The Buddha tells us that all our troubles and karmic hindrances arise from our own confused heart/mind. When there is no way for us to know the origin of things, we are constantly taken in by the five skandhas (building blocks that constitute the world of form) –bodily form, sensations, perceptions, impulse and consciousness. When we study Buddhism, we first develop Right Views. With Right Views we understand that our heart/mind is unborn and never dies, that it is the true form without form, that it transcends all phenomenal things. How does it transcend them? It does so by completely dropping off heart and mind, by dropping off all of the usual functions of our consciousness, all forms of dualistic thinking. This includes dropping off the notion of a self, together with the clinging to that fictitious self.

So then - what am “I”? Am I the five skandhas? The five skandhas – bodily form, sensations, perceptions, impulse and consciousness are nothing but an idol, an agglomeration of wrong perceptions. Are the five skandhas really me? Bodily form – the external phenomena that I see--- do these constitute “me”? Sensations – the feelings that I develop towards those phenomena – are these “me”? Perceptions – my thoughts---are these “me”? Impulse – my actions--- are these “me”? Consciousness – my consciousness of things and of myself--- is this “me”? Of course not, since all these are nothing but appearances of phenomena. The five skandhas therefore are not “me”, nor am I to be found in those five skandhas. The same is true for our six sense organs and the consciousness connected to them. I am not eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind. Neither am I color, sound, smell, taste, touch or thing.

When we study Buddhism, not only do we develop Right Views, but also learn to know where our heart and thoughts are at any given moment. Are they in the six senses, their objects or the consciousness about those sense-objects? Or are they in the five skandhas? Let us not to spend so much effort on these things. Rather, let us engage in practice to abolish our habit of seeing things as things. Let us engage in the practice of cutting off our attachment to the six senses, their objects, and to the consciousness that discriminates between them. Let us engage in practice to cut our clinging to the five skandas – bodily form, sensations, perceptions, impulse, and the consciousness that discriminates between them. Understand that all phenomena are like a dream or like bubbles, like dew or like a flash of lightning. Understand that everything in this world that comes into existence returns to nothing; that our existence is marked by birth, old age, illness and death, that everything is impermanent. It is only when we learn to see form as no-form that we start developing the Prajna wisdom of Emptiness, which enables us to return home to our original Self, and accomplish the way of the Buddha.

Dharma Master Hsin Tao
(Translated by Maria Reis Habito)

學習離相的智慧

我們沒有學佛以前，不清楚生命的本質，常常被自己的欲望、習氣帶著走，迷失在自己所造的業力當中，在輪迴裡面隨境而轉、隨波逐流，隨著一切現象的變化，流浪生死。學佛就是在幫助我們認識生命的本質，找回我們本來就有、與佛相等的那顆光明剔透的心，也就是光明的覺性，讓我們能去認識、明白，並且能任持它，把煩惱、垢染轉化成清淨的智慧，把心找回來，安住自心，自覺覺他。

佛法告訴我們，一切的煩惱業障，都是源於我們自身不明心性，沒有辦法認識本來，常被外在的色、受、想、行、識五蘊所蒙蔽。所以，我們學佛首先要具足正確的知見，明白我們的心是不生不滅、實相無相，是離開外在一切現象的。怎麼離呢？也就是離心意識，離開心、意的作用，離開識的分別，離開我相的觀念跟我執。

那麼，「我?是什麼呢？「我?叫做五蘊？五蘊——色、受、想、行、識，其實是一個抽象、錯覺的組合。五蘊是真正的我嗎？色，我們所看見的一切外在現 象，這是我嗎？受，我們接觸後所產生的種種感受是我嗎？想，我們的想法是我嗎？行，行是我嗎？識，我們的意識是我嗎？當然都不是，因為這些都只是現象的顯現。所以五蘊不是我們，我們也不在五蘊裡面。我們這個身體，眼、耳、鼻、舌、身、意這六根跟六識，與色、聲、香、味、觸、法這六塵都不是我。

所以我們在學佛時，除了要具足正知見外，更要常常覺知到我們的心念在哪裡！是在六根、六塵、六識裡面呢？還是在五蘊上呢？都不是。所以，我們不要在 這上面用功，要擺脫身見，擺脫對身體六根、六塵的執著、擺脫六識的分別，離開色、受、想、行、識五蘊的分別、執著，明白世間一切有為法，如夢幻泡影，如露 亦如電，所有世間一切都是會成住壞空、生住異滅、生老病死的，都是幻滅無常。要見相非相，才能慢慢具足般若空性的智慧，找回原本的自己，成就佛道。

─── 心道法師