeper. Śāriputra instructed the grave-keeper to cultivate the contemplation of counting the breath, and the goldsmith to cultivate the contemplation of impurity; both applied themselves repeatedly, entirely in vain, with no benefit whatsoever, and both grew discouraged. The Buddha's own wisdom, observing this, recognized that the two had been assigned the wrong practice for their own natures, and instead instructed the goldsmith to cultivate counting the breath, and the grave-keeper to cultivate the contemplation of impurity — within a few days, both attained the fruit of the path. Hence it is said: "Impurity wrongly applied to the furnace-worker; breath-counting never to leave the grave-keeper alone." To bring beings across and truly benefit them, this wisdom of the paths of practice is indispensable...

Yet this wisdom is not easily realized. Now that we have reached this final age, if one wishes to spread the Dharma and benefit beings, there is nothing for it but honest recitation of the Buddha's name — taking up a single recitation and holding to it straight through, right then and there free of any notion of self, other, sentient being, or lifespan, forgetting body and mind inwardly, leaving the whole world behind outwardly — this is precisely calming; and each and every recitation of the Buddha's name remaining utterly clear and distinct — this is precisely insight. Once this recitation reaches the point where subject and object are both forgotten, self and other no longer two, one turns back and, through this very illusory gate of buddha-recollection, teaches and transforms illusory sentient beings, regardless of whatever attachment or affliction they carry, treating it entirely with Amitābha's own universal medicine, causing every sentient being to dissolve their own illusory reflected image and, at the end of life, be born in the illusory Pure Land itself. Were this truly accomplished, its wondrous benefit could hardly be expressed in words at all!

One should know that cultivating both the emptiness-contemplation and the conventional-contemplation are both, alike, skillful means toward buddhahood — one must never cling to either. Should one remain fixed within the contemplation moving from emptiness into the conventional alone, wisdom predominates while concentration remains slight, and though one sees the buddha-nature, it is not seen with full clarity, since one remains caught between the two extremes, unable to see the buddha-nature with perfect clarity. Though a bodhisattva accomplishes both of these two contemplations, they remain, even so, expedient contemplative gates, not correct contemplation itself.

Root Text: Hence a sūtra says: the first two contemplations are both skillful means. Through these two contemplations of emptiness, one enters the contemplation of the middle way, the supreme truth — illuminating both truths at once, thought after thought reaching still cessation, naturally flowing into the ocean of all-knowing wisdom. If a bodhisattva wishes to hold every buddha-dharma complete within a single thought, one should cultivate the calming that stills discrimination between the two extremes, and practice the correct contemplation of the middle way.

Commentary: The passage above shows that cultivating only the emptiness-contemplation leans toward concentration and cannot realize the middle way; cultivating only the conventional-contemplation leans toward wisdom and likewise cannot realize the middle way. One must cultivate calming and insight together, concentration and wisdom evenly balanced, before the middle way can actually be realized... Cultivating the emptiness-contemplation realizes the emptiness of self; cultivating the conventional-contemplation realizes the emptiness of dharmas. Cultivating the contemplation of the middle way, the supreme truth, means that clinging to both self and dharmas is dispelled together, and even the very emptiness that dispels them is removed as well — both this emptiness and this clinging forgotten together — this realizes the emptiness of emptiness itself.

Cultivating the contemplation of the middle way illuminates both truths at once — it is not a third, separate thing apart from emptiness and existence. Were there some separate middle way apart from emptiness and existence, this would be a "mere middle" alone — like seeing the moon through clouds, which cannot be called the perfect middle way. One must, rather, illuminate both truths at once, neither separate from the two extremes nor identical with either extreme.

Within a single, momentary thought of our own mind, the three thousand realms of nature and characteristic, the hundred realms and thousand suchnesses, are already complete — every one of them, without exception, at once empty, at once conventional, at once the middle. Were one to say it exists, its very substance is ultimately unfindable; were one to say it is empty, the three thousand realms remain utterly clear and distinct. The very moment a single thought arises, illuminating directly the place from which it arises, finding it ultimately unfindable — this is the meaning of emptiness. Yet this place of arising remains utterly clear and distinct — this is the meaning of the conventional. Being utterly clear and distinct, and yet ultimately unfindable — neither empty nor conventional, doubly free of both extremes; at once empty and at once conventional, doubly illuminating both extremes — this is the meaning of the middle way.

