Estudiante: Si alguien está determinado a alcanzar la Comprensión, ¿Cual es el mejor método que debería seguir?
Bodhidharma: El método mas esencial, el cual incluye a todos los demas métodos, consiste en contemplar su propia mente.
Estudiante: ¿Pero como puede un método incluir a todos los demas?
Bodhidharma: La mente es la raíz de la cual todas las cosas crecen; si puedes comprender la mente, todo lo demas queda incluido. Es como la raíz de un árbol. Todas las flores y frutas de un árbol, sus ramas y hojas, dependen de sus raíces. Si alimentas sus raíces, el árbol se multiplica. Si cortas sus raíces, muere. Aquellos que comprenden su mente alcanzan la Comprensión con un mínimo esfuerzo. Aquellos que no comprenden su mente, practican en vano. Todo lo que es bueno y malo viene de su propia mente. Encontrar algo mas allá de su mente es imposible.
Estudiante: ¿Pero de que modo puede la contemplación de la mente ser llamada comprensión?
Bodhidharma: Cuando un gran bodhisattva escudriña profundamente dentro de la sabiduría perfecta, él percibe que los cuatro elementos y las cinco sombras estan desprovistos de una entidad propia. Y comprende que la actividad de su mente tiene dos aspectos: pura e impura. By their very naturaleza, estos dos estados mentales están siempre presentes. They alternate as cause or effect depending on conditions, the pure mente delighting in good deeds, the impure mente thinking of evil. Aquellos que no son afectados por la impureza son sabios. They transcend sufrimiento y experience the bliss of nirvana. Todos los demas, trapped by the impure mente y entangled by their own karma, are mortals. They drift through the three reinos y suffer countless afflictions y all because their impure mente obscures their real self.
El Sutra de las Diez Estapas dice, "En el cuerpo de los mortales se encuentra la Naturaleza-de-Buddha indestructible. Como el sol, su luz llena el espacio enfinito. Pero una vez que es ocultado por la oscuridad de las nubes de las cinco sombras, es como una light ‘inside a ‘at, hidden from view." Y the Nirvana Sutra says, "All mortals have the buddha-naturaleza. But it’s covered by darkness from which they can’t escape. Our buddha-naturaleza is awareness: to be aware y to make others aware. To realize awareness is liberation," Everything good has awareness for its root. Y from this root of awareness grow the tree of all virtues y the fruit of nirvana. Beholding la mente like this is understying.
Estudiante: You say that our true Buddha-naturaleza y all virtues have awareness for their root. But what is the root of ignorance?
Bodhidharma: The ignorant mente, with its infinite afflictions, passions, y evils, is rooted in the three poisons. Greed, anger, y delusion. These three poisoned states of mente themselves include countless evils, like trees that have a single trunk but countless branches y leaves. Yet each poison produces so many more millions of evils that the example of a tree is hardly a fitting comparison. The three poisons are present in our six sense organs’ as six kinds of consciousness’ or thieves. They’re called thieves because they pass in y out of the gates of the senses, covet limitless possessions, y mask their true identity. Y because mortals are misled in body y mente by these poisons or thieves, they become lost in life y death, wyer through the six states of existence, y suffer countless afflictions. These afflictions are like rivers that surge for a thousy miles because of the constant flow of small springs.
But if someone cuts off their source, rivers dry up. Y if someone who seeks liberation can turn the three poisons into the three sets of precepts y the six thieves into the six paramitas, he rids himself of affliction once y for all.
Estudiante: But the three reinos y six states -of existence are infinitely vast. How can we escape their endless afflictions if all we do is behold la mente?
Bodhidharma: The karma of the tres reinos comes from la mente alone. If your mente isn’t within the three reinos, it’s más allá de them. The three reinos correspond to the three poisons- greed corresponds to the reino of desire, anger to the reino of form, y delusion to the formless reino. Y because karma created by the poisons can be gentle or heavy, these three reinos are further divided into six places known as the six states of existence.
Estudiante: Y how does the karma of these six differ?
Bodhidharma: Mortals who don’t understy true practice y blindly perform good deeds are born into the three higher states of existence within the three reinos. Y what are these three higher states? Those who blindly perform the ten good deeds y foolishly seek happiness are born as gods in the reino of desire. Those who blindly observe the five precepts y foolishly indulge in love y hate are born as men in the reino of anger, Y those who blindly cling to the phenomenal world, believe in false doctrines, y pray for blessings are born as demons in the reino of delusion. These are the three higher states of existence.
