1 00:00:00,303 --> 00:00:01,996 The Yogacarabhumi Sastra one hundred volumes 2 00:00:02,063 --> 00:00:03,496 just to fully take apart your consciousness 3 00:00:04,118 --> 00:00:06,211 have you ever had this kind of experience 4 00:00:06,599 --> 00:00:07,631 you are reading a book 5 00:00:07,958 --> 00:00:08,797 and as you read on 6 00:00:08,799 --> 00:00:11,492 you suddenly realize this book is not about anything else 7 00:00:11,719 --> 00:00:12,812 it is about you 8 00:00:12,959 --> 00:00:13,992 not about your life 9 00:00:14,238 --> 00:00:15,437 not about your psychology 10 00:00:15,438 --> 00:00:18,052 but about the very thing that is doing the reading 11 00:00:18,198 --> 00:00:19,251 your consciousness 12 00:00:19,659 --> 00:00:20,692 seventeen hundred years ago 13 00:00:21,060 --> 00:00:22,072 there was a treatise 14 00:00:22,099 --> 00:00:23,392 that did exactly this 15 00:00:23,659 --> 00:00:24,732 it tells no stories 16 00:00:24,900 --> 00:00:25,993 uses no metaphors 17 00:00:26,099 --> 00:00:27,953 across one hundred volumes 18 00:00:28,020 --> 00:00:31,192 it tried to write the complete operating manual of human consciousness 19 00:00:31,619 --> 00:00:34,192 from the instant you open your eyes and see light 20 00:00:34,220 --> 00:00:36,458 to the deepest point where you close your eyes and enter meditation 21 00:00:36,460 --> 00:00:39,952 to every single step from ordinary being to buddhahood 22 00:00:40,220 --> 00:00:41,713 all of it written in 23 00:00:41,939 --> 00:00:44,393 this treatise is called the Yogacarabhumi Sastra 24 00:00:44,894 --> 00:00:45,208 hello 25 00:00:45,534 --> 00:00:46,007 everyone 26 00:00:46,254 --> 00:00:47,227 I am Wang Lijie 27 00:00:47,494 --> 00:00:49,287 if you have been following this series 28 00:00:49,574 --> 00:00:50,588 you will notice 29 00:00:50,775 --> 00:00:53,467 in the earlier episodes we have been doing one thing 30 00:00:53,695 --> 00:00:54,547 taking apart the components 31 00:00:55,135 --> 00:00:56,134 the Samdhinirmocana Sutra 32 00:00:56,135 --> 00:00:59,227 we took apart the three natures and the verses on the alaya consciousness 33 00:00:59,614 --> 00:01:00,588 the Cheng Weishi Lun 34 00:01:00,614 --> 00:01:04,587 we took apart the six meanings of seeds the four-part theory and transforming consciousness into wisdom 35 00:01:04,935 --> 00:01:06,908 like taking apart a precision instrument 36 00:01:07,095 --> 00:01:09,387 each episode we took apart one core module 37 00:01:09,414 --> 00:01:10,908 and looked at its internal structure 38 00:01:11,174 --> 00:01:12,507 but today is different 39 00:01:12,774 --> 00:01:14,488 today we are going to step back 40 00:01:14,855 --> 00:01:16,068 no longer looking at the parts 41 00:01:16,095 --> 00:01:17,468 but at the whole blueprint 42 00:01:18,175 --> 00:01:21,029 the Yogacarabhumi Sastra is the largest treatise in Yogacara 43 00:01:21,136 --> 00:01:22,068 without exception 44 00:01:22,375 --> 00:01:23,268 one hundred volumes 45 00:01:23,696 --> 00:01:25,854 if you read it from start to finish 46 00:01:25,856 --> 00:01:27,428 without eating drinking or stopping 47 00:01:27,696 --> 00:01:29,068 it would take about seven days 48 00:01:29,535 --> 00:01:32,548 its length is nearly two hundred times that of the Diamond Sutra 49 00:01:32,935 --> 00:01:34,628 but the length is not the point 50 00:01:35,015 --> 00:01:38,469 the point is it did something no other scripture had ever done 51 00:01:38,935 --> 00:01:40,908 it tried to take the whole matter of practice 52 00:01:41,015 --> 00:01:43,348 from start to finish from bottom to top 53 00:01:43,535 --> 00:01:46,109 and turn