How Can We Enter into Mahamudra?

“Mahamudra: Essence and Practice” ( Book II)

How Can We Enter into Mahamudra?

◎Chen Yixin: What’s the key to entering into Mahamudra?

●Xue Mo: There are three key points in Mahamudra: maintenance of the nature of emptiness (cessation); alertness (observation); dealing with everything in the world by means of cessation and observation (marvelous function). Cessation or observation alone is useless and cannot perform marvelous function. But marvelous function without cessation and observation is worldly behavior, and cessation without observation is only emptiness. If you merge all your behavior into the nature of emptiness and at the same time keep alert, if you observe everything in the world with brightness and emptiness, you will be practicing Mahamudra all the time. That kind of practice is ultimate and surpasses the practices of visualization and mantra reciting. The ordinary mind is not separate from brightness and emptiness. Brightness means alertness and it is wisdom. Emptiness is the nature of emptiness, the state of wisdom which contains no thought and no desire. The Chan School uses “silent and luminous”; “silent” describes emptiness and “luminous” refers to alertness and brightness. Dealing with everything with a silent and luminous mind is the best practice.

Moreover, you should pay special attention to the “pollution of the city,” that is, utilitarianism and materialism. They may pollute you and destroy your sincere and earnest intention to attain enlightenment. To prevent the candle of your soul from being blown out by the pollution of the city, you need the protection of moral restraints and rules of discipline. When the candle has become a bonfire, when it has become the fire of wisdom which can set a whole prairie ablaze, nothing is able to extinguish it then. Never ever hold views of pragmatism. Do things without any utilitarian overtones. Do something as if you were not doing it. Get rid of obsession. This is the best practice.

◎Chen Yixin: Can we enter into Mahamudra if we practice step by step following the creation and perfection stages?

●Xue Mo: Not necessarily. The creation and perfection stages are regular and traditional practice. Those of superior capacities can attain Mahamudra instantly with the blessings from their guru.

Mahamudra is the principle of unconditioned phenomena. It is not an invention, but a discovery. It is not invented by somebody who practices in a certain way; rather, it is the innate brightness discovered by means of practice. The nature of emptiness is the wisdom with which each sentient being is endowed. Therefore, Mahamudra is originally complete in itself; it is the treasure, the precious jewel of your own. What we should do is let its original light shine. Mahamudra is unconditioned.

One’s innate brightness is original enlightenment. What practitioners need to do is disperse the clouds with the wind of wisdom to reveal the clear sky, which is Mahamudra. The sky is always there, but as it is covered by the dark clouds of distracting thoughts, deluded thoughts, defilements, and habituated tendencies, you cannot see it. The purpose of practice is disperse all the dark clouds to reveal the original appearance of the sky. This is Mahamudra. Nothing can destroy it.

Nowadays, people are talking about attaining the principle of unconditioned phenomena by means of the principle of dependent arising, or forming the principle of unconditioned phenomena by putting some principles of conditioned phenomena together. That is quite impossible. The principle of unconditioned phenomena cannot be attained by means of principles of conditioned phenomena. The purpose of conditioned phenomena is to reduce defilements, pains and discriminating thoughts before getting rid of all deluded thoughts to achieve nondiscriminating awareness, which is called Mahamudra, also known as brightness and emptiness.

Nondiscriminating awareness possesses five kinds of wisdom. Discriminating thought is the root of all defilements. No discrimination, no defilement. Before one can attain that state, one’s mind is filled with all kinds of concepts, and knowledge creates major barriers. Hence there are a lot of skillful means, such as chanting the name of a buddha, investigating the head phrase (can huatou), counting the number of breathing, meditation on impurity, meditation of both the creation and perfection stages, Kundalini meditation. Their purpose is to clear away the distracting thoughts in one’s mind, to collect the mind, and then let one perceive the nondiscriminating awareness. After the perception of the nondiscriminating awareness, the brightness from one’s own nature, one has arrived at the path of cultivation. The sole purpose of practice before one sees the brightness is to find and recognize that brightness. Practice after one sees the brightness aims at maintaining it. That is to say, you add more firewood of sambhara (preparation) to the candle of brightness you have lit up to make it burn more brightly until one day it becomes the inextinguishable fire of wisdom which set the whole prairie ablaze. The aim of the path of seeing is to magnify the brightness you have seen and let it fill each point of time and space in your life. In the end, you find yourself practicing around the clock.

