What is actualization of Buddha Nature?

“Mahamudra: Essence and Practice” ( Book II)

What is actualization of Buddha Nature?

◎Cheng Yixin: Does actualizing Buddha nature refer to the child of light union with mother of light?

●XueMo: To genuinely actualize Buddha nature, I personally believe it can only be accomplished by the Bodhisattvas of the eighth Bhumi (stage of spiritual progress). Some say the “actualize” here has the same sense as “authenticate”, for cognizance of one’s primordial light is the most telling authentication. Nevertheless, a great number of people do not acknowledge this interpretation. Generally speaking, to cognize emptiness is realization of the truth; to harmonize with or to dissolve into the pristine light of awakening is known as actualization of Buddha nature –– child of light union with mother of light. In the case where this union happens at death without going through bardo (the state between death and rebirth), that is also a way of actualizing Buddha nature.

A system of integrated teaching certainly includes aspects of instruction and validation. Instructing without validation is definitely not a complete teaching. Simply scholars and yet without practitioners can neither form a teaching nor a school of thought. In the book “Essence Mahamudra: natural attain on true practice”, there is a lot of content belong to “instruction” aspect, like the tantric dual stages of generation and completion, I also wrote some about “validation” aspect because having instruction without validation my books simply do not make sense, and it is for this reason that I recorded in writing the way I felt out my awakening. As for how others think of my awakening experiences, I do not care, because I am not putting on a show; my purpose is just to be in great joy and peace, free of affliction and vexation. In fact, awakening is an inner joy, one must guard it stealthily without publicizing, to allow it to become very solid and vast; as immovable as an enormous mountain.

Essence Mahamudra is the very quintessence of Shangpa-Kagyu tradition; this is the path of spontaneous attainment that begins with perceiving nature of one’s mind. On the other hand, trantric Union Mahamudra begins with dual stages of generation and completion, through cultivating blissful wisdom to achieve actualization of the luminous mind. Essence Mahamudra begins with nature of one’s mind and one’s wisdom, to achieve a cling-free mind along with cleared nadis (spiritual energy channels). To borrow Taoist terminology, one path works with one’s “life”, the other path works with one’s “nature”. The former path begins with cultivating one’s life, and then followed by cultivating one’s nature; the latter path has it vice versa. They differ in the way they enter the path, Essence Mahamudra’s entry point is one’s “nature”, leading to simultaneous cultivation of one’s “nature and life”; for tantric Mahamudra, one cognizes that luminous quality of emptiness by way of direct experience in wakefulness and life.

As enlightened teacher comes across ready student of exceptional qualities, he simply will apply unique methods, including Ch’an school’s hitting with stick and shouting, to cause the student to realize emptiness.

This sort of cognition is non-conceptual; rather it is the direct experience of life. Only those who had sampled the flavor of emptiness would appreciate what is emptiness which is not just understanding by reasoning. Nowadays the issue with most people is the mere conceptual knowledge on emptiness, without feeling it out in reality. All skilful means of practices are just to let one has a taste of emptiness, which in Tantric tradition is interpreted as life force entering the central channel, and in Ch’an school it is called awakens to and sees one’s own nature, or also known as luminous emptiness, spontaneous transcendence, primordial wakefulness, absolute Dharmakaya, and suchness. In Mahayana tradition, the initial direct perception of emptiness is defined as first bhumi of the bodhisattva path, other than this, there are various versions of saying it. In the case where one cannot manage to engage emptiness directly, then one must practice in accordance with various Tantric skillful means, which begins with introduction of bodily changes, then proceeds to the stage where one’s life force enters the central channel, and the state of emptiness is attained.

