What Is Perceiving One’s Mind and Seeing One’s Nature?

“Mahamudra: Essence and Practice”( Book II)

What Is Perceiving One’s Mind and Seeing One’s Nature?

◎Yixin Chen: What is perceiving one’s mind and seeing one’s nature?

●Xue Mo: Perceiving your mind is recognizing your original mind or true mind. I talked specially about it in the section “Differentiating between the True Mind and the False Mind” in Mahamudra: Instant Enlightenment. The first step is to recognize the true mind, the next is to maintain it and try not to let it sway, and then you expand the consciousness slowly until it fills all space-time of your life. At first you probably can maintain the true mind for only an instant, but gradually you will be able to do it for a longer time. In the end, your whole life will be full of the light of the true mind. Then, your life will undergo some changes and you will perceive the nature of emptiness for the first time. Having that perception indicates that you have seen your own nature. Without that perception, you can’t have seen your nature.

According to Tibetan Buddhism, one sees one’s nature only when qi enters the central nadi. When one sees one’s own nature, one has advanced to the bodhisattva grounds, where one begins one’s real Buddhist practice. Practice prior to darsana-marga (the “path of seeing”) belongs to the path of accumulation.

◎Yixin Chen: How can we perceive our mind and see our nature?

●Xue Mo: Each of the eighty-four thousand dharma-gates – chanting the name of Amitabha Buddha, practicing the creation stage, reciting mantras, visualization, etc. – aims at making people understand what is the true mind and what is the nature of emptiness. Whatever dharma-gate one adopts, the ultimate purpose is to perceive one’s mind and see one’s nature.

I used to say all dharma-gates are the same, but in fact they have different emphases. For example, the aim of the Pure Land School is to let people be reborn in the Pure Land. It does not pursue perceiving one’s mind and seeing one’s nature, nor does it pursue liberation in one’s life time. What it pursues is being reborn in the Pure Land with one’s karma, which means that it doesn’t matter if one has karma and that one can be reborn in the buddha-land with karma. The Chan School, on the other hand, pursues perceiving one’s mind and seeing one’s nature but it sets very high requirements for the reliable teacher. He must at least be a bodhisattva of the first ground, who has perceived his mind and seen his own nature. If not, he is not qualified to accept disciples. The reasons why the Chan School has declined are, first, that there are very few reliable teachers who have perceived their mind and seen their nature and , second, that there are not so many skillful means in the Chan School as in Esoteric Buddhism. According to Esoteric Buddhism, the liberation in the Chan School belongs to the achievement of dharmakaya and there is no achievement of sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya, because practitioners of the Chan School don’t cultivate sambhogakaya or nirmanakaya, there is no meditation of both the creation and perfection stages, and there is no cultivation of vajra illusory body. But that is the statement of Esoteric Buddhism; the Chan School doesn’t think so.

One good thing about Esoteric Buddhism is that it has a lot of skillful means and a definite sequence. As long as you follow the sequence step by step, you are sure to be able to perceive your mind and see your nature. For when qi enters the central nadi through practice of the body, you will naturally perceive your mind and see your nature. That’s where the great skillful means of Esoteric Buddhism lie.

So it’s very important to choose one dharma-gate and go deep into it. If one now chants the name of a buddha, now recites a mantra, now this and now that, one is like a person who digs wells everywhere – in the end, he won’t find any water; besides, his mind will become confused. The purpose of Buddhist practice is to obtain ultimate wisdom, which cannot be achieved if one does not stick to one dharma-gate and go deep. The advantage of doing so, according to Esoteric Buddhism, is that the practitioner will continue to be blessed by all the gurus in the lineage and that he can perceive his mind and see his nature through corresponding to his guru.

◎Yixin Chen: What is the difference between perceiving one’s mind and seeing one’s nature?

●Xue Mo: Perceiving one’s mind tends towards principle and seeing one’s nature tends towards phenomena. Buddhist practice proceeds from nonobstruction in principle, through nonobstruction in phenomena and nonobstruction between principle and phenomena, to nonobstruction between individual phenomena.

When one achieves Ekarasa Yoga, one’s discriminating thought is shattered and one may achieve dharmata brightness. After the shattering of one’s discriminating thought, one may behave in a way that ordinary people can’t understand or consider crazy. At that stage, one doesn’t differentiate between dirty and clean things. He may even drink urine, thinking that both tea and urine taste like nectar. To him, wearing or not wearing clothes is the same. A crazy practitioner we call him. I had this kind of experience when I was thirty-two years old. At that time, the emptiness and bliss in me made me look crazy, but the brightness in my mind manifested itselt to a greater extent. In the brightness there was not a speck of dust and the true mind was so firm that it wavered not a bit. During that period of time, I had to live in seclusion, for if I had gone out, I would have been treated as a madman.

