Single Taste, the Undiscriminating Wisdom

Single Taste, the Undiscriminating Wisdom

At that time, you have rid yourself of the discriminating mind. You won’t treat people and things differently according to personal likes and dislikes. Just like the sun, which won’t shed more light on this person because he is smart or shed no light at all on that person because he is stupid. You will stop treating yourself as the leading character in the drama of life, and thus avoiding all kinds of defilements that such a misconception may give rise to.

Melt everything in this world into your true mind in the same way that a piece of ice melts into water and becomes one with water. Don’t think of the world and you as two separate entities. There is no need to make such a distinction. Always keep an ordinary mind and don’t let external objects affect your mind. Always keep it in mind that everything in this world is dreamlike and has no eternal existence. Don’t be overjoyed with getting, nor be sad about losing or not getting. Always remember this and retain your true mind.

Of course, what we mean by not making a distinction between the world and yourself is not that you should give away everything. Rather, it means that you should not be obsessed with making comparisons and that you should put down the enormous “self.” You should understand that both the world and “I” are illusory, and that whatever it is, whether you want it or not, it will pass and become part of your memory. In essence, all of us are actors in the drama of life.

When you are able to retain your true mind while walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, you will find that the world is you and you are the world, and that the Buddha is you and you are the Buddha. At that time, you have rid yourself of the discriminating mind. You won’t treat people and things differently according to personal likes and dislikes. Just like the sun, which won’t shed more light on this person because he is smart or shed no light at all on that person because he is stupid. You will stop treating yourself as the leading character in the drama of life, and thus avoiding all kinds of defilements that such a misconception may give rise to. Only now are you able “to accord with conditions and be free from worries.”

What does “according with conditions and being free from worries” mean? While you are drinking tea, feel its warmth, smoothness, and rich fragrance with full concentration; while you are walking, listen to the sounds of cars, of pedestrians, of a lovely bird singing nearby, or even of a pebble rolling with full concentration; while it is raining, gaze at the crystal clear rain drops with full concentration and listen attentively to the splash of rain on the concrete, the grass blades, the windowsill, on the umbrellas, etc. You concentrate every second and every minute, without any distracting thoughts, and then you find that you are like a child, who can be easily delighted by anything in this world, even a tiny pebble. Each second and each minute passes immediately, and the next second and the next minute will be delightful in a new way. So, you are not obessesed with trying to retain anything delightful; you just experience every present moment concentratedly and delightfully. That is ”according with conditions and being free from worries.”

Then, you will find that not only your mind but the external world is emptiness. Sometimes, some thoughts still arise in your mind, but they are marvelous functions effected by the true mind. Indeed, all that you feel, think, and do are marvelous functions effected by the true mind; they are no longer deluded thoughts of a worldling. As the Heart Sutra goes, “Form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from form. Form itself is emptiness, and emptiness itself is form. Feeling, perception, impulse, and consciousness are also such as this.” When you are able to understand this, you will have entered into the state of single taste yoga and will have understood truly what is meant by “unconditional great mercy and great compassion based on sameness in essence.”

To take an obvious example, if somebody beats a dog, you will feel the pain though the dog has nothing to do with you at all. That is ”single taste.” When you become one and the same with the others, you have entered into the genuine single taste yoga.

At that stage, there is no binary opposition in your mind. There is no distinction between you and the others, between good and bad, between the beautiful and the ugly, and between samsara and nirvana. As your mind has become pure and clean, everything becomes pure and clean in your eyes. “When your mind is pure, the Buddha land is pure,” as the saying goes.

Your mental capacity will become as large as the sky or the sea. Even the heavenly bodies, the universe, the dharma-realm can be contained in your mind. It is both an insight and a perception. a broad-mindedness.

In a story about Milarepa, there was a well-known geshe who was very jealous about Milarepa. He thought that Milarepa’s fame would be a threat to his benefits. So, he instructed his lover to offer a cup of poisoned wine to Milarepa and he promised to give the woman a precious jewel as a reward. At that time, Milarepa had achieved buddhahood and knew what the others were thinking about. When the woman came up to him with the poisonous wine, he said to her, “You won’t get the jewel if I drink the wine right now. Go to get the jewel before I drink it.” When this woman returned and offered the wine a second time, Milarepa drank it as he had promised. Besides, on his deathbed, Milarepa received the geshe who desired to murder him as his disciple.

Though the death of Milarepa was a manifestation on his part, but wasn’t it a gesture of magnanimity? It is also an embodiment of the spirit of the Buddha’s cutting off his own flesh to feed the eagle.

