Author: Venerable Wenzhu

The Guanyin Dharma Gate is the "perfect penetration through the ear faculty" taught in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra. It is one of the twenty-five modes of perfect penetration—a method of practice and realization that is both distinctive and supremely exalted. When Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva was selecting which mode of perfect penetration to teach, he said in the Śūraṅgama Sūtra: "This is the gateway to nirvana pursued by every Buddha, down to the finest mote of dust. All past Tathāgatas have already accomplished themselves through this gate. All present Bodhisattvas now enter its perfect illumination. All future cultivators should rely on this very method. I too have realized through it—not Avalokiteśvara alone." You can see how exceedingly supreme this Dharma gate is. Because it is so exalted, it is not a method that ordinary beginners, or those with shallow roots of goodness, can readily cultivate and realize. For this reason, Shakyamuni Buddha taught countless Dharma gates to meet the diverse capacities of sentient beings—some vast, some small; some exoteric, some esoteric; some gradual, some sudden; some provisional, some ultimate. As the saying goes, "The Dharma gates are infinite; all are set up for sentient beings." Among those countless gates, the perfect penetration of the ear faculty stands as the most supreme—it can truly be called the gate to Buddhahood itself, though it is not the only one. The ear-door perfect penetration is the method that Guanyin Bodhisattva himself cultivated, realized, and taught from his own experience, and it is also the method transmitted by the ancient Tathāgata Avalokiteśvara. For this reason, the ear-door perfect penetration is also called the Guanyin Dharma Gate. But this Guanyin Dharma Gate is not the same as the "Guanyin Dharma Gate" spoken of in recent times by people with deviant views and false knowledge. The version those deluded people preach is a crooked path: it chases after sounds, drifts along with them, clings outward, is troubled by noise, and falls prey to demons. By contrast, the perfect penetration of the ear faculty is the gate of Guanyin Bodhisattva: he cast aside the arising and ceasing of conditioned phenomena, kept faith with what is true and everlasting, reversed the direction of hearing to its source, contemplated the nature of hearing itself, completely dissolved the nature of sound, and in the extinction of sound, realized hearing in its perfect wholeness. I am honestly afraid that those who do not understand the Buddha Dharma may be taken in by others—having fish eyes passed off as pearls, or being led astray by false teachings. So today I have especially raised this topic for discussion, to set the record straight, to distinguish the true from the false, and to analyze the crooked from the right. The content, however, is fairly deep and not easy to grasp—it isn't as light or entertaining as hearing a story or a joke. I hope everyone will listen attentively. If there are points you do not understand, please raise them when questions are invited, and we can discuss them together. Since the ear-door perfect penetration is the method personally cultivated and realized by Guanyin Bodhisattva, and personally expounded by him, before we try to understand it, we ought first to learn about Guanyin Bodhisattva's origins and gender, and the reason for his name. I trust this is something everyone here wants to know.

I. The Origins of Guanyin Bodhisattva

Guanyin Bodhisattva, although he has a particularly close affinity with sentient beings of the Sahā World. Especially in the Zhejiang region of China, there is scarcely anyone who does not know Guanyin Bodhisattva—the saying goes, "In every household, Amitābha; in every home, Guanyin." Even in America, quite a few people know of "Happy Buddha," but even more know of "Guanyin" (GWANYIN). And yet Guanyin Bodhisattva is, in fact, a Bodhisattva in the position of "one life away from Buddhahood," residing in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, more than a trillion Buddha lands away. He is presently assisting Amitābha Buddha in teaching and transforming sentient beings. After immeasurable eons, when Amitābha Buddha enters parinirvāṇa in the first half of the night, Guanyin Bodhisattva will attain Buddhahood in the second half, with the title "King of Virtue, Light-Bearing Mountain Buddha." In truth, Guanyin Bodhisattva had already become a Buddha long ago, under the name Tathāgata Righteous Dharma Brightness. Stirred by his great compassion and pity for beings long lost in delusion, he carried the fruit of Buddhahood with him while still practicing its causes, appearing in the form of a Bodhisattva to assist the Buddhas in turning the Dharma wheel—not only helping Amitābha, but aiding all the Buddhas of the ten directions. When Shakyamuni descended into the Sahā World, Guanyin Bodhisattva also manifested a practice site at Mount Potalaka in southern India of the Sahā World, helping the Buddha turn the Dharma wheel and rescue sentient beings (as recorded in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra). And when the Buddha Dharma traveled east, Guanyin Bodhisattva once again established a place of practice and transformation at Mount Putuo on the southern coast of Zhejiang, China. The story goes that during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, around the Liang dynasty's Mingzhen era, a Japanese monk named Hūe came to China to seek the Buddha Dharma. While paying homage to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva at Mount Wutai, he saw a sacred image of Guanyin Bodhisattva—pure, magnificent, and utterly serene—and was filled with longing. He wished to bring it back to Japan for veneration, but feared the abbot would not permit it. So he took it without asking, immediately boarded a ship, and set sail eastward, intending to return home. When the vessel reached the waters near Xinluo Reef in the Zhoushan Archipelago of Zhejiang, countless iron lotus flowers suddenly rose from the sea, blocking the ship so that it could go no further. For three days and three nights it remained stuck. The monk then prayed to the Bodhisattva: "If the sentient beings of Japan have no affinity to see you, then I will go wherever the ship drifts, and build a hall there to enshrine your sacred image." When his prayer ended, the ship drifted on and came to rest at the edge of Chaoyin Cave. Monks Hūe left the boat and climbed the mountain, where he met a fisherman and explained the whole matter. The fisherman was deeply moved and offered his own dwelling to enshrine the image of Guanyin, naming it "The Courtyard of the Guanyin Who Would Not Leave." Hūe thus became the founding patriarch of Mount Putuo. From this we can see that Guanyin Bodhisattva has an illustrious origin indeed. He is not merely a Bodhisattva one life from Buddhahood, but a Bodhisattva who has returned to the world from the Buddha path. How could one speak of a hometown or birthplace in his case?

