User:Jack W Mayer
Pings Xiao, also referred as Venerable Pings by his disciples, built up Buddhist True Enlightenment Practitioners Association (BTEPA) in 1997. Pings Xiao devises the method of practicing samadhi (meditative concentration) in motion, named “Buddha-remembrance Without Appearance,” and uses it as the base for the cultivation of both Chan and Pure-land schools. By citing many contents of Buddhist three-vehicle sutras, he proclaims that the kernel of Buddha Sakyamuni’s doctrine is the eighth consciousness, or called Tathagatagarbha, the Alaya consciousness, the true mind, etc., which exists permanently. He thinks that the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha is the origin of the universe and lives; Buddha Sakyamuni launch His way of Buddhahood from the direct experience of this eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha; the content of getting enlightened, breaking through contemplation, or finding the true mind mentioned by the patriarchs of Chan school in traditional Chinese Buddhism is exactly the realization of this original mind, the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha. He proclaims, through the right way and practicing diligently, everyone can directly experience the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha and, based on this realization, correctly understand the contents of Buddhist three-vehicle sutras and the truth of both the universe and lives.[1]
Although Pings Xiao proclaims that the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha is the kernel of Buddhist sutras and the theory of eight consciousnesses are the whole structure of Buddha dharma, many other Buddhist groups neither admit the existence of the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha nor agree the definition of Tathagatagarbha that Pings Xiao thinks. The special style of Pings Xiao’s spreading the Buddha dharma is that he strongly criticizes those Buddhists or Buddhist scholars who negate the existence of the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha. He thinks the truth of the universe and lives is unique; the sayings of Buddha dharma that deny the existence of Tathagatagarbha will not only make the Buddha dharma break into pieces but also completely violate Buddha Sakyamuni’s original doctrine, and those people will become the non-Buddhists hidden in Buddhism.[2]
Due to this special style, many other Buddhist groups criticize him that he destroys the harmonious atmosphere of the Buddhist society. This style also brings up two kinds of completely different reactions: The supporters think he spread the real Buddha dharma and let Buddhists progress on the right practice way; the opponents comment that each school has its different explanation on the Buddhist sutras, all Buddhists practice according to their own ways, and everyone should not criticize others’ understanding of the Buddha’s doctrine.[3]
About Pings Xiao[edit]
Pings Xiao was born in a small town of central Taiwan in 1944; his late father and grandfather engaged in farming and both were Buddhists. Pings Xiao left home and sought for a career in Taipei after completing mandatory military service, and opened up his own business 5 years later. Pings Xiao took refuge in three-jewels in 1985 and started to study Buddha-remembrance by continuously reciting Buddha-name; after 2 year diligent practice, Pings Xiao progressed to Buddha-remembrance without appearance.
As claimed in his book titled Buddha-Remembrance Without Appearance, Pings Xiao realized the true mind and witnessed the Buddha-nature in November of 1990; he then verified what he has realized and witnessed as true from the doctrines of three-vehicle sutras and treatises. In summer of 1991, for responding to the request of previous peers, Pings Xiao started to spread the Buddha dharma based on the content which he has realized─Tathagatagarbha. In 1997, Pings Xiao founded Buddhist True Enlightenment Practitioners Association as requested by followers. Up to now, BTEPA has established cultivation centers in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Los Angeles. In addition to spreading the Buddha’s doctrine by oral teaching, Pings Xiao has also written many books, with an estimate of 100 publications till now.
Viewpoints[edit]
Tathagatagarbha as the kernel of the three-vehicle Buddha dharma[edit]
Pings Xiao thinks that, according to the Buddha’s sayings, the base of all worldly phenomena is exactly the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha. Regardless of the Sound-hearer (Sravaka), Solitary-realizer (Pratyekabuddha) or Mahayana vehicle, the kernels of all those doctrines are this eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha. Nevertheless, the sutras of Mahayana Tathagatagarbha are profound and difficult to understand. Only those bodhisattvas who have direct experienced Tathagatagarbha can, based on their realization, gradually understand the wondrous meanings of Tathagatagarbha, which are recorded in the sutras and treatises of Mahayana Consciousness-only. For example, in the preface of The Real Tathagatagarbha, published by True Wisdom Publishing Co., Ltd., 2000, he states:
The thought of Tathagatagarbha is the root of both the three-vehicle Buddha dharma and all worldly dharmas. Without the root Tathagatagarbha, all dharmas in the unique god religions, the mundane dharmas and even the stems, stalks, leaves, flowers and fruits of the three-vehicle Buddha dharma can not grow accordingly. All of them will collapse and the Buddha dharma will become just Buddhist scholarship. …… However the series of Mahayana Consciousness-only sutras of Tathagatagarbha is extremely profound and difficult to be understood by the arhats of sound-hearer and the pratyekabuddhas of solitary-realizer. Even the just enlightened (sudden enlightenment) bodhisattvas can not understand it; they will enter the stage of gradually understanding bodhisattvas, learn from the Buddha (or the Buddhist sutras of Tathagatagarbha) based on their realization of Tathagatagarbha, and then realize the truth more deeply gradually. ……
The three-realms are from the mind only and all dharmas are from the consciousness only. The reason why the worldly phenomena of formation, dwelling, decaying, and emptiness are repeatedly continuing is because of the induction of the collective karma, which are from lots of Tathagatagarbha owned by those sentient beings who have similar affinity; those worldly phenomena are built by the unknown sustainability of all the sentient beings’ true minds, rather than built in nature or by a specific god. The arising, dwelling, changing and ceasing of all dharmas in the three-realms are manifested by Tathagatagarbha, the Alaya consciousness, through its representation of the sense-object and the cognizing function of the consciousnesses (the seven changing consciousnesses). However, the operation of the cognizing function from the seven changing consciousness should not depart from the external and internal representations of sense objects created by Tathagatagarbha; these cognizing functions will not work without the representations of sense objects, and thus our cognizing conscious mind will not work either. Therefore, it is referred as all dharma appearances being the consciousness-only─All dharmas should not depart from the consciousnesses of the first to the eighth. All those having realized bodhisattvas (excluding the wrong ones) can verify, based on their realized Tathagatagarbha and the other seven changing consciousnesses, the theory of “The three-realms are from the mind only and all dharmas are from the consciousness only.” This state is unknown to the non-realizing and wrongly realizing Buddhists; neither is it known to the Buddhist scholars who believe in the unique god or do not believe in Buddhism. Based on the realization, the great master Xuanzang of Tan Dynasty hung a banner of “True Consciousness-Only Realization” on the entrance gate of Changan city to proclaim his viewpoint, no one being able to refute it within his life and even until now.