Y what are the three lower states? They’re where those who persist in poisoned thoughts y evil deeds are born. Those whose karma from greed is greatest become hungry ghosts. Those whose karma from anger is greatest become sufferers in hell. Y those whose karma from delusion is greatest become beasts. These three lower states together with the previous three higher states form the six states of existence. From this you should realize that all karma, painful or otherwise, comes from your own mente. If you can just concentrate your mente y transcend its falsehood y evil, the sufrimiento of the three reinos y six states of existence will automatically disappear. Y once libre from sufrimiento, you’re truly libre .
Estudiante: But the Buddha said, "Only after undergoing innumerable hardships for three asankhya kalpas did I achieve Comprensión," Why do you now say that simply beholding la mente y over-coming the three poisons is liberation?
Bodhidharma: The words of the Buddha are true. But the three-asankhya kalpas refer to the three poisoned states of mente. What we call asankhya in Sanskrit you call countless. Within these three poisoned states of mente are countless evil thoughts, Y every thought lasts a kalpa. Such an infinity is what the Buddha meant by the three asankhya kalpas, Once the three poisons obscure your real self, how can you be called liberated until you overcome their countless evil thoughts? People who can transform the three poisons of greed, anger, y delusion into the three releases are said to pass through the three-sankhya kalpas. But people of this final age are the densest of fools. They don’t understy what the Tathagata really meant by the three-asankhya kalpas. They say Comprensión is only achieved after endless kalpas y thereby mislead disciples to retreat on the path to Buddhahood.
Estudiante: But the great bodbisattvas have achieved Comprensión only by observing the three sets of precepts"’ y practicing the six Paramitas, Now you tell disciples merely to behold la mente. How can anyone reach Comprensión without cultivating the rules of discipline?
Bodhidharma: The three sets of precepts are for overcoming the three poisoned states of mente, When you overcome these poisons, you create three sets of limitless virtue, A set gathers things together-in this case, countless good thoughts throughout your mente. Y the six paramitas are for purifying the six senses. What we call paramitas you call means to the other shore. By purifying your six senses of the dust of sensation, the paramitas ferry you across the River of Affliction to the Shore of Comprensión.
Estudiante: According to the sutras, the three sets of precepts are, "I vow, to put an end to all evils. I vow to cultivate all virtues. Y I vow to liberate all beings." But now you say they’re only for controlling the three poisoned states of mente. Isn’t this contrary to the meaning of the scriptures?
Bodhidharma: The sutras of the Buddha are true. But long ago, when that great bodhisattva was cultivating the seed of Comprensión, it was to counter the three poisons that he made his three vows. Practicing moral prohibitions to counter the poison of greed, he vowed to put an end to all evils. Practicing meditation to counter the poison of anger, he vowed to cultivate all virtues. Y practicing wisdom to counter the poison of delusion, he vowed to liberate all beings. Because he persevered in these three pure practices of morality, meditation, y wisdom, he was able to overcome the three poisons y reach Comprensión. By overcoming the three poisons he wiped out everything sinful y thus put an end to evil. By observing the three sets of precepts he did nothing but good y thus cultivated virtue. Y by putting an end to evil y cultivating virtue lie consummate all practices, benefited himself as well as others, y rescued mortals everywhere. Thus he liberated beings.
You should realize that the practice you cultivate doesn’t exist apart from your mente. If your mente is pure, all buddha-lys are pure. The sutras say, "if their mentes are impure, beings are impure. If their mentes are pure, beings are pure," Y "To reach a buddha-ly, purify your mente. As your mente becomes pure, buddha-lys become pure." Thus by overcoming the three poisoned states of mente the three sets of precepts are automatically fulfilled.
Estudiante: But the sutras say the six Paramitas are charity, morality, patience, devotion, meditation, y wisdom. Now you say the paramitas refer to the purification of the senses. What do you mean by this? Y why are they called ferries?
Bodhidharma: Cultivating the paramitas means purifying the six senses by overcoming the six thieves. Casting out the thief of the eye by abyoning the visual world is charity. Keeping out the thief of the ear by not listening to sound is morality. Humbling the thief of the nose by equating smells as neutral is patience. Controlling the thief of the mouth by conquering desires to taste, praise, y explain is devotion. Quelling the thief of the body by remaining unmoved by sensations of touch is meditation. Y taming the thief of la mente by not yielding to delusions but practicing wakefulness is wisdom, These six paramitas are transports. Like boats or rafts, they transport beings to the other shore. Hence they’re called ferries.
