Signless Buddha Mindfulness

The practice of Buddha-mindfulness introduced in this book is deliberately coined “signless Buddha-mindfulness” for reasons worthy of discussion and clarification so that readers can better appreciate this convenient yet incredibly efficacious method. In Buddhist literature, the word sign is a common translation of the Sanskrit word nimitta, which denotes the distinguishing characteristics of everything within the three realms of existence in Buddhist cosmology. For instance, in the Pure Land practice of Buddha-mindfulness, the Buddha’s name or image visualized are both a kind of sign or attribute that help keeps one’s attention on a particular Buddha.

First and foremost, this practice of Buddha-mindfulness is characterized as “signless” to highlight the fact that it is an expedient that could bring about the direct realization of the signless True Mind, the origin of all phenomenal existence that Buddhist practitioners seek enlightenment to. Technically speaking, the wordless and formless awareness and recollection of Buddha in “signless Buddha-mindfulness” is still a representation and, therefore, a sign, albeit a much subtler one compared to the readily perceivable and comprehensible signs like Buddha’s sacred name, physical appearance, or virtuous deeds. Nevertheless, by virtue of being a very subtle representation of Buddha, this wordless and formless bare thought can effectively facilitate the direct perception of the True Mind, the mind entity free of any signs associated with the three realms and known as the self-nature, the intrinsic Buddha, the True Suchness, the Dharma-body of Buddha, the eighth consciousness, the ālayavijñāna, the tathāgatagarbha in Buddhist scriptures. When a practitioner has attained direct and personal realization of the True Mind the Buddha-mindfulness he or she practices is essentially the “signless mindfulness” in its purest sense.

Secondly, this practice of Buddha-mindfulness is named “signless” to set it apart from the common methods of Buddha-mindfulness such as name recitation and visualization, which sustain mental focus through “signs” like words, sounds, images associated with the Buddha, or even the concepts of Buddha’s sublime attributes and virtues. As the author points out and explains in this book, the cultivation of Buddha-mindfulness should begin with the use of coarser forms and signs to help restrain a scattered mind from restlessness and mental disturbances. However, when a practitioner’s mind becomes more unified and focused, he or she must switch to a subtler sign at appropriate junctures to train the mind to reach an even higher degree of mental absorption.

By following the methods and cultivation sequence detailed in this book, a practitioner will not only improve his or her level of mental concentration and achieve a mind of one-pointedness but also be able to hold a bare thought of Buddha in mind regardless whether he or she is in stillness or in physical motion. For a Pure Land practitioners, this level of proficiency in meditative absorption reduces their reliance on signs and forms during practice and propels them closer to the goal of gaining rebirth in Buddha’s pure land at the end of this current lifetime. For Chan practitioners, the ability to maintain one-pointed absorption in physical motion enables them to competently contemplate huatou or gong’an, so that eventually they could break through the “sense of doubt” and attain sudden awakening to the True Mind. This skillful application of Buddha-mindfulness as an effective means to enhance meditative concentration and facilitate Chan awakening aptly illustrates the dual cultivation of the Chan and Pure Land traditions as well as their complementary nature.

For most Buddhist learners, the term “Buddha-mindfulness” (念佛) simply means the recitation of the sacred name of a particular Buddha or bodhisattva. With utmost faith as well as pious and continuous recitation, practitioners take refuge in Buddhas and bodhisattvas and hope to obtain connection with them either through subtle responses or visual manifestations. The most common reason for practicing Buddha-mindfulness is to be guided by Buddha (Amitābha) and bodhisattvas to take rebirth in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss at the end of the current life. However, Buddha Amitābha’s Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss is far from being the only pure land. There are actually countless pure lands manifested by Buddhas in the worlds of ten directions, including that of our Fundamental Teacher—Buddha Śākyamuni. A distinction should also be made between the Mind-Only Pure Land (唯心淨土) and pure lands manifested by various Buddhas.

In a broad sense, all cultivation methods of Mahāyāna Buddhism fall within the scope of the Pure Land school’s Dharma-door of Buddha-mindfulness, including well-known practices such as recitation of Buddha’s name, mantra chanting, prostration, offering making, tranquility and insight meditation (śamathavipaśyanā), observance of precepts, as well as the chanting, copying, studying, expounding, reflecting on, contemplating of sūtras, and so forth. They are all geared toward learning the practices of Buddha, understanding the Dharma, attaining liberation, acquiring the meritorious qualities of Buddha, and ultimately, realizing the four types of pure land upon the attainment of Buddhahood.

