World Philosophical Heritage: Wisdom and teachings of Buddhism

A s a mirror reflects forms, the perceiving senses perceive appearances which the discriminating-mind gathers together and proceeds to discriminate, to name and become attached to.

temple_buddhist

quote 2572 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.IV, p.304, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T he mind-system which is the source of the evil out-flowings consists of the five sense-organs and their accompanying sense-minds all of which are unified in the discriminating-mind. There is an unending succession of sense-concepts flowing into this discriminating or thinking-mind which combines them and discriminates them and passes judgment upon them as to their goodness or badness. Then follows aversion to or desire for them and attachment and deed; thus the entire system moves on continuously and closely bound together. But it fails to see and understand that what it sees and discriminates and grasps is only a manifestation of its own activity and has no other basis, and so the mind goes on erroneously perceiving and discriminating differences of forms and qualities, not remaining still even for a minute.

temple_buddhist

quote 2571 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.IV, p.303, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

A ll things of this world, be they seemingly good or bad, faulty or faultless, effect-producing or not effect-producing, receptive or non-receptive, may be divided into two classes: evil out-flowings and the non out-flowing good. The five grasping elements that make up the aggregates of personality, namely, form, sensation, perception, discrimination, and consciousness, and that are imagined to be good or bad, have their rise in the habit-energy of the mind-system, they are the evil out-flowings of life. The spiritual attainments and the joys of the Samadhis and the fruitage of the Samapatis that come to the wise through their self-realization of Noble Wisdom and that culminate in their return and participation in the relations of the triple world are called the non out-flowing good.

temple_buddhist

quote 2570 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.IV, p.303, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

B ut when it is pointed out that all things are like a dream and a vision, it means that in one way things are perceived, and in another way they are not perceived; that is, in ignorance they are perceived but in Perfect-knowledge they are not perceived.

temple_buddhist

quote 2569 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.IV, p.302, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

B y becoming attached to what is seen of the mind itself, there is an activity awakened which is perpetuated by habit energy that becomes manifest in the mind-system. From the activities of the mind-system there rises the notion of an ego-soul and its belongings; the discriminations, attachments, and notion of an ego-soul, rising simultaneously like the sun and its rays of light.

temple_buddhist

quote 2568 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.IV, p.300, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

W hen appearances and names are put away and all discrimination ceases, that which remains is the true and essential nature of things and, as nothing can be predicated as to the nature of essence, it is called the "Suchness" of Reality. This universal, undifferentiated, inscrutable, "Suchness- is the only Reality but it is variously characterized as Truth, Mind-essence, transcendental Intelligence, Noble Wisdom, etc.

temple_buddhist

quote 2567 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.IV, p.299, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T he five Dharmas are: appearance, name, discrimination, right-knowledge and Reality. By Appearance is meant that which reveals itself to the senses and to the discriminating-mind and is perceived as form, sound, odor, taste, and touch. Out of these appearances ideas are formed, such as clay, water, jar, etc., by which one says: this is such and such a thing and is no other, this is name. When appearances are contrasted and names compared, as when we say: this is an elephant, this is a horse, a cart, a pedestrian, a man, a woman, or, this is mind and what belongs to it, -the things thus named are said to be discriminated. As these discriminations come to be seen as mutually conditioning, as empty of self-substance, as un-born, and thus come to be seen as they truly are, that is, as manifestations of the mind itself,-this is right-knowledge. By it the wise cease to regard appearances and names as realities.

temple_buddhist

quote 2566 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.IV, p.299, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

I gnorant people and worldly philosophers cherish a kind of no-birth, but it is not the no-birth which I teach. I teach the un-bornness of the un-born essence of all things which teaching is established in the minds of the wise by their self-realization of Noble Wisdom. A ladle, clay, a vessel, a wheel, or seeds, or elements-these are external conditions; ignorance, discrimination, attachment, habit, karma, -these are inner conditions. When this entire universe is regarded as concatenation and as nothing else but concatenation, then the mind, by its patient acceptance of the truth that all things are un-born, gains tranquility.