it into an operable systems engineering 54 00:01:46,394 --> 00:01:48,367 you know how in software development today 55 00:01:48,433 --> 00:01:50,406 there is a document called the technical specification 56 00:01:50,633 --> 00:01:52,647 it is not a user manual for customers 57 00:01:52,754 --> 00:01:55,007 nor a business plan for the boss 58 00:01:55,073 --> 00:01:56,806 it is for the engineers 59 00:01:56,913 --> 00:01:57,666 what it writes down is 60 00:01:58,034 --> 00:01:59,766 how each module works 61 00:01:59,834 --> 00:02:01,567 how the modules communicate 62 00:02:01,713 --> 00:02:03,106 what you input and what you get 63 00:02:03,353 --> 00:02:04,912 what the boundary conditions are 64 00:02:04,913 --> 00:02:06,847 and what process to follow when an exception occurs 65 00:02:07,153 --> 00:02:10,247 the Yogacarabhumi Sastra is the technical specification of practice 66 00:02:10,961 --> 00:02:11,919 its author 67 00:02:11,920 --> 00:02:15,574 is traditionally said to be dictated by Maitreya and recorded by Asanga 68 00:02:15,721 --> 00:02:18,693 we told Asanga's story in our history series 69 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,294 the man who practiced hard in a cave for twelve years and nearly gave up 70 00:02:22,441 --> 00:02:25,933 you can imagine Maitreya as the chief architect of this field 71 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:30,493 and Asanga as the engineer who turned the architecture into complete documentation 72 00:02:30,920 --> 00:02:34,774 whether or not you believe Maitreya really came down from Tusita Heaven to teach 73 00:02:34,920 --> 00:02:36,653 one thing is certain 74 00:02:36,721 --> 00:02:38,479 the engineering precision of this treatise 75 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,933 has almost no rival in the entire history of human thought 76 00:02:42,385 --> 00:02:42,579 alright 77 00:02:43,026 --> 00:02:45,079 now let us look at the structure of this blueprint 78 00:02:45,466 --> 00:02:47,959 the Yogacarabhumi Sastra is divided into five major parts 79 00:02:48,105 --> 00:02:49,878 the first part is called the Fundamental Section 80 00:02:49,945 --> 00:02:51,865 from volume one to volume fifty 81 00:02:51,866 --> 00:02:53,398 taking up half of the whole treatise 82 00:02:53,626 --> 00:02:55,239 this is the core of the entire work 83 00:02:55,346 --> 00:02:57,759 and what we will focus on taking apart today 84 00:02:58,026 --> 00:03:00,118 the second part is called the Section of Analysis 85 00:03:00,225 --> 00:03:02,398 from volume fifty to volume eighty 86 00:03:02,426 --> 00:03:05,799 it is a deep discussion of the key concepts in the Fundamental Section 87 00:03:06,065 --> 00:03:07,498 the third part the Section of Explanation 88 00:03:07,785 --> 00:03:08,799 is only two volumes 89 00:03:08,866 --> 00:03:10,118 a glossary of terms 90 00:03:10,385 --> 00:03:11,979 the fourth part the Section of Synonyms 91 00:03:12,306 --> 00:03:13,265 also two volumes 92 00:03:13,265 --> 00:03:14,479 a table of synonyms 93 00:03:14,746 --> 00:03:16,479 the fifth part the Section of Topics 94 00:03:16,545 --> 00:03:18,545 from volume eighty-five to one hundred 95 00:03:18,545 --> 00:03:19,919 is a set of special topics 96 00:03:20,906 --> 00:03:23,378 you can think of the last four parts as an appendix 97 00:03:23,866 --> 00:03:25,759 deep discussion and technical Q and A 98 00:03:26,186 --> 00:03:27,678 the core is the Fundamental Section 99 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:29,954 and the structure of the Fundamental Section 100 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:31,574 