Let’s go back to enlightenment. I have an apt metaphor for it. A person has stayed in a dark room for a long time, and he can’t find a way out. Suddenly, a reliable teacher opens a window for him, through which he sees the light – the true light, which is certainly not from the outside, but a kind of innate wisdom. We call that enlightenment.

This way, he knows where the light comes from and he will no longer look for it everywhere. Then his formal practice begins. Step by step, he approaches the light he has seen. Admittedly, he may still have distracting thoughts, or he may bump into the table when he approaches the light. But he is quite clear about the direction. Serious afflictive and noetic hindrances are gradually eliminated, but subtle ones remain. He is only looking at the brightness of the sky through the window; he hasn’t walked out of the dark room yet and there are still some hindrances.

Seeing the brightness of wisdom we call advancing to the bodhisattva grounds, and that practitioner we call bodhisattva of the first ground. As he approaches that light, he is called bodhisattva of the sencond ground, the third, the fourth ... accordingly. Through hard working, he finally comes to the window. With a single blow, he breaks the window, jumps out of it, and becomes part of the light himself. Now, he is bodhisattva of the eighth ground.

After breaking the barriers, the brightness achieved, the brightness innate in himself, and the brightness in the dharma-realm become one. This is the union of the mother and child brightnesses. With the all-pervasive and all-penetrating light, he will never be covered by darkness again. Now, he has eliminated the remaining subtle avidya, entered the ground of immovability, and achieved dharmata brightness. 

Therefore, seeing one’s nature is not enough; it only points to where the light is. You have to approach that light step by step, eliminate avidya, cleanse the dirt in your mind, and transform the mind of a worldling to the mind of brightness.

◎Yixin Chen: How does Esoteric Buddhism comprehend perceiving one’s mind and seeing one’s nature?

●Xue Mo: According to Esoteric Buddhism, it occurs only when qi enters the central nadi. Only then can you see the real brightness and emptiness. Seeing your nature is not the result of visualization – you actually see it. What you see is the brightness innate in your life, which we call the nature of emptiness.

◎Yixin Chen: What do you think is the mind that has expectations?

●Xue Mo: In my opinion, a mind that has expectations is still a deluded mind. The true mind expects nothing. Therefore, a real achiever is carefree and has no concerns whatsoever. That’s why an achiever is sometimes called a mindless monk. Unimpeded, he is completely free and liberated. The real achievement is not supernatural powers but freedom, complete freedom of both body and mind. In that state, his mind belongs to himself only and no one in the world can disturb him. He is always himself. He has entered a free realm. Of course, as he still has body, that freedom is somewhat subject to the body. Even the Buddha had backache. In the Agama sutras, we often hear the Buddha say, “Ananda, my back aches.” Whether his back ached or not, he was enlightened. The brightness of his mind-nature shone, and it could never be darkened by ignorance again. Even if he still had bodily pains, they could not possibly affect the enlightenment and wisdom of his mind-nautre.

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《光明大手印：实修心髓》下

什么是明心见性？

◎陈亦新：什么是明心见性？

●雪漠：明心就是明白你的本元心、真心。我在《光明大手印：实修顿入》“察真妄”一篇中间，专门讲过这一点。明白真心是第一步，然后是守住真心，不要让真心“动摇”，把那种觉悟慢慢地扩大，直至充满你生命的每一个时空。也许，刚开始你能忆持一刹那，渐渐就会延长。到后来的时候，整个人生都充满着真心的光。这时候，你的生命也会发生一些变化，会感受到一种从来没有过的空性觉受。有了这种觉受就叫见性，没有这种觉受不叫见性。

按照藏传佛教的说法，气入中脉时才叫见性。见性之后就是登地菩萨，然后在这个基础上开始真正的修行。见道之前的修行属于资粮道。

◎陈亦新：怎样明心见性？

●雪漠：念阿弥陀佛也罢、修生起次第也罢、持咒也罢、观想也罢……八万四千法门的目的就是让人明白什么是真心，什么是空性。无论人修什么样的法门，其终极的目的就是为了明心见性。

我常说，修什么法门都一样。但事实上，各种法门还是各有侧重。我举一个例子，净土宗的目的是让人往生到净土，它不追求明心见性，也不追求即身解脱，它追求的是带业往生，就是说人有业障也不要紧，可以带着业障往生到佛国去；再如，禅宗虽然追求明心见性，但禅宗中对善知识的要求非常高，他至少是能明心见性的登地菩萨。如果善知识没有明心见性，就没有办法带弟子。现在的禅宗已经衰亡了，第一个原因是明心见性的善知识非常少，第二是禅宗中没有像密宗那么多的方便法门。按密宗的说法讲，禅宗的解脱属于法身成就，没有报身、化身的成就，因为禅宗不修报、化二身，没有生起次第、圆满次第，没有金刚幻身这些。但这是密宗的说法，禅宗并不这样认为。

