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(1) If the empty nature of the mind is realized, no longer
is it necessary to listen to or to meditate upon religious
teachings. [1]
[1] Realization of the empty nature of the mind is attained through
yogic mastery of the Doctrine of the Voidness, which shows that Mind,
the Sole Reality, is the noumenal source of all phenomena; and, that
being non-sangsaric (ie. not dependent for its existence upon
objective appearances, nor even upon thought-forms or thought-
processes), it is in the Qualityless, the Attributeless, and,
therefore, the Vacuous. Once having arrived at this realization,
the yogin no longer needs to listen to or to meditate upon religious
teachings, for these are merely guides to the great goal of yoga
which has been reached.
(2) If the unsulliable nature of the intellect is realized, no
longer is it necessary to seek absolution of one's sins. [1]
[1] According to The Awakening of Faith by Ashvaghosha, one of the
illustrious expounders of the Mahayana, "The mind from the beginning
is of a pure nature, but since there is the finite aspect of it
which is sullied by finite views, there is the sullied aspect of it.
Although there is this defilement, yet the original pure nature is
eternally unchanged." As Ashvaghosha adds, it is only an Enlightened
One, Who has realized the unsulliable nature of primordial mind
(or intellect), that understands this mystery. (Cf. Timothy
Richard's translation of The Awakening of Faith, Shanghai, 1907,
p. 13; also the translation made by Professor Teitaro Suzuki,
published in Chicago in 1900, pp. 79-80.) So for he who knows that
the defilement's of the world are, like the world, without any
reality, being a part of the Great Illusion, or Maya, what need is
there for absolution of sin? Likewise, as the next aphorism teaches,
"for who abides in the State of Mental Quiescence", which is the
State of Enlightenment, all such illusory concepts of the finite mind
as sin and absolution vanish as morning mists do when the Sun has
arisen.
(3) Nor is absolution necessary for one who abides in the
State of Mental Quiescence.
(4) For he who has attained the State of Unalloyed
Purity there is no longer a need to meditate upon the Path or
upon the methods of treading it, [for he has arrived at the
Goal].
(5) If the unreal [or illusory] nature of cognitions is
realized, no longer is there a need to meditate upon the state of
non-cognition. [1]
[1] Here, again, reference to the Doctrine of the Voidness [of mind]
is essential to right understanding of this aphorism. The State of
Non-Cognition, otherwise called the True State [of mind], is a state
of unmodified consciousness, comparable to a calm and infinite ocean.
In the modified state of consciousness, inseparable from mind in its
microcosmic or finite aspect, this ocean illusorily appears to be
ruffled with waves, which are the illusory concepts born of sangsaric
existence. As Ashvaghosha also tells us in The Awakening of Faith
(Richard's translation, p. 12), "We should know that all phenomena
are created by the imperfect notions in the finite mind; therefore
all existence is like a reflection in a mirror, without substance,
only a phantom of the mind. When the finite mind acts, then all
kinds of things arise; when the finite mind ceases to act, then all
kinds of things cease." Concomitantly with realization of the True
State, wherein mind is quiescent and devoid of the thought-processes
and concepts of finite mind, the yogin realizes the unreal nature of
cognitions, and no longer needs to meditate upon the State of
Non-Cognition.
(6) If the non-reality [or illusory nature] of obscuring
passions is realized, no longer is there a need to seek their antidote.
(7) If all phenomena be known to be illusory, no longer is
there a need to seek or to reject anything. [1]
[1] For according to the Doctrine of Maya (or illusion) nothing which
has illusory (or phenomenal) existence is real.
(8) If sorrow and misfortune be recognized to be blessings,
no need is there a need to seek happiness.
(9) If the unborn [or uncreated] nature of one's own consciousness
be realized, no longer is there a need to practice transference
of consciousness. [1]
[1] Consciousness, or mind, being primordially of the Unborn,
Uncreated, cannot really be transferred. It is only to consciousness
in its finite or microcosmic aspect, as manifested in the Sangsara,
or Realm of Illusion, that one may apply the term transference.
To the Unborn, in the True State, wherein the Sangsara is
transcended, time and space, which belong wholly to the Realm of
Illusion, have no existence. How then can the Unborn be transferred,
since there is no "here or there" to which it can be related?
Having realized this, that the noumenal cannot be treated as the
phenomenal, there is no need to practice the transference of
consciousness.
(10) If only the good of others be sought in all that one
does, no longer is there a need to seek benefit for oneself. [1]
[1] Humanity being a unified organism, through which the One Mind
finds highest expression on Earth, whatsoever one member of it does
to another member of it, be the action good or evil, inevitably
affects all members of it. Therefore, in the Christian sense as
well, the doing of good to others is the doing of good to oneself.
These are The Ten Unnecessary Things.
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