No-Method in Indian Buddhism

Haklenayaas (Gal na yas), the 23rd patriarh o! "han#

There are many gates to meditation in the Mahyna. The ultimate among them is the
instantaneous approach to the Madhyamaka. The instantaneous approach has no method.
One cultivates the nature of reality in this way: phenomena are mind, and mind is uncreated.
In that it is uncreated, it is emptiness. Since it is like the sky, it is not a field of activity for
the si sense!faculties. This emptiness is what we call vivid awareness. "et within that vivid
awareness there is no such thing as vivid awareness. Therefore without remaining in the
insights gained from studying, cultivate the essential sameness of all phenomena.
$he %ri&ins o! Ma'(ur) *utra (ited +y Na&ar(una in the ommentary on the per!etion o!
,isdom sutra)#
#ll dharmas, even if they are marked $y sensual desire, marked $y hatefulness, or marked
$y delusion%the marks of all of these dharmas are identical to the true character of
dharmas. There is nothing therein which should serve to hang one up or o$struct one.&
!!!
One's sensual desire's identical with the (ath.
#nd so it is with hate and delusion.
In )ust this way, amidst these three,
One finds the (ath of innumera$le $uddhas.
So if a man discriminates
*Twit lust and hate, delusion and (ath,
This man strays far away from +uddha,
,ust as heaven's far from earth.
The (ath, lust, hatred, and delusion
#re all one dharma, all the same.
Should one who hears this cringe in fear,
-e's far away from +uddha's (ath.
The dharma of lust's not $orn or destroyed,
#nd cannot cause the mind affliction,
+ut if one has a view of self,
This lust leads forth to the wretched destinies.
Seeing dharmas of eistence and noneistence as different,
One can't leave eistence or noneistence.
+ut knowing eistence and noneistence as same,
Transcending supremely, one achieves +uddha's (ath.
Nagarjuna:
.urthermore, the $odhisattva ac/uires the (ra)0pramit without practicing any dharma
and without ac/uiring any dharma. 1hy2 #ll practices 3cary4 are erroneous and futile:
from near or far, they present faults. In fact, $ad dharmas 3aku5aladharma4 are faulty from
close up6 as for good dharmas, they are transformed and modified from far away6 those who
$ecome attached to them will end up $y eperiencing pain and sorrow6 thus they show
defects from far off. 78ood and $ad practices9 are like an appeti:ing food and a disgusting
food $oth of which have $een poisoned. #s soon as one eats the disgusting food, one feels
dissatisfied. 1hen one eats the appeti:ing food, one feels pleasant satisfaction for the
moment, $ut later it takes one's life. Therefore $oth kinds of food should $e avoided, and it is
the same for good and $ad practices.
;uestion. < If that is so, why did the +uddha preach the three practices, namely, the
$rhmanic practice 3$rahmacarya4, the godly practice 3divyacarya4 and the no$le practice
3ryacarya42
#nswer. < The no$le practice consists of practicing the a$sence of all practice. 1hy2
+ecause during all no$le practice, one never departs from the three gates of li$eration
3vimok amukha4. The $rhmanic and the divine practices arise insofar as they grasp the
characteristics of $eings 3sattvanimittodgraha a46 although they do not show defects at the
time they are $eing practiced, they will show them later on and the realities they actually
pursue will all appear to $e false. -owever, the saint 3rya4 who practices these two kinds of
practice with a detached mind 3asaktacitta4 does not commit any fault.
.or the person who practices the a$sence of practice thus, nothing eists any longer: errors
3viparysa4, deceptions 3va0cana4 and the afflictions 3kle5a4 no longer arise for they are
purified like space 3k5a5uddha4. -e ac/uires the true nature of dharmas $y holding his
non!ac/uisition 3anupala$dhi4 as an ac/uisition. It is said in the non!ac/uired (ra)0:
=>harmas, form 3r?pa4, etc., are not empty as a result of emptiness6 they are originally and
eternally empty in themselves6 dharmas, form, etc., are not nonpercepti$le $ecause wisdom
does not reach them: they are originally and eternally non!percepti$le in themselves.& This
is 7@AB$9 why we should not ask how many virtues must $e practiced to o$tain
(ra)0pramit. Out of loving!kindness and compassion to $eings, the +uddhas teach the
practices in order to $e in harmony with common usage 3sa v ti4, $ut there is nothing
a$solute 3paramrtha4 there.
;uestion. < If (ra)0pramit can $e neither ac/uired nor practiced, why does the ascetic
seek it2
#nswer. < There are two kinds of things that cannot $e ac/uired:
i4 1orldly pleasures, which can $e sought $ut which do not respond to the attempt, cannot
$e ac/uired6
ii4The true nature of dharmas, the definite notice 3niyattanimitta4 of which escapes
perception, cannot $e
ac/uired. Cot $eing non!eistent, they include merit 3pu ya4 and increase the roots of good
3ku5alam?la4.
1orldly people 3p thag)ana4 who speculate a$out worldly affairs 3lokadharma4 have profit
3l$dha4, etc.6 and it is the same for all the good /ualities. +ut it is according to the mind of
the world that we speak a$out ac/uisition, in the mind of the +uddha, nothing in ac/uired.