Where Is the Most Sublime Aspect of the One Vehicle?

The One Buddha Vehicle refers to applying the Buddha’s wisdom and insight to address the challenges faced by sentient beings, thereby enabling the attainment of the most complete spiritual merit. Thus, the focus of contemplation of principle is to abide in the fundamental nature of our own mind. Practical cultivation, by contrast, refers to the active function of life that subdues afflictions and advances spiritual development.

Friends, do you all know where the most sublime aspect of the One Buddha Vehicle lies? It is found in the practice of right mindfulness at the deathbed. These take two forms: right mindfulness attained through practical cultivation, and right mindfulness attained through contemplation of principle. Very few of us can attain the right mindfulness that comes from practical cultivation, for that requires reaching the samadhi of Buddha recitation.

Friends! When we speak of rebirth in the Pure Land, we actually need to add two words before the term “rebirth”: rebirth with residual karmic tendencies. If you cannot subdue your karmic residues and bring them along with you, how can you be reborn? The karmic weight of your cycles of birth and death is so heavy – how could you possibly be reborn without first taming it? To tame the karmic forces of birth and death, you must subdue the vipāka (karmic ripening) function of the eighth consciousness; to accomplish this, you will certainly need to attain the samadhi of Buddha recitation. This is why so few people can attain the right mindfulness achieved through practical cultivation.

To be honest, the only hope we ordinary beings have lies in the right mindfulness attained through contemplation of principle. What is this right mindfulness from contemplation of principle? Master Yinguang once said something of great importance: “Keep your mind in constant aware observation, and do not be swept along by deluded thoughts.”

Let us start with the end result. The end result is “not being swept along by deluded thoughts.” What does this mean? It means that while deluded thoughts will still arise at the moment of death, you simply will not be carried away by them. Friends, consider this: you are caught up in deluded thoughts from morning to night, every single day, and these thoughts are steeped in attachment. How could you possibly be free of deluded thoughts at the moment of death? It is completely impossible! If you have studied Yogacara, you will know of this stream-like continuity of karmic mental habits. You are caught up in deluded thoughts from morning to night, even in your sleep. Do you really think you can suddenly cut off all deluded thoughts the moment you are on the brink of death? That is impossible! So what does right mindfulness at the deathbed actually mean? It means that even when deluded thoughts arise, they do not disrupt or disturb you. This is precisely what we call right mindfulness at the deathbed: not being swept along by deluded thoughts.

So how do you achieve this? Through constant mindful observation of the mind. At the moment of death, you recall the words, “How wonderful! My fundamental nature is originally pure.” You recognize that these deluded thoughts are nothing but fabrications of your own mind: they are merely nominal designations, phenomenal appearances, and functional constructs arising from your own consciousness. I will not follow these deluded thoughts – they are nothing but mental projections born of my own mind! This is how right mindfulness arises in the present moment, and the wisdom of contemplative insight manifests.

Friends! If you think you can rely solely on reciting the Buddha’s name at the deathbed to confront the deluded thoughts accumulated over beginningless eons, you are bound to fail! Friends, think about it: why is practical cultivation so difficult, and why is it so hard for ordinary people to attain right mindfulness? As the Patriarchs have explained, it is like hoping to use two hours of Buddha recitation each day to fight against the deluded thoughts you have generated over beginningless eons – that is the crux of the problem. You spend 22 hours a day trapped in deluded thoughts, even in your sleep. Then, from the perspective of the dependent origination of all phenomena, you are trying to use the power of two hours of Buddha recitation to push back against the force of 22 hours of deluded thoughts! If we go by the principle of dependent origination, both sides are evenly matched – do you really think rebirth is possible under these circumstances?

But if you incorporate the contemplation of true nature into your practice, and realize that “delusion is originally empty, and true nature is inherently present,” the entire picture shifts completely. After all, deluded thoughts are inherently non-existent to begin with! Friends! When you activate the power of your true nature to support and empower you, and awaken your inherent pure mind, and view deluded thoughts from the standpoint of this pure mind, you will see that they are merely mind-only manifestations, like dreams and illusions. No matter how many hours a day you spend in practice, no matter how many deluded thoughts you have generated over beginningless eons, the key is that you “realize delusion is originally empty”!

So friends! There is only one way for us to attain right mindfulness at the deathbed, and that is to “keep your mind in constant aware observation, and do not be swept along by deluded thoughts.” It is not that you will be free of deluded thoughts entirely – it is that you will not be carried away by them. This is the only path. So what does it mean if you do not engage in contemplation of principle? What does this imply, friends? It means you are pitting the Buddha’s name you have recited in this lifetime alone against the deluded thoughts accumulated over your beginningless eons. Do you really think you can be a match for them?

In other words, friends! When you are facing the moment of death, do not immediately start reciting the Buddha’s name. First adjust your mindset: first bring your ordinary, scattered mind back to your inherent one-mind nature, then recite the Buddha’s name, for this is the most advantageous point for us. First break through delusion to reveal your true nature, then recite the Buddha’s name.