The Four Agama Sutras referring to Tathagatagarbha as well[edit]
Pings Xiao thinks the Buddha talked about the existence of Tathagatagarbha not only in the second and third rounds of dharma transmission but also at many places of the Four Agama Sutras in the first round. But in the first round, the existence of the permanently dwelling dharma, the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha, was stated in secret. For example, in the preface of The Correct Meanings of The Agama Sutras, 7 volumes, published by True Wisdom Publishing Co., Ltd., 2006, he says:
The rationale of this book is stated based on the references from the Four Agama Sutras but not the sutras of Mahayana so as to prove that the doctrines of the consciousness-only sutras of Mahayana Vaipulya Sutras never violate the doctrines of Liberation-way in the Four Agama Sutras, and to prove that the doctrines of Mahayana sutras were not constructed from the development through generations; it also proves the following fact: When the Buddha expounded the state of nirvana at the beginning stage of dharma transmission, in order not to mislead his disciples that the state of nirvana is the same as the nihilistic state of non-Buddhism, he said in secret at many places that there exists the originally dwelling dharma, the eighth consciousness, which should be taught formally in the second and third rounds of dharma transmission. Therefore, the dharmas of two-vehicles are in fact based on the dharma of Mahayana and were expounded in an expedient way; departing from the fundamental mind Tathagatagarbha, which also is the base of Mahayana dharma, it is inevitable that the nirvana of two-vehicles will be criticized for falling into nihilism, and its essence will become nihilistic emptiness too, just like where Yinshun were trapped.
To attain enlightenment as to find Tathagatagarbha[edit]
Pings Xiao believes that Chan School, which was transmitted by Master Bodhidharma from Sindhu (the ancient India) to China and has already been passed down for more than a thousand years, represents traditional Chinese Buddhism. What is handed down as “the heart-to-heart seal of enlightenment” of Chan School is to realize the true mind, i.e., to discover the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha. For instance, in Chapter 4 titled “What Dahui and Tiantong Realized Being Identical: Tathagatagarbha” of the book The Dull Bird versus Bright Tortoise, published in 2007 by True Wisdom Publishing Co., he explains what has been passed down in the Chan School for around a thousand years since Patriarch Yuanwu Keqin has been always based on the realization of Tathagatagarbha (the store consciousness):
Due to the concurrent propagation of Mozhao Chan, passed down by Hongzhi Zhengjue, after the lineage of Shaolong at Tiger-hill continued for several generations, about sixty years after the death of Dahui Zonggao, the teaching had already gone astray and fallen into the conscious mind of thoughtless pristine awareness. Not to mention the successors at Tiger-hill who hosted Tiantong-mountain monastery after the mid-Ming dynasty, it was even harder for them to stay away from the state of the thoughtless pristine awareness of mind-consciousness that Mozhao Chan fell into.
However, for Chan Master Hongzhi Zhengjue of Tiantong-mountain, the object of enlightenment is Tathagatagarbha, not the mind of thoughtless pristine awareness, which Tiger-hill’s successors who propagated his Mozhao Chan fell into! A citation states:
It may be the case that the four elements ruin, the five aggregates become empty, the six sense-organs get confused and clogged up, all seven consciousnesses are entirely abandoned [Note: None of the eighteen-divisions of sense exists in remainderless nirvana─the five sense-organs, mind-root, six consciousnesses and six sense-objects are totally extinguished.], all skills got in this lifetime can do nothing, and all knowledge learned in this lifetime is forgotten. No relatives can be kept around, no things for fun can be carried, there is no home to stay at, there is no place to settle in, and there is not even a place to attach to. Say something! Right at this moment, what will a true person do? Do you know? (from The Quotations in Chongfu Monastery by Chan Master Hongzhi)
The above paragraph is translated in plain language as follows: “It is just like when one passes away and enters nirvana, the body made up of four elements perishes, the five aggregates become empty completely, the five sense-organs such as eyes, etc. and the mind-root are like being clogged up and become dim and unaware, the consciousnesses of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind and the seventh consciousness─mind-root─are all gone. At this moment one can no longer do anything with any expediency and skillfulness that he has ever had in his lifetime, he has forgotten everything that he has ever learned in his lifetime, no relatives can be kept around, and no curios that he loves can be taken along. At that time there is no home to stay at, there is no place to settle in, and there is completely nowhere to attach to. Everybody! Say something! Right at this moment, how would a truly enlightened practitioner do with the Buddha dharma? Do you have any idea?”