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《光明大手印：实修心髓》下

如何契入大手印？

◎陈亦新：契入大手印有什么窍诀吗？

●雪漠：大手印有三个要诀：保任空性就是止，警觉之心就是观，用止观之心去应对世界上的万物，就是妙用。单纯的止或是观生不起妙用，没有任何意义。如果单纯的妙用而没有止和观就是世俗的行为，单纯的止没有警觉就是顽空。当你把行为融入空性，并提起警觉，用明空观照世上万物的时候，任何时候都等于在修炼大手印，而且是最究竟的修，这种修法超越了观想和诵咒。真正的平常心不离明空。明空的“明”就是警觉的意思，是智慧；“空”就是空性，是那种无念无欲的智慧状态；这也是禅宗说的“寂照”，“寂”就是空，“照”就是警觉、光明。用寂照之心去应对万物就是最好的修行。

另外，在发心上，还要特别注意“城市污染”，就是功利实用主义。当功利实用主义把你污染了时，你的修行之心就被毁了。要不被“城市污染”的风吹灭心灵的蜡烛，就需要用戒律把它保护起来，让蜡烛慢慢地燃烧，燃成火堆，再变成燎原的智慧之火，那时什么都无法吹灭它了。千万不要持实用主义的观点，不要带任何功利色彩去做事，要做而无做，不要执著，这就是最好的修行。

◎陈亦新：按照生圆二次第，一步步地实践，就可以契入大手印吗?

●雪漠：不一定。按生圆二次第是传统的常态修法。真正的上根之人，可以在上师加持下顿入大手印。

大手印是无为法，大手印不是发明，而是发现，不是说谁通过哪种方式修行而发明了大手印，而是通过修行发现了本有的光明。空性是任何一个众生都本有的智慧，所以大手印是本来俱足的，是本有的宝藏，是本有的宝珠，我们要让它焕发出本来的光明。真正的大手印是不需要条件的。

人本有的光明就是明空本觉，修行人要做的只是用智慧的风，把天上的云雾吹散，现出天空，那个本有的天空就是大手印。天空本来存在，但现在被一些杂念、妄念、烦恼、习气的乌云遮住了，你看不到本有的天空。我们的修就是把这些乌云吹散，把阴霾驱散，显出天空真正的本来面目，这就叫大手印，任何东西都摧毁不了。

现在，很多人的说法是靠修一种因缘之法去成就无为之法，或用一些有为之法来组成一个无为之法，这是不可能的。所有有为法都成就不了无为法。有为法的目的就是为了减少烦恼、减少痛苦、减少分别心，最后扫除所有妄想，证得无分别智。这个无分别智就叫大手印，也叫明空。

无分别智俱足五种智慧。分别心是一切烦恼的根源，没有分别心就没有烦恼。当人证不到那种境界的时候，各种概念就笼罩了人的心，烦恼遮蔽了人的心智，知识给人造成了巨大的障碍，那么，这时候就有许许多多的方便法门：念佛、参话头、数呼吸、修不净观、修生起次第、圆满次第、修拙火……它们的目的都是为了扫掉人心中的杂念，然后摄心，再让人见到那个无分别智。见到无分别智、自性光明后就进入修道了。在见到光明之前，所有修行的目的是为了找到那个光明，并认知那个光明；见到那个光明之后的修行是为了保任那个光明。也就是在你点亮的那个光明之烛上，给它加资粮之柴，让它燃烧得更大一点，最后它会变成燎原的智慧之火，再也不会熄灭。修道的目的就是把你见到的这个光明放大，让光明充满你生命的每一个时空。到后来，你二十四小时都在修法。

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