[Mahāmati Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva again said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One, we pray that you will explain the characteristics of the noble wisdom of self-realization and of the One Vehicle. If you explain the characteristics of the noble wisdom of self-realization and of the One Vehicle, the other bodhisattvas and I will rightly understand them, realize them for ourselves, not depend on others, and penetrate the Buddhadharma.”]

In the preceding section, the Buddha identified the twelve characteristics of deluded discrimination and told Mahāmati to abandon all such deluded discriminations and enter the noble wisdom of self-realization. In this section, Mahāmati further asks: What are the characteristics of the noble wisdom of self-realization and the fruition of the One Vehicle? This is so that the assembly may understand them well and personally realize the ultimate Buddhadharma.

[The Buddha said to Mahāmati: “Listen carefully, listen carefully, and reflect well upon this. I shall explain it to you.” Mahāmati said to the Buddha: “Yes, World-Honored One. I respectfully receive your instruction.” The Buddha said to Mahāmati: “What the former sages knew and transmitted from one to another is that deluded discrimination is without self-nature. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, dwelling alone in quiet places, observe through self-realization without depending on others. Free from the deluded discrimination of views, they advance stage by stage and enter the ground of the Tathāgata. This is called the characteristic of the noble wisdom of self-realization.”]

“Observing through self-realization”: “observe” means contemplative awareness, while “examine” means direct discernment. “Observing through self-realization” means cultivating and realizing by observing and illuminating one’s own mind.

The Buddha told Mahāmati that what the ancient Buddhas and sages of the past transmitted from Buddha to Buddha and patriarch to patriarch is that all deluded discriminations lack self-nature; in reality, no deluded discriminations exist.

This is the general explanation. What follows is a detailed explanation of the characteristics of the noble wisdom of self-realization and the One Vehicle:

“Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas, dwelling alone in quiet places, observe through self-realization without depending on others. Free from the deluded discrimination of views, they advance stage by stage and enter the ground of the Tathāgata. This is called the characteristic of the noble wisdom of self-realization.” Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas understand that no deluded discrimination can truly be obtained. Maintaining this right view, they dwell alone in quiet places and awaken and realize for themselves. Where there is nothing to discriminate and nothing to imagine falsely, they diminish and diminish again, relinquish and relinquish again. Thus they advance stage by stage and realize and enter the fruition-ground of the Tathāgata. This is the characteristic of the noble wisdom of self-realization.

“Without depending on others, free from the deluded discrimination of views”—this sentence is crucial. Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas understand that deluded thoughts are originally nonexistent, and are therefore able to leave behind all inverted deluded thoughts.

For example, actors know perfectly well that it is a play; therefore, though they are in the play, they are not burdened by its plot. Bodhisattvas understand that deluded thoughts lack self-nature. Thus, when deluded thoughts come, let them come; when they go, let them go. Neither follow them nor suppress thoughts; simply do not attend to them. Practiced in this way over a long time, without seeking deluded thoughts and without seeking truth, names, appearances, and deluded thoughts depart of themselves without being cast off, while right wisdom and suchness are realized of themselves without being sought. This is precisely what is meant by “free from the deluded discrimination of views.”

[“Mahāmati, what is the characteristic of the One Vehicle? To realize the awakening of the path of the One Vehicle is what I call the One Vehicle. How does one realize the awakening of the path of the One Vehicle? The grasper and the grasped are deluded discriminations; in the realm of reality, no deluded discrimination arises. This is called the awakening of the One Vehicle. Mahāmati, the awakening of the One Vehicle cannot be attained by non-Buddhist paths, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, Brahmā-kings, and the like; only the Tathāgata can attain it. Therefore, it is called the One Vehicle.”]

The preceding passage discussed the method of cultivation for entering the ground of the Tathāgata. This passage reveals the characteristic of the “One Vehicle.” The One Vehicle is the Buddha Vehicle—that is, the true fruition of the ground of the Tathāgata:

The Buddha told Mahāmati: What is meant by the “characteristic of the One Vehicle”? It is to realize the fruition of the path of the One Vehicle. But what does it mean to realize the fruition of the path of the One Vehicle?

