Enlightenment Must Be Confirmed

“ahamudra: Essence and Practice”( Book II)

Enlightenment Must Be Confirmed

◎Yixin Chen: It is said that enlightenment must be confirmed; otherwise, it does not count.

●Xue Mo: It’s true. Enlightenment must be confirmed. If you want to know whether a person has the qualification to be a guru, there are some points to know: first, he/she must have lineage. Without lineage it is merely wild fox Chan. You must know who his/her guru is and whether his/her guru is enlightened or not. Moreover, you must know whether all the gurus before him in this lineage are enlightened and confirmed. One who hasn’t perceived one’s mind and seen one’s own nature, who is not confirmed, who has no lineage, and who hasn’t received the mind-seal of one’s guru, is not qualified to be a guru. In the Chan school, the minimum qualification for a guru is perceiving his mind and seeing his nature. Besides, he needs to have lineage. In Shangpa Kagyu, for instance, there were very clear records of the lineage of gurus, and the guru of each generation, beginning with Niguma, was confirmed. What is passed on by a guru with no clear lineage is merely wild fox Chan. A Chan master of this kind is not qualified to teach disciples.

Only one who has perceived one’s mind and seeing one’s nature can enter into Mahamudra; one who hasn’t can’t enter into the dharmata Mahamudra. Thorough penetration with meditative insight is not Mahamudra. Practice before enlightenment is not Mahamudra. Even those who are enlightened are in the state of dharmata Mahamudra rather than ever-bright Mahamudra. At the last stage of the practice of dharmata Mahamudra, there is still a trace of subtle avidya, which is very difficult to shatter. In Tantric Buddhism, however, there are a lot of skillful means by which the subtle avidya can be shattered.

The reason why I praise the Chan school so highly is that it makes it easier for people of superior faculties to break outward appearance. In contrast, It is very difficult for some people practicing Tantric Buddhism to do so. If you can’t see through outward appearance, you will continue to be obsessed with it. It is very difficult to see through outward appearance, but the Chan school is particularly good at it. On the other hand, it tends to lead practitioners into only emptiness and moral indeterminacy, which in turn lead them to the formless realm, or to tiryagyoni because they become more and more foolish with practice. However, some of these practitioners mistake only emptiness and moral indeterminacy for enlightenment. Enlightenment has set standards. Realization and brightness are unmistakable; they are neither moral indeterminacy nor only emptiness. I have talked a great deal about that in Eternal Vajrasattva, It is about the whole process of Khyungpo Naljor’s enlightenment. In fact, the enlightening process of everyone is similar to that. Without the instruction of someone who has attained complete realization, disciples tend to fall into moral indeterminacy and only emptiness. For example, the debate between Mahayana Hvosan and Kamalasila in Tibet showed that the former leaned towards only emptiness. Mahayana held “freedom from thought” as the cardinal principle. However, being free from thought is not adequate; there is something else. Shangpa Kagyu incorporates some of the teachings in the Chan school. For instance, among the varieties of Mahamudra in Shangpa Kagyu – dharmata Mahamudra, samgraha Mahamudra, and bright Mahamudra – dharmata Mahamudra contains the essence of the Chan school.

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《光明大手印：实修心髓》下

开悟必须要有印证

◎陈亦新：听说开悟后必须要得到印证，否则是不算数的。

●雪漠：是的。开悟后必须要有印证。要想了解一个人有没有资格做上师，有几点要明白：第一，必须有传承，没有传承就属于野狐禅。你必须清楚他的上师是谁，他的上师是不是证悟了，历代的传承上师是不是都证悟了，他有没有被印证。没有明心见性、没有被印证、没有传承、没有得到上师心印的人是不能当上师的。在禅宗中，当上师的人必须明心见性，这是最低的标准。他一定要有传承，比如香巴噶举就有非常清晰的历代传承上师的记录，而且他们一代一代的都得到印证，从奶格玛开始一直到今天。传承不清净的上师传的就是野狐禅，这种所谓的禅宗是不对的，不能带弟子。

明心见性以后，才能契入大手印，没有明心见性的人无法进入实相大手印。参禅不是大手印。证悟之前的修行不是大手印。即使是明心见性的人，进入的仍是实相大手印，而不是光明大手印。修实相大手印到了最后，还有一点细微无明是很难破除的。但密宗中有很多方便法门可以破除那种细微无明。

我为什么推崇禅宗呢？因为，禅宗容易使上根之人破相，而对于修习密宗的某些人来说就很难破相。破不了相就会有执著，就会著相。破相很难，禅宗在破相这方面非常高明。不过，它也容易让人流于顽空和无记。顽空和无记会让人堕入无色界，也可能越修越愚痴，堕入畜生道。有些人修来修去却越加愚痴，而他却还以为那是证道。证道有铁定的标准。觉悟和光明就是觉悟和光明，它不是无记也不是顽空。这一点，我在《无死的金刚心》中谈了很多，它写了琼波浪觉整个证悟的过程。所有人的证悟过程都有相似的轨迹。要是没有真正的证悟者教授，弟子就容易流于无记和顽空。比如，大乘和尚在藏地与莲花戒的辩论中，就显示出了大乘和尚偏空了。他以“无念为宗”，而单纯的“无念为宗”是不完整的。“无念为宗”之外，还有其他东西。香巴噶举也包含了禅宗的教法，比如香巴噶举有多种大手印，如实相大手印、和合大手印、光明大手印。它的实相大手印中，就包含了禅宗的精髓。

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