The Pure Land tradition is inseparably intertwined with the Chan school. To attain Buddhahood, a Buddhist practitioner cannot simply recite Buddha’s name but has to draw upon the power of meditative concentration (samādhi) to directly and personally realize the True Mind. Having realized the True Mind, a practitioner gains vision of the bodhisattva path and can swiftly advance to the stage of cultivation, which means bringing within sight the eventual attainment of Buddhahood. In order to “see the path,” however, he must utilize either Chan contemplation or the method of “contemplation of the principle (理觀)” in the cultivation of tranquility and insight meditation to realize the True Mind. Both of these methods call for a sufficient degree of meditative concentration, especially the ability to maintain meditative concentration while one is in physical motion.

In fact, the power of meditative concentration is essential to Pure Land practitioners if they are to achieve one-pointed absorption through the recitation of Buddha’s name. If recitation of Buddha’s name and prostration to Buddha are used together as expedient techniques to build up the power of meditative concentration, it is actually not difficult for Pure Land practitioners to enter Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s Dharma-door for perfect mastery through Buddha-mindfulness, an accomplishment that will help secure rebirth in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Alternatively, once they have acquired a decent level of meditative concentration, a Pure Land practitioner may also choose to proceed to the practice of contemplative Buddha-mindfulness, through which they could “spontaneously awaken to the True Mind without employing skillful means.” If, instead, they apply the power of meditative concentration gained from the entry practice of Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s Dharma-door of Buddha-mindfulness toward Chan contemplation, they could also awaken to the True Mind as the “gateless gate” will reveal itself spontaneously. One can see that the cultivation methods of Chan and Pure Land are clearly inseparable from one another.

If a Buddhist disciple cultivates the Dharma-door of the Pure Land following the essentials of samādhi cultivation and use the Pure Land methods to enhance his power of in-motion meditative concentration, he can make quick and equal progress in both Chan and Pure Land practices. I humbly put forth the above views for the sole purpose of benefiting all readers and set aside concerns for my own reputation as I put thought to paper.

I would like to give a brief account of the events that led up to this book. At the beginning of 1987, my hectic work schedule allowed me no time for meditation at all. Every evening I was extremely weary during my recitation of the Diamond Sūtra and I usually concluded this daily routine with prostrations to the Buddha immediately right after.

One summer evening that year, as I was prostrating to the Buddha, it suddenly dawned on me that I should drop the name and image of Buddha and instead only keep a pure thought of Buddha during prostration. I tried out my intuition right away. From the next day on, I started to make prostrations while bearing only a thought of Buddha in mind, a method I have since termed “signless Buddha-mindfulness.” As time went by, I became proficient in signless mindfulness through consistent practice. I was filled with Dharma-joy and was impermeable to stress and fatigue of worldly living. Deriving so much joy from this practice, I even ceased my old evening routine and concentrated on the practice of prostration with signless mindfulness of Buddha. During the rest of the day, I held a signless pure thought of Buddha in mind amidst my daily activities.

By the end of 1988, the thought of sharing my Dharma-joy with fellow practitioners crossed my mind. I started to sift through my memory and jotted down each and every step I took to accomplish my practice. At the same time, I scoured and reviewed sūtras and treatises to locate scriptural verification of my method. Right before completing the draft to this book, I came upon the section “Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s Dharma-door for Perfect Mastery through Buddha-Mindfulness (大勢至菩薩念佛圓通章)” in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. I was elated when my eyes set upon the words “recollect and be mindful of Buddha.” As I read on and saw, “rein in all six sense faculties and abide in one continuous pure thought to enter samādhi,” I realized that my method was precisely the Dharma-door of perfect mastery through Buddha-mindfulness illustrated by Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta.

Subsequently in April 1989, I compiled my notes into a short essay entitled “A Discussion of Signless Buddha-Prostration and Buddha-Mindfulness.” After I finished the draft of this article, I came upon the writings of Venerable Xuyun (虛雲和尚) and finally acquired a clear understanding of the principle and method regarding the guarding of a huatou (話頭).[1] Only then did I realize that, while I thought I was contemplating huatou and boldly claimed I was doing so, all along I was merely uttering words and observing its trail.

