Membuktikan kesalahan dari persepsi yang sesat untuk meniadakan aggregat ke-empat dan menunjukkan kehampaan dari bentuk kesadaran ke-tujuh.
Menghapus bersih yang tidak nyata (Wiping Out the Unreal).
Kehampaan dari persepsi yang membeda-bedakan (The Non-existence of Discriminative Perception).
Cara pandang Ananda yang salah (Ananda’s wrong view).
Ananda yang tersentuh dan menangis oleh belas kasih dan pengajaran yang mendalam dari Sang Buddha, menangkupkan kedua telapak tangan dan berkata :Setelah mendengar Dharma Sang Buddha yang mengagumkan, sekarang aku menyadari bahwa Pikiran Terang yang mengagumkan itu pada dasarnya sempurna, sehingga aku selalu tinggal diam di dalam alam-Pikiran.
Tetapi pencerahanku ini terjadi disebabkan/ditimbulkan dari pengajaran Sang Buddha. Pencerahan yang didapatkan setelah melalui penggunaan "pikiran"-ku (bukan yang Pikiran Sejati, baru sampai pada taraf memahami secara intelektual) yang mendengarkan dengan sungguh-sungguh, yang kemudian baru setelah itu ada pemahaman akan yang benar itu.
Aku tidak berani mengatakan bahwa inilah sungguh-sungguh alam Pikiran (Sejati) yang mendasar itu. Apakah Sang Buddha kiranya berkenan untuk mencerahkan aku, supaya hilang semua keraguanku ini dan aku pun bisa kembali pada Jalan Yang Utama (Supreme Tao).
Tidak nyatanya berbagai ilusi yang timbul dari berbagai sebab (Unreality of illusory causes)
Sang Buddha berkata : Kamu masih menggunakan pikiranmu yang kotor (belum bebas, masih melekat) untuk mendengarkan Dharma; sementara Dharma yang kamu dengarkan ini pun juga masih sesuatu yang tidak independen (ada sebab ada akibat, bukan lahir dari dirinya sendiri, dst). Sehingga karena (dua sebab) itu maka kamu pun gagal untuk sampai pada hakekat Dharma yg sebenarnya.
Hal ini seperti seseorang mengacungkan jari untuk menunjukkan bulan ada orang-orang lain. Di mana orang-orang itu harus mengikuti arah dari jari yang menunjuk itu untuk kemudian bisa melihat bulan.
Jika mereka melihat jari yang teracung dan mengira bahwa itulah bulan, maka mereka pun kehilangan baik bulan maupun jarinya.
Kenapa? Karena yang ditunjuk itu adalah bulan yang terang, dan mereka gagal melihat/menyadari arah/tujuan dari jari itu dan gagal pula membedakan antara terang dan gelap.
Kenapa? Karena mereka salah mengerti, menganggap jari itu adalah bulan yang terang dan tidak memiliki pengertian yang jelas tentang terang dan gelap.
Demikian pula, apabila kamu salah mengerti, menganggap (pikiranmu) yang timbul dari pendengaran akan pengajaranku (pemahaman intelektual) sebagai pikiran sejatimu (pencerahan/kesadaran). Karena yang sejati itu hakekatnya tidak tergantung pada pendengaran (pengetahuan yang sejati lepas/bebas dari proses menganalisa/mendeduksi).
Sebagai contoh, ketika seorang musafir menginap di satu penginapan, dia hanya tinggal di sana untuk beberapa waktu dan kemudian pergi, dia tidak tinggal menetap di sana untuk selamanya. Sementara si pemilik penginapan, dia tidak pergi ke tempat lain, karena dialah pemilik penginapan itu. Hal ini sama dengan pikiranmu.
Semunya baik panca indera maupun kesadaran. Jika hal itu adalah Pikiran/Kesadaran Sejati-mu, maka dia tidak memiliki tempat lain untuk pergi. Jadi mengapa pada ketidak hadiran pengajaran, kesadaran itu tidak memiliki hakekat keberadaannya sendiri?
