Part 10-3
“For this reason, Subhuti, all Bodhisattvas should have a mind that is pure and clear like this, and should not have a mind that dwells on forms; they should not have a mind that dwells on sound, scent, flavour and touch, or Dharma.”
Commentary:
Bodhisattvas are not separate from the true-Self but are the functions of the true-Self. All of us are essentially Bodhisattvas but we are confused into thinking that we are sentient beings because we have a mind that dwells on forms, that is, because we, being deluded by forms, cannot see things as they are. Therefore, the Buddha said that all Bodhisattvas should have a mind that is pure and clear.
A pure and clear mind that doesn’t dwell on forms; sound, scent, flavour and touch, or Dharma implies a mind that is not deluded by illusions; forms and sounds. When we have a pure and clear mind, that is, when we are free from being deluded by illusions, we are said to have reached the Pure land that is free from birth, ageing, illness and death. We should know that the Pure land, or the true-Self is not so far away that it takes untold effort and time to reach. In the same way that the Avatamsaka Sutra says sentient beings cannot see the Buddha because they, not aware that things are essentially formless, are swayed by forms when they see things, we sentient beings are striving to reach the Pure land which we are already in, or to see the true-Self that is always before and with us, because we have a mind that dwells on forms and sounds.
Once a young monastic asked his master what the Pure land was like. The master said that it doesn’t have a single blade of grass. When the young monastic asked how he could go there, the master answered that he would be wrong even if he moved a single step.
Here ‘a single blade of grass’ implies a single illusion, and the thought that he should go somewhere else to reach the Pure land is also an illusion.
Student: “What is a pure and clear mind?”
Master: “Not a pure and clear mind.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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