is called the Seventeen Grounds 101 00:03:32,121 --> 00:03:32,973 the Seventeen Grounds 102 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,614 are seventeen levels seventeen pieces of a puzzle 103 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:37,273 it takes the entire world of practice 104 00:03:37,561 --> 00:03:39,319 from the senses to meditation 105 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:41,134 from hearing the teaching to becoming a buddha 106 00:03:41,241 --> 00:03:43,574 and cuts it into seventeen precise modules 107 00:03:43,801 --> 00:03:46,894 let us look at how these seventeen puzzle pieces fit together 108 00:03:47,345 --> 00:03:48,304 the first five pieces 109 00:03:48,304 --> 00:03:50,817 are called the ground of the five sense consciousnesses the ground of the mind 110 00:03:51,144 --> 00:03:54,958 the ground with coarse and subtle thought the ground with only subtle thought and the ground with neither 111 00:03:55,065 --> 00:03:56,137 the names sound convoluted 112 00:03:56,464 --> 00:03:58,077 but the logic is very clear 113 00:03:58,225 --> 00:03:59,877 it starts from the very bottom 114 00:04:00,024 --> 00:04:01,018 your five senses 115 00:04:01,785 --> 00:04:03,037 eyes ears nose tongue and body 116 00:04:03,105 --> 00:04:04,257 after receiving a signal 117 00:04:04,544 --> 00:04:05,778 how does consciousness start to work 118 00:04:06,304 --> 00:04:07,583 when the signal comes in 119 00:04:07,584 --> 00:04:08,857 what is your attention doing 120 00:04:09,225 --> 00:04:10,657 is it coarse analysis and judgment 121 00:04:10,945 --> 00:04:12,477 or subtle awareness 122 00:04:12,505 --> 00:04:13,977 or has even awareness stopped 123 00:04:14,909 --> 00:04:16,481 you can try it right now 124 00:04:16,748 --> 00:04:18,242 you are listening to me speak 125 00:04:18,309 --> 00:04:20,321 your ear consciousness is receiving sound 126 00:04:20,468 --> 00:04:22,721 your consciousness is following my logic 127 00:04:22,989 --> 00:04:23,742 in this process 128 00:04:24,028 --> 00:04:25,721 there is coarse mental activity 129 00:04:25,788 --> 00:04:28,401 you are understanding judging associating 130 00:04:28,629 --> 00:04:30,122 you may even be saying inside 131 00:04:30,189 --> 00:04:31,502 hmm I agree with this 132 00:04:31,908 --> 00:04:33,122 that one I disagree with 133 00:04:33,389 --> 00:04:35,507 this kind of mental activity carrying language 134 00:04:35,509 --> 00:04:37,122 is called with coarse and subtle thought 135 00:04:37,389 --> 00:04:38,662 xun is coarse grasping 136 00:04:39,108 --> 00:04:40,721 si is subtle discernment 137 00:04:41,108 --> 00:04:42,602 every day while you are awake 138 00:04:42,708 --> 00:04:45,162 you spend most of your time in this state 139 00:04:45,677 --> 00:04:46,269 but occasionally 140 00:04:46,557 --> 00:04:48,649 like when you play music and lose yourself 141 00:04:48,797 --> 00:04:52,370 or when you stare at a flower for a long time and suddenly think of nothing 142 00:04:52,677 --> 00:04:54,329 the coarse mental activity stops 143 00:04:54,357 --> 00:04:56,930 but a subtle awareness is still operating 144 00:04:57,156 --> 00:04:58,350 you know you are here 145 00:04:58,557 --> 00:05:00,156 you know the flower is there 146 00:05:00,156 --> 00:05:02,850 but you are not saying a single word about it 147 00:05:03,237 --> 00:05:04,930 this is called with only subtle thought 148 00:05:05,276 --> 00:05:08,235 if even that subtle awareness quiets down 149 00:05:08,237 --> 00:05:11,836 entering a pure state undisturbed by any concept 150 00:05:11,836 --> 00:05:13,569 this is called