Will you pass the Dharma Test?

karmablues

I recently came across a passage from the Sutra in Forty-two Sections which I think may serve as a useful guideline to see whether our intellectual understanding of the practice is in line with the Buddha's teachings especially from a Mahayana perspective. It has been said that this Sutra was the first Indian Sutra to have been translated into Chinese and is thus associated with the entrance of Buddhism into China.

The passage I refer to is Section 18 of the Sutra and in that passage the Buddha says that if you can understand the meaning of what is being said in the passage, then you are "close to [the Way]", but if you are confused, then you are "far from [the Way]".

So, I have reproduced what Section 18 says below. What you can do is to read it, then take some time to contemplate what the passage means. After that, come back to this post and continue reading the commentaries by Ven. Master Hsuan Hua and Ven. Master Yong Hua to see how your understanding of the passage compares to theirs. If you have a different interpretation or would like to add more details, please do share your ideas and perspectives.

Section 18 of the Sutra reads as follows:

The Buddha said, "My Dharma is the mindfulness that is both mindfulness and non-mindfulness. It is the practice that is both practice and non-practice. It is words that are words and non-words, and cultivation that is cultivation and non-cultivation. Those who understand are near to it; those who are confused are far away, indeed. It is not accessible by the path of language. It is not hindered by physical objects. If you are off by a hairsbreadth, you will lose it in an instant."

-------------- Stop here, contemplate on the meaning and then read on --------------

Ven. Master Hsuan Hua gave the following commentary to Section 18 of the Sutra:

The Buddha said, "My Dharma is the mindfulness that is both mindfulness and non-mindfulness." [which means] my Dharma is not being mindful that you are mindful; and even the thought of that 'not being mindful' is not there. Therefore my Dharma is called a mindfulness that is mindfulness, and yet not mindfulness.

"It is the practice that is both practice and non-practice." [means that] in my Dharma, practice also is the Way of effortlessness. In cultivating, you don't want to have any attachments. It should be the same as not cultivating. Even the shadow of 'no cultivating' should not remain.

"It is words that are words and non-words." [means] don't be attached to words and language. Further, even your intention not to be attached to words and language should be done away with.

"And it is cultivation that is cultivation and non-cultivation." [which means] it is the Way of effortlessness, cultivating and yet not cultivating, certifying and yet not certifying. There isn't any thought of cultivating the Way. That means that you don't have any attachments; all attachments are seen as empty. Even the emptiness is emptied out.

"Those who understand are near to it." To understand something means to be clear about it. If you understand this doctrine, you are near to the Way.

"Those who are confused are far away", indeed. But if you fail to understand and are confused about the principle, then you will be far from the Way.

It is not accessible by the path of language. [means] you want to speak about [the Way], but you can't represent it in words. You want to think about it, but you can't formulate the thought. You simply cannot speak of its wonder. It is said that the path of words and language is cut off, and the place of the mind's workings ceases to be. What the mind wants to think about is gone, and absolutely everything is empty.

"It is not hindered by physical objects." [This alludes to the fact that] physical matter is itself the basic substance of True Suchness. If you are able to realize this state, then you will see that the mountains, the rivers, the earth, and all the myriad things are just the basic substance of True Suchness, and you will not be hindered by physical objects.

"If you are off by a hairsbreadth," [means] if you are off by just a fraction of an inch, just a tiny bit, in the way you cultivate, "you will lose it in an instant." [That means] you immediately lose it and won't be able to find it. You should break through your attachments, and then you will be able to attain this state.

Commentary by Master Yong Hua:

Practicing the Buddhadharma involves transcending duality in thoughts, action and words. The translator did a superb job in this section. I am very grateful for their most excellent work!

The Buddha said, "My Dharma is the mindfulness that is both mindfulness and non-mindfulness". Be mindful but be not attached to being mindful. Yes, it takes a lot to be able to be mindful. You are taught to be mindful of what you eat, what you say, when you walk, etc… And it's not easy to do. By the time you have gongfu [skill achieved through hard work] and can sustain it, you tend to be attached to your achievement, to that knowledge. That's why in Mahayana, we plant seeds to help undo that kind of attachment right from the outset.