Why was I not able to contemplate huatou in my earlier attempts? It was simple: at the beginning I didn’t have the ability to maintain a focused mind in motion. Only after I mastered the signless mindfulness of Buddha was I able to maintain a focused mind in motion and hence contemplate huatou.

In the afternoon of August 6, 1989, I twice entered into a state of “seeing the mountain as not being mountain” during a group practice and experienced for the first time the state of a “dark barrel.” After that, I wavered in and out of a mass of doubt. In early November of 1989, after I came back from a pilgrimage to India and Nepal, I decided to close my business to focus on Chan contemplation at home. On the second day of the eleventh lunar month in 1990, my Chan contemplation lasted until around four o’ clock in the afternoon when the “dark barrel” was eventually smashed.

In retrospect, I realized that the root cause for most practitioners’ lack of progress in their Dharma practice is the inability to maintain meditative concentration in motion. This book was written to help practitioners swiftly attain an undisturbed mind during their practice of Buddha-mindfulness, a skill with which they can quickly move on to the contemplation of huatou and gong’an (公案).[2]

At the request of fellow practitioners, I gave a weekly lecture on signless Buddha-mindfulness (i.e. the expedient way of entering Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s Dharma-door for perfect mastery through Buddha-mindfulness) for three consecutive weeks starting from September 3, 1991. These three lectures were held at the Chan center of a Buddhist society of a financial institution and at Mr. and Mrs. Chen’s residence in Shipai, all in Taipei.

There were altogether thirty people at the time in these two practice groups. Most of them used recitation of Buddha’s name as their practice method. By putting what they learned from my lectures into actual practice, two of them were able to accomplish signless Buddha-mindfulness within merely six weeks. After three months, six people had mastered this practice. As of today (February 28, 1992), thirteen people have mastered it in a time span of less than six months. Still more people are joining in and making speedy progress. The rate of mastery and the speed of progress are very encouraging. Excluding those who did not practice prostration due to individual conditions, the main reason for the others’ lack of progress was their aversion to this method and its preparatory expedients, that is, the recitation of Buddha’s name. When they finally changed their minds after seeing that those who had mastered this method were starting to guard huatou and contemplate Chan, they were already three to four months behind.

These results and observations excited me greatly. They showed that signless mindfulness of Buddha could definitely be mastered when it is facilitated by expedient methods and practiced with continuous diligence. Out of my deep dismay at the decline of the Buddha Dharma and the desire to free sentient beings from their sufferings, I committed myself to another compassionate vow and put together this book with great haste during the winter break. My writing is far from elegant but I try to articulate myself clearly and coherently. For easy comprehension, I wrote in a colloquial style as much as possible and narrated in a plain, direct, and somewhat repetitive manner to get my points across. May all Buddhist practitioners master signless Buddha-mindfulness, be filled with Dharma-joy, spread this method to benefit countless beings, and enter the Ocean of the Vairocana Nature.

Take refuge in our Fundamental Teacher Buddha Śākyamuni

Take refuge in Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara of Great Compassion

Take refuge in Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta

A disciple of the Three Jewels

Xiao Pingshi

Feb 28, 1992

[1] Huatou 話頭: literally “word head,” huatou refers to what comes before words. It should be noted that while hua means spoken words in Chinese, in the Chan context it should be understood as a thought or idea associated with linguistic contents or images. Huatou, therefore, refers to the wordless and imageless awareness prior to such a thought is formed in mind. In the Chan school, the guarding and contemplation of huatou is a pedagogical device used to help practitioners uncover the True Mind.

[2] Gong’an 公案: this term, known as “koan” in Japanese, carries the literal meaning of “public case” or “precedent.” A gong’an in the Chan tradition typically consists of dialogues between a Chan master and his disciple(s). Like huatou, a Chan practitioner is supposed to contemplate the meaning of gong’an without using any language or image in order to achieve sudden awakening to the True Mind.

Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s Dharma-door for perfect mastery through Buddha-mindfulness is taken from the section “Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s Dharma-door for Perfect Mastery through Buddha-Mindfulness” in volume 5 of The Great Śūraṃgama Sūtra on the Hidden Basis of the Tathāgata’s Myriad Bodhisattva Practices Leading to The Verification of the Ultimate Truth Spoken from the Crown of the Buddha’s Head. This sūtra, commonly referred to in short as the Śūraṃgama Sūtra, is required reading for practitioners of both meditative concentration and Chan contemplation. It contains the accounts of twenty-five bodhisattvas explaining their respective cultivation methods, followed by Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī’s comment that the Dharma- door for “perfect mastery through the ear faculty” illustrated by Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara is the most fitting for people in this world.

