| Title: | Lankavatara Sutra (got Ego problems?) |
| Posted On: | 2009-03-08 06:36:07 |
There are four kinds of Dhyana (spiritual disciplines), what are these four? They are, first, the Dhyana practiced by the ignorant; second, the Dhyana devoted to the examination of meaning; third, the dhyana with Suchness for its object; fourth, the Dhyana of the Tathāgatas (Buddhas).
What is meant by the Dhyana practised by the ignorant? It is the one resorted to by the Yogins who exercise themselves in the disciplines of Sravakas and Prayekabuddhas (contemplatives and 'solitary Buddhas' of the Hinayana school), who perceiving that there is no ego substance, that the body is a shadow and a skeleton which is transient, impure and full of suffering, persistently cling to these notions, which are regarded as just so and not otherwise, and who, starting from them, advance by stages until they reach the cessation, where there are no thoughts. This is called the Dhyana practiced by the ignorant.
What is then, the Dhyana devoted to the examination of meaning? It is the one practised by those who, having gone beyond the egolessness of things, beyond individuality and generality, beyond the untenability of such ideas as 'self' 'other' and 'both' which are held by the philosophers, proceed to examine and follow up the meaning of the various aspects of Bodhisattvahood. This is the Dhyana devoted to the examination of meaning.
What is the Dhyana with Tathātā (or Suchness) as its object? When the Yogin recognizes that the discrimination of the forms of egolessness is mere imagination and that where he establishes himself in the reality of Suchness there is no rising of discrimination--this I call the Dhyana with Suchness for its object.
What is the Dhyana of the Tathāgata? When the Yogin, entering upon the stage of Tathāgatahood and abiding in the triple bliss characterizing self-realization attained by noble wisdom, devotes himself for the sake of all beings to the accomplishment of incomprehensible works--this I call the Dhyana of the Tathāgata.
- Buddha