“The grasper and the grasped are deluded discriminations; in the realm of reality, no deluded discrimination arises. This is called the awakening of the One Vehicle.” That is, the grasping subject and the grasped object are deluded discriminations; in the realm of reality, no deluded discrimination arises. “Only this one is real; all else is unreal.” Within this one reality, how could even the slightest deluded discrimination be admitted? Still less could one speak of existence or nonexistence. This is the fruition of the path of the One Vehicle, the ultimate fruition of Buddhahood.

This awakening of the One Vehicle is the ultimate meaning of the Buddhadharma. It cannot be known by other non-Buddhist paths, śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, Brahmā-kings, and the like; only the Tathāgata realizes it completely. Therefore it is called the One Vehicle. Notice that bodhisattvas who have entered the stages are not mentioned here, for at the place of ultimate meaning there is neither truth nor delusion, neither right nor wrong; it admits of neither suddenness nor gradualness. This is the true fruition of the path of the Tathāgata.

“The One Vehicle” appears many times in Buddhist scriptures. The Lotus Sūtra says: “In the lands of the ten directions, there is only the Dharma of the One Vehicle. There is neither a second nor a third, except where the Buddha teaches by skillful means.” The Avataṃsaka Sūtra says: “All Buddhas emerge from birth and death only by means of the One Vehicle.” Therefore, for practitioners to vow to enter the One Vehicle is precisely their proper task.

Otherwise, one enters a mountain of treasures in vain and returns empty-handed. Chan Master Huanglong Huinan once used this “One Vehicle,” which practitioners should constantly hold in vigilant awareness, to question a student: “What, after all, is the Dharma of the One Vehicle?” After a long pause, he answered himself: “Opening the cloth wrapper and spreading out the bowl—is this not the Dharma of the One Vehicle? Taking up the spoon and chopsticks—is this not the Dharma of the One Vehicle?” Then he lifted his staff and said: “What is this? If you call it the Dharma of the One Vehicle, your eyebrows and beard will fall out!” He struck the Chan seat with his staff and descended from the seat.

Do you all understand this One Vehicle? If you still do not, Master Yuanyin has an even more expedient saying: “Not a single thought arises, yet there is clear, ever-present knowing.” This accords exactly with the meaning of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: “In the realm of reality, no deluded discrimination arises.” “The realm of reality” is “clear, ever-present knowing,” and “no deluded discrimination arises” means “not a single thought arises.”

Of course, all these are words that make one’s eyebrows and beard fall out. Yet sentient beings’ foolish habitual tendencies are deeply entrenched, and they refuse to awaken for themselves. Thus the Buddhas do not begrudge descending into the weeds, and the old master does not begrudge his grandmotherly concern. The final sentence of A Brief Discussion of Realizing the Mind and Seeing One’s True Nature—“Who has seen me open my mouth?”—is the lively and complete disclosure of the characteristic of the One Vehicle.

[Mahāmati said to the Buddha: “World-Honored One, why do you speak of the Three Vehicles rather than the One Vehicle?” The Buddha said to Mahāmati: “Because they do not realize the Dharma of parinirvāṇa for themselves, I do not say that all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are of the One Vehicle. Since all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are disciplined by the Tathāgata and receive expedient means of quiescence, whereby they attain liberation, it is not by their own power. Therefore, I do not speak of the One Vehicle. Furthermore, Mahāmati, because the habitual tendencies of the karmic obstruction of afflictions have not been severed, I do not say that all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are of the One Vehicle. Because they do not realize the non-self of dharmas and do not leave behind segmented birth and death, I speak of the Three Vehicles.”]

Mahāmati then asks: Since the One Vehicle is ultimate, why is it said that there are Three Vehicles? The Three Vehicles are the śrāvaka vehicle, the pratyekabuddha vehicle, and the bodhisattva vehicle. The Buddha tells Mahāmati that there are three reasons for speaking of Three Vehicles:

First, those of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha vehicles do not understand that nirvāṇa is originally present and are unwilling to realize liberation for themselves; therefore, they are said not to be of the Buddha Vehicle. Although they arouse the resolve to leave behind the world, they still discriminate between the two sides, regard birth and death as suffering, and long for the pleasure of escape. They think that beyond birth and death there is a separate nirvāṇa to enter, and that beyond worldly dharmas there is a separate supramundane Dharma of the Tathāgata to attain.