As of today, the time of the saints is far behind us and our lifestyle has become bustling and busy; the relaxing rustic lifestyle of the countryside is impractical for most. A modern person can at best spare one or two hours a day to practice the Dharma-door for perfect mastery through the ear faculty. Unless he is very skilled in meditation and has come up with some useful and practical ways to aid his practice, it is not at all easy to succeed in this specific Dharma-door. According to the Śūraṃgama Sūtra, Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s Dharma-door for perfect mastery through Buddha-mindfulness is regarded as the second best to Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara’s Dharma-door for perfect mastery through the ear faculty. In my opinion, Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s method is the most compatible with today’s hurried lifestyle. And unsurprisingly, this Dharma-door of Buddha-mindfulness has been recommended and advocated by many prominent contemporary Buddhist figures in writing or through other media.

Chan is the objective of direct realization in my Dharma cultivation. However, in my early years of cultivation, I spent a considerable amount of time trying to practice Chan contemplation to no avail. My mind was terribly distracted because of my demanding schedule. Although I set aside time for sitting meditation every day, I never had more than an hour for it. All that I gained was the ability to maintain a focused mind in stillness. As soon as I rose from the meditation cushion, my focused mind gave way to restlessness. I did not have the slightest idea what Chan was really about, let alone the ability to contemplate it. It was not until I mastered the signless Buddha-mindfulness at the end of 1988 that I finally uncovered the “gateless gate” of the Chan school. In May 1989, I drew upon my skill of signless Buddha-mindfulness to contemplate Chan. I strove and persisted for eighteen grueling months, during which I enjoyed neither sleep nor food, before finally breaking through the gateless gate.

Through this experience, I realized that the reason most people in our modern world find Chan contemplation so challenging is primarily because of inadequate power of meditative concentration, specifically, the ability to maintain meditative concentration in motion, which is a prerequisite for Chan contemplation. Let’s use the Chan practice of huatou as an example to illustrate this. A huatou is defined by the Venerable Xuyun in the following way:

What is a huatou? Hua means words and tou means the moment before words are spoken. For example, the utterance “Amitābha” is a hua, while huatou is the moment before these words are formed in the mind. Therefore, huatou is the moment before a single thought has arisen. Once a thought has arisen, it is already the tail end of hua. The moment before a thought is called “non- arising”; not losing this moment, not letting your mind go dull, not attached to quiescence, and not falling into nothingness is called “non-ceasing.” The moment to moment, continuous, and single-minded reflexive illumination of this “neither arising nor ceasing” is called guarding a huatou, or tending a huatou.[1]

In other words, in order to guard a huatou, one must be able to abide in the moment before a thought emerges; or, put another way, one must have the ability to remain attentive to the moment before the chosen thought arises in the mind. This is the correct way to guard a huatou. On the contrary, one would be watching the trail of a thought (huawei in Chinese) if one recites a huatou like “Who is bearing the Buddha in mind?” orally or silently in mind or if one ponders over the answer to this interrogative. This is because in all these cases, one is already at the end of the words or the thought of “Who is bearing the Buddha in mind?” Hence the Venerable Xuyun states,

Why, in this modern age, do many practice the guarding of huatou but few achieve awakening? One explanation is that the capacity of modern men is inferior to that of their ancient predecessors. Another problem is that most learners have never understood the principle of Chan contemplation and the correct way to guard a huatou. Some have traveled all over, searching far and wide, without ever figuring out what a huatou really is and how to guard it. They cling to language and terms all their lives, occupying themselves with the huawei.[2]

If a practitioner is capable of guarding a huatou, he will be able to engage in Chan contemplation. If not, he must make it a priority to strengthen his power of in-motion concentration in order to acquire the ability to guard a huatou amidst all daily activities. Then, he can move on to Chan contemplation and speed up his Dharma cultivation.

