In this post, we discuss the self-nature of Citta, the Ultimate Reality and Truth of the cosmos.
Self-nature, or intrinsic nature, is known in Romanized Sanskrit as svabhava.
Svabhava (Chinese=自性), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “in Sanskrit, ‘self-nature,’ ‘intrinsic existence,’ or ‘inherent existence.'” Furthermore, “the term has a general sense of ‘essence’ or ‘nature.'” “In Yogācāra, as represented in the Samdhinirmocanasutra, ‘all phenomena can be categorized into three natures (trisvabhāva): the imaginary (parikalpita), the dependent (paratantra), and the consummate(parikalpita).'”
Samdhinirmocana Sūtra (Chinese=解深密經), also known as the “Noble Sūtra of the Explanation of the Profound Secrets, is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text and the most important sūtra of the Yogācāra school. It contains explanations of key Yogācāra concepts such as the basal consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), the doctrine of appearance-only (vijñapti-mātra), and the “three own natures” (trisvabhāva).”
The three self-natures are:
1) Parikalpita (Chinese: 遍計所執性), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is “imputed,” “imaginary,” or “artificial,” the first of the three natures.” “The Yogācāra’ mind only (cittamatra) system expounded in the Yogacarabhumi, Madhyantavibhga, Mahayanasutralamkara, and the commentaries of Asanga and Visubandhu asserts that external objects do not exist as materially different entities, separate from the consciousness that perceives them; all ordinary appearances are distorted by subject and object bifurcation (grahyagrahakavikalpa).'”
Paratantra belongs to Rupa not only because it is an illusory phenomenon whose existence is dependent on observation, but all phenomena in it “are distorted by subject and object bifurcation (grahyagrahakavikalpa). We will discuss the illusory nature of Rupa in future posts.
2) Paratantra (Chinese: 依他起性), according to the Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, “‘is other-powered,’ viz. ‘dependent,’ the second of the three natures, a central tenet of the Yogācāra school.” Furthermore, “the paratantra category encompasses all impermanent phenomena, which are produced in dependence on causes and conditions.”
Parikalpita also belongs to Rupa because it is a conditioned phenomenon (Chinese: 有為法) that exists impermanently “through the concomitance of causes and conditions,” as discussed in Post 4.
3). Parinispanna (Chinese: 圓成實性), according to The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, is” ‘perfected, or ‘consummated,’ the third of the three natures.” “Parinispanna is the emptiness or lack of an imaginary external world (bahyartha) materially different from the consciousness that perceives it.” “The consummate nature is the highest reality, according to Yogācāra. ”
Parinispanna belongs to Citta of the Ultimate Reality, not only because the Ultimate Reality is the “highest reality,” but also because it lacks an imaginary world associated with it.
To understand the meaning of the consummate self-nature of the Ultimate Reality, we turn to Dharma Master Dijian Hui-Neng.
Master Dajian Hui-Neng (638-713) (Chinese: 大鑒惠能), or simply Master Hui-Neng, is best known as the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism and “a central figure in the early history of Chinese Chan Buddhism..”
Chan Buddhism, “from Sanskrit dhyāna (meaning “meditation” or “meditative state”), is a Chinese school of Mahāyāna Buddhism. It developed in China from the 6th century CE onwards, becoming especially popular during the Tang and Song dynasties.
Chan is the originating tradition of Zen Buddhism (the Japanese pronunciation of the same character, which is the most commonly used English name for the school). Chan Buddhism spread from China south to Vietnam as Thiền and north to Korea as Seon, and, in the 13th century, east to Japan as Japanese Zen.”
The lineage of Chan Buddhism began with Buddha’s enlightened disciple, Mahakasyapa (Chinese: 摩訶迦葉), also known as the “father of the sangha (Chinese: 頭陀第一).”
Indian monk Master Bodhidharma (Chinese: 菩提達摩) inherited Mahakasyapa’s lineage and brought it from India to China. Bodhidharma’s transmission of Buddhism led to the establishment of many Buddhist schools in China, including the Chan lineage. Therefore, Master Bodhidharma would eventually be known as the First Patriarch of Chinese Chan Buddhism. Master Hui-Neng then inherited the title of the Sixth Patriarch from him.
Master Hui-Neng is best known for the Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch (Chinese=六祖壇經;) or simply the Platform Sūtra, the “key themes” of which “are the direct perception of one’s true nature.” The Platform Sūtra recorded his early stories and experiences during and after enlightenment.
Direct perception is central to Buddhism. Together with inference, direct perception is one of the two means of knowledge that the Buddha teaches for understanding both observable phenomena and the inconceivable world of mentality. They will be discussed when we explore epistemology.
Born around 638 CE, Master Hui Neng was a humble, illiterate woodchopper who made his living by cutting firewood in the nearby hills and selling it in town. His first encounter with Buddhism was serendipitous. One day, he passed someone reciting the Diamond Sūtra on his way back from delivering wood to a client. Upon hearing the phrase, “with (the mind) without attachments, let Citta rise (Chinese: 應無所住，而生其心),” he became “enlightened (Chinese: 開悟),” in his own words from the Platform Sūtra. He then asked the person reciting the sūtra about the name and source of the sūtra and was told that it was the Diamond Sūtra and that it came from the Fifth Patriarch, Dharma Master Hong Ren.” His desire to learn Buddhism was so overwhelming that he paid someone to care for his aging mother before setting out to seek instructions from Master Hong Ren.