Magnanimity indicates that you are not obsessed with whether the other party has good intentions or evil ones, or whether he has harmed you or not. For in your mind there is no distinction between you and him. That is how a mother treats her child. Even when she knows the child expects her to pass away so that he can receive his inheritance, she still loves her child because she thinks the child is a continuation of her life.

However, when you have just enlightened your mind and seen your own nature, you’d better stay away from the sources of mental pollution and cleanse your mind of dirt with the help of the light of wisdom. The dirt includes that of defilements and habituated tendencies and that of bad company. It is necessary at that time to build a wall of discipline, e.g., going into retreat and chanting mantras, to always keep alert, prevent yourself from being deluded by external objects, and protect the candle of enlightenment in your mind from being blown out by evil wind and evil opinions.

Why do we stress over and over again how terrible bad company can be? Because some people may, consciously or unconsciously, feed your mind with some incorrect opinions and evil thoughts, which will make you suffer and pose obstacles for your practice. Those who increase your greed, hatred and ignorance are bad company. Bad company is not “the unlucky ones” in the popular opinion. Sometimes, the so-called unlucky ones may well be reliable teachers.

For example, someone says, “A man lives to gamble. When he has made a lot of money, he can live in a high building and have beautiful women.” If his words make you extremely greedy, so much so that you desire to have ten million when you have made a million, then that person is bad company, for he makes you greedier.

Another man tells you, “So-and-so is very bad, he is always speaking ill of you to me.” If you begin to hate so-and-so because of what he has said, then he is bad company, because he stirs up hatred in you.

Another man says to you, “Your practice is totally useless. You should raise one of your feet like a pissing dog and stand against a wall all day long. Only in this way can you be liberated and go to heaven after you die.” If you give up practicing Mahamudra and stand there all day like a dog, then he is bad company, because he increases your ignorance.

But when you have achieved buddhahood, there will be no distinction between bad company and reliable teachers, because what others say or do won’t affect your mind any more. Besides, there will be no binary opposition in your mind. Your life reaches a great perfection. The so-called “great perfection” implies that the moment following one’s perception of the original enlightenment is perfect. I am the Buddha, happy and carefree. The awakening lies in the present moment. The perception lies in the present moment.

Notice

Translated by non-professional volunteers, there would be some inaccuracies in the translation. You are welcome to offer us some advice for emendation. Please feel free to contact us.We also look forward to you joining our voluntary translation team.

Please contact us at 985140751@qq.com, thank you.

第三辑：与灵性好好相处

一味，不分你我的智慧

这时候，你已经没有任何的分别心，你再也不会根据个人喜好而有区别地待人接物，就像阳光普照万物时，不会因为这个人聪明就多给它一点阳光，那个人愚痴就干脆不照耀他。你也不会再把自己当成生命这出戏的主角，更不会因此而衍生出各种各样的烦恼。

将世界上的一切都融于你的真心中间，就像一块冰进水里融化了，冰水合二为一。不要觉得这个世界怎么样，你又怎么样。不要把这两者分开。无论什么时候，你都要保持一颗平常心，不要让外境影响你的心。你要时刻记得，世上一切都像梦一样，没有永恒的存在，不需要为“得到”而不可一世，也不必为“失去”或“没有得到”而郁郁寡欢。要永远记住这份觉悟，安住于真心之中。

当然，我们说，不要把世界和你分开，并不是说你应该把一切都让给别人，这句话的意思是，你不要执著于“比较”的这个念头，把巨大的“自我”放下。你应该明白，世界也罢，“我”也罢，都是虚幻无常的，无论是你想要的，还是你不想要的，都将过去，都会变成记忆。本质上来说，谁都是生命这场戏中的演员。

当你在行、住、坐、卧间都不离开真心的时候，就会发现，世界就是你，你就是世界，佛就是你，你就是佛。这时候，你已经没有任何的分别心，你再也不会根据个人喜好而有区别地待人接物，就像阳光普照万物时，不会因为这个人聪明就多给它一点阳光，那个人愚痴就干脆不照耀他。你也不会再把自己当成生命这出戏的主角，更不会因此而衍生出各种各样的烦恼。这时，你才真的做到了“触目随缘，快乐无忧”。

什么是“触目随缘，快乐无忧”？喝茶时，你专心体会那柔滑如丝绸般的暖流，以及悄悄发散开来的浓郁茶香；走路时，你专心倾听车声、人声，不远处惹人怜爱的鸟啼，甚至一块小石子滚动的声音；下雨时，你专心凝望那些晶莹剔透的水滴，聆听它们溅落在水泥地上、草叶上、窗台上、伞面上的响声……心无杂念，专注于每一分每一秒，你就会发现自己变得像孩子一样，生命中的一切，甚至一块小石子，都能让你心生喜悦。当下这一分一秒很快就会过去，下一分下一秒又有新的快意。因此，你不执著于留住任何让你喜悦的东西，只是专注而又快乐地感受每一个当下。这就是“触目随缘，快乐无忧”。