II. The Gender of Guanyin Bodhisattva

Since Guanyin Bodhisattva is a Bodhisattva who has come from the Buddha path, having long since realized the fruit of Buddhahood, above he is one with the original wondrous awakened mind of all Buddhas in the ten directions, sharing their same compassionate power; below he is one with all sentient beings of the six realms, sharing their same yearning for compassion. He does not only manifest thirty-two response bodies to guide the deluded—he also bestows the fourteen fearless qualities and the four inconceivable powers upon sentient beings. So if one says his gender is male, female, ordinary, sacred, human, or nonhuman, none of these would be wrong. The Flame-Faced Great Being of the Yoga Flaming Mouth rite, for instance, is none other than the ghost-king body manifested by Guanyin Bodhisattva. How then could one measure a Bodhisattva's gender by the deluded thoughts of ordinary folk? We should understand that ordinary beings have not yet escaped the cycle of rebirth; they are bound by space and time and cling to everything. That is why they see all manner of dualistic distinctions—male and female, human and animal, sacred and ordinary, even good and bad, beautiful and ugly. If one can transcend space and time, escape the turning wheel, and awaken back to the Buddha-nature—Buddha-nature is equal, beyond all opposites, beyond right and wrong, beyond words and speech, beyond the reach of mind and thought—how could there be any distinction between sentient being and Buddha, between ordinary and sacred? When sacred and ordinary dissolve, and sentient being and Buddha become one, what room is there even to speak of gender? So-called gender is nothing more than a false label and a phantom appearance invented by the deluded grasping of ordinary beings. As disciples of the Buddha, instead of returning appearances to the nature, dispelling delusion and revealing the truth, to stubbornly fixate on gender, recklessly argue about high and low, and even favor men over women—this is truly not right. In the Vimalakīrti Sūtra, there is a story of a heavenly maiden scattering flowers. When the flowers fell upon the Bodhisattvas, they all dropped to the ground; but when they fell upon the great śrāvaka disciples, they stuck and would not fall off. Great disciples of the Buddha, with flowers all over their bodies, looked truly undignified. So all the great disciples exerted their spiritual powers to remove the flowers, but try as they might, the flowers would not come off. The heavenly maiden then asked Śāriputra, "Why are you trying to remove the flowers?" Śāriputra answered, "These flowers are not in accordance with the Dharma, so I am removing them." The maiden replied, "Do not say these flowers are not in accordance with the Dharma. Why? Because the flowers themselves harbor no discrimination—it is you who are generating discriminatory thoughts. If one who has left home in the Buddha Dharma still has discriminatory thoughts, that is not in accordance with the Dharma; if one has no discrimination, that is in accordance with the Dharma. The reason the flowers do not stick to the Bodhisattvas is that they have cut off all discriminatory thinking. Just as, when a person lives in fear, nonhuman beings can take advantage of them, so too, when disciples fear the cycle of birth and death, the six sense objects—form, sound, smell, taste, and touch—can take advantage of them. Those who have already left fear behind cannot be affected by any of the five desires. Those whose habitual defilements are not yet exhausted have flowers clinging to their bodies; those whose defilements are exhausted have no flowers clinging to them." A lively debate then unfolded. Śāriputra thought to himself, "It is truly remarkable that a woman should possess such eloquence and insight; with eloquence and insight like hers, why should she remain in a woman's form?" So he said, "Why don't you transform your female body?" The heavenly maiden replied, "For twelve years now I have sought the mark of a woman and found it utterly unattainable. What would I have to transform? Suppose a magician conjures up an illusory woman, and someone asks, 'Why don't you transform the female body?' Would that be a proper question?" Śāriputra answered, "No, it would not. An illusion has no fixed form, so what would there be to transform?" The maiden said, "All dharmas are also like this, without fixed form. Why then do you ask about not transforming the female body?" Then the heavenly maiden used her spiritual power to transform Śāriputra so that he looked like the heavenly maiden, while she herself transformed to look like Śāriputra. She asked, "Why don't you transform the female body?" Śāriputra, now in the maiden's form, answered, "I do not know what to transform to become a female body." The maiden said, "Śāriputra! If you could transform this female body, then all women should be able to do so as well. Just as you, Śāriputra, are not a woman but appear in a female body, all women are likewise the same. Although they appear in a female body, they are not women. This is why the Buddha taught that all dharmas are neither male nor female." At that moment the heavenly maiden withdrew her spiritual power, and Śāriputra returned to his original form. The maiden asked Śāriputra, "Where now is the appearance of the female body?" Śāriputra answered, "The appearance of the female body is neither existent nor non-existent." The maiden said, "All dharmas are likewise—neither existent nor non-existent. That which is neither existent nor non-existent is what the Buddha taught." At the end, the layman Vimalakīrti told Śāriputra that this heavenly maiden had already made offerings to nine billion two hundred million Buddhas, had mastered the spiritual powers of a Bodhisattva's skillful play, had every vow fulfilled, had realized the patience of non-arising, and dwelled in the stage of non-retrogression. By the power of her original vow, she appears in whatever body she wishes in order to teach and transform sentient beings. If a maiden who had simply made offerings to nine billion two hundred million Buddhas, mastered the Bodhisattva's playful spiritual powers, realized the patience of non-arising, and dwelled in non-retrogression could freely appear in any form to teach sentient beings—how much more so Guanyin Bodhisattva, who long ago realized the Buddha path? He can of course freely appear as a man, as a woman, or even as any of the twelve kinds of sentient beings. This is why the Lotus Sūtra says, "Whatever body is needed to deliver a being, Guanyin Bodhisattva will manifest that very body and teach the Dharma for them." By now, you should all have some understanding of Guanyin Bodhisattva's gender, wouldn't you say?