Hence it is said: through these two contemplations of emptiness, one enters the contemplation of the middle way, the supreme truth, thought after thought reaching still cessation, moment after moment ever-abiding, emptiness and existence not two, negation and illumination occurring together, naturally flowing, thought after thought, into the ocean of all-knowing wisdom. "Sarvajña" means wisdom — flowing, thought after thought, into the great ocean of every buddha's own wisdom!

If a bodhisattva wishes to hold every buddha-dharma complete within a single thought, one should know that within this single, momentary thought of our own mind, there is no dharma not already present — the hundreds of thousands of samādhis all share this same source in the mind; merit as numerous as grains of sand along the Ganges all returns to this same single inch of the heart — what single dharma is ever separate from one's own mind, since every dharma, without exception, is manifested by one's own mind alone? It is only that sentient beings, lost in delusion, leave their own mind's Tathāgata-like wondrous capacity shrouded and unrevealed. If a bodhisattva wishes to hold every buddha-dharma complete and accomplished within a single thought, one must cultivate the calming that stills discrimination between the two extremes, and practice the correct contemplation of the middle way, before this can actually be accomplished.

As for "stilling discrimination between the two extremes": "the two extremes" refers to every pair of opposed terms — emptiness and existence, self and no-self, permanence and impermanence, great and small, high and low, long and short, close and distant, and every such relative pairing. One should know that a relative, opposed pair of this kind has, at root, no fixed, real substance of its own, since each arises entirely through comparison with the other — as in the pairing of great and small: "great" is not truly great in itself, but appears great only relative to something small; "small" is not truly small in itself, but appears small only relative to something great. Now, giving rise to no discrimination toward any object at all, this is called "stilling" — clinging to neither emptiness nor existence, favoring no single dharma, neither averse to birth-and-death nor delighting in nirvāṇa, with no extreme left to still at all, since the extreme is itself already the middle. The path has no two extremes to begin with — what, then, is there left to still? It is simply stilled without ever expecting to be stilled at all — hence it is also called "the stilling that does not still." This is the very highest effort of all, and is precisely the calming that stills discrimination between the two extremes. "Correct" means neither one-sided nor deviant — that is, clinging to neither emptiness nor existence, yet never separate from emptiness or existence either, doubly negating and doubly illuminating both at once — cultivating in this way is what is called practicing the correct contemplation of the middle way.

Root Text: How does one cultivate correct contemplation? Fully embodying the knowledge that mind's own nature is neither ultimately real nor merely conventional, one stills the mind that fixes on either the ultimate or the conventional — this is called correctness. Clearly contemplating that mind's own nature is neither empty nor conventional, and yet without destroying the dharma of emptiness or the conventional either. If one is able to illuminate this fully, one thereby penetrates the middle way within mind's own nature, perfectly illuminating both truths at once. If one is able to see the middle way, the two truths, within one's own mind, one thereby sees the middle way, the two truths, within every dharma — and yet does not grasp even at the middle way and the two truths themselves, since no fixed, determinate nature can ultimately be found there either. This is called the correct contemplation of the middle way.

Commentary: "How does one" opens with the question itself. "Cultivating correct contemplation" means turning to illuminate and fully embody the understanding that this very thought presently before us, mind's own nature, is neither ultimately real nor merely conventional — "not ultimately real" meaning not truly empty, "not merely conventional" meaning not merely wondrous existence — stilling the mind that fixes on either the ultimate or the conventional. This is precisely the wondrous śamatha, the great gate of ultimate truth: one thing empty, everything empty, none of the ten dharma-realms not empty — this is precisely the ultimate emptiness of great prajñā itself, called, within the Mahāyāna Calming and Insight Treatise, the gate of great, still calming.

Yet clearly contemplating mind's own nature, though neither empty nor conventional, without destroying the dharma of emptiness or the conventional either — every appearance remaining vivid and distinct, empty and yet not empty, the three thousand realms remaining exactly as they are — this is precisely the wondrous samāpatti, the great gate of conventional truth...

If one is able to illuminate this fully, one thereby penetrates the middle way within mind's own nature, able to perfectly illuminate both the ultimate and conventional truths at once — within one's own mind, discrimination still blazes forth, and yet the very substance remains ever still; the very substance remains ever still, and yet discrimination still arises through conditions — this is called perfectly cultivating the calming and insight of the middle way. One should know that this is, in its entirety, a sudden-teaching dharma-gate — wondrous in the extreme, yet far from easy to cultivate, and not easily grasped except by a person of superior capacity...