这时你会看到，心是空性，外部世界也无一不是空性。你有时还是会生起念头，但那只是真心生起的妙用，你一切所感所想所做，无不是真心生起的妙用，它们已经不是凡夫的妄心了。这就是《心经》中所说的：“色不异空，空不异色，色即是空，空即是色，受想行识，亦复如是。”体会到这一点的时候，你就进入了“一味瑜伽”的境地，也会真正明白到什么叫“无缘大慈，同体大悲”。

举一个直观的例子：如果有一个人打狗，被打的这狗跟你毫无关联，但你也会感到痛，这就是“一味”之境，我他属于一体，这便进入了真正的“一味瑜伽”。

到这一步时，你的心中就没有任何二元对立了。没了我和他的区别，没了好和坏的区别，没了美与丑的区别，没了轮回与涅槃的区别。因为你的心清净了，一切都变成了清净之境。也就是所谓的“心净则佛土净”。

你的心量会变得非常大，好像虚空，也像大海，连宇宙、法界、日月星辰都能容纳于自己心中。这既是见地，又是觉受，是一种非常博大的胸怀。

有个故事里说道，密勒日巴住世的时候，有个著名的格西很妒忌他，觉得他的名望会威胁到自己的利益，于是唆使相好的女人把毒酒供养给密勒日巴，并承诺给她很好的首饰。这时密勒日巴已经成佛了，他知道每个人在想什么，所以当女人带着毒酒来到他面前的时候，他就对女人说：“如果我现在喝掉这杯毒酒的话，你就拿不到首饰了，你先去拿首饰，我再来喝这杯毒酒。”当女人再次把毒酒端到他面前的时候，他真的兑现了自己的承诺，而且，在生命的最后阶段，他还将那想毒死自己的格西收做弟子。

密勒日巴的死，虽然是一种示现，但又何尝不是一种大包容？这当然也是佛陀“割肉喂鹰”精神的一种体现。

所谓的包容，就是不管对方是善意还是恶意，是否做了一些伤害自己的事情，都不去执著它。因为你心中已经没有你与他的区别了。就像一个母亲对待自己的孩子，即使明知他等着自己去世好继承遗产，也会一如既往地关爱他，因为她觉得孩子是她生命的一种延续。

但是，在你刚刚明心见性的时候，还是要尽量远离心灵的污染源，依托智慧之光，清除心灵上的污垢。这污垢，既包括烦恼习气的污垢，也包括恶友的污垢。这时，你要建立一座戒律之墙，如闭关，如持咒、时刻保持警觉，不要让自己被外境所迷惑，不要让邪风邪见吹灭你心中那觉悟的烛火。

为什么我们反复强调恶友的可怕？因为，有的人会有意无意地，给你灌输一些不正确的观念和不好的思想，你会因此觉得痛苦，修行上也会出现障碍。这些增加你的贪婪、仇恨、愚痴的人，就被称为恶友。恶友不是世俗观点中的“不吉祥者”。有时，世俗认为的不吉祥者，也许正好是真正的善知识。

比如一个人对你说：“人活着就要赌博，挣了大钱，就可以住高楼大厦，就可以拥有美女。”当他的这些话激起你极大的贪心，让你变得贪婪，从此挣了百万想千万的时候，这个人就是你的恶友，因为他增长了你的贪婪。

又比如一个人对你说：“某人特别坏，他总在我面前说你坏话。”当你因此而记恨他说的“某人”时，他就是你的恶友，因为他增长了你的仇恨。

再比如一个人对你说：“修行没有用，你要像狗撒尿那样把一只脚立在墙上整天站着，才可以得到解脱，死后才能上天堂。”如果你真的放弃了大手印，整天像狗一样傻傻站在那里的话，他就是你的恶友，因为他增长了你的愚痴。

不过，等你真正成就的时候，你眼中也就没有了恶友和善知识的区别，因为别人的言语或行为已不再影响你的心，再者你心中也没有了二元对立。那时，你的生命便达到了一种大圆满。所谓“大圆满”，就是认为明白本觉之后，当下就是圆满，我就是佛陀，快乐无忧，觉醒于当下，明白于当下。

声明：本文系文化志愿者试译，非专业人才翻译，错误定然不少，如出现疏漏及错误，敬请读者见谅。如有任何翻译上的建议及修正意见，欢迎及时与我们取得联系，我们会加以校对、修改，并希望有专业才能的朋友也能加入我们志愿者群体中来。

邮箱地址：985140751@qq.com