Upon meeting this wood chopper, the Fifth Patriarch immediately asked Hui Neng what he came to seek. The future Sixth Patriarch answered that he came “solely to seek Buddhahood, nothing else (Chinese: 惟求作佛，不求餘物).” Nevertheless, the Fifth Patriarch sent Hui Neng off to work in the kitchen, where he labored for more than eight months, never given a chance to attend Dharma talks or meditate with the others.
One day, the Fifth Patriarch summoned Hui Neng to visit him in the abbot’s room at night. There, the Fifth Patriarch gave him a sermon on the Diamond Sūtra. When it came to the same place in the Sūtra, “with (the mind) without attachments, let Citta rise,” Master Hui Neng became, in his words from the Platform Sūtra, “greatly enlightened (Chinese: 大悟),” realizing that “all the ten thousand dharmas are inseparable from the self-nature (Chinese: 一切萬法, 不離自性). Immediately, Hui-Neng reported what he learned as the five attributes of self-nature to the Fifth Patriarch.
The following are the five attributes of Citta he reported to the Fifth Patriarch.
i) How could one have expected that the Self-Nature is essentially pure; (Chinese: 何期自性，本自清淨)?
ii) How could one have expected that the Self-Nature is essentially without birth or death (Chinese: 何期自性，本不生滅)?
iii) How could one have expected that the Self-Nature is essentially self-sufficient (Chinese: 何期自性，本自具足);
iv) How could one have expected that the Self-Nature is essentially without vacillation (Chinese: 何期自性，本無動搖);
v) How could one have expected that the Self-Nature can produce ten thousand dharmas (Chinese: 何期自性，能生萬法)?
Upon hearing Hui Neng’s revelations, the Fifth Patriarch immediately recognized the depth of his enlightenment, designated him as having attained Buddhahood, and appointed him his successor. In this way, the still illiterate and never-allowed-to-meditate nor attend-Dharma-talk woodchopper would eventually become the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism!
However, instead of asking Hui Neng to stay at the monastery, the Fifth Patriarch demanded that he leave immediately, fearing that some monks from the monastery might want to harm him. Consequently, Hui Neng hid among hunting groups as their cook for fifteen years before being rediscovered as the missing Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism.
So, let’s discuss the five attributes one by one.
1) Essentially Pure:
“Essentially Pure,” meaning purity without turbidity, speaks to the fact that Citta is an unconditioned dharma (Chinese: 無為法), existing “uncompounded” and “not subject to impermanence.” Indeed, as the essence of the Ultimate Reality, purity is permanent.
2) Essentially without birth or death:
“Essentially without birth or extinction” concerns Buddha’s teaching known as Grahyagrahakavikalpa (Chinese: 所取能取分別). As discussed in a previous post on Citta as the Ultimate Reality and Truth, grahyagrahakavikalpa is “used in the Yogācāra school to refer to the misconception that there is an inherent bifurcation between a perceiving subject (grahaka) and its perceived object (grahya).” By acknowledging that there is neither birth nor death, Dharma Master Hui-Neng made it plain that he had achieved “the ultimate wisdom that is free from the subject-object distinction (grahyagrahakavikalpa).”
By achieving “the ultimate wisdom that is free from the subject-object distinction (grahyagrahakavikalpa)” Dharma Master Hui-Neng showed that he had reached the enlightened level of a Tathāgata (Chinese: 如來), similar to our historical Shakyamuni Buddha, and that of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who made similar statements and was on his way to becoming a Tathāgata when he described in the Heart Sutra how he had fulfilled Buddha’s soteriological goal.
So, the Fifth Patriarch was absolutely correct in recognizing the Dharma Master’s level of enlightenment and appointing him as his successor.
3) Essentially Self-Sufficient
Citta is self-sufficient because, as an unconditioned, uncompounded, and perduring phenomenon that exists eternally and noncausally with an enlightened and luminous mind, it is self-sufficient in its own existence.
4) Essentially without vacillation:
“Essentially without vacillation,” quite obviously, refers to Citta as a non-fluctuating, quiescent mentality.
5) Can produce ten thousand dharmas:
The phrase “ten thousand dharmas” is a metaphor for the myriad phenomena of the universe (Chinese: 森羅萬象). In other words, the phrase “can produce ten thousand dharmas” is no longer about Citta, but about Rupa.
As discussed in Post 4, in Mohe Zhiguan, Buddha teaches that “citta gives rise to rupa (Chinese: 色從心造).” The “citta” here refers not to the quiescent mentality of the Ultimate Reality, but to the fluctuating mentality that originates everything in the universe.
By understanding both Citta and Rupa at the same time, Dharma Master Hui Neng showed that he had achieved the same level of understanding reality as Buddha’s in Mohe Zhiguan: the understanding of the inconceivable realm (Chinese: 不可思議境) consisting of Citta and Rupa at the same time. Both have reached the level of understanding reality that requires the “tenth vessel (Chinese: 十乘)” meditative state, the highest and most profound meditative state. It is another affirmation that the Fifth Patriarch was right to appoint Dharma Master Hui Neng as his successor.
In these few lines, Dharma Master Hui Neng, an illiterate woodchopper with little exposure to the teachings of Buddha except for listening to a few lines of the Diamond Sūtra, showed that he reached an enlightenment level similar to our historical Shakyamuni Buddha, proofing that the Fifth Patriarch was right to appoint him his successor and justifying why Chan Buddhism emphasizes “direct insight into the nature of reality.”
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