14. Citta (i): The Ultimate Reality and Truth

Having discussed the two realms of reality in Such is the Way of Dharma, this post discusses one of these two realms: the unconditioned Ultimate Reality of the cosmos.

The teaching that the cosmos consists of an additional unconditioned realm of reality beyond our universe is uniquely Buddhist. This unique teaching is possible because of Buddha’s unique epistemology, which consists of direct perception as a second means of knowledge to understand the reality that inferentially connected words cannot. However, faith in Buddhism is not blind. The existence of the Ultimate Reality can be verified by anyone who practices direct perception successfully. An example from a contemporary is discussed in this post.

Let’s start by defining the two terms that are essential to discussing the Ultimate Reality and its counterpart: Citta and Rupa.    

Citta (Chinese=心), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “mind,” “mentality,” or “thought.” Furthermore, “Citta is contrasted with the physical body and materiality.”

Rupa (Chinese=色), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit and Pali, “body,” “form,” or “materiality,” viz., that which has shape and is composed of matter. More generally, rupa refers to the materiality, which serves as the object of the five sensory consciousness (vijnana): visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile.” In other words, rupa represents the “body,” “form,” or “materiality” of the phenomenal universe, which can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted and touched.  

Buddha’s teachings in the Mohe Zhiguan are the sources of our discussion.  

Mohe Zhiguan (Chinese=摩訶止觀) is a “voluminous” and “comprehensive Buddhist doctrinal summa which discusses meditation and various key Buddhist doctrines. ….. It is particularly important in the development of Buddhist meditation….,” and “a major focus of the Móhē zhǐguān is the practice of Samatha (止 zhǐ, calming or stabilizing meditation) and Vipassana (觀 guān, clear seeing or insight). Most importantly, Mohe Zhiguan “is founded firmly on scripture; every key assertion of the text is supported by sutra quotations.”

With “every key assertion of the text supported by sutra quotations,” Mohe Zhiguan is comprehensive, highly credible, and authoritative.

One doctrine that Mohe Zhiguan teaches is “The Ten Vessels for Insights into Principle (Chinese=十乘之理觀).” “The ten vessels of insight into principle” carries two important meanings.

To understand the meaning of “principle,” one must first understand the meaning of the Romanized Sanskrit word tattva.

Tattva (Chinese=實相), according to the Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, lit., “thatness,” a term with two important denotations. First, it can mean “ultimate reality,”.. the reality, free from all conceptual elaboration, that must be understood in order to be liberated from rebirth… Second, it may be translated as “principle.” In other words, “principle” is another term for the Ultimate Reality, and generally signify its mental nature, which is the topic of this post.  

The “vessels” are metaphors representing ten increasingly profound meditative states. Each higher level of meditation leads the practitioner towards higher states of enlightenment and, thus, provides deeper insights into the nature of reality.

In other words, “the ten vessels of insight into principle” means “the ten ever-increasing meditative states for an ever-increasingly deeper insight into the nature of reality until it is the inconceivable realm.  

Inconceivable is known in Romanized Sanskrit as acintya.

Acintya (Chinese=不可思議), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, “inconceivable,” a term used to describe the ultimate reality that is beyond conceptualization.”

The critical description here is “beyond conceptualization.” The fact that the Ultimate Reality cannot be conceptualized is why inferentially connected words cannot used to describe it. It is also why the aim of samathavipasyana, the meditation technique Buddha teaches to perceive the Ultimate Reality directly, is to calm the mind until it is quiescent. When the mind is quiescent, there can be no “reading in” of the mind and the subsequent conceptualization “in ways we do not govern.” By avoiding conceptualization, empirical facts of nature can be understood, all of which have been discussed previously.  

Therefore, the “ten vessels of insight” refer to the progressively increasing profoundness of samathavipasyana for a deeper understanding of the nature of reality until it is the Ultimate.  

The lecture notes that Dharma Master Jing Kong (Chinese=淨空法師) uses in this discussion are known as “The Chapter on the Ten Vessels of Insight into Reality in Tripitaka by Numbers, taken from Mohe Zhiguan (Chinese=三藏法數十乘條: [出摩訶止觀]).”

Tripitaka (Chinese=三藏), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, “three baskets,” one of the most common and best known of the organization schema of the Indian Buddhist canon. The three baskets were Sutrapitaka (Chinese=經藏) (basket of discourses), Vinayapitaka (Chinese=律藏) (basket of disciplinary texts), and Abhidharmapitaka (Chinese=論藏) ( [alt. “Sastrapitaka] (basket of “higher dharma” or “treaties.“)

Mohe Zhiguan belongs to the basket of Sutrapitaka.

Tripitaka by Numbers (Chinese=三藏法數) is a well-known Chinese Buddhist encyclopedia that arranges BBuddha’steachings by numbers. For example, the doctrine, The Ten Vessels of Insight into Reality, would be categorized under ten.

So, what insight can one expect after reaching the inconceivable realm (Chinese=不可思議境)?

First, a rhetorical question is asked:

What insight can be had (Chinese=所觀者何)?”

The answer:

“Nothing outside of rupa, citta (Chinese=不出色,心).”

“Rupa originates from citta (Chinese=色從心造).”

“All are ontologically citta (Chinese=全體是心).