Estudiante: But when Sbakyamuni was a bodhisattva, he consumed three bowls of milk y six ladles of gruel prior to attaining Comprensión. If he bad to drink milk before be could taste the fruit of buddhahood, how can merely beholding la mente result in liberation?
Bodhidharma: What you say is true. That is how he attained Comprensión. He had to drink milk before he could become a Buddha. But there are two kinds of milk. That which Shakyamuni drank wasn’t ordinary impure milk but Pure Dharma-talk. The three bowls were the three sets of precepts. Y the six ladies were the six paramitas. When Shakyamuni attained Comprensión, it was because he drank this pure dharma-rnilk that he tasted the fruit of Buddhahood. To say that the Tathagata drank the worldly concoction of impure, rank-smelling cow’s milk is the height of slyer. That which is truly so, the indestructible, passionless Dharma-self, remains forever libre of the world’s afflictions. Why would it need impure milk to satisfy its hunger or thirst?
The sutras say, "This ox doesn’t live in the highlys or the lowlys. It doesn’t eat grain or chaff. Y it doesn’t graze with cows. The body of this ox is the color of burnished gold." The ox refers to Vairocana. Owing to his great compassion for all beings, he produces from within his pure Dharma-body the sublime Dharma-milk of the three sets of precepts y six paramitas to nourish all those who seek liberation. The pure milk of such a truly pure ox not only enabled the ‘tathagata to achieve buddhahood but also enables any being who drinks it to attain unexcelled, complete Comprensión.
Estudiante: Throughout the sutras the Buddha tells mortals they can achieve Comprensión by performing such meritorious works as building monasteries, casting statues, burning incense, scattering flowers, lighting eternal lamps, practicing all six periods" of the day y night, walking around stupas, observing fasts, y worshipping. But if beholding la mente includes all other practices, then such works as these would appear redundant.
Bodhidharma: The sutras of the Buddha contain countless metaphors. Because mortals have shallow mentes y don’t understy anything deep, the Buddha used the tangible to represent the sublime. People who seek blessings by concentrating on external works instead of internal cultivation are attempting the impossible, What you call a monastery we call a sangbarama, a place of purity. But whoever denies entry to the three poisons y keeps the gates of his senses pure, his body y mente still, inside y outside clean, builds a monastery.
Casting statues refers to all practices cultivated by those who seek Comprensión. The Tathagata’s sublime form can’t be represented by metal. Those who seek Comprensión regard their bodies as the furnace, the Dharma as the fire, wisdom as the craftsmanship, y the three sets of precepts y six paramitas as the mold. They smelt y refine the true buddha-naturaleza within themselves y pour it into the mold formed by the rules of discipline. Acting in perfect accordance with the -Buddha’s teaching, they naturally create a perfect likeness. ‘Me eternal, sublime body isn’t subject to conditions or decay. If you seek the Truth but dont learn how to make a true likeness, what will you use in its place?
Y burning incense doesn’t mean ordinary material incense but the incense of the intangible Dharma, which drives away filth, ignorance, y evil deeds with its perfume. There are five kinds of such Dharma-incense. First is the incense of morality, which means renouncing evil y cultivating virtue. Second is the incense of meditation, which means deeply believing in the Mahayana with unwavering resolve. Third is the incense of wisdom, which means contemplating the body y mente, inside y out. Fourth is the incense of liberation, which means severing the bonds of ignorance. Y fifth is the incense of perfect knowledge, which means being always aware y nowhere obstructed. These five are the most precious kinds of incense y far superior to anything the world has to offer.
When the Buddha was in the world, he told his disciples to light such precious incense with the fire of awareness as an offering to the Buddhas of the ten directions. But people today don’t understy the Tathagata’s real meaning. They use an ordinary flame to light material incense of syalwood or frankincense y pray for some futuro blessing that never comes.