with neither coarse nor subtle thought 151 00:05:13,877 --> 00:05:15,235 most people in their whole life 152 00:05:15,237 --> 00:05:18,490 may only touch this state in deep meditation 153 00:05:19,138 --> 00:05:21,150 this is not about meditative attainment 154 00:05:21,258 --> 00:05:22,910 although it is related to meditation 155 00:05:23,417 --> 00:05:26,150 it is describing the operating modes of consciousness itself 156 00:05:26,497 --> 00:05:28,831 like describing a computer's processor 157 00:05:29,057 --> 00:05:30,910 not what software it is running 158 00:05:30,977 --> 00:05:33,150 but at what frequency it works 159 00:05:33,369 --> 00:05:34,422 the next two pieces 160 00:05:34,609 --> 00:05:37,143 the ground of meditative equipoise and the ground of non-equipoise 161 00:05:37,290 --> 00:05:39,783 that is the state in meditation and the state out of it 162 00:05:39,970 --> 00:05:41,963 what your consciousness is like inside meditation 163 00:05:42,410 --> 00:05:44,162 and what it is like outside of it 164 00:05:44,569 --> 00:05:47,903 the features differences and switching conditions of the two states 165 00:05:47,929 --> 00:05:49,062 all written out clearly 166 00:05:49,941 --> 00:05:51,875 the next two pieces are even more interesting 167 00:05:51,902 --> 00:05:53,714 the ground with mind and the ground without mind 168 00:05:54,101 --> 00:05:55,714 the state with mental activity 169 00:05:55,741 --> 00:05:57,554 and the state without mental activity 170 00:05:57,902 --> 00:05:58,255 note 171 00:05:58,541 --> 00:05:59,854 without mind is not a coma 172 00:06:00,101 --> 00:06:01,275 not falling asleep 173 00:06:01,541 --> 00:06:05,195 in Buddhism there is an extremely deep meditative state called the cessation attainment 174 00:06:05,501 --> 00:06:07,474 the activity of consciousness stops completely 175 00:06:07,501 --> 00:06:09,234 but the vital signs remain 176 00:06:09,582 --> 00:06:10,981 what these two grounds describe 177 00:06:10,981 --> 00:06:14,034 is the boundary condition between the presence and absence of conscious activity 178 00:06:14,741 --> 00:06:15,981 these first nine grounds 179 00:06:15,981 --> 00:06:19,815 from receiving sense signals to the coarse-to-subtle spectrum of thought 180 00:06:20,142 --> 00:06:24,994 to switching between meditation and non-meditation to the boundary of conscious activity 181 00:06:25,061 --> 00:06:26,875 map out the hardware layer of consciousness 182 00:06:27,272 --> 00:06:28,544 starting from the tenth ground 183 00:06:28,871 --> 00:06:29,885 the scene switches 184 00:06:30,272 --> 00:06:33,765 the ground of wisdom from hearing from reflection and from practice 185 00:06:33,912 --> 00:06:35,751 wisdom built through hearing 186 00:06:35,751 --> 00:06:37,511 wisdom built through thinking 187 00:06:37,511 --> 00:06:39,445 wisdom built through actual practice 188 00:06:39,751 --> 00:06:42,205 these three grounds map the learning path 189 00:06:42,431 --> 00:06:44,311 how you go from hearing a principle 190 00:06:44,311 --> 00:06:45,991 to thinking it through 191 00:06:45,991 --> 00:06:48,785 to finally living it out on the level of the body 192 00:06:49,511 --> 00:06:51,525 a viewer once asked a great question 193 00:06:51,792 --> 00:06:53,270 why is it that I understand all the principles 194 00:06:53,272 --> 00:06:53,984 but just cannot do them 195 00:06:54,511 --> 00:06:56,244 the Yogacarabhumi Sastra's answer is 196 00:06:56,352 --> 00:06:59,004 because you are stuck between hearing and reflecting 197 00:06:59,071 --> 00:07:00,924 or between reflecting and practicing 198 00:07:01,399 --> 00:07:02,293 here