The original Chinese text 念 無 念 念 also has a parallel meaning. At a higher level, one can reach that point where one thinks of non-thought thoughts. The conscious mind stops working entirely (therefore the product of the mental process can no longer be called to be a thought).

"It is the practice that is both practice and non-practice." This kind of rhetoric that kept me confused for years! How can it be practice and non-practice at the same time? You will find this type of duality throughout the Vajra sutra.
At this point, one practices a non-practice practice. Same logic as the “thought” phrase. At this point, one practices but it's as if one is not practicing at all.

"It is words that are words and non-words." This kind of state cannot be described with words. You can only say non-word words. You shouldn't be attached to words or language either. Once you understand, you have to be not attached to that understanding. Language and words are expedients to communicate with those of us who are still confused. Those who are enlightened must borrow worldly words and language to try to communicate what cannot be described by language and words.

"And cultivation that is cultivation and non-cultivation." Especially, avoid being attached to the concept of cultivation. Don't look down on others who don't have your gongfu or do not maintain your level of cultivation. At this level, one cultivates and yet it's as if one does not cultivate at all! For us mortals, we still complain about the discomfort in our legs. We feel that cultivation is just so hard. For these enlightened beings, they no longer see it as cultivation. For them, to live is to cultivate.

"Those who understand are near to it."Those of us who “understand” those aforementioned incomprehensible phrases, are very special individuals. They are very close to accomplishing the Way.

"Those who are confused are far away, indeed". Individuals who are still deluded really have a long way to go!

It is not accessible by the path of words and language. When you see the Way, it can't be put into “words”. There is no “language” that can express it. “Path” refers to the approach chosen to come near it. In particular, it refers to the fact that the worldly path of relying on words or language to access the Way lead to nowhere, literally “terminates”. You can't even formulate a thought. This is the state frequently described as where language falls short and the workings of the mind cease.

It is not hindered by physical objects. When you are no longer attached to physical objects, how can they hinder you? It's not even metaphysical. There is nothing at all there!

"If you are off by a hairsbreadth, you will lose it in an instant." When you get started on this trek, every single bit of deviation is greatly magnified and brings you very far off target in the end. In fact, if you insist on utilizing the worldly approach to investigate the Way, you are instantly out of orbit. For example, if you are motivated by dreams of grandeur for your cultivation of Mahayana, you'll certainly miss the boat. People who are motivated by greed for fame or profit in their cultivation are like the deluded ones who make it to the great ocean, determined to bring back the great ocean with a cup.

SillyPutty

*looks at her neighbor's test to cheat*

genkaku

I flunk in the same way I always flunk the "terms of agreement" fine print appended to various Internet tools ... too much information. I imagine I will be reincarnated (for those who credit it) as a sea slug.

lobster

The Buddha said, "My Dharma is the mindfulness that is both mindfulness and non-mindfulness. It is the practice that is both practice and non-practice. It is words that are words and non-words, and cultivation that is cultivation and non-cultivation. Those who understand are near to it; those who are confused are far away, indeed. It is not accessible by the path of language. It is not hindered by physical objects. If you are off by a hairsbreadth, you will lose it in an instant."

Mindfulness and non-mindfulness is the Middle Way. Expressed in Mahayana as 'Emptiness is form and Form is emptiness'. If you have hair, comb it.

pegembara

"It is the practice that is both practice and non-practice."
"And cultivation that is cultivation and non-cultivation."

To achieve freedom from desire requires a desire to be free. Yet the very effort to be free is itself the obstacle.

From Hsin Hsin Ming http://allspirit.co.uk/hsinhsinming.html

Live neither in the entanglements of outer things,
nor in inner feelings of emptiness.
Be serene in the oneness of things
and such erroneous views will disappear by themselves.
When you try to stop activity to achieve passivity
your very effort fills you with activity.
As long as you remain in one extreme or the other
you will never know Oneness.
Those who do not live in the single Way
fail in both activity and passivity,
assertion and denial.
To deny the reality of things
is to miss their reality;
to assert the emptiness of things
is to miss their reality.

"If you are off by a hairsbreadth, you will lose it in an instant."

The Great Way is not difficult
for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent ie. no desire and aversion
everything becomes clear and undisguised.
Make the smallest distinction, however,
and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
If you wish to see the truth
then hold no opinions for or against anything.
To set up what you like against what you dislike
is the disease of the mind.
When the deep meaning of things is not understood
the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail.