III. The Meaning of Guanyin Bodhisattva's Sacred Name

The reason this Bodhisattva is called Guanyin ("Perceiver of the Sounds of the World") can be explained from two aspects: his cultivation and realization during the causal stage, and his work of teaching and transforming in the fruition stage. If we look at his cultivation and realization during the causal stage, "Guan" (perceiving) refers to the Bodhisattva's wisdom of perception, and "Shiyin" (worldly sounds) refers to the object of that perception. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, Guanyin Bodhisattva recounts that, countless eons ago in his practice, he encountered the Tathāgata Avalokiteśvara, who taught him the vajra samadhi of cultivating hearing through hearing, as if it were an illusion. Following this method, he worked from the fundamental enlightened nature of the ear faculty, activating the wondrous wisdom of initial awakening. He perceived that all the sounds throughout the three realms are simply manifestations of mind, so he did not chase after sound; instead he turned inward to contemplate the nature of hearing. Entering the flow and forgetting the object, he untied the six knots, transcended the three emptinesses, and finally realized perfect penetration. The ancient Tathāgata Avalokiteśvara thereupon conferred on him the name Guanyin. From the standpoint of his teaching and transformation in the fruition stage, "Guan" refers to the Bodhisattva's unconditional great compassion and his great compassion born of shared essence, while "Shiyin" refers to the voices of sentient beings in the world reciting the Bodhisattva's sacred name, or their cries for help. As the Lotus Sūtra says: "If countless hundreds of thousands of millions of sentient beings are suffering all kinds of distress, and they hear the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva and single-mindedly call it out, Guanyin Bodhisattva will immediately perceive the sound of their voices, and all of them will be liberated." Here, "Guan" is the one who can rescue and deliver, and "Shiyin" is the sentient being to be rescued. When the rescuer and the rescued are not two, and the capacity of the being matches the teaching, this is what is meant by Guanyin. As for the meaning of "Bodhisattva," the translated name is "Awakened Being." Interpreted from the angle of self-benefit, "awakened" refers to the Bodhisattva's own mind of awakening, and "being" refers to the Bodhisattva himself. A Bodhisattva is not a clay or wooden idol, but a higher life, possessed—like ordinary people—of cognition, feeling, and will. The difference is that ordinary people are deluded, while the Bodhisattva is awakened; ordinary people are beings lost in confusion, while the Bodhisattva is a being who has awakened. So a Bodhisattva is a sage who stands out above the crowd of sentient beings. From the angle of benefiting others, "awakened" refers to the path of awakening the Bodhisattva has realized, and "beings" refers to the sentient beings being taught and transformed by him. The reason a person is called a Bodhisattva is that, after awakening to the truth, moved by sympathy and a sense of justice, they take up compassion to kindle wisdom, plunge into society, and with that path awaken those people—dispelling the confusion of human life and bringing forth the awakened nature within. If we combine both self-benefit and benefiting others, "awakened" refers to the self-benefiting virtue of seeking the Buddha path above, and "beings" refers to the other-benefiting conduct of transforming sentient beings below. A person who seeks the awakening of the Buddha path for self-benefit and who transforms sentient beings for the benefit of others—self-benefit is wisdom, benefiting others is compassion; when compassion and wisdom are joined, both self and others are benefited. Hence the name "Awakened Being," which is also what Bodhisattva means. Bodhisattvas, however, come in three kinds: ordinary, sacred, and Buddha-Bodhisattvas. Those still on the ordinary level have heard the Mahāyāna Dharma and thus given rise to the Bodhisattva mind and begun to practice the Bodhisattva path. But at the first arising of the Bodhisattva mind, their merit is still shallow and their afflictions uncut. Though their hearts may be full of enthusiasm, they are pulled about by circumstances and cannot yet match their grand vows—these are called ordinary Bodhisattvas. Those who have long since given rise to the Bodhisattva mind, long practiced the Bodhisattva path, cut through afflictions, ended birth and death, partially realized the merit of the Buddha path, and can even manifest countless bodies, assisting the Buddhas in teaching and transforming sentient beings before all Buddhas, continuing the Buddha seed—these are called true sons of the Buddha, often praised by all Buddhas, and are known as sacred Bodhisattvas. They are truly worthy of the name Bodhisattva Mahāsattva. And those who have perfected the three awakenings, completed all virtues, long since attained Buddhahood, yet out of deep vows and great compassion, pitying beings long lost in delusion, have turned the great vessel around and followed the current of the nine realms, appearing in all manner of bodies, teaching all manner of dharmas, delivering all manner of sentient beings—such as Guanyin Bodhisattva, who in the past became a Buddha named Tathāgata Righteous Dharma Brightness; Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, who in the past became a Buddha named Dragon Seed Pure Honored King Buddha; and the layman Vimalakīrti, who in the past became a Buddha named Golden Millet Tathāgata. Among the Buddha's own disciples, Subhūti in the past became a Buddha named Nāga King Tathāgata; Aṅgulimāla in the past became a Buddha named Tathāgata Delightful to All Beings; and Śāriputra in the past was the Golden Nāga King Tathāgata—all of these are Bodhisattvas appearing within the Buddha realm. Since Guanyin Bodhisattva has long since realized the Buddha path, he too is, of course, a Bodhisattva manifesting within the Buddha realm.

IV. The Dharma Gate Cultivated and Realized by Guanyin Bodhisattva

IV. The Gate of Cultivation and Realization Practiced by Guanyin Bodhisattva (Avalokiteshvara)

The gate of cultivation and realization that Guanyin Bodhisattva practiced begins with the hearing nature of the ear root and leads, in the end, back from delusion to true nature—awakening to Buddhahood. It is called the Perfect Penetration of the Ear Gate. Before we look at how Guanyin Bodhisattva cultivated the Perfect Penetration of the Ear Gate to return from delusion to truth, let us first understand how sentient beings lose sight of their true nature and give rise to false appearances. The Shurangama Sutra explains this process of losing the true and giving rise to the false, and then returning from the false back to the true, in considerable detail. Given our limited time, we will offer only a brief introduction here.

Sentient beings inherently possess Buddha-nature—perfectly luminous, all-pervading, free of subject and object, beyond all relative measures, transcending time and space, untouched by birth and death, utterly pure, and completely at ease. Yet from beginningless time, a single moment of unawareness has led sentient beings astray. Deluded by ignorance, they falsely perceive a split between self and other. As the saying goes, "in one moment of unawareness, the three subtle states arise": ignorance taints true suchness, and the pure, untainted conscious mind becomes the eighth alaya-vijnana (storehouse consciousness), a mixture of what is born and what is unborn. This is the first Knot of Cessation. From the three subtle states grow the six coarse states. Ignorance veils true wisdom, so one cannot perceive that within those three subtle states, the "aspect of seeing" and the "aspect of the realm seen" are simply false appearances projected by mind alone. Out of this, false knowing and viewing arise, giving rise to the discriminating "wisdom aspect" of the seventh consciousness (manas). This belongs to innate attachment to self and dharmas, forming the second Knot of Emptiness. When subject and object stand over against each other, false thinking goes on without cease, and discrimination never stops. This is the "continuity aspect" among the six coarse states, belonging to discriminative attachment to dharmas, and forms the third Knot of Awareness. As knowing and viewing grow more entrenched, one clings to objects, endlessly grasping and rejecting. Objects pull at the mind, and the twelve kinds of false sense-data—light and dark, open and blocked, and so on—adhere to the mind's pure luminosity, stirring up seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touch, and knowing, with all their attendant mental responses. The mind in turn grasps at objects: the essence of seeing reflects form and congeals it into the eye root; the essence of hearing reflects sound and rolls it into the ear root; and so on through the knowing essence reflecting dharmas and forming the mind root. Thus the six sense organs take shape. This belongs to innate self-attachment, is the "grasping aspect" among the six coarse states, and forms the fourth Knot of the Roots.