For scattering flowers the same holds true. This refers to speaking the Dharma, scattering flowers of virtue, in order to benefit others y glorify the real sell. These flowers of virtue are those praised by the Buddha. They last forever y never fade. Y whoever scatters such flowers reaps infinite blessings. If you think the Tathagata meant for people to harm plants by cutting off their flowers, you’re wrong. Those who observe the precepts don’t injure any of the myriad life forms of heaven y earth. If you hurt something by mistake, you suffer for it. But those who intentionally break the precepts by injuring the living for the sake of futuro blessings suffer even more, How could they let would-be blessings turn into sorrows?
The eternal lamp represents perfect awareness. Likening the illumination of awareness to that of a lamp, those who seek liberation see their body as the lamp, their mente as its wick, the addition of discipline as its oil, y the power of wisdom as its flame. By lighting this lamp of perfect awareness they dispel all darkness y delusion. Y by passing this Dharma on to others they’re able to use one lamp to light thousys of lamps. Y because these lamps likewise light countless other lamps, their light lasts forever.
Long ago, there was a Buddha named Dipamkara, or lamplighter. This was the meaning of his name. But fools don’t understy the metaphors of the Tathagata. Persisting in delusions y clinging to the tangible, they light lamps of everyday vegetable oil y think that by illuminating the interiors of buildings they’re following the Buddha’s teaching. How foolish! The light released by a Buddha from one curl between his brows can illuminate countless worlds. An oil lamp is no help. Or do you think otherwise?
Practicing all six periods of the day y night means constantly cultivating Comprensión among the six senses y persevering in every form of awareness. Never relaxing control over the six senses is what’s meant by all six periods. As for walking around stupas, the stupa is your body y mente. When your awareness circles your body y mente without stopping, this is called walking around a stupa. The sages of long ago followed this path to nirvana. But people today don’t understy what this means. Instead of looking inside they insist on looking outside. They use their material bodies to walk around material stupas. Y they keep at it day y night, wearing themselves out in vain y coming no closer to their real self.
The same holds true for observing a fast. It’s useless a menos que you understy what this really means. To fast means to regulate, to regulate your body y mente so that they’re not distracted or disturbed. Y to observe means to uphold, to uphold the rules of discipline according to the Dharma. Fasting means guarding against the six attractions on the outside y the three poisons on the inside y striving through contemplation to purify your body y mente.
Fasting also includes five kinds of food. First there’s delight in the Dharma. This is the delight that comes from acting in accordance with the Dharma. Second is harmony in meditation. This is the harmony of body y mente that comes from seeing through subject y object. Third is invocation, the invocation of Buddhas with both your month y your mente. Fourth is resolution, the resolution to pursue virtue whether walking, stying, sitting, or lying down. Y fifth is liberation, the liberation of your mente from worldly contamination. These five are the foods of fasting. A menos que a person eats these five pure foods, he’s wrong to think he’s fasting.
Also, once you stop eating the food of delusion, if you touch it again you break your fast. Y once you break it, you reap no blessing from it. The world is full of deluded people who don’t see this. They indulge their body y mente in all manner of evil. They give libre rein to their passions y have no shame. Y when they stop eating ordinary food, they call it fasting. How absurd!
It’s the same with worshipping. You have to understy the meaning y adapt to conditions. Meaning includes action y nonaction. Whoever understys this follows the Dharma.
Worship means reverence y humility it means revering your real self y humbling delusions. If you can wipe out evil desires y harbor good thoughts, even if nothing shows its worship. Such form is its real form. The Lord wanted worldly people to think of worship as expressing humility y subduing la mente. So he told them to prostrate their bodies to show their reverence, to let the external express the internal, to harmonize essence y form. Those who fail to cultivate the inner meaning y concentrate instead on the outward expression never stop indulging in ignorance, hatred, y evil while exhausting themselves to no avail. They can deceive others with postures, remain shameless before sages y vain before mortals, but they’ll never escape the Wheel, much less achieve any merit.
Estudiante: But the Bathhouse Sutra says, "By contributing to the bathing of monks, people receive limitless blessings." This would appear to be an instance of external practice achieving merit. How does this relate to beholding la mente?