If one is able to see the middle way, the two truths, within one's own mind, one thereby sees the middle way, the two truths, within every dharma. Why is this? Because every dharma is mind alone — and since every dharma is mind alone, once one's own mind sees the middle way and the two truths, every dharma, without exception, is likewise the middle way and the two truths, manifesting within one's own mind as well, since every circumstance is itself transformed by mind. Yet though one sees the middle way, the two truths, within every dharma, one does not grasp even at the middle way and the two truths themselves, since no fixed, determinate nature can ultimately be found there either...

Within every dharma, existence is never fixed existence, and emptiness is never fixed emptiness; doubly negating both, this negation of both is itself never fixed either — the middle way is not itself fixed as the middle way. Neither extreme is established, and the middle way itself rests on nothing at all. Yet this state of the correct contemplation of the middle way cannot be captured in words at all — free of the mark of verbal expression, free of the mark of mental grasping, known only through direct realization. That it is spoken of here in writing at all is only because those still lost in confusion cannot otherwise understand it, and so words are borrowed to point toward it — the path, at root, has no words of its own, and words are merely borrowed to reveal it. Though words are borrowed here, the state actually realized through genuine effort is not, in itself, words at all — it must be genuinely practiced and put into actual effect before it can be known.

Root Text: As a verse in the Middle Treatise says:
"Whatever dharma arises through causes and conditions, I say is precisely empty; it is also called a provisional name, and also called the meaning of the middle way."
Examining this verse's own meaning deeply, it not only fully distinguishes the mark of the middle-way contemplation itself, but also explains the underlying intent of the two preceding, expedient contemplative gates as well. One should know that the correct contemplation of the middle way is precisely the buddha-eye, the wisdom that knows all things in every one of their modes. Remaining within this contemplation, concentration and wisdom become equal in strength, and one sees the buddha-nature with perfect clarity. Abiding in the Great Vehicle, one walks with a steady, even step, swift as the wind, naturally flowing into the ocean of all-knowing wisdom.

Commentary: The Tiantai school's second patriarch, Great Master Huiwen, reading the Middle Treatise, upon reaching the chapter on the Four Noble Truths and this same four-line verse — "whatever dharma arises through causes and conditions... also called the meaning of the middle way" — suddenly attained great awakening, immediately understanding that every dharma, without exception, arises through causes and conditions, and is, without exception, at once empty, at once conventional, at once the middle: the complete principle of the three contemplations. He later transmitted this single mind's threefold contemplation to Nanyue, who transmitted it in turn to Zhiyi — and Zhiyi expounded and expanded it further still, setting forth the three major and five minor works, founding the Tiantai school based on the Lotus Sūtra, distinguishing the five periods of the Buddha's teaching career, surpassing every other school and rising above every other account. This is enough to show that this four-line verse is the very root and source from which the Tiantai school established its threefold contemplation — its principle can be seen to run very deep and subtle indeed.

The "buddha-eye" is neither an ordinary being's fleshly eye, nor a heavenly being's heavenly eye, nor the same as the two lesser vehicles' wisdom-eye or a bodhisattva's Dharma-eye — only the buddha-eye is able to encompass the function of all four of these eyes together; seeing through all five eyes as one single eye, there is nothing it does not know, nothing it does not understand, nothing it does not see... A verse says: "The heavenly eye penetrates but does not obstruct; the fleshly eye obstructs but does not penetrate; the Dharma-eye observes the conventional alone; the wisdom-eye fully knows emptiness; the buddha-eye is like a thousand suns, illuminating every difference while its own substance remains one and the same." Though illuminating every differentiated appearance across the ten realms, difference is itself no difference at all, its very substance remaining one and the same; no difference and yet differentiated — illuminating difference is itself the conventional; differentiated and yet no difference — the same substance is itself emptiness. Emptiness and the conventional not two — this is precisely the contemplation of the middle way.