Once the six roots are formed, they ceaselessly reach out for objects and bring forth the discriminating activity of the six consciousnesses. Within, a self is perceived; without, things are posited as "mine." This is the "naming aspect" among the six coarse states, belonging to discriminative self-attachment, and forms the fifth Knot of Stillness. Sentient beings do not realize that both self and dharmas are empty. They cling inwardly to a real self and outwardly to real dharmas, and their six roots run after the six sense-objects all day long—giving rise to greed, hatred, and delusion, and performing acts of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct. This is the "karma-creating aspect" among the six coarse states. Karma ripens into result, giving rise to three kinds of continuity: the continuity of sentient beings, the continuity of the world, and the continuity of karma and its fruits. From then on, the body is bound by karma, and the suffering is unbearable. This is the "karma-bound suffering aspect" among the six coarse states, forming the sixth Knot of Movement.

If we wish to return from delusion to truth—to break through the five skandhas, untie the six knots, extinguish ignorance, and realize the dharma body—we should choose one of the six sense organs and enter deeply through that one gate. As the Shurangama Sutra says: "If one can enter the state of no falsehood through a single faculty, the six sense-roots will be purified all at once." "Pull out one root, detach from clinging, and turn inward; settling back into the original true, the innate luminous brilliance will shine forth. Once the brilliance of that nature is fully revealed, the remaining five clingings will be pulled out and completely freed." (See the Shurangama Sutra.)

This is why the Buddhas of the ten directions—numerous as motes of dust—with one voice told Ananda: "Well said, Ananda. If you wish to know the beginningless ignorance that keeps you turning in the cycle of rebirth, the root of the knots of birth and death—it is none other than your six roots. If you wish to know the unexcelled bodhi by which you may quickly realize peaceful bliss, liberation, and serene, wondrous constancy—it is likewise none other than your six roots." Ananda did not understand and asked the Buddha: "How is it that both the cycle of birth and death and the state of peaceful, wondrous constancy come from these same six roots, and from nothing else?" The Buddha replied: "The roots and the sense-objects share the same source; bondage and liberation are not two." He said further: "To establish a knowing view is the basis of ignorance; to have knowing without a view is the imperishable, undefiled purity of nirvana." He said: "The tying and the untying of knots arise from the same cause; sage and ordinary being walk the same path." "Delusion and darkness are ignorance; illumination and clarity are liberation." "Untie the knots in their proper order: when the six are untied, the one [underlying basis] also vanishes. Choose a root for perfect penetration, enter the flow, and attain right awakening."

Because Ananda still did not understand "how this body and mind of ours are tied into knots, and what is meant by untying them," and did not grasp the principle that "when the six are untied the one vanishes, and the sequence of tying and untying is orderly," the Buddha took a heavenly flower scarf upon the lion throne and, before the great assembly, tied it into six knots in order. The scarf itself had no knots—symbolizing that the true mind of sentient beings is originally unobstructed. Tying the scarf into knots symbolizes how sentient beings lose the true and give rise to the false: from ignorance and unawareness the three subtle states arise; with conditions as their support, the six coarse states grow. Thus the five skandhas and six knots are formed, the roots are confined by the sense-objects, and one is trapped in the cycle of birth and death, without freedom. The knots follow a sequence: in tying, from one to six; in untying, from six back to one. This symbolizes that the five skandha-afflictions of sentient beings arise from the subtle to the coarse, and are extinguished from the coarse to the subtle. As it is said: "Birth arises from consciousness; extinction begins with form." If you wish to untie a knot, you must untie it at its center, and it falls apart of itself. Pulling to the left or to the right will not work. This symbolizes that, by following the middle way and the teachings of definitive meaning, one can naturally return from delusion to truth. But if one clings to the views of ordinary beings, the lesser vehicle, or heterodox and demonic paths, the knots will be hard to undo.

Although the six knots share the same basis, they were not formed at the same time, so the untying must also proceed in order. The Shurangama Sutra says: "When this root is first untied, one first realizes the emptiness of self; when the nature of emptiness becomes perfectly clear, one is liberated from dharmas. Once liberated from dharmas, the duality of emptiness and non-emptiness no longer arises—this is called a bodhisattva attaining the patience of non-arising from samadhi." Guanyin Bodhisattva's cultivation of the Perfect Penetration of the Ear Gate likewise proceeds by untying the knots in order, going deeper layer by layer until bodhi is fully realized.

(I) Practice and Realization in Accordance with the Teachings

In the Shurangama Sutra, Guanyin Bodhisattva says to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, I recall that in ages past—countless as the sands of the Ganges—a Buddha appeared in the world named Avalokiteshvara. I brought forth the bodhicitta before that Buddha, and that Buddha taught me to enter samadhi through listening, contemplation, and practice."

The three wisdoms of listening, contemplation, and practice are the ladder for cultivating the threefold training, and the foundation for transforming an ordinary being into a sage. In ordinary practice, the wisdom of listening employs the ear consciousness and the mental consciousness; contemplation and practice use the independent mental consciousness alone. But the listening wisdom revealed by the ancient Buddha Avalokiteshvara employs the hearing-nature of the ear root itself. Consciousness is the root of birth and death; nature is the true cause of attaining Buddhahood. Now, following the teaching, Guanyin Bodhisattva puts it into practice: turning the hearing-nature of the ear root back upon itself, inwardly she does not follow the ear consciousness's discrimination, outwardly she does not grasp at the sounds as heard objects—she simply hears the hearing-nature that is capable of hearing. This is the wisdom of listening. Relying on the principle of inherent awakening, she brings forth the wisdom of initial enlightenment, neither clinging to emptiness nor to existence—this is the wisdom of contemplation. Thought after thought, she turns from the false, detaches from clinging, and returns inward to the source—this is the wisdom of practice.

Through such listening, such contemplation, and such practice, with time and depth of effort, the innate luminous brilliance shines forth. The six knots are untied, the five skandhas are broken through, the five turbidities are transcended, perfect penetration is realized, and samadhi is attained. The wisdom of initial enlightenment merges with the principle of inherent enlightenment—this is known as the Diamond Samadhi of the Illusory Listening, Contemplation, and Practice. Ordinary sentient beings, when the ear root meets a sound object, immediately produce ear-consciousness discrimination: when the object is present, the consciousness is present; when the object is absent, the consciousness is absent. They are turned by sound, delighting in its impermanent pleasures, with birth and death ceaselessly arising, and so they fall into the current of birth and death.

When Guanyin Bodhisattva practiced the Diamond Samadhi, within the state of samadhi she turned the hearing inward and separated it from sound. Taking the illusory wisdom of initial enlightenment as the observer, and the hearing-nature that perceives sound as the observed, she did not inwardly rely on the discriminating deluded consciousness, nor outwardly follow the flow of sound-objects. As it is said: "Turn back your inverted mechanism of hearing, and listen inward to hear your own nature." In this way, she could let go of the external sounds being heard and enter the current of the sages' nirvana. Hence the saying: "First, within hearing, enter the flow and let go of objects."

