This post discusses the Ultimate Reality and Truth of the cosmos.
Let’s start by defining the two terms 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, the rupa represents the “body,” “form,” or “materiality” of the phenomena of the world, which serve as “the objects of the five sensory consciousnesses.” In this way, the phenomena of the world 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 meaning of “principle” and “vessel” need to be explained.
To understand the meaning of “principle,” one must first understand the meaning of 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 refers to its mental nature, which is the topic of this post.
“Vessels” are metaphors indicating increasingly profound meditative states, each leading to corresponding higher states of enlightenment, thus providing corresponding deeper insights into the nature of reality until reaching 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.” “Beyond conceptualization” means that even if mentality goes through the Five Aggregates, it cannot be conceptualized “in ways we do not govern.” Without being conceptualized, there can be no projections of consciousness, which means that mentality cannot appear as a phenomenon. Without appearing as a phenomenon, mentality cannot serve as “the objects of the five sensory consciousnesses.” It is why mentality cannot be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, or touched. It is also why Buddha teaches that if one wants to understand mentality, one must become part of the world of mentality through meditation, a way to perceive mentality directly.
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 Buddha’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:
“What insight can be had (Chinese=所觀者何)?”
The answer:
“Nothing outside of rupa and citta (Chinese=不出色，心).”
“Citta gives rise to rupa (Chinese=色從心造).”
“All are ontologically citta (Chinese=全體是心).“
These statements in Mohe Zhiguan make clear that rupa and mentality are the only realities in the cosmos. However, rupa is also mental because mentality gives rise to it. “Everything is ontologically mental ” summarizes everything: there is Nothing but Mentality.
Of course, this is what the Five Aggregates also tell us: all the five constituents of beings in the world are mental.
Now, let’s discuss some attributes of Citta.
1) The Ultimate Reality as an Unconditioned Phenomenon.
In his teaching Two Conditions of Dharma, Buddha teaches that all world phenomena are either unconditioned or conditioned. An unconditioned phenomenon is permanent and uncompounded, meaning that it is not produced “through the concomitance of causes and conditions.” On the other hand, conditioned phenomena are impermanent and produced by the concomitance of causes and conditions.
To be the Ultimate Reality in Buddha’s cosmos, the “realness” of its reality must never change. Therefore, only an unconditioned phenomenon can be the Ultimate Reality because if it were produced “through the concomitance of causes and conditions,” its “realness” cannot be permanent because it will change whenever causes or conditions change. Since an unconditioned phenomenon must be uncompounded, the Ultimate Reality is a realm of Nothing but Mentality, which is Citta.
To avoid confusion between the unconditioned and the conditioned mentality, Citta, with a capital C, will be used to indicate the unconditioned mentality of the Ultimate Reality. On the other hand, “mentality” will be used to indicate a fluctuating mentality.
Buddha’s teachings on what the Ultimate Reality is answer the question, “Is consciousness the Ultimate Reality?” Consciousness cannot be the Ultimate Reality in Buddhism because consciousness (Chinese=意識) signifies a fluctuating mentality, and its “realness” is impermanent because it changes with every fluctuation.
The answer to the question, “Is Consciousness Fundamental?” is yes, but only in the universe. However, awareness (Chinese=靜意識) is fundamental in the Ultimate Realty, where the mentality is quiescent. Furthermore, awareness is more fundamental than consciousness in Buddha’s cosmos because the conscious universe disappears upon enlightenment, leaving nothing but the enlightened person’s awareness that the universe disappeared. In other words, at the time of enlightenment, the enlightened experienced Nothing but Mentality. Consequently, any enlightened person, such as Adyashanti and two others, can verify the Ultimate Reality.
2) Other Terms for the Ultimate Reality
In addition to inconceivable, principle, and tattva, there are other terms for the Ultimate Reality, each describing the Ultimate Reality from a different perspective.
a) Suchness (Chinese=真如), known in Romanized Sanskrit as Tathata, according to the Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, “suchness,” or “thusness,” a term for ultimate reality, especially in Mahayana 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.”
b) Emptiness (Chinese=空), known in Romanized Sanskrit as shunyata/sunyata, according to The Dictionary Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen, is also known as “void,” is a “central notion of Buddhism….Shunyata is often equated with the absolute in the Mahayana since it is without duality and empirical forms.” As discussed earlier, the lack of empirical forms of the Ultimate Reality is because it is “beyond conceptualization.”
c) Absolute: Absolute is another synonym for the Ultimate Reality.
d) 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.”
As discussed, Buddha says the following about Nirvana:
- “There is that plane where there is neither earth, water, fire, nor air, neither the sphere of infinite space…nor the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception, neither this world nor another, nor both together, neither the sun nor the moon.“
- “Here, O monks, I say that there is no coming or going, no staying, no passing away or arising. It is not something fixed; it moves not on; it is not based on anything. This is indeed the end of suffering.”
- While the “there” of Nirvana signifies enlightenment, the “here” of Nirvana signifies the satisfaction of Buddha’s soteriological goal; their difference represents levels of understanding the nature of reality and occurs in the Ultimate Reality, the realm of enlightenment.
3) Ultimate Reality 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.“
Saramathasatya 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).”
The Ultimate Reality is “the object of wisdom” because, at the time of enlightenment, it serves as the “experienced object” that forms “a non-dualistic state of consciousness with the consciousness of the “experiencing subject,” which is the enlightened person, as defined in Samadhi.
Forming a non-dualistic consciousness with the Ultimate Reality allows the enlightened to be a part of the Ultimate Reality, which enables them to directly perceive the “experiential contents” of the Ultimate Reality. “Experiential contents,” also known in Buddhism as “all objects of knowledge” a person must encompass to become a Buddha, or “empirical facts” by Dr. Fisch, is “the object of wisdom” that imparts knowledge derived from the “experiential content” to the enlightened, who serves as its “experiencing subject.” It is why Buddha is the third party in the three-body setup of the cosmos.
As defined in Suchness, according to Yogacara/Vijnanavada, the Ultimate Reality is “the ultimate wisdom that is free from the subject-object distinction (grahyagrahakavikalpa).” As discussed previously, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara gained the ultimate wisdom by realizing that the Ultimate Reality is “free from the subject-object distinction,” liberated himself from his existential suffering, on his way to becoming a Tathagata, thus satisfying Buddha’s soteriological goal.
The Ultimate Reality is also the Ultimate Truth because the fact that the Ultimate Reality is Nothing but Mentality and that it is “free from the subject-object distinction” is permanently true and verifiable by enlightened people across time and space.
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.”
Indeed, “unenlightened, ordinary beings” understand phenomena and concepts through inferentially connected word-based knowledge. As. Dr. Kuhn understood that while word-based knowledge lets one know how “everything is related to something else,” it does not inform “what the world really is.” As history shows, how “everything is related to something else” is subject to change when knowledge “improves” with time. Therefore, conventional truths are impermanent and relative.
4) Philosophical and Religious Comparisons
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 “exists indepedently of human senses.” Like the thing-in-itself, Citta, as Nothing but Mentality, “is the status of the object as it is.”
From the religious perspective, the Ultimate Reality can be considered omnipresent because it is spread through the cosmos. Mentality can be regarded as omnipotent because it gives rise to all universal phenomena. While not a deity, any Buddha can be considered omniscient because when he “encompasses all objects of knowledge,” he is all-knowing about the nature of reality.
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