temple_buddhist

quote 2565 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.III, p.298, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

I n like manner, I teach, that there is nothing made nor unmade; that there is nothing that has connection with birth and destruction except as the ignorant cherish falsely imagined notions as to the reality of the external world. When objects are not seen and judged as they truly are in themselves, there is discrimination and clinging to the notions of being and non-being, and individualised self-nature, and as long as these notions of individuality and self-nature persist, the philosophers are bound to explain the external world by a law of causation.

temple_buddhist

quote 2564 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.III, p.298, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

W hen it is clearly understood that there is nothing in the world but what is seen of the mind itself, discrimination no more rises, and the wise are established in their true abode which is the realm of quietude. The ignorant discriminate and work trying to adjust themselves to external conditions, and are constantly perturbed in mind; unrealities are imagined and discriminated, while realities are unseen and ignored.

temple_buddhist

quote 2563 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.III, p.297, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

I teach that the multitudinousness of objects have no reality in themselves but are only seen of the mind and, therefore, are of the nature of maya and a dream. I teach the non-existence of things because they carry no signs of any inherent self-nature. It is true that in one sense they are seen and discriminated by the senses as individualized objects; but in another sense, because of the absence of any characteristic marks of self-nature, they are not seen but are only imagined. In one sense they are graspable, but in another sense, they are not graspable.

temple_buddhist

quote 2562 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.III, p.297, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T he Blessed One, while teaching that all things are un-born and that there is no annihilation, also declares that the world takes its rise from ignorance, discrimination, attachment, deed, etc., working according to a law of causation. Though the two sets of elements may differ in form and name, there does not appear to be any essential difference between the two positions.

temple_buddhist

quote 2561 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.III, p.297, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T hose who believe in the birth of something that has never been in existence and, coming into existence, vanishes away, are obliged to assert that things come to exist and vanish away by causation-such people find no foothold in my teachings. When it is realized that there is nothing born, and nothing passes away, then there is no way to admit being and nonbeing, and the mind becomes quiescent.

temple_buddhist

quote 2560 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.III, p.296, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T here are two kinds of attachment: attachment to objects as having self-nature, and attachment to words as having self nature. The first takes place by not knowing that the external world is only a manifestation of the mind itself; and the second arises from one's clinging to words and names by reason of habit-energy.

temple_buddhist

quote 2559 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.III, p.296, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

F urther, besides understanding the emptiness of all things both in regard to substance and self-nature, it is necessary for Bodhisattvas to clearly understand that all things are un-born. It is not asserted that things are not born in a superficial sense, but that in a deep sense they are not born of themselves. All that can be said, is this, that relatively speaking, there is a constant stream of becoming, a momentary and uninterrupted change from one state of appearance to another. When it is recognized that the world as it presents itself is no more than a manifestation of mind, then birth is seen as no-birth and all existing objects, concerning which discrimination asserts that they are and are not, are non-existent and, therefore, un-born; being devoid of agent and action things are un-born.

temple_buddhist

quote 2558 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.III, p.296, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

W hen things are examined by right knowledge there are no signs obtainable which would characterize them with marks of individuality and generality, therefore, they are said to have no self-nature. Because these signs of individuality and generality are seen both as existing and yet are known to be non-existent, are seen as going out and yet are known not to be going out, they are never annihilated. Why is this true? For this reason; because the individual signs that should make up the self-nature of all things are non-existent. Again in their self-nature things are both eternal and non-eternal. Things are not eternal because the marks of individuality appear and disappear, that is, the marks of self-nature are characterized by non-eternality. On the other hand, because things are unborn and are only mind-made, they are in a deep sense eternal. That is, things are eternal because of their very non-eternality.

temple_buddhist

quote 2557 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.III, p.295, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

M ahamati, you and all the Bodhisattvas must seek for this inner self-realization of Noble Wisdom, and not be captivated by word-teaching.

temple_buddhist

quote 2556 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.II, p.293, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