密宗比较好的一点是，有很多方便法门，有明确的次第，只要按照这种次第一步一步走的话，肯定会明心见性。因为人要是能通过身体的修炼而气入中脉的话，自然会见性的。密宗的大方便就在这里。

所以，一门深入是非常重要的。如果人忽而念佛，忽而持咒，忽而修这个，忽而修那个，时时变化的话，就等于到处挖井，但永远都挖不到水，而且你的心会被搞乱。人修炼的目的是得到究竟的智慧，如果不一门深入的话，就很难达成目的。因此，一定要一门深入。按照密宗的说法，一门深入的好处在于一直会得到历代上师的加持力，能够通过相应而明心见性。

◎陈亦新：明心和见性有什么区别？

●雪漠：明心重于理，见性重于事。修行是从理无碍，到事无碍，再到理事无碍，最后达到事事无碍。

到了一味瑜伽时，分别心就破除了，就可能证得实相光明。因为消除了分别心，他就有可能出现一些不为世人所理解的行为，显得疯疯癫癫。这时，他们没有垢净之分，他们可以喝尿，觉得茶和尿都是非常好的甘露。穿不穿衣服，对他们来说也一样。疯行者就属于这种情况。我在三十二岁时有过这种体验，那时，体内的空乐让我显现疯相，但心中光明大显，毫无纤尘，真心坚固，如如不动。那段日子，我只能与世隔绝地独处，要是我外出的话，在别人眼中就是一个疯子。

下面，接着说开悟。我们举个形象的例子：一个人在黑屋里待了许久，找不到出路，忽然善知识帮他打开了窗户，透过窗户，他看到了光明——真正的光明，当然不是外来的，而是一种本有的智慧——我们称之为开悟。

这样，他便知道了光明在哪个方向，他再也不会乱找了。接着，他的修炼正式开始，他一步步接近他看到的那个光明。当然，这时他也可能有杂念，也可能会在趋近这片光明时，不小心碰到桌子上，但方向他是明白了，粗分的烦恼障就会慢慢地破除，粗分的所知障也会渐渐地破除，但细分的还没有破除。这时候，他仅仅是透过窗户看到了天空的光明，他还没有完全走出那黑屋子，他还会遇到一些障碍。

我们将看到那种智慧光明叫登地，把那行者叫初地菩萨。就这样，他一步步接近那光明，随着他接近那光明，我们称他为二地菩萨、三地菩萨、四地菩萨……经过艰苦的努力，他终于到了窗户跟前，他一下子打碎窗户，跃了出去，自身也化为光明，跟那光明融为一体了。这时，他就是八地菩萨了。

打碎障碍以后，修成的光明、自身本有的光明和法界的光明融为一体，叫子母光明会。这时，一片光明朗然，他再也不会被那黑暗所掩蔽了，就破除了最后的细微无明，进入不动地，证得了实相光明。

所以，单纯的见性是不够的。见性仅仅是明白了方向，你得一步一步接近那光明，并消除无明，清除心中的污垢，将凡夫心化为光明心。

◎陈亦新：密宗如何理解明心见性？

●雪漠：按密宗的说法，真正的见性必须气入中脉。只有气入中脉之后，才能见到真正的明空。见性不是观想的，它是实际“见”到的。它见到的，是生命中本有的一种光明，我们称之为“空性”。

◎陈亦新：按您的说法，有所求的心是啥心？

●雪漠：我个人认为，心若有所求，仍然是妄心。真心是无所求的。所以，真正的证悟者是无事人，他心无挂碍。因此，也有人将证悟者称为无心道人。那个时候，因心无挂碍，而得到大自由大解脱。真正的成就不是神通，而是自在，达到一种身心大自在。这时候，他的心属于他自己，这个世界上再也没人能干扰他。他永远属于他自己，他进入一种自由境界。当然，因为肉体的存在，这自由在一定程度上还要受肉体的制约。比如佛陀也会背疼，《阿含经》中经常看到佛说：阿难，我背疼。但背疼也罢，不背疼也罢，他已经明明白白了，他的心性的光明已经焕发了，你再也不可能用愚痴去掩蔽他了。即使他的肉体还会产生一些痛苦，但这痛苦已经影响不了他心性的明白和智慧了。

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