The sound-objects encountered by the ear root have movement and stillness: movement is the presence of sound; stillness is its absence. When Guanyin Bodhisattva first practiced within hearing—entering the flow and letting go of objects—she let go only of the moving aspect of sound, and entered the current of the first-fruition sage. The Knot of Movement was untied, but the Knot of Stillness remained. Continuing her practice, she let go not only of the moving aspect of external sound, but found that the still aspect too could not be grasped. As the Shurangama Sutra says: "What is entered is already still; the two aspects of movement and stillness plainly do not arise." Movement moves on its own, but the bodhisattva is unmoved by it; stillness rests on its own, but the bodhisattva is unaware of it as stillness. In her mind, no trace of movement or stillness remains. In this way, she could abandon the six sense-objects, cut off the six consciousnesses, sever discriminative self-attachment, eliminate the karma-creating aspect and the karma-bound suffering aspect, break through the form skandha, and transcend the turbidity of the kalpa.

Going further, deepening gradually, her wisdom grew. Not only were the objects of hearing exhausted, but even the hearing-root that perceived them was exhausted. As the Shurangama Sutra says: "Increasing thus by degrees, what is heard and the hearing of it are both exhausted." At this point, one root had returned to its source and the six roots were liberated. With the naming aspect and the grasping aspect among the six coarse states eliminated, she could break through the sensation skandha, transcend the turbidity of views, sever the delusions of views and thoughts, and realize true emptiness. This was not merely the untying of the Knot of Stillness—the Knot of the Roots was dissolved at the same time. This is what the Shurangama Sutra means by: "When this root is first untied, one first realizes the emptiness of self."

This, however, is only the realization of the emptiness of self—the severing of innate self-attachment. Attachment to dharmas still remains, and further practice is needed. If one settles on this fruit and refuses to advance toward unexcelled bodhi, one becomes a fixed-nature shravaka. Guanyin Bodhisattva, in samadhi, exhausted hearing and did not rest there, but pressed on. Her power of contemplation was strong; she fully realized that all dharmas arise from mind alone, and understood that the two extremes of emptiness and existence are themselves the middle way. Not only were the perceived roots and sense-objects empty, but even the very wisdom that perceived them was empty. Abandoning attachment to wisdom, she severed discriminative attachment to dharmas, untied the Knot of Awareness, broke through the perception skandha, and transcended the turbidity of afflictions. This is what is meant by "exhaust hearing, do not abide; the aware and that of which it is aware are both empty." It is the same as "the nature of emptiness becomes perfectly clear, and one is liberated from dharmas."

From there, empowered by the illusory, diamond-like perfect awareness, she pressed on with redoubled effort. Not only were the aware, the aware-of, and the realm of wisdom all empty, but she could empty even the emptiness of that realm of wisdom—emptiness reached its utmost completeness and roundness. When the appearance of emptiness was extinguished, even the mind that knew that appearance was extinguished. At that point, birth and death were thoroughly ended; she partially severed innate attachment to dharmas, untied the Knot of Emptiness, broke through the volition skandha, and transcended the turbidity of sentient beings. With the volition skandha exhausted, the consciousness skandha was revealed. Hence the saying: "When emptiness and awareness reach perfect completion, the emptiness that empties is itself extinguished; when birth and death are extinguished, serene nirvana stands forth." This is "liberated from dharmas, the duality of emptiness and non-emptiness no longer arises."

The Knot of Emptiness was untied, but the Knot of Cessation remained and had to be loosed. As long as it endures, it is an obstacle to perfect penetration. At the moment when birth and death were extinguished and serene nirvana appeared, Guanyin Bodhisattva, by the power of the Diamond Samadhi, broke through the consciousness skandha, untied the Knot of Cessation, and merged the mind that neither is born nor dies with the tathagata-garbha. The tathagata-garbha is the wondrous, perfectly luminous awareness that pervades the dharma realm—a single light of suchness. Realizing that the consciousness skandha is none other than the Buddha-nature, she attained the Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom of Buddhahood. Thus she could "suddenly transcend the worldly and the transcendental, realize perfect brightness throughout the ten directions, and gain two supreme qualities." Here, "worldly" refers to the realm of birth and death—as described above: movement ends and stillness arises, stillness ends and the roots arise, the roots end and awareness arises, awareness ends and emptiness arises. "Transcendental" refers to emptiness ending and consciousness arising. The two vehicles cling to this as nirvana; bodhisattvas, resting within it, abide in the emptiness of both. Guanyin Bodhisattva, realizing that all dharmas are mind alone, clung to neither emptiness nor existence. Birth and death, nirvana itself—both were put far aside; even the act of putting them aside could not be found. The emptiness of self-emptiness and dharma-emptiness itself did not arise. Her mind had no abiding place; it was utterly pure. With her practice and realization reaching this stage, the six knots were wholly untied, the wondrous mind was perfectly awakened, and the breaking, transcending, and realizing were all complete. Unobstructed by either the worldly or the transcendental, she transcended both; the nature of consciousness shone forth in perfect clarity, pervading the entire dharma realm. Thus "perfect brightness throughout the ten directions" displays the merit of her practice and realization, and "gaining two supreme qualities" displays the virtue of her benefit to others.

(II) Putting Realization into Practice

After practicing the Diamond Samadhi of the Illusory Listening, Contemplation, and Practice until birth and death were extinguished and serene nirvana appeared, Guanyin Bodhisattva took one more step from the top of the hundred-foot pole: she broke through the five skandhas, transcended the five turbidities, untied the six knots, suddenly transcended the worldly and the transcendental, realized the same state as all Buddhas, achieved perfect brightness throughout the ten directions, and gained two supreme qualities. First, above, she united with the original, wonderfully awakened mind of all the Buddhas of the ten directions, sharing the same compassionate power as the Tathagatas. Second, below, she united with all sentient beings of the six realms throughout the ten directions, sharing the same compassion and reverent aspiration as all beings. From this essential realization, she could respond universally to the needs of all, manifesting the Thirty-two Response Bodies, the Fourteen Fearlessnesses, and the Four Inconceivables for the benefit of sentient beings.

1. The Thirty-two Responses

The thirty-two response bodies are: the Buddha body, the solitary realizer (pratyekabuddha) body, the conditional realizer (pratyekabuddha) body, the shravaka body, the Brahma King body, the Shakra (Indra) body, the Paranirmitavasavartin (Self-Controlled Heaven) body, the Maheśvara (Great Self-Controlled Heaven) body, the Heavenly General body, the Four Heavenly Kings body, the prince of the Four Heavenly Kings body, the human king body, the elder body, the householder body, the minister body, the brahmin body, the bhikshu body, the bhikshuni body, the upasaka body, the upasika body, the female ruler body, the young boy body, the young girl body, the various deva bodies, the naga bodies, the yaksha bodies, the gandharva bodies, the asura bodies, the kinnara bodies, the mahoraga bodies, the human body, and the non-human body.