There is various skillful means in Ch’an school as well, and koan (public records of Ch’an master sayings) meditation is indeed a first class method, by which it can lead one to see the non duality of subject and object, as well as to arouse existential doubt. Ch’an school also calls for the necessity of having enlightened masters lest heart to heart transmission is not possible. Koan practice aims at provoking existential doubts wherein one is constantly shrouded in an enormous mystery; actually this is same as one-pointedness yoga of Mahamudra. Kagyu School Mahamudra is different from the Tantric dual stages of generation and completion, for Mahamudra path, there are twelve aspects of the four yogas: namely one-pointedness yoga, simplicity yoga, one taste yoga, and nonmeditation yoga. The Tantric dual stages of generation and completion belong to samskrta (conditioned) dharma which takes a different path than Mahamudra; therefore it is erroneous if the two paths are mixed up. Just like the practice of Chinese and Western medicines, they are two distinct systems with their own course content and method, although they both serve the same purpose of curing disease, yet one must not weight the counterpart by applying either party as standard, for they belong to two different speech systems.

The way Essence Mahamudra works is to allow one resonates with the guru’s immense field of life, in other words, the guru transmits his state of realization to you to let you share it too, and this is known as bestowal. The time “Resonance” happens is exactly when student-guru connection takes place, with support from this connection, the student is able to cognize emptiness, attaining the ultimate. For this reason, some may only fit as teacher of samskrta dharma, but not as teacher of asamskrta (unconditioned) dharma. Because a teacher might have certain knowledge, yet he has never experienced the taste of wakefulness, furthermore, he would take the un-awakened state of easy calmness as the wakefulness of the enlightened ones, but indeed the two things are simply not the same. Therefore, an ordinary teacher does not have the capacity to enlighten student, let alone the ability to provide verification. They are merely a teacher of samskrta dharma, or a valuable friend.

A judge of Beijing, she has taken refuge in various living Buddha, after reading my books she has full confidence in me, and with a little of my advice she then realized. But seeing the truth is just a kind of initial attainment known as the first bhumi (stage of spiritual progress), which is still a long way from the ultimate enlightenment. The first bhumi is where the true practice begins; the prior practices are regarded as path of merits and path of initial application, after the path of beholding the truth is the path of cultivating the truth, followed by the advancement to the final path of noncultivation.

In the book “Essence of Mahamudra Practice”, I once wrote that the original meaning of Yoga is allowing oneself to connect with Cosmo’s boundless energy of goodness. Now a guru of true attainment is precisely the outlet of this energy of goodness, he exists in such a way that can be appreciated by us; meanwhile, as we established resonance with him, gradually we became magnetized. When we have cultivated the state of child of light union with mother of light, it is the realization of the truth.

In fact, there has to be yoga aspect in all religion, without the presence of yoga there is no religion, take Christian’s spiritual practice as an example, its ultimate goal is to unite with God as one; again like the Sufi school of Islam, its practice also calls for the ultimate union with Allah. In the book “Reshihaer”, translated by Zhang chengzhi, there is a renowned teacher known as Ma Mingxin, one day as he was practicing elsewhere, the student of his guru came in, and Ma Mingxin said: “prostrate to me, for I am Allah.” This is exactly yoga; this is what happens at an advanced state of practice. The same thing takes place in Buddhism too, as one rises above the antagonistic duality, one simply is union with Buddha as one, at this time, he would utter: I am Buddha, and Buddha is me – “Mind is Buddha”. However, this is not to say the deluded mind is Buddha, Ch’an school has a saying “Mind is Buddha” which the “Mind” here is not referring to the mind of an ordinary person, rather it is telling us the enlightened mind is Buddha. All practices aim at seeking of that true mind, as the true mind is found, it is known as awakened to the true mind. Without finding the true mind, all practices have no definitive meaning.

Nowadays, whether it is the popular yoga or spiritual cultivation, it is regarded as an awakening practice as long as it promotes one’s seeking of the true mind. Anything that deviates from this principle is not awakening practice. Such as yoga that focuses on elegant body shape, seeking of outward things, physiological sensation, or blessing etc, etc, are all fleeting undertakings.