is an example 199 00:07:02,519 --> 00:07:03,152 you hear me say 200 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:05,972 the essence of anger is a seed being triggered 201 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:06,952 you understand it 202 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:08,092 this is hearing 203 00:07:08,479 --> 00:07:10,092 then you think it over again and again 204 00:07:10,200 --> 00:07:12,972 you recall what happened the last time you lost your temper 205 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,132 you start to verify this claim on yourself 206 00:07:16,200 --> 00:07:17,032 you think it through 207 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:18,092 this is reflection 208 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:20,452 but the next time someone insults you 209 00:07:20,479 --> 00:07:21,853 you still snap in an instant 210 00:07:21,853 --> 00:07:22,192 right 211 00:07:22,760 --> 00:07:24,332 because you have not yet practiced 212 00:07:24,959 --> 00:07:25,673 what is practice 213 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,373 practice is that in the instant you are insulted 214 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,692 your body already starts to respond differently on its own 215 00:07:31,1000 --> 00:07:33,652 not by suppressing it with willpower 216 00:07:33,719 --> 00:07:36,293 but the old pattern has truly been rewritten 217 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:38,733 understanding is not the same as thinking through 218 00:07:38,839 --> 00:07:40,972 thinking through is not the same as living it out 219 00:07:41,839 --> 00:07:42,798 these three grounds 220 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:47,438 precisely define what exactly the gaps between these three steps are 221 00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:49,212 and how to cross them 222 00:07:49,399 --> 00:07:52,572 then come the sravaka ground the pratyekabuddha ground and the bodhisattva ground 223 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:54,413 three paths of practice 224 00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:56,033 the sravaka who learns from a teacher 225 00:07:56,480 --> 00:07:58,132 the pratyekabuddha who awakens alone 226 00:07:58,199 --> 00:07:59,932 plus the bodhisattva path of the Mahayana 227 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,692 the Yogacarabhumi Sastra does not belittle any of these paths 228 00:08:02,759 --> 00:08:04,713 it simply lays out the entry conditions of the three paths 229 00:08:04,999 --> 00:08:07,478 their practice content and their final destinations 230 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:08,853 all spread out for you to see 231 00:08:09,147 --> 00:08:11,801 the bodhisattva ground alone takes up a full fifteen volumes 232 00:08:11,827 --> 00:08:13,760 the thickest chapter in the Fundamental Section 233 00:08:14,067 --> 00:08:15,387 Asanga clearly believed 234 00:08:15,387 --> 00:08:17,520 this path needs the most explanation 235 00:08:17,748 --> 00:08:18,260 why 236 00:08:18,628 --> 00:08:20,746 because the practice of the sravaka and pratyekabuddha 237 00:08:20,748 --> 00:08:22,361 has a relatively simple goal 238 00:08:22,507 --> 00:08:24,960 once you cut off your own afflictions you reach the end 239 00:08:25,067 --> 00:08:26,560 but the bodhisattva path is different 240 00:08:26,628 --> 00:08:28,666 you not only have to cut off your own afflictions 241 00:08:28,668 --> 00:08:31,161 you also have to help others in a world full of afflictions 242 