This is what Chan Master Hongzhi Zhengjue at Tiantong-mountain said about the true realization of remainderless nirvana, which is a state without any phenomenon. How can it be a state of the conscious cognizing mind of thoughtless pristine awareness? Exactly at this moment, what is left is only Tathagatagarbha, the true consciousness, which is away from seeing, hearing, perceiving and knowing and exists independently in a self-dwelling state. Such self-dwelling state is truly the state of remainderless nirvana, which is away from the three-realms, and is exactly the state of the third checkpoint of Chan School realized by the patriarchs.
If one does not realize the store consciousness and falls into the state of perceptive mind, the mind-consciousness, while claiming himself to be an enlightened sage, he will commit the grave deception! Such a statement not only is made by me today, but was also proclaimed by the ancients. For example, in The Quotations of Chan Master Dahui Pujue, volume 15, it describes:
Chan Master Dahui says: “Right here my cotton bag dropped, and the expediency that teacher Zhantang told me appeared suddenly. Then I understood that this truly good and wise advisor never cheated me. It is really like a ring of diamond; only those who have realized the store consciousness can penetrate it.”
In the last thousand years since Patriarch Yuanwu Keqin, the practitioners in Chan School are all Tiger-hill’s and Dahui’s disciples. However, the correct Chan’s dharma of Tiger-hill had been passed down for only several generations before it became extinct and then its teaching fell into the conscious mind of thoughtless pristine awareness. There is no one else but the Dahui’s lineage that can continue the correct dharma with the secret meaning of Chan School. Thus it is seen that except Dahui no one can be called the supreme master in Chan School for the following thousand years after Patriarch Yuanwu Keqin. Nevertheless, Chan Master Dahui expounded a thousand years ago that the enlightenment in Chan School is like the ring of diamond that is too tough to bite for ordinary people and only those who “have realized the store consciousness” can penetrate this diamond ring of Chan School.
In addition, on page 24 of his another book Mastery of School Tenets and Eloquence published in 2000 by True Wisdom Publishing Co., Pings Xiao also explains:
Mastering school tenets also means mastering personal tenets. When a Mahayana Buddhist practitioner is full of faith and with enough merits and virtues, he should consider seeing the Way in Mahayana as his first priority. Seeing the Way in Mahayana means attaining enlightenment or realizing the true mind in Chan School.
On page 30 of the same book, he says:
The enlightenment means to directly experience the true mind, Tathagatagarbha, which is neither arising nor ceasing, neither coming nor going, neither increasing nor decreasing, neither nihilistic nor eternal, neither same nor different, neither together nor apart, and neither being nor nothing.
Pings Xiao thinks the Buddha dharma that he proclaims is just to return the correct doctrine of the true three-vehicle sutras and the Chan School of traditional Chinese Buddhism, but not inventing it by himself. As for criticizing other Buddhist groups, what he expects is to let them be able to explain the sutras more carefully and correctively so as to not mislead huge Buddhists.
Arguments[edit]
All the disputes between Pings Xiao’s viewpoints and other Buddhist groups’ can be summarized into the following two questions.
Question 1:
Did Buddha Sakyamuni ever proclaim the existence of the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha?
Question 2:
If the answer of the previous question is “yes,” is the definition of Tathagatagarbha in Buddhist sutras the same as what Pings Xiao proclaims?
About Question 1[edit]
Since lots of Buddhist sutras state the existence of Tathagatagarbha, the answer of the first question is apparently yes. For example, in The Tathagatagarbha Sutra, which is directly named with the term of Tathagatagarbha, Buddha Sakyamuni expounded an important fundamental nature of Tathagatagarbha:
Virtuous man! The dharma nature of the dharma-realm is that the tathagatagarbha of all sentient beings is permanent and unchangeable no matter if Tathagata was born or not.
In another sutra, the Sutra of Six Paramitas of Mahayana, Vol. 1, the Buddha elaborated more fundamental natures of Tathagatagarbha as follows:
At that time, World-honored One re-emphasizes this meaning with a verse (gatha):
The wondrous body of Tathagata is exactly the dharma-body, which includes purification and liberation in the same truth;
The merits and virtues of Tathagata is exactly nirvana, just like the inseparable nature of the Sun and light;
The true self, which is the final destination of all sentient beings, is exactly the same as the Buddha;
Life-and-death and nirvana is exactly the same, with its nature of being indestructible and non-fabricating;
Only the Buddha, World-honored One, can understand that its nature has not always changed in either defilement or purification;
All sentient beings have their own tathagatagarbha and thus the three-jewels appear in the world.
More evidence in many other sutras supports that Buddha Sakyamuni had proclaimed the existence of Tathagatagarbha. Therefore the answer of this question is definitely positive.