In the field of spiritual cultivation, there are some extraordinary teachers, like Krishnamurti and Osho; their practices are very close to that of Buddhism. Nevertheless, there are still aspects that require further surpassing. Because certain practices of conditioned dharma might look as if the same as Buddhist practices, yet the difference is conditioned dharma lacks refinement and transcendence. In modern days, whether it is yoga or spiritual cultivation, if it cannot get rid of clinging, or it does not accomplish awakening, they all come under the category of conditioned dharma, which still has a certain distance from liberation. The reason is if all along one entrust the care of one’s spirit and emancipation on outward what not, then there is no way to be free from the causes of samsara. Liberation is a kind of absolute freedom which is totally unconditional, only such can be qualified as liberation. Meanwhile, if it requires certain conditions like chanting mantra, visualizing Buddha statue, or locking up in a room, secluded from the world, feeling quite happy and free, this is conditional freedom and is neither true freedom nor liberation. At present, there are various yoga and spiritual practices that are yet cultivated with conditions, so they are considered to be still in the beginner stage of practice.

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《光明大手印：实修心髓》下

什么是证道？

◎陈亦新：证道是指子母光明会吗？

●雪漠：我个人认为，真正的证道，是八地以上的菩萨才能达成的。有人说，这个“证”，是认证的“证”，当你认知到那个光明时就算证得了。但这种说法很多人并不认可。我们一般讲见到空性悟道，融入那个光明、化为光明，叫证道——子母光明会。有时候，在死的时候子母光明会，不历中阴，那也叫证道。

一种完整的教法，必须得有教有证。有教无证的教法是不完整的。只有学者而没有行者构不成教法和教派。《光明大手印：实修顿入》中，“教”的东西很多，生圆二次第都是“教”，“证”的东西我也写了一些。如果没有证、只有教的话，我的书就没意义。所以，我才把那种觉受写出来。至于其他人怎么认为我的生命体验，我不在乎，因为我不是表演给人看的，我自己觉得很快乐、很宁静、没有痛苦、没有烦恼就可以了。那是个心里偷着乐的东西，要悄悄地、毫不张扬地守住自己的那份觉悟，让它变得非常坚固、博大，像大山一样不可动摇。

香巴噶举最精髓的部分就是光明大手印，它是顿入的大手印，直接从心性入手。乐空大手印或是和合大手印是由生圆二次第入手，以引生乐空智慧，进而证得光明；光明大手印是从心性入手，从智慧入手，达到心解脉开。借用道家的语汇，一种从“命”入手，一种从“性”入手。前者先命后性，后者先性后命。它们的区别是入道的方式，光明大手印是从“性”入手，达到“性命”双修；乐空大手印是通过生命的觉受和体验，让人认知到那种光明的空性。

善知识如果遇到非常好的具缘弟子，他就会用特殊的方法，包括禅宗的棒喝等，来让他认知到空性。

这种认知不是概念上的，而是生命体验。只有尝过那种味道的人，才会明白什么是空性，而不仅仅是道理上的明白。现在很多人存在的问题是，仅仅是在概念上知道，实际上他并没有感受过。所有的方便法门，都是为了让你品尝空性的味道，在密宗里被认为是气入中脉，禅宗里被称为明心见性，或是叫明空、顿超、本觉、一真法界、真如。明心见性后，大乘佛教叫登地菩萨，除此之外，还有各种说法。如果人实在没有办法契入空性，就得按照密宗里的诸多方便法门来修，使身体发生变化，进而气入中脉，明心见性。