00:08:31,347 --> 00:08:34,027 it is like you not only have to escape from a burning building 243 00:08:34,027 --> 00:08:37,401 you also have to turn back and bring others out one by one 244 00:08:37,588 --> 00:08:40,240 so the bodhisattva ground has the most to explain 245 00:08:40,468 --> 00:08:44,080 how to practice the six paramitas how to use the four means of gathering how to walk the ten grounds 246 00:08:44,108 --> 00:08:45,161 all of it is inside 247 00:08:45,491 --> 00:08:46,285 the last two grounds 248 00:08:46,651 --> 00:08:48,824 the ground with remainder and the ground without remainder 249 00:08:49,131 --> 00:08:50,164 you have already realized awakening 250 00:08:50,411 --> 00:08:51,505 your afflictions are cut off 251 00:08:51,572 --> 00:08:53,084 but is your body still there or not 252 00:08:53,491 --> 00:08:54,485 if the body is still there 253 00:08:54,692 --> 00:08:55,570 you are still alive 254 00:08:55,572 --> 00:08:58,664 still walking eating and speaking in this world 255 00:08:58,692 --> 00:08:59,944 this is called with remainder 256 00:09:00,131 --> 00:09:01,650 although the mind is already free 257 00:09:01,651 --> 00:09:03,224 it still depends on this body 258 00:09:03,531 --> 00:09:05,170 once the body is also let go 259 00:09:05,171 --> 00:09:06,810 when even this vessel is no longer needed 260 00:09:06,812 --> 00:09:07,944 it is called without remainder 261 00:09:08,411 --> 00:09:09,044 the seventeen grounds 262 00:09:09,332 --> 00:09:11,424 from the signal processing of the five senses 263 00:09:11,452 --> 00:09:13,344 to finally transcending even the body 264 00:09:13,531 --> 00:09:15,005 from the coarsest to the subtlest 265 00:09:15,371 --> 00:09:17,025 from the very bottom to the very top 266 00:09:17,092 --> 00:09:18,944 all drawn into a single map 267 00:09:19,620 --> 00:09:20,453 did you notice 268 00:09:21,020 --> 00:09:24,553 these seventeen grounds are not seventeen parallel topics 269 00:09:24,981 --> 00:09:26,953 they are one complete architecture 270 00:09:27,421 --> 00:09:28,614 the bottom layer is the hardware 271 00:09:28,981 --> 00:09:30,433 the operating modes of consciousness 272 00:09:30,821 --> 00:09:32,053 the middle is the software 273 00:09:32,461 --> 00:09:34,394 the path of learning and practice 274 00:09:34,900 --> 00:09:36,514 the top layer is the output 275 00:09:36,620 --> 00:09:39,193 three modes of liberation and the final nirvana 276 00:09:40,108 --> 00:09:43,141 remember the Hundred Dharmas Treatise we took apart before 277 00:09:43,708 --> 00:09:46,801 Vasubandhu grouped the hundred dharmas into five categories 278 00:09:47,067 --> 00:09:52,320 mind dharmas mental factors form dharmas non-associated formations and unconditioned dharmas 279 00:09:52,547 --> 00:09:55,281 that classification system like a periodic table 280 00:09:55,348 --> 00:09:58,681 was actually distilled from the Yogacarabhumi Sastra 281 00:09:58,827 --> 00:10:00,921 in the Fundamental Section of the Yogacarabhumi Sastra 282 00:10:00,947 --> 00:10:03,281 descriptions of several hundred dharmas are scattered about 283 00:10:03,468 --> 00:10:04,681 what Vasubandhu did 284 00:10:04,708 --> 00:10:07,801 was to compile these scattered parts into an index 285 00:10:07,947 --> 00:10:10,240 so the Hundred Dharmas Treatise is the table of contents 286 00:10:10,348 --> 00:10:12,281 and the Yogacarabhumi Sastra is the main text 287 00:10:13,113 --> 00:10:16,325 this is why I say it is a technical specification 288 00:10:16,792 --> 00:10:18,685 it does not tell you to let go of attachment 289 00:10:18,792 --> 00:10:20,445 that is what the Diamond