The Shurangama Sutra says: "These are called the thirty-two pure and wondrous response bodies, which enter all Buddha-lands. All are accomplished, freely and without striving, by the wondrous power of the samadhi of listening, contemplation, and practice." The Lotus Sutra also says: "If there are sentient beings in any land who should be saved through a Buddha body, Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva will manifest a Buddha body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a pratyekabuddha body, she will manifest a pratyekabuddha body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a shravaka body, she will manifest a shravaka body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a Brahma King body, she will manifest a Brahma King body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a Shakra body, she will manifest a Shakra body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a Paranirmitavasavartin body, she will manifest that body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a Maheśvara body, she will manifest that body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a Heavenly General body, she will manifest a Heavenly General body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a Vaishravana body, she will manifest a Vaishravana body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a minor king body, she will manifest a minor king body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through an elder body, she will manifest an elder body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a householder body, she will manifest a householder body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a minister body, she will manifest a minister body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a brahmin body, she will manifest a brahmin body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a bhikshu, bhikshuni, upasaka, or upasika body, she will manifest such a body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through the body of a woman who is an elder, householder, minister, or brahmin, she will manifest a woman's body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a young boy or young girl body, she will manifest such a body and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through the bodies of devas, nagas, yakshas, gandharvas, asuras, garudas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, or non-humans, she will manifest each of these bodies and teach them the Dharma. If they should be saved through a Vajra-holding Deity body, she will manifest a Vajra-holding Deity and teach them the Dharma."

Both sutras say that the Bodhisattva enters the various lands through the thirty-two response bodies, but the Shurangama Sutra includes, among the heavenly responses, the prince of the Four Heavenly Kings, and among the human responses, the female ruler and the queen consort—forms not found in the Lotus Sutra. The Lotus Sutra, on the other hand, includes the garuda among the eight kinds of non-human beings, and adds the Vajra-holding Deity outside of those eight, neither of which appears in the Shurangama Sutra. This is not a discrepancy between the two sutras. The Bodhisattva's wondrous responses are immeasurable, her spiritual transformations beyond reckoning—how could she be limited to just thirty-two? Both sutras simply select thirty-two representative kinds from her infinite response bodies.

Both sutras speak of the Bodhisattva entering or traveling through the various lands, manifesting all manner of forms to teach sentient beings—not confined to the Sahā world, but reaching to the worlds of the ten directions. The thirty-two responses are the teaching; the sentient beings of all lands are those capable of receiving it. Wherever there is a capacity to receive, the Bodhisattva responds; no call goes unanswered. All this comes from the practice of the Diamond Samadhi of listening, contemplation, and practice in her causal ground, and from the wondrous, unforced power that allows her to accomplish this with perfect freedom.

2. The Fourteen Fearlessnesses

Having practiced the Diamond Samadhi of the Illusory Listening, Contemplation, and Practice in her causal ground, severed her delusions, realized the truth, and suddenly transcended the worldly and the transcendental, Guanyin Bodhisattva not only unites above with the original, wonderfully awakened mind of all the Buddhas of the ten directions—sharing the same compassionate power as the Tathagatas, and able to enter all lands through the thirty-two response bodies to liberate sentient beings—but also unites below with all sentient beings of the six realms throughout the ten directions, sharing their same compassion and reverent aspiration. Sharing the same compassion, she can respond to their sorrow and pull them out of suffering. Sharing the same aspiration, she can answer their seeking and grant them joy. Sage and ordinary being share the same essence; call and response meet without obstruction.

Guanyin's Dharma Gate

All sentient beings dwell within the Bodhisattva’s mind. When beings caught in suffering and crisis single-mindedly recite the Bodhisattva’s name, they receive the blessings and empowerment of the Bodhisattva’s pure, wondrous form and great compassionate mind, and are freed from their distress. This is called the merit of fearlessness. The Lotus Sutra records: “This Guanyin Mahasattva, in times of terror and urgent peril, grants fearlessness to beings. For this reason, all beings in this Saha world call him the Bestower of Fearlessness.” It also says: “Sentient beings are trapped in suffering, crushed by immeasurable pain. Guanyin’s wondrous wisdom and power can rescue the world from anguish.” In the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha tells the Bodhisattva Endless Intent that Guanyin saves beings from the three great calamities, removes the three poisons, and frees them from the eight hindrances. He further urges all beings to single-mindedly recite Guanyin’s name.

In the Shurangama Sutra, Guanyin says of himself: “Through this hearing-samadhi cultivated by hearing and practice, through the vajra samadhi with its unconditioned wondrous power, and because I share the same compassion and longing as all sentient beings of the ten directions, across the three times and six paths, I enable all beings to obtain fourteen kinds of fearless merit from my body and mind.”

The fourteen kinds of fearless merit are:

1. When sentient beings across the ten directions are in distress, they are freed as soon as they hear the Bodhisattva’s voice. This is the fearlessness of liberation from suffering.
2. Sentient beings who enter a great fire are not burned by the flames;
3. Sentient beings swept away by great floods are not drowned;
4. Sentient beings who enter the realms of ghosts are not harmed by them;
5. Sentient beings facing execution have their weapons shatter into pieces;
6. Sentient beings standing close to yakshas and other spirits are not seen by them;
7. Sentient beings imprisoned in cangues and shackles are not bound by them;
8. Sentient beings traveling dangerous paths are not robbed by bandits.

These seven constitute the fearlessness that frees beings from the eight difficulties.

9. All greedy sentient beings are freed from craving and desire;
10. All angry and resentful sentient beings are freed from aversion and hatred;
11. All dull and obstructed sentient beings, the acetyas (those without good hearts), are forever freed from the darkness of delusion.

These three constitute the fearlessness that frees beings from the three poisons.

12. Childless sentient beings across the dharma realm who desire sons are blessed with wise, meritorious sons;
13. Childless sentient beings across the dharma realm who desire daughters are blessed with beautiful, gentle, meritorious daughters who are loved and respected by all, bearing good marks.

These two constitute the fearlessness that fulfills the two kinds of requests.

14. Sentient beings who hold my name have equal merit to those who jointly hold the names of sixty-two billion Ganges-sand Dharma Princes.

This is the fearlessness that comes from holding the name.

He gives the reason: “World-Honored One, my single name is no different from the many names, for I cultivated and attained true perfect penetration.”