Gong’an and huatou are two variations of the same thing, and the contemplation of both is predicated on the ability to keep the mind in one-pointed focus without any discursive thoughts arising. For this reason, the Venerable Xuyun says,

Among all the sayings of Patriarch Bodhidharma and the Sixth Patriarch, the most significant is “suspend one’s attention to all external states and abide in a mind without any distracting thoughts.” To “suspend one’s attention to all external states” means to let go of all external things. Together, these two statements, “let go of all external states” and “abide in a mind without any distracting thoughts,” highlight the prerequisite skill for Chan contemplation. If one cannot let go and abide as stated, not only will one not succeed in Chan contemplation, it is not even possible for one to get a foot in the door of Chan.[3]

He also says,

Before the Tang and Song dynasties, most Chan masters attained awakening to the path upon hearing a word or phrase, and the transmission between master and disciples was merely through “verifying the mind with the mind”; there was no formal method to go about it. The daily exchanges between master and disciples were merely for the untying of entanglements, in the way medicines are prescribed according to the illnesses. After the Song Dynasty,  people’s  potential  was  not  as  good  as   their predecessors, and they could no longer put what they were taught into practice. For example, while practitioners were taught to “let go of all” and “thinking neither good nor ill” they could not let go and kept putting their thoughts to either good or ill nonetheless. In view of this, the patriarchs had no choice but to make learners contemplate gong’an as a way of purging poison with poison.[4]

And:

The ancients had many gong’ans, but later on the emphasis was shifted to the guarding of huatou . . . . They are actually the same . . . . Hua [words] arises from the mind; thus the mind is the tou [the moment prior to the arising] of hua. Thoughts likewise emerge from the mind; thus the mind is what precedes thoughts. All dharmas originate from the mind; thus the mind is what comes before all dharmas. In fact, huatou is the moment prior to the arising of a thought, and the moment prior to the arising of a thought is the mind. To put it more directly, huatou is the state of mind before a thought has arisen.[5]

The above elaboration of the Venerable Xuyun makes it clear that the to contemplate gong’an and huatou, a Chan practitioner must possess the ability to maintain his or her mind in a thoughtless state. However, this mental state is not actually thoughtless; those who are truly in possession of this ability know very well that it refers to the ability to abide continuously in one-pointed focus.

The entryway of Chan is a “gateless gate.” It stresses the so- called “termination of the path of language and the cessation of all workings of the mind.” So how is it possible for one to attain awakening if every single thought of one’s mind is occupied with linguistic expressions and mental analysis? Even if such a person is forced into an awakening with the help of an enlightened Chan master, most likely he will not be able to sustain his attainment and will regress from it in a matter of minutes, hours, or days. Why is that? Because he does not possess adequate power of meditative concentration—specifically, the ability to maintain a focused mind while in physical motion.

The ability to maintain in-motion meditative concentration is as crucial for Pure Land practitioners as for Chan practitioners. The various Pure Land Dharma-doors commonly practiced today, such as the chanting of mantras, the recitation of Buddha’s name, or the sixteen ways of visualization, all require this ability and cannot be easily accomplished without the ability to sustain in- motion  meditative concentration.

I have met elderly practitioners who have chanted Buddha’s name for more than a decade. When asked whether they are confident about taking rebirth in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, they looked nervous and didn’t dare to answer. It seemed that everyone hoped to but nobody could be certain. One cannot help but wonder how many people actually have full confidence in their rebirth in the pure land. On this subject, the instructions in the sūtras are clear and straightforward:

If, when I attain Buddhahood, sentient beings in the ten directions who, having heard my name, entrust themselves to me with utmost faith and delight, dedicate all their virtuous roots toward rebirth in my land, and think of me just ten times, should not be born there, I will not attain perfect enlightenment. This excludes, however, those who have committed the five heinous sins and slandered the true Dharma.[6]

And:

If for one day, or for two . . . or up to seven days, one holds the sacred name of Buddha Amitābha with one-pointed concentration, and toward the end of his life, his mind is not confused, he will be born into the Ultimate Bliss Pure Land of Buddha Amitābha.[7]

Given these unambiguous instructions in the sūtras, one can ex- amine whether during practice one can develop utmost faith and dedicate all the merits to rebirth in the pure land while maintaining ten thoughts of Buddha Amitābha in mind, or whether one is able to keep the mind in one-pointed focus totally free from distracting thoughts. If either is beyond one’s ability now, how can one expect to do so toward the end of life, when one is tormented by all sorts of afflictions? Understandably, those who are aware that they cannot meet the conditions stipulated in the sūtras spend their days in endless apprehension.