Sutra does 290 00:10:20,792 --> 00:10:22,805 it does not tell you that everything is created by mind 291 00:10:22,833 --> 00:10:24,445 that is the perspective of the Avatamsaka Sutra 292 00:10:24,792 --> 00:10:25,791 what it does is 293 00:10:25,792 --> 00:10:28,825 take every stretch of the road from ordinary being to buddhahood 294 00:10:29,272 --> 00:10:32,246 every fork every place where things might go wrong 295 00:10:32,312 --> 00:10:33,426 and survey all of it 296 00:10:33,672 --> 00:10:34,766 and tag it with coordinates 297 00:10:35,390 --> 00:10:37,242 but there is a paradox here 298 00:10:37,750 --> 00:10:39,188 such a precise treatise 299 00:10:39,189 --> 00:10:42,982 why was it almost shelved for over a thousand years in Chinese Buddhist history 300 00:10:43,589 --> 00:10:46,323 Master Xuanzang brought back the Sanskrit text from India 301 00:10:46,510 --> 00:10:48,188 organized more than twenty assistants 302 00:10:48,189 --> 00:10:51,122 and spent nearly two years translating it into Chinese 303 00:10:51,390 --> 00:10:54,563 it was the largest project of his translation career 304 00:10:54,829 --> 00:10:56,082 but after it was finished 305 00:10:56,150 --> 00:11:00,082 the Faxiang school in China declined after only two or three generations 306 00:11:00,429 --> 00:11:01,862 Xuanzang passed it to Kuiji 307 00:11:02,309 --> 00:11:03,923 Kuiji to Huizhao 308 00:11:03,990 --> 00:11:05,602 Huizhao to Zhizhou 309 00:11:05,750 --> 00:11:06,543 and after Zhizhou 310 00:11:06,949 --> 00:11:08,443 hardly anyone carried it on 311 00:11:08,750 --> 00:11:10,188 twelve hundred years later 312 00:11:10,189 --> 00:11:14,629 until the late Qing when Yang Renshan brought back the lost Yogacara texts from Japan 313 00:11:14,630 --> 00:11:17,002 that this treatise was read again 314 00:11:17,448 --> 00:11:18,540 the reason is not complicated 315 00:11:19,007 --> 00:11:20,260 it is too precise 316 00:11:20,607 --> 00:11:23,140 so precise that you must read it through practice 317 00:11:23,408 --> 00:11:25,140 not through thinking 318 00:11:25,607 --> 00:11:28,341 someone who has never meditated reading the Yogacarabhumi Sastra 319 00:11:28,528 --> 00:11:32,180 is like someone who has never written code reading an operating system kernel's source 320 00:11:32,528 --> 00:11:33,886 you recognize every word 321 00:11:33,887 --> 00:11:36,381 but put together you have no idea what it means 322 00:11:36,887 --> 00:11:37,680 a lofty and steep gate 323 00:11:38,127 --> 00:11:40,140 this is how later generations judged the Faxiang school 324 00:11:40,568 --> 00:11:41,560 the threshold is too high 325 00:11:42,007 --> 00:11:43,366 not a threshold of knowledge 326 00:11:43,367 --> 00:11:44,581 but a threshold of experience 327 00:11:45,172 --> 00:11:45,845 think about it 328 00:11:46,211 --> 00:11:47,904 the Chan school says do not rely on words 329 00:11:47,932 --> 00:11:48,985 point directly to the mind 330 00:11:49,371 --> 00:11:50,264 how concise 331 00:11:50,572 --> 00:11:53,544 the Pure Land school says just recite Amitabha's name 332 00:11:53,932 --> 00:11:54,784 how direct 333 00:11:55,331 --> 00:11:56,884 but the Yogacarabhumi Sastra tells you 334 00:11:57,211 --> 00:11:57,691 come 335 00:11:57,692 --> 00:12:00,825 first we divide the workings of consciousness into seventeen levels 336 00:12:00,892 --> 00:12:03,345 then cut each level into several sub-modules 337 00:12:03,412 --> 00:12:07,705 and I will mark the input output and boundary conditions of each sub-module clearly 338 00:12:07,812 --> 00:12:09,085 first understand this map 339 00:12:09,452 --> 00:12:10,625 and then