As Guanyin Bodhisattva cultivated the perfect penetration of the ear door, he verified the three realities of perfection, penetration, and constancy. His body and mind are subtle, all-encompassing, and pervade the entire dharma realm; all sentient beings of the ten directions are contained within his body and mind. For this reason, beings who hold his sacred name have equal merit to those who jointly hold the names of sixty-two billion Ganges-sand Dharma Princes.

(3) Four Inconceivables

In the Shurangama Sutra, Guanyin says to the Buddha: “World-Honored One, I have again attained this perfect penetration, and because I have cultivated and verified the unexcelled path, I am able to skillfully realize four inconceivable, unconditioned wondrous virtues.” As Guanyin cultivated the ear-door perfect penetration, verified the fruit of Buddhahood and unexcelled bodhi, he manifests function from essence, cultivates causes while bearing the fruit, moving freely and spontaneously—this is called skillfully realizing.

The four inconceivable, unconditioned wondrous virtues are: the inconceivability of manifesting forms, the inconceivability of speaking mantras, the inconceivability of receiving offerings, and the inconceivability of making offerings. Whether manifesting forms, speaking mantras, receiving or making offerings, all of these are beyond the grasp of ordinary thought and speech—they can only be known through direct realization. For this reason they are called the four inconceivables. These four inconceivable merits can arise at any moment without deliberate effort—this is called unconditioned. These four merits are supreme and sublime—this is called wondrous virtue.

1. Manifestation of Forms Inconceivable

To manifest many forms within a single body is the inconceivability of form manifestation. In samadhi, Guanyin Bodhisattva turns his hearing inward to be separate from sound, until both the sense roots and their objects vanish, and both the hearing faculty and the sounds heard are exhausted. When one root returns to its origin, all six roots are liberated: seeing, hearing, sensing, knowing are no longer divided by the six separate roots, and achieve unobstructed, perfect fusion, with all six roots functioning mutually. He goes further, not clinging even to the exhaustion of hearing: the perceiver and the perceived both become empty; emptiness and awareness reach perfect completion, and even that which is emptied is extinguished, until all birth and death are extinguished and nirvana appears. He suddenly transcends both the mundane and the transcendental, transforms consciousness into wisdom, illuminates the ten directions perfectly, and is verified as equal to the Buddha. He does not only appear in whatever body suits the liberation of beings to teach the dharma; he can also manifest countless wondrous forms all within a single body.

The Shurangama Sutra says: “One head, three heads, five, seven, nine, eleven heads, thus up to one hundred eight heads, thousand heads, ten thousand heads, eighty-four thousand vajra heads. Two arms, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty to twenty-four, thus up to one hundred eight arms, thousand arms, ten thousand arms, eighty-four thousand mudra arms. Two eyes, three eyes, four eyes, nine eyes, thus up to one hundred eight eyes, thousand eyes, ten thousand eyes, eighty-four thousand pure precious eyes. Sometimes compassionate, sometimes fierce, sometimes serene, sometimes wise, rescuing sentient beings, attaining great liberation.”

A compassionate expression is warm and approachable; a fierce expression is awe-inspiring. Hands reach out to carry beings, eyes shine to illuminate all. Compassion is the mark of benevolence, fierceness the mark of courage, serenity the mark of stillness, wisdom the mark of clarity. The Bodhisattva manifests these many forms and many hands and eyes solely to rescue sentient beings. Since beings have different capacities and inclinations, the forms he manifests vary accordingly: to beings in distress, he appears in a compassionate form to bring them joy and protect their good roots; to violent, harmful beings, he appears in a fierce form to subdue their evil; to scattered, restless beings, he appears in a serene form to calm their distraction; to deluded beings, he appears in a wise form to rouse them from confusion. These forms arise spontaneously, without deliberate effort, yet accomplish the rescue of all sentient beings, relieving suffering and bringing joy, destroying evil and revealing truth. This is called attaining great liberation.

2. Speaking Mantras Inconceivable

Mantras are the secret words spoken by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in samadhi. They hold unfathomable spiritual power, able to eliminate all kinds of suffering and disaster for sentient beings. They belong to one of the four classes of dhāraṇī, known as mantra dhāraṇī. Since Buddhas are infinite, Bodhisattvas are infinite, and the samadhis cultivated by Bodhisattvas are infinite, the divine mantras they speak are also infinite.

Now, having cultivated the like-illusion hearing-samadhi, the vajra samadhi, Guanyin has exhausted all sense roots and their objects, attained the six liberations and the one extinction, and his seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing are no longer divided by the six separate roots. He has realized a single, perfectly fused, unobstructed, pure, fundamental jewel-like awareness mind, and verified entry into the tathagata-store nature’s fundamental enlightened principle body. From this essence he manifests function, and so is able to display infinite wondrous forms and speak infinite divine mantras.

The Shurangama Sutra says: “Secondly, by my hearing and contemplation, I am liberated from the six dusts; like sound passing over a wall, nothing can obstruct me. Thus my wondrous ability can manifest every form, recite every mantra, and grant fearlessness to all sentient beings. For this reason, in all the mote-of-dust kingdoms of the ten directions, all call me the Bestower of Fearlessness.”

Each form he manifests includes the forms of all twelve categories of beings, not only human form; each mantra he speaks includes the languages of all twelve categories, not only human speech; and the mote-of-dust kingdoms of the ten directions are not limited to the Saha world alone. Guanyin manifests these various forms and speaks these various mantras across all the ten directions’ mote-of-dust kingdoms to eliminate sentient beings’ disasters, and cause all beings to be freed from suffering and attain joy. For this reason, all sentient beings in these mote-of-dust kingdoms call Guanyin the Bestower of Fearlessness.

3. Receiving Offerings Inconceivable

When sentient beings’ sense roots interact with their objects, they are not only confined by these objects, but also turned by them, giving rise to confusion and karma, and wandering through birth and death without liberation. For this reason, the six roots are impure. In vajra samadhi, Guanyin dispels the six dusts outwardly, and unties the knots of the sense roots inwardly. The six roots merge and return to their pure awareness nature, so all six roots become pure.

When we speak of the pure fundamental root, we refer to the ear root, through which Guanyin attained perfect penetration. Relying on this pure ear root, which possesses the three realities of perfection, penetration, and constancy, he cultivated and verified the path, exhausted all dusts and dispelled all falsehood, realized entry into the pure wondrous principle, and is thus able to move freely in the human world. In every world he visits, sentient beings are moved to give up their most precious treasures, seeking Guanyin’s compassionate care and acceptance.