Pikiran yang membeda-bedakan bukan hanya timbul saat aku berbicara, tetapi juga saat kamu mengamat-amati penampilanku, dia tidak memiliki hakekat pengamatan/berpikir itu sendiri ketika tidak ada bentuk/obyek. Bahkan ketika kamu mencapai tahap di mana semua pembeda-bedaan itu berhenti, kondisi di mana tidak ada bentuk, juga bukan kehampaan, yang oleh para bidah disebut Kegelapan Asal. Semua fenomena bisa dianalisa apa yang menjadi penyebabnya.
Jika hal tersebut yang tidak memiliki kesadarannya sendiri berhenti mengada pada keadaan hilangnya kondisi yang memicu dia. Bagaimana bisa dia disebut si pemilik (diri sejati, mengacu pada analogi si pemilik penginapan) jika dia berhenti mengada pada saat dia dikembalikan pada penyebab timbulnya dia?
*Segala sesuatu memiliki sebab dan akan menghilang jika penyebabnya dihilangkan. Dengan demikian hal itu tidak memiliki keberadaan yang sejati.
Meminjam Esensi/Hakekat dari Persepsi untuk Memilah-milah Penyebab External (Borrowing The Essence Of Perception To Pick Out Causal Externals)
Ananda bertanya : Jika setiap kondisi pikiran bisa dikembalikan pada kondisi asalnya (penyebabnya), mengapa Sang Buddha berbicara tentang kesadaran mula-mula yang terang dan menakjubkan, yang tidak bisa dikembalikan ke mana pun (tidak berawal, tidak dicipta, mengada tanpa ada penyebabnya)? Apakah Sang Buddha berkenan menjelaskan?
Mempersiapkan Esensi dari Persepsi (Setting up the essence of perception)
Sang Buddha berkata : Sebagaimana kamu melihat diriku sekarang ini, esensi dari penglihatanmu pada awalnya adalah jernih. Meskipun dia bukanlah Pikiran Yang Tercerahkan, dia itu bisa dikatakan seperti bulan yang kedua, tetapi bukan pantulan bulan (di air).
Sekarang dengarkan baik-baik penjelasanku, tentang hal yang tidak bisa ditemukan apa penyebabnya.
Memilah-milah penyebab external (Picking out causal externals)
Buddha berkata : Ananda, pintu dan jendela balai ini terbuka lebar dan menghadap ke arah timur. Saat matahari terbit ada cahaya masuk ke da;am dan saat tengah malam dia menjadi gelap saat bulan sedang tertutup awan. Penglihatanmu tidak terhalang, melalui pintu dan jendela yang terbuka, tetapi terhalang saat ada pintu-pintu atau rumah. Ketika tidak ada lagi pembeda-bedaan, kamu bisa melihat apa yang menjadi penyebab dan dalam kehampaan yang samar, kamu hanya melihat kekosongan.
Keadaan tidak sadar, muncul akibat obyek-obyek external yang kacau, sementara keadaan sadar memimpin pada penglihatan yang jernih.
Ananda sekarang lihatlah bagaimana aku mengembalikan tiap-tiap kondisi perubahan ini pada asal penyebabnya. Apakah masing-masing penyebab-penyebab ini?
Ananda, cahaya bisa dikembalikan pada matahari. Kenapa? Karena tidak ada cahaya apabila tidak ada matahari dan karena cahaya berasal dari matahari, cahaya bisa dikembalikan pada matahari sebagai asalnya. Kegelapan bisa dikembalikan pada bulan yang menghilang; kejernihan penglihatan dikembalikan pada pintu dan jendela yang terbuka, penghalang dikembalikan pada tembok dan rumah.
Sebab-akibat dikembalikan pada pembeda-bedaan, kekosongan pada kehampaan relatif, kebingungan external pada ketidak sadaran dan penglihatan yang jernih pada kondisi sadar. Tidak ada apa pun di dalam dunia ini yang melampaui kondisi-kondisi tersebut. Sekarang ketika Esensi dari Persepsi-mu dihadapkan pada delapan kondisi ini, ke mana dia bisa dikembalikan?
Jika dikembalikan pada terang, maka kamu tidak bisa melihat kegelapan saat tidak ada cahaya. Meskipun kondisi-kondisi terang, gelap, dll., itu berbeda satu dengan yang lain, penglihatanmu tetap tidak berubah.