This predicament haunts not only practitioners of Buddha-mindfulness but also those who practice mantra chanting or visualization. Its underlying cause is once again the insufficient power of meditative concentration. Within the Tripiṭaka, the discourses delivered by Buddha are contained in the Sūtra Piṭaka and many of them focus on the cultivation of meditative concentration (the Vinaya Piṭaka is a collection of the Buddha’s teachings regarding precepts and the Abhidharma Piṭaka the bodhisattvas’ teachings on wisdom). Essentially, the “acceptance, reading, recitation, writing, and exposition of the scriptures” are all methods to train meditative concentration, a clear indication of its vital importance. A person with sufficient proficiency in meditative concentration can easily restrain the six sense faculties and abide in one continuous pure thought. When one possesses this level of concentration, what worries would one still have about gaining rebirth in Buddha’s pure land? The question is, how could one effectively develop the power of meditative concentration while in motion and in stillness? My experience shows that Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s Dharma-door for perfect mastery through Buddha-mindfulness is the best method.

The cultivation of Buddha-mindfulness should proceed from relying on signs to disposing of them, and then to the use of signless mindfulness of Buddha as an expedient means to realize the ultimate reality. For this reason, practitioners of Buddha-mindful- ness should be aware of the three types of Buddha-mindfulness, as follows:

1. The mindfulness of Buddha’s emanation-body,[8] as in the recitation of Buddha’s name illustrated in the Amitābha Sūtra. The attainment of the Buddha-Mindfulness Samādhi through the recitation of Buddha’s name enables one to see the emanation-body (or embodiments) of Buddha Amitābha upon empathetic
2. The mindfulness of Buddha’s reward-body, [9] as in the practice of the sixteen visualizations illustrated in the Sūtra on the Contemplation of Buddha Amitāyus. When the Buddha-Mindfulness Samādhi through visualization is accomplished, one can see the magnificent reward-body of Buddha Amitābha endowed with thirty-two majestic features and eighty excellent marks, or even the remarkable features of the Pure Land of Ultimate
3. The mindfulness of Buddha’s Dharma-body,[10] as in sign- less Buddha-mindfulness by way of the “recollection and mindfulness of Buddha” illustrated in the section “Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s Dharma-door for Perfect Mastery through Buddha-Mindfulness” of the Śūraṃgama Sūtra. When a person has successfully mastered signless Buddha-mindfulness, he will “spontaneously awaken to the True Mind without employing any other skillful means than the recollection and mindfulness of ” This person can certainly gain rebirth in the highest level of the highest grade in the Land of True Reward and Adornment in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. All he needs to do is, with utmost sincerity and the deepest faith, dedicate his merits to and make vows for rebirth in the Pure Land. As for those who have mastered signless Buddha-mindfulness but have not awakened to the True Mind, so long as they have acquired proficient understanding of the ultimate truth expounded in the Mahāyāna Vaipulya scriptures without being intimidated by it, they can be born in the Land of True Reward and Adornment in the middle level of the highest grade if they dedicate their roots of virtue for rebirth in the Pure Land. In the case of those who have not awakened to the True Mind and do not understand the ultimate truth, they can be born in the lowest level of the highest grade in the Land of True Reward and Adornment if they fulfill the following conditions: 1) they have never slandered the teachings of the Great Vehicle 2) they have a firm belief in the karmic law of cause and effect, and 3) they have aspired to enter the unsurpassed Bodhisattva Path (Note 1).

It needs to be noted that those born in the lowest level of the highest grade in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss have to cultivate the Buddha Dharma for an extremely long time, and the fruition they attain is also far inferior to those born in the highest or middle level of the highest grade. Practitioners should keep these differences in mind and weigh their options prudently.

Taking the aforementioned points into consideration, a practitioner who seeks rebirth in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss should earnestly practice Buddha-mindfulness through name recitation if no superior method is available. But if he is fortunate enough to come upon a better method, he should definitely pursue it in order to strive for rebirth in the highest level of the highest grade. Please do not be complacent with the lowest or the middle level of the highest grade. The greater the mind, the more expansive the vision; a higher aspiration, as opposed to a louder voice, is what enables one to “behold a grander Buddha.”

