How can the dharmas [of sentient beings and the Buddha] … differ from that of mind? [It cannot and does not.] The only [tentative] difference is that the dharmas of sentient beings are very vast [since they include the nine realms] and the dharma of the Buddha is very superior and thus they are difficult for beginners to comprehend. However, [as the Avataṃsaka Sūtra says,] these three [dharmas of] mind, the Buddha, and sentient beings are not distinct.”²⁵⁶ It is simple to merely contemplate one’s own thoughts.

The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says, “All sentient beings are endowed with the three concentrations [samadhi]. . . . The superior concentration refers to the Buddha-nature.”²⁵⁷ This superior concentration is so-called because it is a contemplation of the nature of one’s mind. The superior includes the inferior. Therefore this includes the dharma of sentient beings.

The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says, “If one disports one’s mind in the dharma-realm [dharmadhātu] as if in space, then one will know the objective realm of all Buddhas.”²⁵⁸ The dharmadhātu is the middle. Space is emptiness. The mind and Buddhas are conventional existence. The three together are the objective realm of all Buddhas. This means that if one contemplates [the thoughts of] one’s mind, one can become endowed with all Buddha-dharmas.

This magician-like mind,²⁵⁹ in a single day and night, is constantly creating various sentient beings, aggregates, and various “lands,” such as tentative and real “lands” from hell to that of the Buddha. The practitioner must himself decide and choose which path he should follow.²⁶⁰

256

This refers to the famous verse from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra which emphasizes the importance of the mind in our perception of the objective world. See note 106. This verse can be interpreted in many ways, some more “idealistic” than others. The first part of the verse is often quoted as providing the basis for a mind-only philosophy. The last part of the verse, however, which equates the Buddha, sentient beings, and the mind, weakens this interpretation. In other words, one could use this verse with equal justification to argue that Buddhism is a “Buddha-only” or a “sentient-beings-only” philosophy. All these positions are an extreme interpretation. This verse needs to be re-examined in light of the entire context of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra. For a discussion of Chih-i’s frequent use of this quote, see Andō Toshio 1978, 152ff. return

257

This quote is from a section of the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, which discusses the Buddha-nature. See Yamamoto, 659. The context reads: “O good man! All sentient beings are endowed with the three concentrations, i.e., superior, middling, and inferior. The superior (concentration) refers to the Buddha-nature. Therefore we say that all sentient beings have the Buddha-nature. The middling (concentration) refers to all sentient beings being endowed with the first dhyāna (transic state). When conditions are right, they are able to practice it. If conditions are not right, they are not able to practice it. return

258

Once again this is not an exact quote but the meaning is the same. See the Avatawsaka Sütra, T. 9, 409c1. return

259

The mind is like a “magician” because it creates illusions, and the impressions produced in the mind are not the same as the reality which is the true “thusness” of what we see as the objective world. return

260

But it is implied that the path of contemplating the mind is the most accessible. return