From this we know: the three contemplations are one contemplation, called the wondrous contemplation; the five eyes are one eye, called the buddha-eye; the three wisdoms are one wisdom, called the wisdom that knows all things in every one of their modes. Remaining within this contemplation, concentration and wisdom become equal in strength, and one sees the buddha-nature with perfect clarity — emptiness is precisely concentration, the conventional is precisely wisdom, and emptiness and the conventional not being two is precisely concentration and wisdom equal in strength. The two lesser vehicles lean toward emptiness; bodhisattvas lean toward the conventional; only upon reaching buddhahood itself does one attain emptiness and the conventional as not two, the wondrous contemplation of the middle way manifesting fully, seeing the buddha-nature with perfect clarity, abiding in the Great Vehicle, and so on.

This cites the parable of the equally-bestowed great cart from the Lotus Sūtra's own Parable Chapter, precisely illustrating a practitioner cultivating perfect and sudden calming and insight... "The Great Vehicle" refers to the great white ox-cart, a metaphor for the three truths' own wondrous principle of true reality — vertically without beginning or end, horizontally beyond every boundary, at once empty, at once conventional, at once the middle, complete with the hundred realms and thousand suchnesses — hence it is called the Great Vehicle. The white ox is a metaphor for the wondrous contemplation according with one's own true nature...

"Abiding in the Great Vehicle" means abiding without abiding — this is called "abiding," that is, flowing in naturally, without effort. "Walking with a steady, even step" means the perfect contemplation is at once calming and insight, at once insight and calming, concentration and wisdom not two, the seven factors of awakening kept in perfect balance. "Swift as the wind" is a metaphor for the perfect contemplation acting spontaneously in accord with one's own true nature, flowing naturally into the path of effortless action — also a metaphor for walking the eightfold noble path, swiftly reaching the ocean of all-knowing wisdom.

One should know that the calming and insight cultivated in this chapter on the fruit realized differs, in every respect, from what was explained in the earlier chapter on actual practice — for what was explained there was the conditioned cultivation prior to any partial realization, while what is explained here is the true cultivation according with one's own nature after partial realization of the path has already occurred. Hence it is described in terms such as "abiding in the Great Vehicle" and "naturally flowing" — the reader should not pass over this distinction lightly.

Root Text: Walking the Tathāgata's own walk, entering the Tathāgata's own room, wearing the Tathāgata's own robe, sitting in the Tathāgata's own seat — one adorns oneself with the very adornment of the Tathāgata himself. One attains purity of the six faculties, enters the Buddha's own realm, clings to nothing within any dharma at all, and every buddha-dharma manifests before one, accomplishing the samādhi of buddha-recollection. Abiding in the Śūraṅgama samādhi, this is precisely the samādhi of universally manifesting physical form — entering universally into the buddha-lands of the ten directions, teaching and transforming sentient beings, adorning and purifying every buddha-land, making offerings to every buddha of the ten directions, upholding the entire treasury of every buddha's own Dharma, complete in every pāramitā of practice, realizing entry into the stage of a great bodhisattva — and so becomes a companion equal to Samantabhadra and Mañjuśrī themselves.

Commentary: Having, above, cultivated perfect and sudden calming and insight, abiding in the Great Vehicle, thought after thought flowing into the ocean of all-knowing wisdom, this is precisely walking the Tathāgata's own walk, entering the Tathāgata's own room, wearing the Tathāgata's own robe, sitting in the Tathāgata's own seat. "The Tathāgata's own walk" means that no single act is anything other than the Tathāgata's own act — one act is every act, every act is one act; a practitioner who reaches this point acts exactly as the Tathāgata acts, hence "walking the Tathāgata's own walk." "The Tathāgata's own robe" is patience and gentleness; "the Tathāgata's own seat" is the emptiness of every dharma; "the Tathāgata's own room" is great compassion...

A practitioner who now wears the Tathāgata's own robe, enters the Tathāgata's own room, and sits in the Tathāgata's own seat shows precisely that, thought after thought, one has entered the sagely stream — no longer comparable to the ordinary being or the lesser vehicles of before — and adorns oneself with the very adornment of the Tathāgata himself. The Tathāgata's own adornment is nothing other than the twin virtues of merit and wisdom: the six pāramitās as the adorning agent, the Dharma-body as what is adorned, agent and object not two — this is precisely the wondrous adornment itself...