The nature of perception
‘All states that can be returned to external causes are obviously
not YOU, but that which cannot be returned to anywhere,
if it is not YOU, what is it? Therefore, you should
know that your Mind is fundamentally wonderful, bright and
pure and that because of your delusion and stupidity, you
have missed it and so are caught on the wheel of transmigration,
sinking and floating in the samsaric sea. This is why the
Tathàgata says that you are the most pitiable of men.’29
The (Underlying) Nature of Perception
is Not the Essence of Perception
ânanda asked: ‘I now understand that the nature of Perception
cannot be returned to any external cause but how can I
know that it is my True Nature?30
The capacity of perception
The Buddha said: ‘ânanda, though you have not yet reached
the state beyond the stream of transmigration, you may now
use the Buddha’s transcendent power to behold the first
dhyàna heaven31 without obstruction, like Aniruddha32 who
sees this world (Jambudvãpa) as clearly as fruit33 held in his
own hand. Bodhisattvas can see hundreds and thousands of
worlds. Buddhas in the ten directions can see all the Pure
Lands as countless as the dust. As to living beings, their range
of sight is (sometimes) limited to inches.
Picking out causal objects
‘ânanda, as you and I see the palaces inhabited by the four
heavenly kings with all that is there in water, on the ground
and in the air, though there is a great variety of forms and
shapes in the light and darkness, they are but hindrances resulting
from your differentiation of objective phenomena.
Here you should distinguish between your own Self and external
objects. From, what you see, I now pick out that which
is your own Self and those which are but phenomena.
ânanda, if you exhaust the field of your vision, from the sun
and moon to the seven mountain ranges34 with all kinds of
light, all that you see are phenomena which are not YOU. As
you (shorten your range) you see passing clouds and flying
birds, the wind rising and dust, trees, mountains, rivers, grass,
men and animals; they are all external and are not YOU.
The essence of perception
‘ânanda, the great variety of things, far and near, when beheld
by the essence of your seeing, appeared different
whereas the nature of your seeing is uniform. This wondrous
bright essence is really the nature of your perception.35
The Essence of Perception Mistaken for Externals
Refuting this misconception
‘If seeing is an object, you should also see my seeing. If you
can do so why when I do not see things, do you not see my
non-seeing? (Even) if you do so it will not be real but your
false seeing. If you do not see my non-seeing, it follows that
your seeing and mine are not objects. If so, why cannot your
seeing be YOU? Again if when you see an object you grasp
at it as such, it should also see you; if so, that object and the
nature of seeing will mingle and you, I and the world will be
in complete confusion.
True perception
‘ânanda, when you see (things), this seeing is yours and not
mine, and its nature penetrates everywhere; if it is not YOU,
what is it? Why do you still doubt about your real nature and
ask me to confirm that it is not false?’36
Wiping Out the Capacity of Perception
to Reveal the True Mind
The capacity of seeing
ânanda asked: ‘World Honoured One, if I am the nature of
seeing, why when the Buddha and I saw the palaces of the
four heavenly kings and the sun and moon, did this seeing
first penetrate the whole world and then return to this vihàra,
then to its temple and now to this hall with its eaves and corridors?
Does this seeing which first pervaded the universe
now return to and fill only this hall; does its previous scale not
shrink, or is cut up by the walls of this hall? I do not know
thereby missing their fundamental Minds. Thus they are being
turned round by objects and perceive large and small
sizes. If they can turn objects round, they will be like the
Tathàgata, and their bodies and minds will be in the state of
radiant perfection; from their immutable holy site,38 the end
of each of their hairs will contain all lands in the ten
directions.’39
Removing the essence of perception to wipe out
the fifth aggregate and eighth consciousness
Eradicating Attachment to the Ego
to Reveal the One Reality
ânanda asked: ‘If this essence of seeing is my wondrous
nature, the latter should manifest before me. If seeing is my
real ego, then what are my body and mind? But in fact my
body and mind can discern (things) whereas that seeing cannot
discern my body. If perception is my mind and causes
me to see (things), then this perception is my Ego whereas
my body is not; this is exactly what the Buddha previously refuted
(with the argument that) objects should then see me.
