To Gain Insight

For the Buddhist Glossary – tathata – real nature, ultimate existence; without any attributes.

dharmas – elements of conditioned existences.

to gain insight is to realize that all existences, all that we see and perceive in the outer world rise out of the mind to serve our illusions. “The core of the mind now comprehends that the outer world is but a manifestation of one’s own mind and this understanding becomes a massive liberation.”

insight means knowing that all existences, all life, are neither created nor annihilated, but that they originate in and arise out of Mind to serve an illusory and fanciful, worldly purpose.  They are like the illusions of dreams – seeming to exist when they do not. To know this to attain insight.

when insight is attained, the root of Pure Mind and the activity of the phenomenal world are manifest without obstacles, spontaneously showing forth the capability of all things, pure and impure.

Life and Perfect Symmetry

life began in the universe, we are told by cosmologists, only after the break-up of perfect symmetry, in a huge, hot cauldron of energy governed by forces we do not understand. We do not live in a world of perfect symmetry.

we do not understand these forces, but we know they caused the begi­nning of time. They exist today in our world; without them there would be no existence.

cause and effect. We know that human life came into existence as a result of cause and effect governed by these forces.

in the buddha’s teachings  –  particularly in his “great vehicle” teachings (Mahayana) – the “Original Mind” is called tathata, or the ultimate nature of existence without any attributes.  From the Tripitaka – Chinese Canon of Buddhist sutras – Hui-Ssu, “Tathata”:

one mind – the same as the mind of pure self, true tathata without any attributes, buddha-nature, vesture of pure, unqualified reality (dharmakaya ~ the soul of nirvana), the realm of conditioned existence (dharma). The substance of One Mind cannot be differentiated.

all dharmas, or elements of conditioned existence, depend on Mind for their being and have Mind as their substance. From this standpoint, all conditioned existence is illusory and imaginary, and their being is in reality non-being. By contrast with these unreal dharmas, One Mind may be called true.

yet even though these elements of conditioned existence (dharmas) have no being in reality, because they originate in illusion and fancy, they nevertheless appear to be created and annihilated. But when such unreal dharmas are created, Mind is not brought into existence, and when they are annihilated, Mind does not perish.

uncreated, Mind is never augmented; imperishable, it is never diminished. And as it never increases or decreases, Mind is called the ultimate, true nature of existence, without attributes—tathata.

concentration means knowing that all conditions of existence, having from the beginning no tathata of their own, are never created or annihilated by themselves, but arise as productions of illusion and imagination. They have no real existence. The existence of these created dharmas is, in truth, non-existence. They are only the One Mind, the substance of which cannot be differentiated. If one seizes this standpoint, then in total mental calm one can stop the flow of false ideas. This is concentration.

when concentration is achieved, Pure Mind is merged through insight with non-dual nature, harmoniously united with all beings as a body of one single character. . . There is calmness, tranquility 

and purity, depth, stability and quietude.

The inner silence is pure and pellucid. It moves without the appearance of movement. It acts without the appearance of action. Thus it is, for all existences are originally the same everywhere without differentiation.

when there is concentration, one’s mind is everywhere the same . . . When there is concentration one dwells ever in nirvana . . . When there is concentration one is not polluted by the world . . . When there is concentration, one attains eternal silence in the process of acting . . .

the One Reality – the fundamental oneness of energy – non-differentiation at the heart of things – is the one law that calls all things into being and moves them. This is called the real aspect of things. We are all one substance with this law and caused to live by it. One’s own mind is intrinsically one with primordial energy – the imperishable life-force of the universe.

how shall we proceed?  Releasing the personal ego, getting ourselves out of the way. is the first step – enabling us to realize the imperishable life-force which exists in all things, in all beings. Serving this life-force is the great true compassion – none other than buddhahood itself.

The Buddha-wisdom is pure and minute,

faultless and unhindered,

penetrating through infinite kalpas.