Patr

Think @lobster got it right this time...

This IMO defines emptiness, through the practice of 'middle way'.

seeker242

karmablues said:

The Buddha said, "My Dharma is the mindfulness that is both mindfulness and non-mindfulness. It is the practice that is both practice and non-practice. It is words that are words and non-words, and cultivation that is cultivation and non-cultivation.

It means there is no "I am" involved in the above. There is mindfulness but no "I am" mindful. There is practice but no "I am" practicing. There is cultivation but no "I am" cultivating.

Similar to: "There are no enlightened people, only enlightened activity"~Zen master guy

Bodhidharma called it "the dharma of no dharma". He said "But while practicing the six virtues to eliminate delusion, they practice nothing at all. This is what’s meant by practicing the Dharma.". Practice is not something separate from anything else. If it's not separate, then there is no need to even consider it "practice". In order for there to be practice, there must be something that is "not practice". But if there is nothing that is "not practice", then there is no "practice" either. Practice can not exist without not practice. With a dual view, the opposite can not exist without the other. When one disappears, they both disappear. AKA, the practice of no practice.

But of course, to say "there is no practice" is only appropriate for people who are "close to the way". For people "far from the way" it can easily be a very misleading statement.

It is words that are words and non-words is more like finger pointing at moon, not the moon itself. Words, finger, non-words, moon. I like the strawberry analogy. It's like eating a strawberry. You can explain what a strawberry taste like to someone who has never eaten one, but after that, they still won't know. You can't eat the explanation of a strawberry, you have to eat the actual strawberry, for yourself, to really know. But at the same time, there is no "I am" eating a strawberry. There is just "munch. munch, munch" and that's it!

aMatt

Perhaps "peaceful abiding in the creativity that co-arises with emergent phenomena". Said differently, we breathe air that is not really air, but we still breathe it. In the absence of fear of breathlessness, we don't cling to the air in our lungs or mind, we just breathe it in and let it out. Then we are prepared for the next breath.

karmablues

@lobster @pegembara @Patr @seeker242 @aMatt

Thanks for all the various explanations above which really helped to clarify the meaning of that passage to me. The link to Hsin Hsin Ming's writings also contains a lot of insightful verses.

In short, what I understand from what you guys are saying is that the passage is expressing the Dharma in terms of both conventional reality and ultimate reality. So the terms "Mindfulness", "Practice", and "Cultivation" are expressing things from the perspective of conventional reality whereas the terms "Non-mindfulness", "Non-practice", and "Non-cultivation" is looking at things from the perspective of ultimate reality, ie. emptiness.

The passage is thus also an expression of the Middle Way, because it is not declaring non-existence (or nothingness) and at the same time it is also not declaring true existence either but rather that they are empty (of inherent existence). Thus it is said that "My Dharma is the mindfulness that is both mindfulness and non-mindfulness. It is the practice that is both practice and non-practice. It is words that are words and non-words, and cultivation that is cultivation and non-cultivation."

Hope I got it right.

Shigo

I passed with flying colors! ...ok...not really. Still...I didnt do horrible

JohnG

One achieves comprehension by their own understanding.

karmablues

It appears that Thich Nhat Hanh has explained how aspects of the passage from the Sutra in Forty-two Sections that we have been discussing here can be applied in a practical manner in our daily practice. The following are excerpts from some of his works:

From Taking Refuge in Your In-Breath:

There is a sutra that was translated into Chinese around the second century. It is called the Sutra of the Forty-Two Chapters. Each chapter is very short and as a novice I had the opportunity to learn the sutra during my first year of studying classical Chinese. In that sutra there is one sentence that says: “My practice is the practice of non-practice.” It reads like this: “My practice is to practice the action of non-action, to practice the practice of no practice and to attain the attainment of no attainment.” When we hear the teachings of our patriarch Linji we hear the same thing. We should be an ordinary person, we should not try to be a saint. If you are seeking for holiness you lose it. Holiness is right there before you but when you begin to seek it you lose it. You begin to run and run and run and you can never catch it. What we learn from the patriarch Linji is not a set of ideas. That is what he hates the most—a set of ideas, especially abstract ideas about the absolute that symbolize the ultimate, the perfection that you are running after. This is what he is always trying to tell us. His teaching is that we should live a simple life properly and become a person without business.