Bodhidharma: Here, the bathing of monks doesn’t refer to the washing of anything tangible. When the Lord preached the Bathhouse Sutra, he wanted his disciples to remember the Dharma of washing. So he used an everyday concern to convey his real meaning, which he couched in his explanation of merit from seven offerings. Of these seven, the first is clear water, the second fire, the third soap, the fourth willow catkins, the fifth pure ashes, the sixth ointment, y the seventh the inner garment He used these seven to represent seven other things that cleanse y enhance a person by eliminating the delusion y filth of a poisoned mente. The first of these seven is morality, which washes away excess just as water washes away dirt. Second is wisdom, which penetrates subject y object, just as fire warms water. Third is discrimination, which gets rid of evil practices, just as soap gets rid of grime. Fourth is honesty, which purges delusions, just as chewing willow catkins purifies the breath. Fifth is true faith, which resolves all doubts, just as rubbing pure ashes on the body prevents illnesses. Sixth is patience, which overcomes resistance y disgrace, just as ointment softens the skin. Y seventh is shame, which redresses evil deeds, just as the inner garment covers up an ugly body. These seven represent the real meaning of the sutra. When he spoke this sutra, the Tathagata was talking to farsighted followers of the Mahayana, not to narrow-menteed people of dim vision. It’s not surprising that people nowadays don’t understy.
The bathhouse is the body. When you light the fire of wisdom, you warm the pure water of the precepts y bathe the true Buddha naturaleza within you. By upholding these seven practices you add to your virtue. The monks of that age were perceptive. They understood the Buddha’s meaning. They followed his reaching, perfected their virtue, y tasted the fruit of Buddhahood. But people nowadays can’t fathom these things. They use ordinary water to wash a physical body y think they’re following the sutra. But they’re mistaken. Our true buddha-naturaleza has no shape. Y the dust of affliction has no form. How can people use ordinary water to wash an intangible body? It won’t work. When will they wake up? To clean such a body you have to behold it. Once impurities y filth arise from desire, they multiply until they cover you inside y out. But if you try to wash this body of yours, you have to scrub until it’s nearly gone before it’s clean. From this you should realize that washing something external isn’t What the Buddha meant.
Estudiante: The sutras say that someone who wholeheartedly invokes the Buddha is sure to be reborn in the Western Paradise. Since is door leads to Buddhahood, why seek liberation in beholding la mente?
Bodhidharma: If you’re going to invoke the Buddha, you have to do it right. A menos que you understy what invoking means, you’ll do it wrong. Y if you do it wrong, you’ll never go anywhere.
Buddha means awareness, the awareness of body y mente that prevents evil from arising in either. Y to invoke means to call to mente, to call constantly to mente the rules of discipline y to follow them with all your might. This is what’s meant by invoking. Invoking has to do with thought y not with language. If you use a trap to catch fish, once you succeed you can forget the trap. Y if you use language to find meaning, once you find it you can forget language. To invoke the Buddha’s name you have to understy the Dharma of invoking. If it’s not present in your mente, your mouth chants an empty name. Con tal de que you’re troubled by the three poisons or by thoughts of yourself, your deluded mente will keep you from seeing the Buddha y you’ll only waste your effort. Chanting y invoking are worlds apart, Chanting is done with the mouth. Invoking is done with la mente. Y because invoking comes from la mente, it’s called the door to awareness. Chanting is centered in the mouth y appears as sound. If you cling to appearances while searching for meaning, you won’t find a thing. Thus, sages of the past cultivated introspection y not speech. This mente is the source of all virtues. Y esta mente is the chief of all powers, The eternal bliss of nirvana comes from la mente at rest. Rebirth in the three reinos also comes from la mente. La mente is the door to every world y la mente is the ford to the other shore. Those who know where the door is don’t worry about reaching it. Those who know where the ford is don’t worry about crossing it.
The people I meet nowadays are superficial. They think of merit as something that has form. They squyer their wealth y butcher creatures of ly y sea. They foolishly concern themselves with erecting statues y stupas, telling people to pile up lumber y bricks, to paint this blue y that green. They strain body y mente, injure themselves y mislead others. Y they don’t know enough to be ashamed. How will they ever become enlightened?
They see something tangible y instantly become attached. If you talk to them about formlessness, they sit there dumb y confused. Greedy for the small mercies of this world, they remain blind to the great sufrimiento to come. Such disciples wear themselves out in vain. Turning from the true to the false, they talk about nothing but futuro blessings.
If you can simply concentrate your mente’s Inner Light y behold its outer illumination, you’ll dispel the three poisons y drive away the six thieves once y for all. Y without effort gain possession of an infinite number of virtues, perfections, y doors to the truth, Seeing through the mundane y witnessing the sublime is less than an eye-blink away, Realization is now. Why worry about gray hair? But the true door is hidden y can’t be revealed. I have only touched upon beholding la mente.