About Question 2[edit]
The following citation from Pings Xiao’s books about the definition of Tathagatagarbha will be compared with that of sutras. In the book of The Real Tathagatagarbha published by True Wisdom Publishing Co. in 2000, Pings Xiao lists thirty-three propositions, including the Buddhist sutras and treatises of three-vehicles, mundane common logic and the medical knowledge to prove that Tathagatagarbha really exists in this world. For example, in Chapter 1 of The Real Tathagatagarbha, “Proving the existence of Tathagatagarbha based on the intermittence of the conscious mind,” pp. 15-16, he proves that there exists a non-intermittent and permanently dwelling true mind Tathagatagarbha behind the illusory conscious mind, which ceases in the state of sound sleep, faint, death, etc. of each sentient being’s body. Depending on Tathagatagarbha, the illusory conscious mind becomes conscious again after unconsciousness. He states:
However the sentient being’s conscious mind, either in meditative concentration or not in it, is illusory rather than real; it ceases in the state of sound sleep, faint, samadhi of no-thought, samadhi of extinction and death, and will become conscious again afterward. There must exists the cause for the re-arising of the conscious mind; this cause is exactly Tathagatagarbha. If the conscious mind were true one and there were no other true mind to provide the seeds of the same conscious mind, the conscious mind of tomorrow would not re-arise after the ceasing of today’s conscious mind; if it could re-arise, this conscious mind would arise without any cause because the body, which is composed of physical material, can not recreate the conscious mind. If the conscious mind could arise from a physical body without Tathagatagarbha providing the seeds for it, the deceased who were healthy before and just die due to only the aging problem should become conscious again after death, rather than die forever in the sleep. Therefore, the physical body can not bring forth the conscious mind by itself. Only Tathagatagarbha, which intermittently and permanently dwells in the body without sense perception, can sustain the seeds of the conscious mind of yesterday and previous lives, and re-arise the conscious mind of today and this life.
In his above paragraph, Pings Xiao says, “Only Tathagatagarbha, which intermittently and permanently dwells in the body without sense perception, can sustain the seeds of the conscious mind of yesterday and previous lives, and re-arise the conscious mind of today and this life.” It means the fundamental natures of Tathagatagarbha are intermittent, permanently dwelling in the body and without the functions of seeing, hearing, perceiving and knowing of the conscious mind. These natures are exactly the same as those described in The Heart Sutra, which states, “Neither arising nor ceasing, neither defilement nor purification, neither increasing nor decreasing, therefore there is no form, no sensation, perception, formation or consciousness, no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body or consciousness, no color, sound, smell, taste, tactile object or mental object, or no eye-realm or even consciousness-realm.”
In his another book, The Wanton versus True Secret Schools, 4 volumes in Chinese, published by True Wisdom Publishing Co., 2002, pp. 254-255, Pings Xiao says:
If the “perceptive mind, self-view and wandering thought” were the true mind dharma-body rather than the conscious mind, all sentient beings had realized their dharma-bodies before getting enlightened and they did not need to practice diligently for enlightenment. If the perceptive mind were not the conscious mind but were Tathagatagarbha instead, all sentient beings had Tathagatagarbha only and they did not need the conscious mind since Tathagatagarbha can perceive all dharmas like what the conscious mind does. However, many sutras state that Tathagatagarbha departs from seeing, hearing, perceiving and knowing and never say Tathagatagarbha has the cognizing function of the sense-objects in the three-realms.
If both the conscious mind and Tathagatagarbha had the cognizing function of the three-realm sense-objects at the same time, all sentient beings of this world should have two perceptive minds operating, thinking things, hearing the teachings from two teachers, understanding the meanings of both teachings, and identifying the correctness of both teachings at the same time. But from the fact, all sentient beings do not have such two conscious minds operating, but only one conscious mind (one perceptive mind instead.
In addition, the Buddha repeatedly taught that Tathagatagarbha departs from seeing, hearing, perceiving and knowing in many three-vehicle sutras; it is difficult to identify one by one. Many bodhisattvas had proclaimed the same teachings as well. The most famous one among those is What Upasaka-Bodhisattva Vi-mala-kirti Said Sutra (Vimalakirti-nirdesa-sutra). Many consciousness-only sutras have repeatedly stated the rationale of Tathagatagarbha departing from seeing, hearing, perceiving and knowing. Many treaties of bodhisattvas have the same teachings as well, for example, Treatise on the Stages of Yoga Practice by Bodhisattva Maitreya, Exposition of the Aarya Teachings, Verse Treatise and The Comprehensive Treatise on Mahayana Buddhism by Bodhisattva Asanga, The Thirty-Verses on Consciousness-Only (Trimsikavijnaptimatratasi-ddhi) by Bodhisattva Vasubandhu, The Treatise on Completing the Doctrine of Consciousness-Only (Cheng Weishi Lun) by Bodhisattva Xuanzang, Lecture Notes on the Consciousness-Only by Bodhisattva Kwueiji, etc. It is also difficult to identify one by one. Now I proclaim this saying, which is exactly the same as theirs.
In his many other publications, lots of fundamental natures of Tathagatagarbha are mentioned, which conform to the teachings of the Buddhist sutras and treatises as well.
Methods of Practice[edit]
Buddha-remembrance Without Appearance[edit]
According to the dharma-gate of Buddha-Remembrance for Perfect Mastery by Bodhisattava Mahasthamaprapta, Pings Xiao teaches practitioners to place equal emphasis on Chan and Pure-land, and to practice Buddha-remembrance from with-appearance to without-appearance.
