Reciting the Buddha’s name with a mind free of thoughts

 What is a wrong thought? A lustful mind is precisely a wrong thought. Having no “wrong thoughts” means having no lust; having no lust means having no notion of self and no place for attachment. When there is no place for attachment, is this not true freedom? Is this not liberation?

What is called mindfulness of the Buddha? “Mindfulness” means remembrance; that is, one must remember the Buddha, remember one’s True Suchness self-nature. True Suchness self-nature is the nature originally possessed from the beginning; it is also the Tathāgatagarbha nature, the Buddha-nature. True Suchness is the fundamental essence of mindfulness, while mindfulness is the functioning of True Suchness. Recollecting the self-nature of True Suchness is true mindfulness; it is not the kind of thought arising from the eyes, ears, nose, or tongue.

Although we possess Buddha-nature, we do not yet know how to return to our own self-nature. Therefore it is said that because True Suchness has nature, thought arises. Although the fundamental essence of True Suchness gives rise to thought, and although seeing, hearing, awareness, and knowing function through the six sense faculties, there is no defilement or attachment, because you have no wrong thoughts and do not cling to the myriad phenomena.

So how should one be mindful in order to be mindful of the Buddha? Is it bodily mindfulness or mindfulness of dharmas? Truly contemplating the true reality of all dharmas is called mindfulness of the Buddha.

What is right mindfulness? It is not clinging to evil dharmas in order to slander them; it is cultivating all dharmas without disparaging or reviling them; it is leaving behind self and non-self; not seeing beings, lifespan, ruler, nurturer, person, or birth; not attaching to actions, causes of actions, the aggregates, elements, sense bases, perceptions, objects of cognition, or locations. Regarding all dharmas of this life, future lives, and even the three realms, one neither depends on nor is stained by them.

What is no-thought? No-thought means the absence of duality. It means not forgetting, but remembering the Buddha or remembering True Suchness. True Suchness is your original nature, and your original nature is pure and luminous, with no place for attachment. Therefore there is no form, no thought, and no abiding. It is neither movement nor stillness, neither right nor wrong, neither male nor female, neither good nor evil.

No-thought, no-form, and no-abiding. No-thought is no-form; being able to be without form is no-abiding. No-thought is also no-birth; no-form is no-cessation; no-abiding means that originally there is neither birth nor death, neither right nor wrong. No-thought, no-form, and no-abiding also mean neither right nor wrong, neither good nor evil, neither male nor female.

In the Śūraṅgama Sutra, “turning the faculty of hearing inward” means not listening to external sounds, but instead turning back inward to hear one’s own self-nature. It also means gathering the mind and body inward. “Within hearing, hear the hearing-nature.” This does not mean contemplating stillness, clinging to stillness, and taking that to be purity.

What is called purity? Purity originally has no form or appearance, yet you establish a form of purity, contemplate purity, cling to purity, and call it practice. Holding such a view obstructs your own nature and binds you with purity. Because you have become attached to purity, this too is a form of attachment. If one clings to the idea that a thought has been cut off and no longer exists, is that not equivalent to death? For having no thoughts would mean being dead. Yet dying here and being reborn there—such thinking is extremely mistaken.

From the time of Śākyamuni Buddha until now, the principle has always been no-object-of-thought as the doctrine, no-form as the essence, and no-abiding as the foundation. What is no-form? It is being among forms while departing from form. No-thought means being among thoughts without attaching to thought. No-abiding is the original nature of human beings. In any state or circumstance, when the mind is unstained and unattached, that is called no-thought. Within one’s own pure awareness, one constantly departs from all realms and does not give rise to wrong thoughts based on circumstances.

In truth, one’s own originally pure source, wondrously bright awakened nature, originally does not possess a single dharma. It is perfectly pure, complete, luminous, the wondrously bright true mind; originally there is not a single thing. Therefore, the Pure Land teaching takes no-thought as its central principle. To attain the Samādhi of Buddha-Recitation, one must:

Always relinquish everything,
The marks of conditioned phenomena are false;
Do not grasp at the nature of dharmas,
Then this samādhi is attained.

Do not cling to slander,
Nor to remembrance and discrimination;
Completely leave behind self and what belongs to self,
And such a samādhi is attained.

Do not, regarding the aggregates,
See beings or lifespan,
Person, self, and birth,
Man or nurturer.

Nor engage in discriminating thoughts;
This is called expounding the Dharma.
Be unstained by all dharmas,
By self-nature and what belongs to self.

See that the body is not born from the aggregates,
Then this samādhi is attained.
Form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—
All are empty and without characteristics.

Their roots are all impure;
Understanding this samādhi,
Contemplate conditioned dharmas:
They arise through conditions and lack autonomy.

Nothing is ultimately real;
False and illusory, they cannot be held.
Like the dharma of dependent arising,
This is called the eye sense-base.

Ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind
Also have no self-nature.
If one clearly discerns this,
One gives rise to this samādhi.

This body is not real;
The aggregate collection is not pure.
Blood and pus flow from nine openings—
Who would delight in such a place?

The mind enters thought, thought ceases;
Delusion is constantly like an illusion.
If one deeply discerns this,
Then this samādhi is attained.

Because all the sense bases
Are empty and unreal,
Ordinary people, like children,
Are deluded and cling to the body.

In the confusion of craving and attachment,
They do not know it is illusory.
This body is like an empty gathering place,
A dwelling place of thieves.

Fault-ridden and false dharmas—
The wise are always weary of them and leave them behind.
By observing in this way,
This samādhi is attained.

The aggregates, elements, and sense bases
Are all empty and unreal.
If one can discern this,
This samādhi arises.

Like fire, like bubbles on water,
Like an illusion, like a banana trunk,
One should contemplate the fragile body—
Nothing is less real than this.

If these Bodhisattvas
Maintain such indestructible wisdom,
They quickly attain all Buddhas’
Profoundly taught samādhi.

Dharmas do not arise by themselves,
Nor do they come from another.
Ultimately they abide nowhere;
The undefiled dharma is also thus.

If one can contemplate in this way,
This samādhi arises.
Abandon all conditioned phenomena,
All activities and changing appearances.

This dharma is like empty space;
When it arises, nothing can be grasped.
A Bodhisattva who knows this
Practices and studies all dharmas.

Quickly attaining supreme Bodhi,
Turning the unsurpassed Dharma wheel,
Such a Bodhisattva can
Establish a place of Dharma.

With inconceivable wisdom,
Distinguishing all dharmas,
One sees them all as false,
Ultimately lacking true reality.

Now although I have, for your sake,
Clearly explained this samādhi,
Its characteristics and forms are such
That its meaning is very difficult to understand.