Sentient beings of this final age, their own faculties shallow and weak, find it extremely difficult to cultivate the single mind's threefold contemplation, walking the Tathāgata's own walk, adorning oneself with the Tathāgata's own adornment — but cultivating buddha-recollection is comparatively easy to accomplish. Precisely while reciting the Buddha's name, this is itself the single mind's threefold contemplation: the reciting mind, empty and still, is the emptiness-contemplation; the recited Buddha, vivid and clear, is the conventional-contemplation; neither empty nor conventional is the contemplation of the middle way. Reciting until the mind becomes single-pointed and unconfused, the single mind's threefold contemplation manifests naturally of itself...

As for "attaining purity of the six faculties": we sentient beings have the eye defiled by form, the ear defiled by sound, and, further, the mind defiled by mental objects — seeing never surpasses form, hearing never surpasses sound, and none of the six faculties are pure at all. If a practitioner cultivating contemplation reaches the stage of approximate, partial realization — at the first degree of faith already severing the affliction of views and revealing true principle, from the second through the seventh degree of faith entirely severing the affliction of thought, no longer defiled by the six sense-objects of the three realms — at this point the six faculties become interchangeable: the eye is not only able to see form but also to hear sound; the tongue is not only able to distinguish taste but also to know mental objects — hence one attains purity of the six faculties and enters the Buddha's own realm...

This means clinging to nothing within any dharma at all — giving rise to no craving toward any good circumstance, no aversion toward any bad circumstance, fully understanding good and bad as equal, aversion and craving as one and the same — as it is said: "passing straight through a thicket of a hundred flowers, without a single petal clinging to the robe." At this point every buddha-dharma manifests before one, accomplishing the samādhi of buddha-recollection — this is precisely the single mind's threefold contemplation, thought after thought according with the Buddha himself, attaining great freedom and ease.

Root Text: The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: "At the very moment of first giving rise to the resolve, one already accomplishes perfect awakening, fully understanding the true nature of every dharma — this wisdom-body is realized entirely of itself, not through another." It further says: "A bodhisattva who has just given rise to the resolve attains the Tathāgata's own single body, manifesting it as countless bodies." It further says: "A bodhisattva who has just given rise to the resolve is already a buddha." The Nirvāṇa Sūtra says: "The mind at the very first resolve, and the mind at the very end, are ultimately not two different things — yet, between these two, the first is the harder."

Commentary: This cites scripture to prove the point. A bodhisattva who has just entered the abode of first arousing the resolve is thereby already able to manifest a body throughout the hundred realms, accomplishing buddhahood through the eight aspects... "The initial mind" here is precisely the very first of the ten abodes in the perfect teaching, corresponding to the initial ground in the separate teaching. Prior to this abode, one has already entirely severed the afflictions of views, thought, and dust-and-sand; reaching this point, one is able, for the very first time, to break through a single portion of ignorance and realize a single portion of the middle way, thereby according with the true principle of the Dharma-nature — hence one is able to manifest a partial realization of buddhahood. This "becoming a buddha" is buddhahood as manifested through the eight aspects, not the ultimate, fully purified, wondrous, ultimate Dharma-body buddha — hence it is said, "at the very moment of first giving rise to the resolve, one already accomplishes perfect awakening," fully understanding the true nature of every dharma. This "true nature" is precisely no-nature; this natureless nature is precisely the tathāgatagarbha's own perfect, wondrous nature of awakening...

It further says: "A bodhisattva who has just given rise to the resolve attains the Tathāgata's own single body, manifesting it as countless bodies." "Single body" means the Dharma-body; "countless" means the response-body — for at the very first of the perfect teaching's ten abodes, the three causes fully manifest and the three virtues fully appear together: the correct-cause buddha-nature manifests, accomplishing the virtue of the Dharma-body; the condition-cause wholesome nature accomplishes the virtue of liberation; the complete-cause wisdom-nature manifests, accomplishing the virtue of prajñā. It further says that a bodhisattva who has just given rise to the resolve is already a buddha — this too speaks from the perspective of the perfect teaching's first abode, since at this first abode one is already able to manifest a body throughout a hundred realms, accomplishing buddhahood through the eight aspects; at the second abode, a thousand realms; at the third, ten thousand realms; and so on, up through measureless worlds, each and every one manifesting buddhahood through the eight aspects, bringing sentient beings across. One should know that an ordinary being, at the very moment of first giving rise to the resolve, may likewise be called a buddha — but only "buddha in principle," not a buddha of partial or ultimate realization.