Moreover, Bodhisattva Mahāsthāmaprāpta’s Dharma-door for perfect mastery through Buddha-mindfulness is not the only method that teaches the mindfulness of Buddha’s Dharma-body. There are many other Dharma-doors that teach the mindfulness of Buddha’s Dharma-body, and all of them are signless Buddha- mindfulness in essence. In keeping with the length of this book, I shall cite only a few passages from the Buddha Treasury Sūtra[11] to support my point:

Śāriputra, what is meant by bearing the Buddha in mind? Seeing that which is without anything is called bearing the Buddha in mind. Śāriputra, Buddhas are unquantifiable [for Buddhas are intangible], inconceivable, and immeasurable; thus, the seeing of that which is without anything is called bearing the Buddha in mind. It is in fact called non- discrimination. Since all Buddhas are non-discriminating, it is said that the mindfulness of the non-discriminating is bearing the Buddha in mind.[12]

Furthermore, seeing the ultimate reality of all dharmas is called seeing the Buddha. What is called the ultimate reality of all dharmas? All dharmas are ultimately empty  and without anything, and bearing the Buddha in mind should depend upon the dharma that is ultimately empty and without anything. Also, in this dharma, not even the slightest thought is apprehensible, such is called bearing the Buddha in mind. Śāriputra, this dharma of bearing the Buddha in mind cuts off the path of language; it is beyond all thoughts and in the practice of this dharma no thought can be apprehended, such is called bearing the Buddha in mind.[13]

Śāriputra, all thoughts are characterized by quiescence and cessation; to be in accord with such a dharma is called the cultivation of bearing the Buddha in mind. One should not bear the Buddha in mind relying on any form. Why is that? Thinking of forms leads to the apprehension of appearance; desiring specific qualities breeds discernment. It is called bearing the Buddha in mind when it is without shape, appearance, conditions, or properties. Hence one should know: the true way of bearing the Buddha in mind is without discrimination, apprehension, and abandonment.[14]

Bearing the Buddha in mind is called the shattering of investigation[15] and analysis[16] toward everything good or ill; it is without investigation or analysis, and is thoughtless and quiescent.   Why is that? One should not employ thought and examination to be mindful of Buddha. The absence of investigation and analysis is called the pure way of bearing the Buddha in mind.[17]

You should not attach to even the slightest thoughts when you bear the Buddha in mind, nor should you develop conceptual proliferation[18] or discrimination. Why is that? All dharmas are empty of an inherent nature; hence, you should not be mindful of any kind of sign. The so-called signlessness is the true way of being mindful of Buddha.[19]

All of the above excerpts from the Buddha Treasury Sūtra describe the state of “Buddha-mindfulness in ultimate reality.”[20]  Having realized the True Mind, a practitioner will know that “Buddha” is without physical form and appearance, or any phenomenal characteristic. When this person follows others in chanting Buddha’s name, he can say that “the recitation of Buddha’s name encompasses both phenomenon and principle.” However,   for those who have not yet realized the True Mind, making the same comment frequently and casually constitutes false speech. What accounts for the difference? In the latter case, one has realized neither the phenomena nor the principle of  Buddha-mindfulness.

The method of signless Buddha-mindfulness illustrated in this book supplies practitioners with skillful means that can help them progress from sign-dependent to signless mindfulness of Buddha. Some practitioners may also be able to advance to the stage of “Buddha-mindfulness in ultimate reality” in the future when they have accumulated sufficient roots of virtue and wisdom.

[1] Xuyun 虛雲, Record of the Instructions Given by the Old Monk Xuyun (Xuyun laoheshang fangbian kaishi lu 虛雲老和尚方便開示錄) (Taiwan: Chung Tai Shan Buddhist Foundation, 1997), 52: 什麼叫做話頭？話就是 說話，頭就是說話之前。如念「阿彌陀佛」是句話, 未念之前就是 話頭。所謂話頭就是一念未生之際。一念才生，已是話尾。這一 念未生之際叫做不生，不掉舉，不昏沉，不著靜，不落空，叫做 不滅。時時刻刻，單單的的一念，迴光返照。這不生不滅就叫做 看話頭，或照顧話頭。

