In this post, we discuss Citta, the Ultimate Reality and Truth of the cosmos, and one of the two realms of reality in the cosmos: Citta and Rupa.
As mentioned before, 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.”
Now, let’s discuss some attributes of Citta.
1) Citta as The Ultimate Reality (Romanized Sanskrit: tattva; Chinese: 實相)
As mentioned in Post 4, Citta is an unconditioned phenomenon (Chinese: 無為法), meaning that it is “‘uncompounded,’…. not conditioned and therefore perduring phenomena that are not subject to impermanence.”
- Existing as an “unconditioned” phenomenon means that the existence of Citta is not conditioned upon any external factors. Therefore, its existence can only be “noncausal,” which is what Buddha teaches in Such is the Way of Dharma, discussed in the previous post.
- Citta is “not subject to impermanence” because it is quiescent. The reason is that, without any fluctuations, the “realness” of Citta can never change. Because its “realness” can never change, Buddha calls Citta the Ultimate Reality. That is the definition of the Ultimate Reality in Buddhism: to be the Ultimate Reality, its “realness” must not change.
- “Uncompounded” means that the Ultimate Reality consists of hing but Citta.
- In Buddhism, a quiescent mentality refers to a state of being aware (Chinese: 静意識). Therefore, Citta is awareness, and the Ultimate Reality has Nothing but Awareness.
- In contrast, a fluctuating mentality refers to a state of being conscious (Chinese: 意識). Since Rupa refers to a mentality that fluctuates incessantly, it is a realm of Nothing but Conscious.
- The distinction is important partly because the term “awareness” is one term that an enlightened person, such as the contemporary American Adyashanti, can use to describe the environment he was in upon enlightenment.
Buddha’s teachings on the Ultimate Reality answer the question: “Is consciousness the Ultimate Reality?” Consciousness cannot be the Ultimate Reality in Buddhism because the “realness” of a conscious mind is impermanent and always subject to change.
The answer to “Is Consciousness Fundamental?” is that consciousness is fundamental, but only in rupa, which refers to the universe humans experience.
2) Citta as the Originally Enlightened Mind (Chinese: 本覺心).
As discussed in Post 3 on A Few Foundational Concepts, in the Astasahasrika-Prajnaparamita-Sutra (Chinese: 道行般若波羅蜜經), the Buddha defines enlightenment as “thought of enlightenment is no thought since in its essential original nature thought is transparently luminous.”
Of course, a quiescent mentality is a “no thought” mind. Therefore, per Buddha’s definition, Citta is the enlightened mind of the Ultimate Reality, whose “essential original nature is transparently luminous.”
As an enlightened mind, Citta plays a critical role in attaining enlightenment. We will discuss this topic in greater detail in the next post.
3) Citta as the Original Transparent Luminosity
While “no thought” refers to Citta as an enlightened mind, luminosity of the enlightened mind refers to the fact that the Ultimate Reality is also the “realm of eternally quiescent light (Chinese: 常寂光土).”
The realm of eternally quiescent light refers to where the “true” body of a Tathāgata Buddha resides.
The “true body” is one of the three bodies (Romanized Sanskrit: trikaya; Chinese: 法身) of a Tathāgata.
- True Body (Romanized Sanskrit: dharmakaya; Chinese: 法身).
- Enjoyment Body (Romanized Sanskrit: sambhogakaya; Chinese: 報身).
- Emnation Body (Romanized Sanskrit: nimanakaya; Chinese: 化身).
The meaning of “the realm of eternally quiescent light” is as follows.
- Eternally: Eternality refers to the fact that the Ultimate Reality is an unconditional phenomenon, “not subject to impermanence.”
- Quiescent: Referring to the fact that the Ultimate Reality consists of nothing but the quiescent Citta that never fluctuates.
- Light: Referring to the light of “the ultimate wisdom that is free from the subject-object distinction (grahyagrahakavikalpa)” that the Suchness of the Ultimate Reality possesses. This topic is discussed in greater detail below in the section on Suchness (Chinese: 真如).
4) Citta as the Inconceivable
As discussed earlier, in Mohe Zhiguan, Buddha describes Citta and Rupa as inconceivable (Chinese: 不可思議).
Known in Romanized Sanskrit as acintya, inconceivable is, according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, “a term used to describe the ultimate reality that is beyond conceptualization.”
“Beyond conceptualization” means that Citta cannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. Another example of a reality “beyond conceptualization” is natural gas. Because it is “beyond conceptualization,” natural gas cannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. Therefore, odorants are added to it so natural gas t can be detected in the event of a leak, helping prevent disaster.
5) Citta as Emptiness (Chinese:空)
Emptiness (Chinese: 空), known in Romanized Sanskrit as shunyata/sunyata, according to The Dictionary Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, also known as “void,” is a “central notion of Buddhism….Shunyata is often equated with the absolute in the Mahāyāna since it is without duality and empirical forms.” “Absolute” is another name for the Ultimate Reality.