He devises the method of “Buddha-remembrance Without Appearance” for enhancing the level of meditative concentration and increasing wisdom to realize the true mind. “Buddha-remembrance Without Appearance,” which he propagates, emphasizes the practice of concentration skill in daily activities rather than in sitting meditation; and the method of “Buddha-remembrance” focuses mainly on “remembering a Buddha” instead of “reciting Buddha-name.” Such method can be practiced anytime and anywhere, and he thinks this way is very suitable for modern people to cultivate meditative concentration in busy daily life. In the preface of his book Buddha-Remembrance Without Appearance, published in 1992 by True Wisdom Publications, Pings Xiao explains as follows:
In fact, Chan and Pure-land are closely related and inseparable. Buddhahood can not be achieved merely through the recitation of Buddha-name but through the realization of the true mind, which must depend on meditative concentration. After seeing the Way, one quickly enters the stages of cultivating the Way, and the fruition of Buddhahood can be expected. However, to see the way, one must rely on the practice of Chan or the insight meditation on ultimate truth (which comes from the methods of tranquility and insight, samatha and vipassana), both of which are not possible without meditative concentration, especially the concentration skill practiced in daily activities. Furthermore, the practitioners of Buddha-remembrance who wish to achieve the state of a single-minded recitation also require the concentration skill. If the recitation of Buddha-name and prostrations to a Buddha can be used as skillful means, it will not be difficult to enter the dharma-gate of Buddha-remembrance for Perfect Mastery from Bodhisattava Mahasthamaprapta; thereafter, one will be confident of being reborn in Ultimate-bliss Pure-land. One can also meditatively contemplate Buddha-remembrance and it is not impossible that “the mind opens (one becomes enlightened) spontaneously without the use of expediencies.” If one applies the basic concentration skill (learned from the dharma-gate of Buddha-remembrance for Perfect Mastery) to the practice of Chan, the doorless gate will present itself naturally and it is also possible to get enlightened. Thus it is known that Chan and Pure-land are closely related and inseparable.
In Chapter 3 of the same book, he further explains the method of “Buddha-remembrance Without Appearance” as follows:
However, all the individual practice methods for Perfect Mastery illustrated by the twenty-five bodhisattvas respectively in The Surangama Sutra are dharma-gates of meditative concentration. Each dharma-gate will enable practitioners to see the Buddha-nature personally, to realize the true one mind, or even to achieve the ultimate liberation state of all five aggregates being empty; hence, it is called the dharma-gate for Perfect Mastery. Among them, the twenty-fourth dharma-gate is exactly the one illustrated in the chapter of Buddha-Remembrance for Perfect Mastery by Bodhisattava Mahasthamaprapta. Throughout the entire chapter, it does not state Buddha-remembrance through the recitation of Buddha-name at all. From beginning to end, it all says to “remember” or “think of” a Buddha rather than recite or read the Buddha-name out loudly. At the end of this chapter, it even says that one can “enter the state of samadhi” through “restraining all six sense-organs with the continuation of one pure thought.” Why is that so? It is because remembrance itself has no name or images. Similarly, thought itself has no title or sound either; otherwise, it would have become reciting or chanting the Buddha-name. Therefore, it is Buddha-remembrance, or thinking of a Buddha, that has been mentioned throughout the whole chapter of Buddha-remembrance for Perfect Mastery rather than the recitation of Buddha-name.
Stages of cultivation[edit]
The stages of cultivation proclaimed by Pings Xiao toward Buddhahood are listed at the end of Buddha-Remembrance Without Appearance, 1992, and all the other books. In general, they can be divided into the following three phases:
During the first phase, besides acquiring the knowledge of Buddha dharma on the absolute truth and the knowledge of Chan dharma, one should also enhance the level of concentration and achieve “Buddha-remembrance Without Appearance” through thinking of and worshiping Buddhas so that one is able to have only one continuous thought and to take care of huatou (the onset of a sentence) either at rest or on the move. In addition, one should also work diligently to cultivate the three virtuous and immaculate karmas, in order to foster the virtues and resources necessary on the way toward Buddhahood.
During the second phase, one needs to practice mediating on huatou in order to contemplate the Chan School’s koans (public matters), and to eventually realize one’s true mind, direct experiencing Tathagatagarbha, the eighth consciousness. After the realization, one should continue practicing the concentration of taking care of huatou in order to eyewitness the Buddha-nature, so that one can actually see the world as being illusory and consequently attain the view of the world as such. Afterwards, while cultivating to eliminate one’s habitual hindrances and practicing samadhi at one’s own pace, one should also rigorously study the sutras of the ultimate truth to attain Chan’s wisdom of differentiation and to eventually attain the solar mirage view of the Tenth-practice stage.
During the third phase, in addition to contemplating and understanding the end-of-last-sentence and using this realization to directly experience the true reality and pass the checkpoint of breaking the jail of Chan School, one should also learn all-seed-wisdom through the sutras and treatises such as The Lankavatara Sutra, The Samdhinirmocana Sutra, The Treatise on Completing the Doctrine of Consciousness-Only, etc. During this stage, one should rescue all sentient beings back to the correct path and uphold the true dharma so that one can practice and experience the dream-like view of the Tenth-transference stage. At this point, one should further make the ten endless vows and learn the Hundred Dharmas before witnessing all phenomena as mirror images. After that, one eliminates the five coverings, bring forth samadhi, and keep all virtuous precepts before eventually experiencing all phenomena as light and shadows. Lastly, one would seek to experience all dharma as echoes in a valley during this phase by learning four-dhyanas-eight-samadhis, cultivating for the four immeasurable minds and the five supernatural powers, and learning the seed-wisdom of Mahayana.