set out 340 00:12:11,091 --> 00:12:13,664 most people give up before even finishing the table of contents 341 00:12:14,048 --> 00:12:16,261 but its value lies precisely here 342 00:12:16,489 --> 00:12:17,241 the map is complex 343 00:12:17,529 --> 00:12:19,021 because the terrain is complex 344 00:12:19,328 --> 00:12:21,221 consciousness is not a simple thing 345 00:12:21,529 --> 00:12:23,341 if you try to sum it up in three sentences 346 00:12:23,529 --> 00:12:24,521 either you are being lazy 347 00:12:24,849 --> 00:12:26,261 or you are deceiving people 348 00:12:26,568 --> 00:12:27,922 the Yogacarabhumi Sastra is not lazy 349 00:12:28,168 --> 00:12:29,182 and does not deceive 350 00:12:29,409 --> 00:12:32,101 it simply lays you open exactly as you are for you to see 351 00:12:32,326 --> 00:12:34,938 this is also what our series has been doing all along 352 00:12:35,165 --> 00:12:38,379 we use modern language to translate these ancient descriptions 353 00:12:38,446 --> 00:12:39,978 not to simplify them 354 00:12:40,086 --> 00:12:41,418 simplification distorts 355 00:12:41,606 --> 00:12:43,779 but to install a compiler for you 356 00:12:43,966 --> 00:12:46,885 so you can take these descriptions from seventeen hundred years ago 357 00:12:46,885 --> 00:12:49,058 and match them to your own experience 358 00:12:49,326 --> 00:12:50,519 you do not need to know Sanskrit 359 00:12:50,765 --> 00:12:51,859 you do not need to become a monk 360 00:12:52,005 --> 00:12:54,379 you only need when you hear a concept 361 00:12:54,486 --> 00:12:56,178 to shine it on yourself 362 00:12:56,285 --> 00:12:59,139 and see whether it describes what you are experiencing 363 00:12:59,525 --> 00:13:00,119 if it does 364 00:13:00,566 --> 00:13:03,098 then seventeen hundred years is not a distance 365 00:13:03,525 --> 00:13:04,578 it is an echo 366 00:13:05,297 --> 00:13:07,151 today we drew the panoramic map 367 00:13:07,417 --> 00:13:08,257 next episode 368 00:13:08,257 --> 00:13:11,271 we will step into the most practical part of the Yogacarabhumi Sastra 369 00:13:11,537 --> 00:13:13,830 the four investigations and the fivefold consciousness-only contemplation 370 00:13:14,137 --> 00:13:16,271 that is the practice guidance Asanga left behind 371 00:13:16,378 --> 00:13:19,590 the key step where this treatise turns from a map into navigation 372 00:13:20,809 --> 00:13:23,262 if you have never heard of the Yogacarabhumi Sastra 373 00:13:23,329 --> 00:13:24,223 that is fine 374 00:13:24,489 --> 00:13:26,423 knowing one thing today is enough 375 00:13:26,770 --> 00:13:28,142 seventeen hundred years ago 376 00:13:28,329 --> 00:13:32,223 someone tried to write the complete operating manual of consciousness in pure words 377 00:13:32,650 --> 00:13:33,823 and actually finished it 378 00:13:34,170 --> 00:13:34,723 one hundred volumes 379 00:13:35,209 --> 00:13:36,382 seventeen levels 380 00:13:36,609 --> 00:13:39,662 from the instant you blink to the endpoint of nirvana 381 00:13:39,689 --> 00:13:40,782 all of it inside 382 00:13:41,290 --> 00:13:42,162 this fact itself 383 00:13:42,609 --> 00:13:43,982 whether or not you believe in Buddhism 384 00:13:44,170 --> 00:13:45,502 is worth your curiosity 385 00:13:46,227 --> 00:13:48,721 do you think a treatise from seventeen hundred years ago 386 00:13:48,747 --> 00:13:51,420 can cover all of modern people's conscious experience 387 00:13:51,948 --> 00:13:53,420 is there anything it missed 388 00:13:53,828 --> 00:13:55,680 share your thoughts in the comments 389 00:13:55,907 --> 00:13:56,580 I am Wang Lijie 390 00:13:56,867 --> 00:13:57,553 see you next episode