Calling Citta as Emptiness is another way of saying Citta is inconceivable. While inconceivable means that Citta is imperceivable, Emptiness refers to the fact that Citta does not manifest as a sensible phenomenon, the reason why it is inconceivable.
6) Citta as the Consummate Self-Nature of the Ultimate Reality
In his teaching known as the Three Self-Natures (Chinese: 三自性), Buddha deems the self-nature of the Ultimate Reality as “perfected” or “consummated (Chinese: 圓成實性).” This topic will be discussed in greater detail in a future post when we will discuss how Master Dajian Hui-Neng (Chinese: 大鑒惠能), or Dharma Master Hui-Neng, the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism, known for his Platform Sūtra (Chinese: 六祖壇經), describes the Consummate Self-Nature of the Ultimate upon his second enlightenment.
7) Citta as Nirvana
Nirvana (Chinese: 涅槃), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, ‘extinction,’ the earliest and most common term describing the soteriological goal of Buddhism.”
Citta as Nirvana refers to the fact that Citta plays a critical role in understanding what is extinct when Buddha’s soteriological goal is fulfilled, a debatable subject among Buddhists. In Post 28, we will discuss this topic from the perspective of the Buddha, using the experience of Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara‘s fulfillment of the Buddha’s soteriological goal as an example.
8) 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 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.“
a) Samvrtisatya (Chinese: 俗諦). To understand Samvrtisatya, we first understand the meaning of Samvrti (Chinese: 俗), which, according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “In Sanskrit, ‘conventional,’ or ‘relative;’ a term used to designate the phenomena, concepts, and understanding associated with unenlightened, ordinary beings (Romanized Sanskrit: Prthagjana; Chinese: 凡夫).”
In other words, Samvrtisatya, meaning conventional truth, is the truth associated with the unenlightened, ordinary being.
In contrast to the Ultimate Truth, conventional truth is ever-changing because the minds of the unenlightened beings are active all the time. When minds are active, truths are subject to change from time to time, as all humans can appreciate.
Indeed, in a world where truths are subject to change, there is no absolute or universal truth. When “truths” are subject to change, the so-called “truths” are no more than mere opinions that are relative. Therefore, instead of fighting or arguing that my “truth” is truer than your “truth,” my God is better than yours, or I am mightier than you, humanity should understand the illusory nature of its existence and that of everything it wants to possess. Cravings for power, wealth, and prestige that lead to war or conflict are meaningless not only because there is really nothing to be had in a world where there is Nothing but Mentality, but even if one has them for a while, one cannot keep them when one inevitably expires.
Instead of constantly facing wars and conflicts, it would be better if humanity could live in peace and harmony. Be altruistic to others. Understand that the best way to help oneself is by helping others. Those who have volunteered would appreciate the happiness that comes with being selfless.
“People facing death don’t think about what degrees they have earned, what positions they have held, or how much wealth they have accumulated. At the end, what really matters is who you loved and who loved you. That circle of love is everything, and is a great measure of a past life.” Bernadine Healy
b) 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).”
Citta is the Ultimate Truth because, like the “realness” of the Ultimate Reality, the “truthness” of its mind also does not change.
To understand the meanings of “highest object truth” and “object of wisdom (prajna),” one must first understand Suchness, which, as discussed in Post 5, is known in Romanized Sanskrit as Tathata.
Tathata (Chinese: 真如), according to the Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, ‘suchness,’ or ‘thusness,’ a term for ultimate reality, especially in Mahāyāna schools. Along with terms such as “Dharmata, Dharmadhatu, and Bhutakoti …..referring to the eternal nature of reality that is ‘ever thus,’ or ‘just so,’ and free of all conceptual elaborations.” In Yogacara/Vijnanavada, the term refers to the ultimate wisdom that is free from the subject-object distinction (grahyagrahakavikalpa).” “In the Madhyamaka school, any attempt to substantiate the nature of reality is rejected, and tathata is instead identified with emptiness and the cessation of all dichotomizing tendencies of thought.”
Grahyagrahakavikalpa (Chinese: 所取能取分別), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, ‘discrimination between the grasped and the grasper,’ or ‘false conception of apprehended and the apprehender,’ a special kind of discrimination (Vikalpa) used in the Yogacara school to refer to the misconception that there is an inherent bifurcation between a perceiving subject (grahaka) and its perceived object (grahya).'”
As apparent from Suchness, the “highest object of truth” is “ultimate wisdom that is free from the subject-object distinction (grahyagrahakavikalpa).” To understand the meaning of “the object of wisdom (prajna),” we must also know who “the subject of wisdom” is so that when the subject and object of wisdom become one, the “subject of the wisdom” can receive the “ultimate wisdom” from “the object of wisdom” to be “free from the subject-object distinction.”
That person’s name is related to Tatha because it is called a Tathāgata. The implication is obvious: when one understands that “ultimate wisdom that is free from the subject-object distinction,” one becomes a Tathāgata.
Tathāgata (Chinese: 如來), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit and Pali, lit., one who has thus come/gone.” “A secondary denotation of the term is to understand ‘things as they are.'”