At this point, the Tathāgata employs the expedient means of the Four Noble Truths to teach and discipline them, causing afflictions and deluded thoughts not to manifest, so that they realize a temporary quiescent purity. Thus, their liberation and nirvāṇa are an expedient liberation realized through reliance on the Tathāgata’s power, not ultimate liberation. Therefore, they are not of the One Vehicle.

Second, although śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have subdued their karmic obstructions of afflictions to some degree, the habitual seeds of affliction have not been completely severed. When conditions arise, they may still manifest; therefore, they are not of the One Vehicle.

Third, although those of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha vehicles realize the non-self of persons, attachment to dharmas still remains. Although the devas and those of the Brahmā vehicle cultivate the ten wholesome deeds, the four dhyānas, and the eight meditative attainments, when their wholesome karma is exhausted, they fall again. They remain deeply immersed in saṃsāra and cannot be liberated from segmented birth and death. Therefore, they are said not to be of the One Vehicle.

Having explained these three reasons, the Buddha further summarizes:

[“Mahāmati, when all the habitual tendencies arising from the faults of afflictions have been severed, and the non-self of dharmas has been realized; when all habitual tendencies arising from the faults of afflictions have been severed, and one realizes that attachment to the flavor of samādhi-bliss is without self-nature, one awakens to the undefiled realm. Having awakened, one then enters the ever higher supramundane undefiled realm, perfects all the qualities, and will attain the inconceivable, self-mastering dharmakāya of the Tathāgata.”]

“Undefiled realm” refers to the partial true nirvāṇa that corresponds to the defiled realm.

Mahāmati, when śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have completely severed the habitual seeds of all faults and afflictions and thoroughly realized the non-self of dharmas, they have entirely cut off the seeds of all afflictive habits. They fully understand that the bliss of samādhi is not ultimate, and that there is in reality no bliss of samādhi to which one can cling. No longer attached to this bliss, they awaken and emerge from the partial true nirvāṇa of the Lesser Vehicle.

Once they no longer abide even in the undefiled nirvāṇa of the Lesser Vehicle, they enter the ever higher undefiled realm. Without mind, action, or contrivance, they can manifest countless transformation bodies and freely enter and leave the world without obstruction, responding to sentient beings’ minds according to what they know. They liberate all sentient beings, yet in reality no sentient beings are liberated, and thereby fully realize the inconceivable dharmakāya realm of the Tathāgata.

This process of cultivation may take as long as three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, or it may be transcended in an instant.

[At that time, wishing to restate this meaning, the World-Honored One spoke in verse: “The vehicles of devas and Brahmā, the vehicles of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and the vehicle of all Buddhas and Tathāgatas—I speak of all these vehicles. So long as the mind continues to move, these vehicles are not ultimate. If that mind is completely extinguished, there is neither vehicle nor rider; no vehicle can be established. This I call the One Vehicle.”]

To explain once more the meaning of the One Vehicle, the World-Honored One spoke this verse:

The vehicles of devas and Brahmā, the vehicles of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and the vehicle of all Buddhas and Tathāgatas—all such vehicles, so long as there remains a mind that can turn and something to be remedied, are not ultimate vehicles. Only when the deluded mind is completely extinguished, with neither one who rides nor a vehicle to be ridden, and no vehicle that can be established, is there the true One Vehicle.

[“To guide sentient beings, I distinguish and speak of the various vehicles. There are three kinds of liberation, as well as the non-self of dharmas. When afflictions, wisdom, and the like are relinquished, liberation is far removed from them. It is like driftwood upon the sea, ever carried along by the waves; so too are foolish śrāvakas, tossed about by the winds of appearances. Their manifest afflictions cease, but the habitual afflictions and ignorance remain.”]