Introduction to the two main ways of the Buddha dharma[edit]
Pings Xiao thinks that Liberation-way and Buddhahood-way constitute the whole Buddha dharma. In the preface of his book, The Nectar and Dharma Rain, he says:
Liberation-way and Buddhahood-way are the only two main ways in the contents of the Buddha dharma. There is no other Buddha dharma except these two.
On page 33 of the same book, he also says:
All practicing dharmas taught by all Buddhas of ten directions and three times, are to let the practitioners cultivate and realize within these two main ways. All Buddha dharmas are included in these two main ways too; therefore, these two are referred to as the nectar (amrita) of Buddha dharma.
In order to benefit Buddhist learners, he organizes the two main ways into plain language and emphasizes the importance of cultivating these two ways in parallel. These are also listed at the end of all his publications.
Buddhahood-way is based on directly experiencing the reality of dharma-realm—the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha. Together with eliminating the three fetters of Liberation-way, greed, anger, and ignorance, one can cultivate stage by stage from general-phenomenon-wisdom, specific-phenomenon-wisdom to seed-wisdom. These stages are divided into ten faiths, ten stays, ten practices, ten transferences, ten grounds, equal-enlightenment and wondrous-enlightenment, fifty-two stages in total until one becomes a Buddha. It takes three asamkhya eons of cultivation to complete all stages. On the other hand, Liberation-way requires diligent cultivation lasting one to four life-spans. Practitioners start by eliminating the three fetters to achieve the first-fruition liberation, and proceed to the second-fruition liberation by diminishing greed, anger, and ignorance. The third-fruition liberation is then attained by eliminating the five lower fetters. Upon complete elimination of all manifested vexations (klesas), the fourth-fruition liberation can be achieved. Although the fourth-fruition arhats have cut off the periodic births-and-deaths, their habitual residues of vexation-hindrances are not yet completely eliminated.
Publications[edit]
The Correct Meanings of The Agama Sutras (7 volumes), 2006[edit]
In this book, Pings Xiao addresses the true meaning imbedded in each sutra among the four major components of The Agama Sutras to demonstrate the Buddha’s original intention in detail. He also lists the real examples of misunderstanding of the true meanings of Agama Sutras made by famous masters in this dharma-ending age. This book also provides evidence confirming that the advanced prajna learning of Consciousness-only is already briefly manifested implicitly in The Agama Sutras of the original Buddhism, that the Buddha has implicitly stated the general-phenomenon of the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha in the original Buddhism, and that the Buddha has proclaimed in the Four Agama Sutras that Tathagatagarbha is the cause and root of the name and form or eighteen-divisions of sense. It also proves that Tathagatagarbha is the fundamental mind to generate all dharmas. Pings Xiao expects that all Buddhists can use the evidence provided to correct their previous wrong views taught by famous masters (for example, Shi Yinshun, Dalai Lama, Tsonkhapa, etc.), to establish correct understanding of Buddhism, and to enter the right path of the Buddhist practice.
The Real Tathagatagarbha, 2000[edit]
Pings Xiao asserts that the existence of Tathagatagarbha is the foundation of all dharmas. There are thirty-three strong pieces of evidence provided in the book to justify his assertion that Tathagatagarbhas are the substance of the universe. This book explains in detail the real meaning of Tathagatagarbha, which is the origin of nirvana and the core of life, and is continuously explored by all mundane wise men in a lifetime but they fail to realize it. This book addresses the mystery of Chan School and Dharma Representation School. The mystery is the Tathagatagarbha that thousand of saints will not explicitly teach. Pings Xiao hopes this book can benefit all readers. The enlightened readers can enhance their enlightenment state. The false enlightened or misguided readers can re-examine their mistakes to avoid the grave deception, and the non-enlightened readers can know the scenario of meditative contemplation and also can examine whether the enlightenment of all famous masters is true or not.
Chan─Before and after Enlightenment (2 volumes), 1997[edit]
The enlightenment and witness of Buddha-nature are the goal of a lifetime search for all Buddhists. The purpose of this book is to establish the faith and the accurate notion regarding enlightenment for practitioners. This book thoroughly and systematically explains in detail the required effort and the content of the enlightenment. It also illustrates the subtle traps in meditation. It will help practitioners to enlighten their true mind and to see their original nature. After reading this book, even if one can not get enlightened, at least one can have the correct knowledge and distinguish it from the teachings of those masters who have been wrongly enlightened in the past or present. Then one will have the ability to identify popular but insubstantial viewpoints, to choose the true enlightened instructor and to enhance the conditions of enlightenment. This book provides practitioners detailed understanding of how and what to do before and after enlightenment. Pings Xiao hopes this book sheds lights on the way to enlightenment and to personally witness the Buddha-nature.
