Thirty-Six Eight-Diagram Arrays: The Array of Intelligence

Xuefeng

“All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, and a shadow, like dew or a flash of lightning. Thus, we shall perceive them.” - Diamond Sutra

All conditioned phenomena originate from the wise. The actions of the wise throughout their lives resemble dreams and illusions. “When humans think, the Greatest Creator laughs.” Thinking is the characteristic of the wise, and the Greatest Creator laughs upon observing the wise.

"When the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was practicing the profound Prajna Paramita, he illuminated the Five Skandhas and saw that they are all empty, and he crossed beyond all suffering and difficulty. Shariputra, form does not differ from emptiness; emptiness does not differ from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. So too are feeling, cognition, formation, and consciousness. Shariputra, all Dharmas are empty of characteristics. They are not produced, not destroyed, not defiled, not pure; and they neither increase nor diminish. Therefore, in emptiness there is no form, feeling, cognition, formation, or consciousness; no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no sights, sounds, smells, tastes, objects of touch, or Dharmas; no field of the eyes up to and including no field of mind consciousness; and no ignorance or ending of ignorance, up to and including no old age and death or ending of old age and death. There is no suffering, no accumulating, no extinction, and no Way, and no understanding and no attaining. Because nothing is attained, the Bodhisattva, through reliance on Prajna Paramita, has no obstruction in his mind. Because there is no obstruction, he is not afraid, and he leaves distorted dream-thinking far behind. Ultimately Nirvana!”- “The Heart of Prajna Paramita Sutra”

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva possesses no wisdom, no obstruction, no fear, no inverted dreams. He merely preserves emptiness and purity, acting according to his nature, handling naturally come-and-go relations with no resistance, taking advantage of opportunities that arise and does not engage in activities or stir up troubles. Wisdom is not different from foolishness, and foolishness is not different from wisdom. Wisdom is foolishness, and foolishness is wisdom. From the perspective of humans, the wise are clever individuals, but from the heavenly perspective, the wise are complete fools. Therefore, the Tao Te Ching says, “Great wisdom appears like foolishness.”

Life is a play. To make the plot of the drama exciting and fascinating, there must be wise people. Wise people are like circus clowns, interspersing laughter among the audience. Otherwise, the drama would be too dull and boring.

In the world, the wise are likened to flowers, but not fruits. Flowers are charming, beautiful, colorful, and admirable. Therefore, everyone wants to be wise. However, the desire to become wise forms one of the thirty-six Eight-diagrams Arrays, the Array of inteligence, leading people into the Eight-diagram Array of seeking wisdom, making it difficult for them to escape.

“Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.” —— Luke 12:27-31, The Holy Bible

What did Jesus Christ teach us? He taught us to constantly follow the path of the Greatest Creator, to adhere to the way of nature, to learn from the lilies of the field, not to worry about anything, not to be concerned about food, clothing, shelter, transportation, aging, sickness, and death, not to seek wisdom, but to maintain the nature of Tathagata, to maintain the simplicity of human nature. In this way, one can enter the kingdom of the Greatest Creator and enjoy the pleasures and eternity of LIFE.

The Array of intelligence aims to make people clever, different from others, possessing more wealth, fame, status, knowledge, and wisdom than others, making people look up to them, envy them, and be jealous of them. But all of this is nothing but a dream. Everything is a game, only LIFE is real. Seeking wisdom and abandoning the simple nature like a lily is reversing the priority and having distorted dreams.

Once ensnared in the array of intelligence, one inevitably becomes engrossed in the pursuit of wealth and honor and is consumed by worries of poverty and humility. One becomes incessantly occupied with learning, researching, and exercising the mind, inevitably becoming proficient in Gong, magic, and techniques. One inevitably becomes adept at strategizing and scheming, inevitably engaging in cunning and deceitful tactics with others. In the end, the result is that “cleverness often outsmarts itself,” and “all conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions.”

How does one escape the array of intelligence?

Celestial Laozi tells us, “Abandon sagacity, discard wisdom.” “Return to the origin and restore the simplicity, return to the infant.”

Follow the teachings of Jesus Christ, “Become like little children.”

Maintain the simplicity of human nature like the lilies, where great wisdom appears as foolishness, and follow the path of the Greatest Creator—the natural way.