As for why "between these two minds, the first is the harder": because giving rise to the resolve at the causal stage is, in itself, extremely difficult — and even having given rise to it, seeking a perfect, constant, correct faith is harder still. The ancients said: "A journey of a thousand miles never departs from its very first step." And again: "A building ten thousand feet tall rises from the ground up." If the foundation is solid, a thousand, ten thousand stories can be built upon it in turn — a bodhisattva's own arising resolve is exactly the same. If, at the very first, one gives rise to a perfect, constant, true mind, the fifty-five stages of the true path to bodhi will, in turn, rise up from it as well — hence it is said, "between these two minds, the first is the harder."

Root Text: The Larger [Prajñāpāramitā] Sūtra says: "Subhūti, there are bodhisattva-mahāsattvas who, from the very moment of first giving rise to the resolve, already sit at the very seat of enlightenment, turning the wheel of the correct Dharma." One should know that this is precisely a bodhisattva acting as a buddha. The Lotus Sūtra's own account of the dragon-girl offering her jewel is further proof of this. Sūtras of this kind all make clear that the initial mind is already complete with every buddha-dharma. This is precisely the "a" gate spoken of in the Larger Sūtra, precisely what the Lotus Sūtra means by opening sentient beings' own knowledge and vision of the Buddha, and precisely what the Nirvāṇa Sūtra means by seeing the buddha-nature and thereby abiding in great nirvāṇa. This has briefly explained the mark of the fruit realized by an initial-stage bodhisattva through cultivating calming and insight.

Commentary: "Mahā," in Sanskrit, translates as "great" — that is, a great bodhisattva among bodhisattvas... In the Lotus Sūtra, Mañjuśrī, teaching countless beings in the dragon-king's palace, encounters a dragon-girl of keen, powerful wholesome roots, merely eight years old, on the very verge of becoming a buddha. The assembly, doubting this, objected that a woman's body carries five kinds of outflow and five specific obstructions preventing buddhahood — how, then, could an eight-year-old dragon-girl possibly attain it? The dragon-girl then took the jeweled necklace from around her own neck and offered it to the World-Honored One, saying to Śāriputra: "You have seen me offer this jeweled necklace — was this offering to the Buddha quick or not?" He answered: "Very quick indeed." The dragon-girl thereupon immediately went to the stainless world in the south and became a buddha there, bringing sentient beings across.

This attainment of buddhahood, swift as it was, was still buddhahood manifested through the eight aspects, the buddhahood of one who has just entered the abode of first arousing the resolve. The scriptures cited above are all cited to show that the initial mind is already complete with every buddha-dharma — this is precisely the initial "a" gate spoken of in the Larger Sūtra, its final gate being the "dha" gate, together illustrating the forty-two stages; it is precisely what the Lotus Sūtra means by opening sentient beings' own knowledge and vision of the Buddha — for though it speaks of "opening," the further steps of showing, awakening, and entering are already implied within it; and it is precisely what the Nirvāṇa Sūtra means by seeing the buddha-nature and thereby abiding in great nirvāṇa — for though it speaks of the initial mind realizing the path, the final mind is already implied within it as well. Hence it is said: from the very first arising of the resolve, every buddha-dharma is already complete. This has briefly explained the mark of the fruit of partial realization attained by an initial-stage bodhisattva through cultivating calming and insight.

Root Text: Next, explaining the mark of the fruit realized at the final mind: the state realized at the final mind cannot itself be directly known, but, reasoning from what the teachings themselves make clear, it never departs from these same two methods of calming and insight. Why is this? As the Lotus Sūtra earnestly praises the buddhas' own wisdom, this is the meaning of insight — explaining the fruit in terms of insight. The Nirvāṇa Sūtra's own extended discussion of the hundred phrases of liberation, explaining great nirvāṇa, takes nirvāṇa itself in the sense of calming — explaining the fruit in terms of calming. Hence it is said: great nirvāṇa is called the ever-still concentration, and concentration here carries precisely the meaning of calming. Though the Lotus Sūtra explains the fruit in terms of insight, this is itself encompassed within calming — hence it says, "reaching, in the end, the ever-still, extinguished mark of nirvāṇa, ultimately returning to emptiness." Though the Nirvāṇa Sūtra explains the fruit in terms of calming, this is itself encompassed within insight — hence it takes the three virtues as constituting great nirvāṇa. Though these two great sūtras differ in how their own words appear and recede, both, without exception, distinguish the ultimate fruit in terms of the two gates of calming and insight, and both explain the ultimate fruit based on these same two dharmas of concentration and wisdom.