If we substitute rupa with “body, form, materiality” and citta with “mentality,” as they are defined, then one understands that:

“There is nothing but “body, form, materiality,” and mentality.”

“Body, form, materiality” originates from mentality.”

“Mentality is the nature of existence of all “body, form, materiality.”

In these few words, Buddha answers the questions that humans have never been able to answer:  

Indeed, this is what the Five Aggregates tells us also.

Now, let’s discuss some attributes of Citta.

1) Citta as the Ultimate Reality

From the previous post, we understand that Such is the Way of Dharma contains two realms of reality, the Ultimate Reality and non-luminosity. So, how do we determine which is the Ultimate Reality if both are Nothing but Mentality?

To be the Ultimate Reality, the “realness” of the realm cannot change. In other words, the Ultimate Reality belongs to the one where mentality is quiescent. Only when mentality is quiescent without fluctuations can the “realness” of its reality be permanent. On the other hand, the “realness” of the fluctuating mentality changes with every fluctuation. Therefore, while the fluctuating mentality is reality, it does not qualify as the Ultimate Reality in Buddhism.

To avoid confusion between the quiescent and fluctuating mentality, Citta, with a capital C, will be used to indicate the quiescent mentality of the Ultimate Reality. On the other hand, we will use “mentality” to indicate the realm where mentality never stops fluctuating, which is called non-luminosity.

Buddha’s teachings on what is or is not Ultimate Reality answer the question, “Is consciousness Ultimate Reality?Consciousness cannot be the Ultimate Reality in Buddhism because consciousness signifies a fluctuating mentality. As a fluctuating mentality, consciousness is not the Ultimate Reality. On the other hand, a quiescent mentality signifies awareness. Therefore, awareness is the Ultimate Reality, which enlightenment can confirm.

The answer to the question, “Is Consciousness Fundamental?” is yes, but only in the realm of rupa. As discussed earlier, all “body, form, or materiality” are epiphenomena, secondary phenomena derived from ripples in fluctuations mentality. Because they are fluctuations in mentality, they are conscious because fluctuating mentality is the definition of consciousness. On the other hand, awareness is fundamental in the Ultimate Reality, where mentality is quiescent.

2) Citta as the Ultimate Truth

Buddha’s Two Truths doctrine is known in Romanized Sanskrit as satyadvaya.

Satyadvaya (Chinese=二諦), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “In Sanskrit, “the two truths;” viz., “ultimate truth (Paramathasatya)” and “conventional truth (Samvrtisatya).” The two truths are central terms in Buddhist philosophy for categorizing the phenomena of the universe. Regardless of the school, the two truths are presumed to be exhaustive, with everything that exists, that is all Dharmas, falling into one of the two categories.

Paramathasatya Chinese=真諦/第一義諦), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, “based on the literal meaning of Paramathasatya,” is the “highest object truth because it is the object of wisdom (prajna).”

As defined in Suchness, according to Yogacara/Vijnanavada, the Ultimate Reality is “the ultimate wisdom that is free from the subject-object distinction (grahyagrahakavikalpa).” Like Citta is the Ultimate Reality because its “realness” never changes, Citta is the Ultimate Truth because being free from the subject-object distinction” is an unchanging truth of nature.

As Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara showed, paramathasatya is indeed the “object of wisdom” that one can gain by practicing the Perfection of Wisdom. Also known as Prajnaparamita (Chinese=般若波羅蜜多/智度), this highest wisdom is achieved by direct perception when the mind is quiescent.  

Samvrtisatya (Chinese=俗諦), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Buddhist Sanskrit, “convention truth” or “relative truth.

Furthermore, Samvrti (Chinese=俗), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, “conventional” or “relative,” a term to designate the phenomena, concepts, and understanding associated with unenlightened, ordinary beings.”

As discussed earlier, unenlightened, ordinary beings learn by using inferentially connected words after the conceptualization of the empirical facts of nature. Since conceptualization requires an active mind, consciousness is the driving force behind the necessity of using inferentially connected words. 

In other words, the two truths are separated by their state of mind and means of knowledge. The Ultimate Truth belongs to the quiescent Citta, which can only be directly perceived. On the other hand, conventional truths belong to the conscious mind and are understood using words.

Conventional truths are relative because humans have no definition of truth. Without a standard definition, truths are relative to different opinions. Conflicts, even wars, can result when different opinions cannot be settled. It is why the world has been chaotic throughout history.

However, it won’t be so if world leaders are enlightened or learn Buddhism.

The Ultimate Truth is also known as the First Principle of Truth (Chinese=第一義諦.) The First Principle of Truth guiding Buddhism is very simple and can be explained by Buddha’s three-body cosmic set.

Mentality is the only reality in the cosmos, and it has two states of fluctuations. The quiescent mentality is enlightened, where Reality and Truth are unchanging. Understanding it requires direct perception to gain wisdom/prajna. The fluctuating mentality is unenlightened, where realities and truths are relative. Known as non-luminosity, understanding the realm of fluctuating mentality requires knowledge, especially of quantum mechanics, except non-luminosity is conscious, and the quantum realm is not.

Furthermore, understanding the First Principle of Truth requires the help of a Tathagata like our historical Buddha. Indeed, without the help of our historical Buddha, humanity would have no idea of the three-body setup of the cosmos.

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