Of course, the Bodhisattva’s wisdom is fully perfected and his afflictions are exhausted, so he has no need for the tainted treasures of the mundane world. Yet wherever he goes, he rescues beings, relieving their suffering and bringing them joy. Grateful beings seek to repay his kindness, so they give up their most precious possessions as offerings, even burning incense, lamps, their own arms, or their own fingers in devotion. The Bodhisattva, wishing to bring joy to beings, gladly accepts these offerings, then transforms them into Buddhist practice. As the Lotus Sutra states: “Right then, Guanyin Bodhisattva, out of compassion for the fourfold assembly and all heavenly dragons, humans, and non-human beings, accepted their jeweled necklaces, split them into two parts: one he offered to Shakyamuni Buddha, one he offered to the Many Treasures Buddha Stupa.”

This is the inconceivability of receiving offerings.

4. Making Offerings Inconceivable

Guanyin not only receives offerings inconceivably, but also makes offerings to the Buddhas of the ten directions above, and benefits sentient beings of the six paths below—all of these are inconceivable.

The Shurangama Sutra says: “Fourth, I have obtained the Buddha mind, verified in its ultimate, able to use various treasures to make offerings to the ten directions’ Tathagatas, extending to the dharma realm’s six-path sentient beings. Those seeking wives obtain wives, those seeking sons obtain sons, those seeking samadhi obtain samadhi, those seeking longevity obtain longevity, thus even up to seeking great nirvana, obtain great nirvana.”

The Buddha mind is the undefiled true mind, the wonderful enlightened awareness mind verified by all Buddhas. Sentient beings originally possess this wonderful enlightened awareness mind, but since beginningless time have been obscured by the six dusts, turning away from enlightenment and cloaked in delusion. Now, having cultivated the ear-door perfect penetration, Guanyin has exhausted all dusts and perfected his wisdom, so he has attained the Buddha mind and verified it to its fullest extent. Since he already possesses this original, inalienable treasure, he is able to use all kinds of treasures to make offerings to the Buddhas above, and benefit sentient beings of the six paths below. Whatever beings seek—whether worldly wealth or transcendental dharma wealth—all their requests are fulfilled.

Samadhi refers to meditative absorption. There are worldly and transcendental forms of samadhi. Beings of the desire realm take warmth, consciousness, and life as their lifespan; followers of the two vehicles take the wisdom of emptiness as their lifespan; provisional teaching Bodhisattvas take conventional wisdom as their lifespan; perfect teaching Bodhisattvas take middle-way wisdom as their lifespan; Buddhas take omniscience as their lifespan.

Great nirvana here does not refer to the nirvana with or without remainder attained by the two vehicles, but to the three-treasure secret treasury taught by all Buddhas. Guanyin has verified the store consciousness and the equality of all dharmas’ nature, so he can make offerings to both Buddhas and sentient beings, giving both worldly wealth and transcendental dharma wealth. This unconditioned wondrous power is truly inconceivable.

From all this, we can see that the method and process of Guanyin Bodhisattva’s cultivation and verification was taught to him by the ancient Guanyin Tathagata: to cultivate through hearing, contemplation, and practice, and enter samadhi. This samadhi is called the like-illusion hearing-samadhi vajra samadhi. To cultivate and verify this vajra samadhi, one begins with the ear root: the ear root does not follow the flow of external sound-objects, but instead turns inward to hear the nature of the ear root itself, entering the stream of the sages and forgetting all external objects. This is how one attains the turning of hearing to separate from sound. Going further, not only do the sense roots separate from their objects, but even the inner ear root itself cannot be grasped: this is what is called the vanishing of both roots and objects. There is no internal root that knows, no external object that is known; thus self-view is cut off, emptiness is verified, the holy fruit is attained, one transcends the six paths of rebirth, and completely ends the segmented birth and death of ordinary beings. Guanyin Bodhisattva continues to advance in his practice: not only is the self empty, but the dharma is also empty, and even the emptiness wisdom that empties both self and dharma is emptied as well. This is what is meant by, “Once dharma is liberated, neither emptiness nor non-emptiness arises.” In this samadhi, he does not cling to the two extremes, nor does he seek the middle way. Instead, he flows freely among the nine realms, entering the secular world to benefit beings, advancing gradually and deepening step by step, severing ignorance in parts and verifying the dharma body in parts. Finally, ignorance is exhausted, birth and death ends, the dharma body is revealed, the true mind appears, the eighth alaya-vijnana is transformed into the great mirror wisdom, and he suddenly transcends both the mundane and transcendental worlds, verified as equal to all Buddhas, attaining two kinds of supreme merits.

Because he is in accord with the fundamental wonderful enlightened mind of all Buddhas of the ten directions, sharing the same compassionate power as all Buddhas, he is able to manifest thirty-two response bodies, entering all lands to pull sentient beings from suffering and give them joy. Because he is in accord with all sentient beings of the six paths in the ten directions, sharing the same compassion and longing as all beings, he is able to bestow the fourteen fearlessnesses and four inconceivables upon all sentient beings. Ever since he attained perfect penetration, up to the present moment, and from now into the farthest future, he has always been thus. He always manifests in countless forms across the ten directions’ worlds, speaks countless mantras to liberate sentient beings, just as Manjushri Bodhisattva said: “Freed from suffering, liberated—excellent is Guanyin, who throughout Ganges-sand kalpas enters mote-of-dust Buddha lands, attains great liberated power, and grants fearlessness to sentient beings.”

This is the path cultivated and verified by Guanyin Bodhisattva: the perfect penetration of the ear door.

Friends! Now you should understand that the Guanyin Dharma Gate is the ear-door perfect penetration. Cultivating this path naturally transforms the ordinary into the holy, leading to awakening and Buddhahood. But before you begin practicing the ear-door perfect penetration, you must not only strictly uphold the precepts and practice the four pure teachings spoken by all Buddhas; you must also study the Shurangama Sutra thoroughly, understand the fifty-two stages of the true bodhi path, and come to know the nature of the fifty kinds of subtle demonic states. This will spare you from claiming attainments you have not reached, claiming realizations you have not verified, or being led astray by demonic states, falling into the demonic path and becoming part of the demonic retinue.

These days, there are those in the world who practice a little meditation, and when meditative states arise, they immediately cling to them and falsely claim to have attained sainthood. Not only are they arrogant and deluded, but they spread seeds of wrong view far and wide, misleading both themselves and others—this is a grave offense. And ordinary beginner Buddhists, not understanding the truth, unable to tell truth from falsehood, are misled by such people and mistakenly enter the demonic path; this is truly pitiful. For this reason, I share with you all today the Bodhisattva Guanyin’s cultivated and verified path, the “ear-door perfect penetration.” I hope you will all cultivate clear discernment, distinguish right from wrong, differentiate the correct from the distorted, and not be deluded by evil demons. This is my deepest hope.