Contemplating Emptiness Through Phenomenal Constructs, Writing That Transmits the Way

We speak of the stage of seeing the Path—but what Path does one actually see here? Two: the first is called the true seeing of the Path, the second the seeing through phenomenal marks. The true seeing of the Path springs from fundamental wisdom, which directly verifies the true suchness of the two emptinesses: the emptiness of inherent self, and the emptiness of all phenomenal marks. Because it carries no conceptual overlays whatsoever, it is called the unmarked realization. The first glimpse of the Path we catch as beginners is of the perfected nature: this is none other than the true suchness of the two emptinesses. At this stage, there are no shifting, conditioned appearances—let us unpack this a little. When our ordinary, unawakened mind contacts objects, it always splits experience into knower and known: there is the cognitive aspect (what we call the “seeing aspect”) and the corresponding phenomenal mark (the “appearance aspect”). But when an awakened being’s non-conceptual wisdom merges with the true suchness of the two emptinesses, all appearance aspects vanish entirely—only the pure seeing aspect remains, with no split between knower and known left behind. Why is this so? The Dharma teaches that there are countless skillful means of practice, but only one gate back to the source. One person may practice Yogacara contemplation, another Tiantai contemplation. At the early stages of practice—the stage of accumulating merit and the stage of preparatory training—the terminologies and frameworks of these two schools differ, so their methods for realizing the truth will vary. But the moment either practice aligns with ultimate truth, the truth in your mind and the truth in theirs are exactly the same, for neither carries any conceptual marks. If marks were present, there would be divergence. As for appearance aspects: the phenomenal marks in your mind and the mental impressions in someone else’s mind are never identical. Take this Buddha statue as an example: each of you holds a unique appearance aspect of it in your mind, a distinct mental impression. But when you are aligned with the truth, there are no marks at all. This is why, when awakened beings of the ten directions realize the truth, every one of them abides in suchness: your mind is suchness, their mind is suchness—one suchness, no second suchness. Marks may arise during the course of practice, but at the moment of full realization, there is not the slightest thing to be grasped. This is the character of fundamental wisdom merging with true suchness: it is completely without marks. But the wisdom that arises in the very next instant after fundamental wisdom is the subsequent attained wisdom, which verifies the dependent nature of all phenomena. At this stage, one perceives emptiness even as one engages with conditioned appearances, and this is still called the marked realization. This is why, at the stage of realization, we penetrate two levels of truth: the first is the true seeing of the Path, the second the seeing through phenomenal marks. The seeing through phenomenal marks is the skillful means used to guide and liberate sentient beings, so it still works with conditioned marks. Consider Chan Master Guishan Lingyou. One year he led a summer rains retreat, a ninety-day period of intensive practice. On the final day, as the monks prepared to leave and came to bid him farewell, he gave them this teaching: “It is better to go to the place with no grass for ten thousand miles than to wander east or west.” He was telling them that no matter where they went—back to their home temples, east or west across the land—their most important refuge was that place free of all marks: their true sanctuary, their great abiding place of peace. If we search through all the Buddha’s pure discourses, we won’t find him uttering these exact words. But the principle behind them aligns perfectly with the Buddha’s teaching. How was Guishan Lingyou able to express such an image? It came from his subsequent attained wisdom. This is to say: our ordinary deluded minds are filled only with craving, with no access to the Path at all. So how do we begin? We use the method of “observing emptiness through phenomenal marks”, and let words carry the Path: we contemplate the teachings, the written word, slowly and gradually working our way toward the Path. But once we are fully aligned with the Path itself, we can also generate words from the Path itself, crafting teachings that encompass every possible skillful means for sentient beings. Take the famous examples of Deshan’s staff and Linji’s shout: if you ask Chan Master Deshan what the true meaning of the Dharma is, he’ll strike you with his staff, using the blow itself as a teaching to awaken you. If you ask Chan Master Linji the same question, he’ll shout a sharp rebuke. Whether he strikes or shouts, he can eliminate your deluded thoughts and help you awaken to the truth. All of these are examples of the seeing through phenomenal marks. Since these are all conditioned marks, each ancestor’s skillful means are unique. The hallmark of the realization stage is this: the true seeing of the Path that the practitioner experiences for themselves is free of all marks, and cannot be directly passed on to others. But when they emerge from this state of true seeing, they apply the subsequent attained wisdom to the dependent nature of reality. They observe the capacities of different sentient beings, and establish distinct skillful means for each. This is where the marked realization comes in: they manifest all kinds of marks, whether gentle and accepting, or sharp and corrective, each tailored to the needs of the listener. This is what is called the realization stage. Venerable Jingjie: Thirty Verses on Consciousness Only