The Wanton versus True Secret Schools (4 volumes), 2002[edit]
Pings Xiao points out that all those who practice esoteric Buddhism must start to practice the observation on self behavior, and aim at verifying and witnessing Tathagatagarbha as stated in the exoteric Buddhism. If practitioners really follow this way, they are real esoteric Buddhism. Otherwise, they are wanton secret Buddhism, which is absolutely not the true Buddhism. The purpose of this book is to reveal the mystical veil of Tibetan Secret School, or called Tibetan Buddhism, and to expose their real face. The fact is that Tibetan Buddhism is not the true Buddhism. Instead, it is just Lamaism to practice the mundane obscenity of sexual pleasure─Couple-practice Tantra, which is originated from Tantrism of Hinduism. Pings Xiao extensively explains, analyzes, and identifies the essential features of Tibetan Buddhism. He also exposes in detail all of the secrets, contents, and the procedures of how to practice Couple-practice Tantra and the dual operations of bliss and emptiness. Hopefully, the readers can understand Tibetan Buddhism and depart from its evil notions and false meditations such as “to attain buddhahood in this lifetime” and “dual operation of bliss and emptiness” to prevent being fooled and violating Boddhisattva Precepts’ grave sin, and then turn to the right way of practicing the true Buddhism.
The Secret Meanings of The Heart Sutra, 2002[edit]
Liberation is the term established for the “Liberation-way” realized in Hinayana bodhi by ceasing the presence of the vexation hindrances, which depends upon the eighth consciousness (i.e., Tathagatagarbha). Whereas, prajna is the term established for the “Buddhahood-way” realized in Mahayana bodhi by self-witnessing the nirvana nature, clear and pure self-nature, and the middle-way nature of Tathagatagarbha, which is realized by the patriarchs of Chan School as well. This eighth consciousness is the consciousness of neither arising nor ceasing as stated in The Heart Sutra. Nowadays, Pings Xiao, based on his witness to both wisdoms, the non-arising-wisdom of the Liberation-way and the prajna way-seed-wisdom of the Buddhahood-way, addresses in plain language and details the relations and cryptic meanings among The Heart Sutra, the Liberation-way, the Buddhahood-way, and the patriarch’s koans (public matters), to demonstrate the true meaning of three-vehicle bodhi. The readers will benefit by appreciating the magnificence of three-vehicle bodhi rather than the frivolous talk by others.
An Exposition on The Lankavatara Sutra (10 volumes), 1999[edit]
The Lankavatara Sutra is a necessary yardstick in the Chan School to verify that the enlightenment is true or false. It also serves as the guidebook for further practice required after enlightenment. Therefore, Bodhidharma, the first patriarch of Chinese Chan lineage, after confirming his disciple Huiko’s enlightenment, gave a bowl and The Lankavatara Sutra to Huiko, the second patriarch, and directed him to follow the Buddha’s instructions in the sutra to enter the path of cultivating the second stage of practice and to learn the all-seed-wisdom. Thus, it shows that this sutra is very important to the truly enlightened people for Buddhist practice. Pings Xiao hopes his elaboration of this sutra can serve the following purposes: 1) to crush the evil views of non-Buddhists, 2) to destroy the wrong views from famous masters with false enlightenment, and 3) to demolish the wanton Chan─those who do not read sutras but advocate the pretentious view that “One becomes an ultimate Buddha immediately upon enlightenment.” Pings Xiao also indicates that this sutra is a fundamental sutra of the Dharmalaksana School. This series of books is an important reference for an enlightened one, who would like to cultivate the all-seed wisdom and to be on the first-ground.
Other Books[edit]
Buddha-Remembrance Without Appearance (1993)
Stages in Learning Buddha-Remembrance Samadhi (1995)
Ascertaining the True Reality of Life (1997)
An Easy Way to Identify the True or False Enlightenment (1997)
Entering the Dharma-Door of Buddha-Remembrance (1998)
Pings' Letter—A Collection of Replies to Lay Buddhist Yuan-lan (1998)
Perfect Harmony between Chan and Pure-Land (1999)
Recognizing the True Mind versus Entering the First-Ground (2000)
Mastery of School Tenets and Eloquence (2000)
The Wrong Views versus Buddha Dharma (2001)
The Nectar and Dharma Rain (2001)
Self and No-Self (2001)
The Right Dharma-Eye Store—The Collection of Protecting the Right Dharma (2001)
The View of No-Self in Mahayana (2002)
Crises in Buddhism (2002)
The Shadow of the Lamp—Darkness under the Lamp (2003)
Entering the Non-Dual Dharma-Door—A Collection of Commenting by Koans (2003)
The True versus False Enlightenment (2004)
True Meanings of Consciousness-Aggregate (2005)
The Dull Bird versus Bright Tortoise (2007)
Following Conditions—in Actuality and in Circumstances (2008)
Criticism on Tibetan Buddhism[edit]
By referring to two hundreds and forty-six Chinese books, Pings Xiao makes lots of criticisms on Tibetan Secret School (or called Tibetan Buddhism) in his books The Wanton versus True Secret Schools, 4 volumes in Chinese, published by True Wisdom Publishing Co., 2002. He thinks Tibetan Buddhism is only borrowing the Buddhist terms, but in fact practicing non-Buddhist Couple-practice Tantra, which is from Tantrism of Hinduism and mainly practices with the content of sexual desire; not only they negates the existence of the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha, which is the base of Buddhism, but also their practice contents have completely nothing to do with the Buddhist practice, which is pursuing cleanness and no-desire. The followings are some examples about his criticisms on Tibetan Secret School for their negating the existence of the eighth consciousness, Tathagatagarbha, and spreading tantric Mahayoga, a tantra of sexual couple-practice.