禅宗也有很多方便法门，参话头就非常好。参话头可以参到能所俱空，生起疑情。禅宗也要求上师必须是证悟者，否则没有办法以心印心。参话头的主要目的是生起疑情，让人始终被一种巨大的疑团笼罩着，实质上就是大手印的专一瑜伽。噶举派的大手印和生圆二次第不一样，大手印有十二个阶层四种瑜伽：专一瑜伽、离戏瑜伽、一味瑜伽、无修瑜伽。生圆二次第没有这四种瑜伽的说法，它走另外一条路，它是有为法。两种修法走的路不一样，如果把这两条路混淆了，那就不对了。它们就好像学中医的和学西医的，课程不一样，方法不一样，是两套不同的体系，虽然都能达到治病的目的，但不能以任何一方作为标准去衡量对方，这属于两个不同的话语体系。

光明大手印是让上师的那种巨大的生物场和你达成共振，上师将他的证量光明传递给你，让你也感受到那种证量光明，这就是加持。“共振”的时候正是弟子与上师相应之时，弟子依托相应，可以认知空性，达至究竟。所以，有些人可以作为世间法的老师，但不能当出世间法的上师。因为有的人可能会有些知识，但他还没有体会过觉性的味道，并且他会把凡夫认为的那种轻安当成证悟者的那个觉性，但这两个东西根本不是一回事情。因此，凡夫老师无法让人开悟，更没有能力给人印证。他们只能是世间法上的老师，或是一个益友。

北京有一个法官，拜了好多活佛，她看了我的书后，对我非常有信心，我稍微点拨了她，她就明白了。但明心见性只是一种初步成就，属于登地，离究竟的证悟还有很遥远的距离。登地之后才开始正式的修行，以前的修属于资粮道、加行道，见道之后才进入修道，然后进入无修道。

我曾在《大手印实修心髓》中写过，瑜伽的本意就是让自己达到和宇宙中巨大善能量的相应。真正的成就上师就是这种善能量的出口，他以我们能够感受到的人的方式存在着，当我们跟他达成共振以后，就会渐渐地被磁化。当我们修到的子光明和母光明合二为一时，就证悟了。

事实上，在所有的宗教里面都要有相应，没有相应就没有宗教，比如基督教中的灵修，它最高的境界就是和上帝融为一体；再如伊斯兰教的苏菲派，也有近主修炼，最后和真主融为一体。张承志翻译的《热什哈尔》一书，有一个著名导师叫马明心，有一天，他在某地修炼之时，他上师的弟子进来了，马明心说：“向我磕头吧，我就是真主。”这就是相应，修到很高境界的时候就是这样。佛教里也是这样，

当人打破了二元对立，就和佛融为一体了，这时候，他就会说我就是佛，佛就是我，“即心即佛”。但这不是说凡夫的心是佛，禅宗说的“即心即佛”的心不是指凡夫之心，而是说明心见性之后的心才是佛。所有的修炼就是为了寻找那个真心，找到真心的时候就是明心。找不到真心的时候，所有的修炼都没有究竟的意义。

现在流行的瑜伽也罢，灵修也罢，如果能让人找那真心的，就是正修——究竟的修法。除此以外，都不是正修，比如让自己身体变得美、寻求心外的东西、寻找生理的感受、寻找保佑等等，都不究竟。

灵修中也有一些非常好的导师，比如克里希那穆提、奥修，他们的灵修非常接近佛教的修炼。但是，其中还有一些需要超越的东西。因为在世间法里面的某些修炼和佛教的修炼看起来很相似，但不同的是世间法还没有实现升华和超越。现在的瑜伽也罢，灵修也罢，如果不能破除执著，不能达成觉悟就都属于世间法，它离解脱还有一定距离。因为要是始终把自己的心灵和解脱寄托在心外的什么之上，就无法达到真正的自由。解脱是一种绝对自由。绝对自由就是没有任何条件的自由，这才叫解脱。如果需要一种条件，比如他通过念一个咒子、观想一个佛像，或者关在一个房子里面，与世隔绝，他感到很快乐、很自由。这种有条件的自由不是真正的自由，不是解脱。现在好多瑜伽、灵修还是有条件的修炼，它还处在修炼的初级阶段。

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