Having a pure mind is enlightenment. An enlightened person acts through wisdom for the benefit of others. You may not understand his motives and meaning, but his actions cannot be bad. A person who goes beyond the initial experience of seeing his self-nature and reaches thorough enlightenment will not be affected by worldly desires. When a thoroughly enlightened being sees someone of the opposite sex, that person will appear no different from a man, woman, child, dog, cat, mother or father. There are no discriminations. Such a person is not touched by the problems that plague ordinary people. A person who has seen his self-nature may experience this as well, but the experience will not be as deep or enduring. In other words, a person who initially reveals his self-nature sees for the first time the goal he will eventually reach. Having seen this goal, though it is still far away, he will have fewer problems in his actions and conduct.

The Ch'an experience of seeing one's self-nature is comparable, though not the same as, attaining the first fruit of the Hinayana path. Such Hinayana practitioners still have desires, but the desires are mild. They will not make major transgressions, such as killing others, harming others, or stealing from others. There is a saying for one who attains the first fruit of the Hinayana path: "When one plows a field, all the creatures in the ground move away from the blade." Such a person cannot kill, even accidentally. Similarly, a person who has seen his self-nature cannot create bad karma as long as the power of practice remains.

How do you reach this level of attainment? If you keep thinking about enlightenment, it will be like a trumpet blaring in your mind. It will cause great vexation. If you try to achieve anything, you will be obstructed. What matters is not your skill in meditation; neither is it those things you perceive as accomplishments. Rather, it is your attitude in the practice, and it is your concept of Buddhadharma.