What is your business? You may describe your business as trying to transform yourself, trying to reach enlightenment, trying to save human beings. Throw it away. Don’t consider it to be your business. If you run after that kind of business you cannot be yourself. You are a wonder of life and you are surrounded by wonders of life. A person without enterprise, without any project, without any business—that reflects the practice of non-attainment. There is nothing to obtain.

Our practice is to take refuge in the present moment because the present moment is always available. The present moment is full of life, full of wonders. We don’t have to run towards the future to get it. You are already a wonder and surrounding you are wonders you can experience, if you know how to stop and to become fully present.

......

Mindful breathing is very important, and it is a non-practice because you breathe in and out anyway. You are sitting there enjoying your in-breath. You don’t seem like you are a practitioner, but you are a true practitioner. You are not trying hard, you are just enjoying your in-breath. That is what our ancestral teacher Linji wants us to do. Not to do anything, just be yourself. Sitting there enjoying your in-breath you become everything, you become immortal.
......

People like to say, take refuge in the Buddha, take refuge in the Dharma, take refuge in the Sangha. But, I like to say, take refuge in your in-breath, take refuge in your out-breath, take refuge in your steps. The Buddha may be an abstract idea, but your in-breath is a reality, your steps are a reality. You are looking for the Buddha, you are looking for the Dharma. You are not truly taking refuge in them because you have not found them. But you don’t have to look for your in-breath; it is right there in front of your nose. You don’t have to look for your steps; they are right there in your feet. That is why taking refuge in your in-breath, taking refuge in your steps is very concrete. When you are doing that the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha become concrete also. You don’t have to run after the Buddha; the Buddha will run to you. You don’t have to look for the Dharma; the Dharma will come to you. That is what Master Linji tried to say: You do not need to look for the ultimate —the ultimate will come to you. Although you do not look like a practitioner, you are a true practitioner because you are practicing the practice of non-practice. You practice in such a way that life becomes a reality in every moment of your day.

From Peaceful Action, Open Heart: Lessons From The Lotus Sutra:

"My Dharma is to take up the action of non-action, to practice the practice of non-practice, to attain the attainment of non-attainment." This line from the Sutra in 42 Chapters communicates to us that we should not be caught in the outer form, we should not discriminate between non-action and action, being and acting. Many of us try to do many things, yet the more we act the more troubled our family, society, and world become, because the foundation of our being is not yet stable enough. Try practicing the opposite: don't do anything, don't take any action right away, but improve your quality of being through meditation and mindfulness practice. To be in the here and now, fully alive, fully present, is a very positive contribution to any situation. Increasing our insight, compassion, and understanding through the practice of mindfulness is the best thing we can offer to the world. This is the practice of non-practice, the attainment of non-attainment, the action of non-action. We improve the quality of our being so that we have peace and joy, and then we can offer it to our families and communities, and to the world

From Resting in the River:

To meditate means first of all to be there, to be on your cushion, to be on your walking meditation path. Eating also is a meditation if you are really there, present one hundred per cent with your food. The essential is to be there. So please when you practice walking meditation, don't make any effort. Allow yourself to be like that pebble at rest. The pebble is resting at the bottom of the river and the pebble does not have to do anything. While you are walking, you are resting. While you are sitting, you are resting. If you struggle during your sitting meditation or walking meditation, you are not doing it right. The Buddha said, "My practice is the practice of non-practice." That means a lot. Give up all struggle. Allow yourself to be, to rest.

I sit on my meditation cushion. I consider it to be something very pleasant. I don't struggle at all on my cushion. I allow myself to be, to rest. I don't make any effort and that is why I do not get any trouble while sitting. While sitting I do not struggle and that is why all my muscles are relaxed. If you struggle during your sitting meditation, you will very soon have pain in your shoulders and back and things like that. But if you allow yourself to be rested on your cushion you can sit very long, and each minute is light, refreshing, nourishing and healing. It is not sitting in order to struggle to get enlightenment. No. Sitting first of all is for the pleasure of sitting. Walking first of all is for the pleasure of walking. And eating is for the pleasure of eating. And the art is to be there one hundred per cent.