[2] Ibid., 41-42: 然而為什麼現代人, 看話頭的多，而悟道的人沒有幾 個呢？這個由於現代的人，根器不及古人。亦由學者對於參禪看 話頭的理路，多是沒有摸清。有的人東參西訪，南奔北走，結果 鬧到老，對一個話頭還沒有弄明白，不知什麼是話頭，如何才算 看話頭？一生總是執著言句名相，在話尾上用心。

[3] Ibid., 38: 達摩祖師和六祖開示學人最要緊的話，莫若「屏息諸緣， 一念不生」。屏息諸緣就是萬緣放下，所以「萬緣放下，一念不 生」這兩句話，實在是參禪的先決條件。這兩句話如果做不到， 參禪不但是說沒有成功，就是入門都不可能……。

[4] Ibid., 40: 在唐宋以前的禪德，多是由一言半句就悟道了。師徒間的 傳授，不過以心印心，並沒有什麼實法。平日參問酬答，也不過 隨方解縛，因病與藥而已。宋代以後，人們的根器陋劣了，講了 做不到；譬如說「放下一切」，「善惡莫作」；但總是放不下， 不是思善，就是思惡。到了這個時候，祖師不得已， 採取以毒攻 毒的辦法，教學人參公案。

[5] Ibid., 40-41: 古人的公案多得很，後來專講看話頭……。其實都一 樣……。話從心起，心是話之頭；念從心起，心是念之頭；萬法 皆從心生，心是萬法之頭。其實，話頭就是念頭，念之前頭就是 心。直言之，一念未生前，就是話頭。

[6] See Sūtra on the Buddha of Infinite Life (Foshuo wuliangshou jing 佛說無 量壽經). CEBTA, T12, no. 360, 268a26-28: 設我得佛，十方眾生至心信 樂欲生我國，乃至十念，若不生者，不取正覺，唯除五逆、誹謗 正法。And also the same sūtra, 268b3-5:  設我得佛，十方眾生聞我名號

、係念我國，殖諸德本、至心迴向欲生我國，不果遂者，不取正 覺。

[7] Amitābha Sūtra (Foshuo amituo jing 佛說阿彌陀經). CEBTA, T12, no. 366, 347b11-15: 若一日、若二日、若三日、若四日、若五日、若六日、若 七日，一心不亂。其人臨命終時，阿彌陀佛與諸聖眾現在其前。 是人終時，心不顛倒，即得往生阿彌陀佛極樂國土。

[8] S. nirmāṇakāya; C. huashen 化身.

[9] S. saṃbhogakāya; C. baoshen 報身.

[10] S. dharmakāya; C. fashen 法身.

[11] C. Fozang jing 佛藏經.

[12] CBETA, T15, no. 653, 785a25-29: 舍利弗！云何名為念佛？見無所有名 為念佛。舍利弗！諸佛無量不可思議、不可稱量，以是義故，見 無所有名為念佛。實名無分別，諸佛無分別，以是故言念無分別 即是念佛。

[13] CBETA, T15, no. 653, 785b1-5: 復次，見諸法實相名為見佛。何等名為 諸法實相？所謂諸法畢竟空無所有，以是畢竟空無所有法念佛。 復次，如是法中，乃至小念尚不可得，是名念佛。舍利弗！是念 佛法斷語言道， 過出諸念不可得念，是名念佛。

[14] CBETA, T15, no. 653, 785b5-9: 舍利弗！一切諸念皆寂滅相，隨順是法， 此則名為修習念佛。不可以色念佛。何以故？念色取相貪味為識， 無形、無色、無緣、無性，是名念佛。是故當知，無有分別、無 取、無捨， 是真念佛。

[15] Investigation: Alt. thoughts, applied thought, or applied attention; S. vitarka; xun/jue 尋/覺.

[16] Analysis: Alt. sustained thought, sustained attention; S. vicāra; C. si/guan 伺/觀.

[17] CBETA, T15, no. 653, 785b18-21: 念佛名為破善不善一切覺觀，無覺無 觀寂然無想，名為念佛。何以故？不應以覺觀憶念諸佛，無覺無 觀名為清淨念佛。

[18] S. prapañca; C. xilun 戲論.

[19] CBETA, T15, no. 653, 785c6-9: 汝念佛時莫取小想，莫生戲論、莫有分 別。何以故？是法皆空、無有體性、不可念，一相所謂無相，是 名真實念佛。

[20] C. shixiang nianfo 實相念佛.

Illustration of Buddha Prostration Practice