“Manifest afflictions”: afflictions include fundamental afflictions and subsidiary afflictions. The fundamental affliction is ignorance. From the delusion of fundamental ignorance arise all manifest afflictions. Subsidiary afflictions are the delusions of views and thought: greed, anger, ignorance, and the like, which arise in response to discriminating favorable and adverse conditions and pursue one without letting go.

“Their manifest afflictions cease” means that subsidiary afflictions have been extinguished and afflictions no longer manifest. “The habitual afflictions remain” means that the root of afflictions—that is, fundamental ignorance—has not been severed. Thus the habitual seeds of affliction still remain and may manifest again when conditions arise.

In order to guide sentient beings to transform consciousness into wisdom, the Buddhas teach, according to the differing capacities of beings, the various expedient vehicles, as well as the three liberations of emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness, and the two kinds of non-self of persons and dharmas. Ultimate liberation, however, is the relinquishment of everything: when afflictions are absent, wisdom too does not remain. Neither extreme is established; everything is relinquished. This is true liberation and freedom.

Deluded ordinary beings are not like this. Like pieces of driftwood floating in the great ocean, able only to rise and sink with the waves and never to be free, they are swept along by the habitual tendencies of deluded thoughts and discriminations, revolve in accordance with karmic appearances, and drift without support in the bitter ocean of birth and death.

Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are likewise so. They still have attachment to dharmas and discriminative thought, and thus are still blown about by the winds of deluded thoughts and dharmic appearances, without freedom. Although they can quell their minds and aspirations, restraining manifest afflictions so that they do not arise, they have not broken through fundamental ignorance, nor have they uprooted the habitual seeds of affliction. Therefore, even if they enter the samādhi of cessation, they still remain in the ocean of arising and ceasing, and will eventually fall out of it. Thus, they too remain deluded.

[Attached to the bliss of samādhi, they abide in the undefiled realm. They have no ultimate destination, yet neither do they regress. Having attained the bodies of the various samādhis, they remain unaware even for kalpas. They are like one who is dazed with drink, who awakens only after the wine has worn off. Awakening to the Dharma is likewise: one attains the unsurpassed body of the Buddha.]

The śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha vehicles are attached to the bliss of the Dharma of quiescent cessation and are unwilling to emerge from it. This is not ultimate, yet they do not regress as ordinary beings do. They abide in samādhi, unaware for kalpas, like a person who has become drunk: although he lies unconscious and does not rise, once the effects of the wine have entirely dissipated, he too becomes clear-headed.

This illustrates that, although practitioners of the two vehicles may at most bring segmented birth and death to an end, there are still realms to leave behind and dharmas to cultivate; their birth and death has not been truly and completely ended. Yet their effort is not in vain. Once they realize that there are realms from which to emerge and that this is not ultimate, they will thereby eradicate the view of a dharma-self, turn their minds toward the Great Vehicle, and ultimately realize the ultimate fruition of Buddhahood.

Outline of This Section:

The key terms of this section are “deluded thoughts are without intrinsic nature,” “departing from views and deluded thoughts,” “the noble wisdom of self-realization,” “not giving rise to deluded thoughts in the realm of suchness,” and “the One Vehicle.”

In this section, Mahāmati asks about the characteristics of the noble wisdom of self-realization and the One Vehicle. The Buddha first expands upon and answers the questions in the preceding section: what the Buddhas transmit is that even deluded thoughts are not real, and in truth there are no deluded discriminations to be found.

He then explains the noble wisdom of self-realization and the One Vehicle: bodhisattvas who uphold this right view observe for themselves, depart from views and deluded thoughts, advance ever higher, and realize the Tathāgata’s noble wisdom of self-realization. At the ultimate point, subject and object both vanish; no deluded thought arises, for there was originally no deluded thought that could arise. This is the characteristic of the One Vehicle.

He next criticizes the human and deva vehicles, which have not ended segmented birth and death, and the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, who are attached to the one-sided true nirvāṇa. All these still belong to those whose birth and death has not ended. Whoever takes the three wheels to be real does not belong to the One Vehicle. Nevertheless, practitioners of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha vehicles will eventually awaken from the bliss of samādhi, emerge from it, and realize the Tathāgata’s original realm of nirvāṇa.