Commentary: What came before explained the mark of the fruit of partial realization at the initial mind; this now explains the mark of the fruit of ultimate realization at the final mind. "Final" is spoken relative to "initial" — that is, the very last of all minds — though this too can be spoken of in relative, shifting terms: the second abode, relative to the first, is itself a "final mind"; the third abode, relative to the second, is likewise a "final mind" — as it is said, the first ground does not know the affairs of the second ground, and even equal enlightenment does not know the affairs of wondrous enlightenment. Great Master Zhiyi himself occupied no higher than the fifth of the six stages of purity — how, then, could he possibly know the state realized at this final mind? And if it truly cannot be known, how can it be explained at all? The master, reasoning from his own realization together with the measure of the sacred teachings, made clear that not only the practice that leads to realization, but the very fruit realized as well, never departs from calming and insight. As it is said: the Great Vehicle's cause is precisely calming and insight, and the Great Vehicle's fruit is likewise precisely calming and insight — reasoning from the teachings in this way, there can be no error in it!

...In the Nirvāṇa Sūtra's own chapter on the Tathāgata's own nature, the bodhisattva Kāśyapa earnestly requests the World-Honored One to further explain, at length, the meaning of great nirvāṇa, and the World-Honored One answers at length, in a hundred distinct phrases altogether, each different from the last, all of them revealing the true meaning of great nirvāṇa and liberation... The reason nirvāṇa explains the fruit in terms of calming is this: "nir-" means unborn, "-vāṇa" means unceasing — being unborn and unceasing is itself calming, and calming carries precisely the meaning of concentration; hence nirvāṇa explains the ultimate fruit in terms of calming...

"Nirvāṇa" is an abbreviated form, in full "parinirvāṇa" — precisely the unborn and unceasing. "Great" means "mahā"... The reason it is called "the ever-still concentration" is this: the Hīnayāna teaching, too, speaks of the unborn and unceasing, but this cannot properly be called "the ever-still concentration," since it resolves birth-and-death only halfway, and severs affliction only halfway as well. Only the Mahāyāna crosses over both kinds of birth-and-death entirely, extinguishing all five categories of dwelling-affliction. One should know that reciting a single recitation of Amitābha's name is likewise itself this very ever-still concentration, since it carries both the phenomenal and the noumenal forms of the single, unconfused mind together...

Nirvāṇa is of three kinds: the perfect, pure nirvāṇa, which is the virtue of prajñā; the expedient, pure nirvāṇa, which is the virtue of liberation; and the inherently pure nirvāṇa, which is the virtue of the Dharma-body. The Lotus and Nirvāṇa sūtras, though their own words appear and recede differently — appearing where explicit, receding where implicit — both, within themselves, have insight encompassing calming and calming encompassing insight; both, without exception, distinguish the ultimate fruit in terms of the two gates of calming and insight, and both base the ultimate fruit on these same two dharmas of concentration and wisdom — since, at the causal stage, these are called calming and insight, and, at the fruit stage, they are called concentration and wisdom.

Root Text: A practitioner should know that the initial, middle, and final fruits are all inconceivable. Hence the newer translation of the Golden Light Sūtra says: "The former-period Tathāgata is inconceivable; the middle-period Tathāgata carries every kind of adornment; the latter-period Tathāgata is ever free of ruin" — all of this distinguished in terms of the two minds cultivated through calming and insight. A verse in the Pratyutpanna Samādhi Sūtra says:
"Every buddha attains liberation through mind itself; this mind, being pure, is called stainless. The five destinies, clean and pure, take on no defiling color — whoever studies this accomplishes the great path."