In The Wanton versus True Secret Schools, Vol. 1, 2002, p. 216, he states:
The Tibetan Secret School’s Gelug Sect negates the eighth consciousness Tathagatagarbha, negates the Buddha’s doctrines in the consciousness-only sutras of the third dharma transmission, and denies the existence of the eighth consciousness, Alaya. Tsongkhapa claimed:
If the practitioners of Hinayana do not master the emptiness-nature of no intrinsic nature as their doctrine, the statements of “Those who are ignorant of the emptiness-nature can not get liberated; all fools are reincarnated in the prison of six paths and three-realms,” in the treatise (Explanation of the Treatise on Bodhi-mind of the Tibetan Secret School) will make no sense because the practitioners of Hinayana can liberate themselves from the prison of three-realms as well. The Collected Sastras of Practicing says: “It shows only in the sutras that the Buddha taught the eighth consciousness, etc. for many excellent practitioners so as to make them understand it thoroughly. In our school, it is not permitted to admit the existence of a different entity, the Alaya consciousness, other than the six consciousnesses. As declared in the Collective Tantra of the Saint Sect: There is luminosity upon death; all emptiness mind is dead mind; arising reversely from that dead mind, the mind attained closely is the reborn mind; neither of both is the Alaya consciousness. Although the Explanation of the Treatise on Bodhi-mind does mention the term “Alaya consciousness”, in its real meaning, the mind-consciousness is the root of all impure and pure dharmas. This has been explained extensively in the Presentation of Collective Wisdom Vajra. (11-387~388) [Note: author’s reference and page number]
Tsongkhapa’s above assertions in Quintessential Instructions on the King of Tantras, the Glorious Guhyasamaja, Lamp Thoroughly Illuminating the Five Stages show that he never realize either the true reality of the prajna middle-way view in Mahayana or the Liberation-way in Hinayana. He did not realize the first-fruition of sound-hearer (sravaka), let alone the Buddha’s bodhi in Mahayana. In fact, he even seriously misunderstood the Hinayana teachings of the three-vehicle Buddha dharma.
In The Wanton versus True Secret Schools, Vol. 2, 2002, p. 559, Pings Xiao says:
In The Six Yogas of Naropa, it claims that there are four divisions in Tibetan Secret School─Mahayoga, Yoga, Performance and Action divisions─as follows:
Tibetan Secret School have four divisions: 1.) Mahayoga division, 2.) Yoga division, 3.) Performance division, and 4.) Action division. Except Mahayoga division, the other three divisions do not have the practice method of embracing female consort. (62-51)
In fact, Mahayoga division is Couple-practice Tantra, and embracing female consort is the tantric practice of “Union of Bliss and Emptiness,” which is to embrace a woman to co-practice for sexual happiness.
In the same book, pp. 561-563, it also states:
All those who have practiced Couple-practice Tantra with their gurus of the opposite sex or accepted their gurus’ Fourth Empowerment in altars must not tell others about the details of the practice. This is the highest secret between the gurus and their disciples of the opposite sex and must not be known by the spouse of the practitioners, especially for those female practitioners who have co-practice with their male gurus for quite a long time. Due to this reason, it is impossible that those practice details can be disclosed except some special conditions happen. In order to keep the good reputation and peaceful family happiness for those experienced female tantric practitioners, I am not going to exemplify the present real cases, but instead, to exemplify the ancient “great master” Padmasambhava (Lotus Born) to provide enough evidence for the existence of couple-practice in Tibetan Secret School. In The Profound Guidance for Vajravarahi, Padmasambhava taught:
First, enhance oneself to become Buddha-parents of Hayagriva; keep the image of the guru Padmasambhava on one’s head clear; practice no intrinsic nature and let the dependents of sky-walking go around; bring forth the bodhi mind and emit the red light to burn up the sentient being’s habits of three karmas; visualize that one becomes Hayagriva body with red color by oneself, embraces Vajravarahi, and match one’s pestle with her lotus completely (The lower parts of both Hayagriva male and Vajravarahi female combine together.); the guru Padmasambhava on the head also embrace a female consort like what Hayagriva male and Vajravarahi female have done and make the wondrous empowerment (The visualized guru Padmasambhava on one’s head also embrace a female consort, have sex and drop obscene liquid to fill into the practitioner’s head for empowerment.
From the above teachings in The Profound Guidance for Vajravarahi by the founder of Tibetan Secret School, the “great master” Padmasambhava, it is proven that there exists Couple-practice Tantra for the co-practice of male and female couple; …… Padmasambhava said so, and Tsongkhapa also said so. More details can be found in Tsongkhapa’s Extended Treatise on the Progression of the Esoteric Path (or called Great Exposition of Tantra) and support that my sayings are true. Many other gurus also have the similar sayings like Padmasambhava or Tsongkhapa, but they do not teach Couple-practice Tantra to those novice practitioners.
By citing many representative writings of Tibetan Secret School, for example, Padmasambhava’s The Profound Guidance for Vajravarahi, Tsongkhapa’s Extended Treatise on the Progression of the Esoteric Path, Blo-bzan-grags-pa Zam Lam’s The Six Yogas of Naropa, etc., Pings Xiao repeatedly proves that the most ultimate practice method of Tibetan Secret School─Mahayoga─is in fact the worldly method which pursues sexual happiness, not only having nothing to do with the Buddha dharma but also violating the Buddhist practice and being unable to get liberated.