In other words, a Tathāgata is one who “understands things as they are.” Furthermore, A Tathāgata understands “things as they are” by having the “ultimate wisdom that is free from the subject-object distinction.”
Our historical Shakyamuni Buddha is a Tathāgata.
In the Diamond Sūtra, “one of the most influential Mahāyāna sūtras in East Asia, and it is particularly prominent within the Chan (or Zen) tradition, along with the Heart Sūtra,” Buddha vowed that he would be an honest teacher, as said that, like all Tathāgatas of the past, he is “a speaker of the truth, a speaker of veracity, a speaker of thusness, a non-deceptive speaker, and an un-contradictory speaker (Chinese:如來是真語者，實語者，如語者, 不誑語者, 不異語者”).
Indeed, given that suchness/thusness refers to “understanding things as they are,” the speaker of suchness/thusness means a speaker of “things as they are.”
In other words, Buddha teaches with the honesty of a highly credible reporter. The late anchorman for CBS Evening News from the 1960s to the 1970s, Mr. Walter Cronkite (1916-2009) was such a reporter. Deemed “the most trusted man in America,” Mr. Cronkite was known for his departing catchphrase, “And that’s the way it is.” Like Buddha, who is a speaker of “things as they are,” Mr. Cronkite’s departing catchphrase was his way of telling his audience that what he just reported was the way it happened. It is with the same logic that Buddha calls his teaching on the eternal nature of the inconceivable mentality “Such is the Way of Dharma (Chinese: 法爾如是).”
The translation of Tathāgata in Chinese is a “thus come one (Chinese=如來).” However, whether a Tathāgata is translated as “thus come one,” or “thus gone one,” it is critical to understand that where a Tathāgata “comes” and “goes” do not refer to physical destinations. Instead, the destinations of these two seemingly opposite directions are the same: the state of “no thought” mind that Buddha describes as originally enlightened, luminous, and characterized by a consummate self-nature. To put it another way, the true body of a Tathāgata returns to the “realm of eternally quiescent light.”
In his doctrine known as Buddhadhatu, Buddha teaches that all sentient beings have the potential to achieve Buddhahood.
Buddhadhatu (Chinese: 佛性), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, ‘buddha-element,’ or ‘buddha-nature;’ the potential of all sentient beings to achieve Buddhahood.”
So, what is the potential of all sentient beings to achieve Buddhahood? It is their consciousness. Indeed, by calming one’s conscious mind to a state of being awareness, one can be enlightened and become a Tathataga upon further effort. It is by no means easy. However, the potential is there.
Indeed, all unenlightened, ordinary human beings can take the Buddhist path to become a Tathāgata, and to understand “things as they are.” And the benefits of understanding “things as they are” are immense.
As Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara said in the Heart Sūtra, knowing “things as they are” allows one to live a life that is “carefree, without fear, are far from topsy-turvy reveries (Chinese: 心無罣礙, 無罣礙故, 無有恐怖, 遠離顛倒夢想.”
Additionally, in the Lotus Sūtra, Buddha said, “Listen carefully to the
Tathāgata’s secret and transcendent powers. The devas, humans, and asuras in all the worlds all think that the present Buddha, Śākyamuni, left the palace of the Śākyas, sat on the terrace of enlightenment not far from the city of Gayā, and attained anuttara-samyaksambodhi. However, O sons of a virtuous family, immeasurable, limitless, hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of nayutas of kalpas have passed since I actually attained Buddhahood. (Chinese: 汝等諦聽, 如來秘密神通之力. 一切世間天, 人, 及阿修羅, 皆謂, 今釋迦牟尼佛, 出釋氏宮, 去伽耶城不遠, 坐於道場, 得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提. 然善男子, 我實成佛已來, 無量無邊, 百千萬億那由他劫.”
Rather than elucidating the various Buddhist terms contained in the message, I would summarize succintly: “While everyone thinks that I, as Shakyamuni Buddha, was enlightened in this lifespan, the fact is that I have been a Buddha for eons upon eons.”
In other words, understanding “things as they are” not only allows one to live a life that is “carefree, without fear, and far from topsy-turvy reveries,” but it also allows one to have such a lifestyle that can last “eons upon eons.”
9) Citta as Philosophical and Religious Attributes
- Philosophical
- The relationship between the Ultimate Reality and Citta is comparable to philosopher Immanuel Kant’s (1724-1804) Noumenon and the thing-in-itself. Like Noumenon, the Ultimate Reality, as an inconceivable phenomenon, “exists independently of human senses.” Like the thing-in-itself, Citta, existing “uncompounded” as Nothing but Awareness, “is the status of the object as it is.”
- Religious
- Though not a religious entity, Citta can be considered:
- Omnipresent because it is spread through the cosmos,
- Omnipotent because mentality gives rise to all universal phenomena,
- Omniscient because by serving as the “object of wisdom,” Citta endows prajna (wisdom) to the “subject of wisdom” by letting him have the “ultimate wisdom” and understand “things as they are.”
- Though not a religious entity, Citta can be considered:
(If you like this post, please like it on our Facebook page and share. Thank you.)