M ahamati, you and all the Bodhisattvas should discipline yourselves in the realization and patient acceptance of the truths of the emptiness, un-bornness, no self-natureness, and the nonduality of all things. This teaching is found in all the sutras of all the Buddhas and is presented to meet the varied dispositions of all beings, but it is not the Truth itself. These teachings are only a finger pointing toward Noble Wisdom. They are like a mirage with its springs of water which the deer take to be real and chase after. So with the teachings in all the sutras: They are intended for the consideration and guidance of the discriminating minds of all people, but they are not the Truth itself, which can only be self-realized within one's deepest consciousness.

temple_buddhist

quote 2555 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.II, p.292, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

C onditions of existence are not of a mutually exclusive character; in essence things are not two but one. Even Nirvana and Samsara's world of life and death are aspects of the same thing, for there is no Nirvana except where is Samsara, and no Samsara except where is Nirvana. All duality is falsely imagined.

temple_buddhist

quote 2554 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.II, p.292, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

M aya, however, is not an unreality because it only has the appearance of reality; all things have the nature of maya. It is not because all things are imagined and clung to because of the multitudinousness of individual signs, that they are like maya; it is because they are alike unreal and as quickly appearing and disappearing. Being attached to erroneous thoughts they confuse and contradict themselves and others. As they do not clearly grasp the fact that the world is no more than mind itself, they imagine and cling to causation, work, birth and individual signs, and their thoughts are characterized by error and false-imaginations. The teaching that all things are characterized by the self-nature of maya and a dream is meant to make the ignorant and simple-minded cast aside the idea of self-nature in anything.

temple_buddhist

quote 2553 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.II, p.292, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

E rror is like maya, also, and as maya is incapable from producing other maya, so error in itself cannot produce error; it is discrimination and attachment that produce evil thoughts and faults. Moreover, maya has no power of discrimination in itself; it only rises when invoked by the charm of the magician. Error has in itself no habit-energy; habit-energy only rises from discrimination and attachment. Error in itself has no faults; faults are due to the confused discriminations fondly cherished by the ignorant concerning the ego-soul and its mind. The wise have nothing to do either with maya or error.

temple_buddhist

quote 2552 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.II, p.292, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

L ikewise based upon the notion of relativity false-imagination perceives a variety of appearances which the discriminating mind proceeds to objectify and name and become attached to, and memory and habit-energy perpetuate. Here is all that is necessary to constitute the self-nature of false-imagination.

temple_buddhist

quote 2551 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.II, p.290, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

F alse- imagination teaches that because all things are bound up with causes and conditions of habit-energy that has been accumulating since beginningless time by not recognizing that the external world is of mind itself, all things are comprehensible tinder the aspects of individuality and generality. By reason of clinging to these false- imaginations there is multitudinousness of appearances which are imagined to be real but which are only imaginary.

temple_buddhist

quote 2550 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.II, p.290, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

T he Blessed One replied: So long as people do not understand the true nature of the objective world, they fall into the dualistic view of things. They imagine the multiplicity of external objects to be real and become attached to them and are nourished by their habit-energy. Because of this a system of mentation-mind and what belongs to it-is discriminated and it thought of as real; this leads to the assertion of an ego-soul and its belongings, and thus the mind-system goes on functioning.

temple_buddhist

quote 2549 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.II, p.289, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bible

W hen ideas of body, property and abode are seen, discriminated and cherished in what after all is nothing but what is conceived by the mind itself, an external world is perceived under the aspects of individuality and generality which, however, are not realities, and, therefore, neither a gradual nor a simultaneous rising of things is possible. It is only when the mind-system comes into activity and discriminates the manifestations of mind that existence can be said to come into view.

temple_buddhist

quote 2548 | The Lankavatara Sutra
Ch.II, p.288, in Dwight Goddard, A Buddhist bibles

	settings		Change website design
	menu		Menu
	arrow_upward		Top of the page
	share		Social Network
			Share by SMS
			Share by What's App
			Download as a picture to share on Instagram
			Post on Facebook
			Post on Twitter
			Add to collection (member only)
			Vote (member only)
	close		Close

Wisdom and teachings ofBuddhism

Wisdom and teachings of
Buddhism