Will you be compassionate enough to enlighten me?’40
Rooting Out ânanda’s Misconception of Objects
Being and NOT BEING Perception
Misconception of objects BEING perception
The Buddha replied: ‘ânanda, your conception of perception
being in front of you is incorrect because if it is, the essence of
perception should have a position which can be shown. As
you sit in Jetavana park, you see its trees and nullahs as well
as this hall, with the sun or moon overhead and the Ganges in
the distance. As you are now, in front of my lion-seat, moving
your hand to point to the surroundings, such as the dark foliage
of the wood, the bright sun, blocking walls and clear open
spaces as well as grass, plants and very small things, although
they are of different sizes, each of them can be pointed out. If
they are really your seeing manifesting in front of you, you
should be able to show which one is your seeing.
‘ânanda, you should know that if voidness is your seeing,
since it has already become your perception, then how
can it be empty? If an (external) thing is your seeing and has
already become your perception, how can it be external? So,
after dissecting all things in front of you, pick out the bright
and pure principle of your perception and show it (to me) to
prove that it is clearly and irrefutably identical with externals.’
ânanda said: ‘From this hall, I now see the Ganges in
the distance, the sun or moon overhead and all that I can
point out with my finger and see with my eyes; they are all
(external) things but not one of them is my perception. World
Honoured One, as the Buddha has said, not only a beginner
in the ÷ràvaka stage, like myself, who is still in the stream of
transmigration, but even a Bodhisattva, cannot dissect things
and pick out the essence of seeing which has an independent
nature apart from phenomena.’
The Buddha said: ‘Correct, correct.’
Misconception of objects NOT BEING perception
The Buddha said: ‘As you have said, there is no essence of
seeing with an independent nature apart from phenomena.
Now if there is no perception in the things you point out, I
now ask again: As you and the Tathàgata sit in this Jetavana
park, when you see the wood and all externals including the
sun or moon, if there is no essence of Seeing which can be
picked out from them, tell me which one is not the seeing?’
ânanda replied: ‘Of all things seen in this Jetavana
park, I do not know which one is not the seeing. Why?
Because if the trees are not the seeing, why do I see them? If
they are the seeing, why are they trees? If the void is not the
seeing, why do I see it? If the void is the seeing, why is it
empty? I too have thought carefully about all this and now
conclude that each one of them is the seeing.’
The Buddha said: ‘Correct, correct.’
In the assembly, all those who had not achieved the
stage beyond study, were very surprised at hearing the
Buddha say this. They failed to understand His meaning and
were perturbed and thrown off balance. The Buddha realized
their perplexity and alarm and took compassion on
them, saying: Virtuous men, the words of the King of the
Supreme Law are true, accord with Reality and are neither
deceitful nor false, unlike those of the heretics whose sermons
are arbitrary and aimless.41 Now listen attentively;
your faith in me shall not be in vain.
Ma¤ju÷rã’s Helpful Interposition
Thereupon, Ma¤ju÷rã Bodhisattva, who took compassion on
the four varga, rose from his seat, prostrated himself at the
Buddha’s feet, brought his two palms together and said:
‘World Honoured One, these people do not understand the
Tathàgata’s twofold revelation of the reality and unreality of
the essence of perception in form and voidness. They think
that if causal form and voidness are the seeing, there should
be an indication of it, and if they are not, there should be no
seeing. They do not understand your teaching and are, therefore,
surprised and bewildered, but they are not like those
whose roots are frivolous and inferior.43 May the Tathàgata be
compassionate enough to enlighten them (so, that they know)
what objects and this essence of perception are fundamentally
and that there exists neither “isŸ nor “is notŸ between them.’
The Buddha declared to Ma¤ju÷rã and the assembly: ‘To
all Tathàgatas and great Bodhisattvas of the ten directions, abiding
in the state of Samàdhi, seeing and its (concurrent) causes,
as well as all forms imaginable, are like flowers in the sky which
fundamentally do not exist. This seeing and its causes are essentially
the profound, pure and bright substance of Enlightenment;
44 how can there be “isŸ and “is notŸ within it? Ma¤ju÷rã, I
now ask you this; you are already the real Ma¤ju÷rã; can there
be another Ma¤ju÷rã who first “isŸ and then “is notŸ?’45
Ma¤ju÷rã replied: ‘No, World Honoured One, I am the