Commentary: A practitioner should know that the initial, middle, and final fruits are all inconceivable. The initial fruit is precisely the abode of first arousing the resolve, breaking through one portion of ignorance, able to manifest a body throughout a hundred realms, accomplishing buddhahood through the eight aspects — hence it is inconceivable. The middle fruit runs from the second abode through the tenth, and further, through the forty stages of practices, transferences, grounds, and equal enlightenment, manifesting a body throughout hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of worlds, accomplishing buddhahood — hence it is inconceivable, since it is able to break through forty-one portions of ignorance. The final fruit is precisely the stage of wondrous enlightenment, realizing the ultimate fruit itself — at this point ignorance is entirely broken through, every defilement entirely removed, ascending at last to the very summit of nirvāṇa's own mountain, permanently parting from ignorance, one's own former parent — the three forms of awakening perfectly complete, every virtue fully present, ultimately and perfectly accomplishing unsurpassed, complete awakening — hence it is inconceivable.

The Pratyutpanna Samādhi is the constant-walking samādhi, practiced over a ninety-day period, never sitting or lying down from beginning to end, also called the samādhi of the standing Buddha — once this samādhi's own effort is accomplished, a buddha stands manifest before the practitioner. This sūtra's own verse says: "Every buddha attains liberation through mind itself" — every buddha of the three time periods and ten directions, past, present, and future alike, attains liberation entirely from within this very single thought, this nature of mind. Seeking attainment or realization somewhere apart from this mind is simply impossible. An old saying goes: "Every buddha's own wondrous path is to be sought entirely within sentient beings' own activity of mind." "Activity of mind" means the constant, unceasing flow of sentient beings' own idle thought — hence it is called "activity of mind."

"This mind, being pure, is called stainless": sentient beings' own mind is, from the start, inherently pure, inherently luminous — though affliction is present, this mind is never truly defiled by that affliction, its own substance remaining, from the start, pure and unblemished — hence it is called "stainless." "The five destinies, clean and pure, take on no defiling color": the five destinies are the heavens, humans, hell, animals, and hungry ghosts — with the asuras included among these five as well. Though sentient beings fall and wander among these five destinies, their own mind remains, even so, clean and pure, taking on no defiling color at all — hence it is said, "the five destinies, clean and pure, take on no defiling color." This is why a person of true aspiration, able to study calming and insight through this very mind, is able to accomplish the unsurpassed buddha-path of the Great Vehicle! This is what is meant by: this mind is buddha, this mind creates buddhahood; this mind is every dharma, this mind creates every dharma. The Contemplation Sūtra says: "Every buddha's own ocean of perfect, universal knowledge arises entirely from mind." Hence, studying calming and insight through this very mind, nothing fails to reach perfect accomplishment — hence it is said, "whoever studies this accomplishes the great path."

Root Text: As for what a vow calls one to actually carry out: one must remove the three obstructions and the five hindrances. Should they not be removed, however diligently one applies effort, in the end no benefit follows at all.

Commentary: This passage, "as for what a vow calls one to actually carry out," is Great Master Zhiyi's own final exhortation. The very words "vow" themselves are enough to show how deeply earnest the master's own compassionate intent truly was. A vow binds the mind to its purpose; an aspiration brings one's own resolve to completion. It is his sole wish that practitioners taking up this study remove the three obstructions and cast off the five hindrances. The three obstructions are: the obstruction of affliction, the obstruction of karma, and the obstruction of retribution — various afflictions give rise to various karma, and this karma, in turn, brings about the fruit of birth-and-death as retribution. These three obstructions must be removed precisely because they obstruct the three virtues in turn: the obstruction of affliction obstructs the virtue of prajñā; the obstruction of karma obstructs the virtue of liberation; the obstruction of retribution obstructs the virtue of the Dharma-body. That is, the three obstructions obstruct the three virtues — and breaking through the obstructions is itself what reveals the virtues.

The five hindrances are precisely covetous desire, anger, and the rest, through doubt, already explained above — carrying these five hindrances leaves our own pure mind covered over; should they not be removed, however diligently one applies effort, in the end no benefit follows at all, exactly like the red sun obscured by smoke, shadow, cloud, mist, and the hand of an asura, unable to shine forth at all. One must, without fail, cast aside these five kinds of obstruction before any real effect can follow.

This entire text of calming and insight comprises ten chapters in all, and there is not a single chapter that does not, in the end, reveal calming-and-insight-through-reciting-the-Buddha's-name as its own ultimate point. Though this one closing passage is the master's own final exhortation, it may equally well serve as this work's own dissemination section. It is my wish that every fellow student of the Buddhadharma who studies and reads this text will diligently cultivate calming and insight. And what, in the end, is this very contemplation? Simply this: honest, wholehearted recitation of the Buddha's name!