Preface
The
"Heart Sutra" is well known for its essential teaching on Wisdom. Following
the style of this famous Sutra, which was translated into Chinese by the Reverend
Xuan-Zang, I have written in Chinese a Sastra to present an essential teaching
on Compassion. My purpose in doing so is to help others understand the unification
of Wisdom and Compassion based on the Limitless-Oneness of all things.
In this
booklet I present the readers with the following three articles:
First, my
English translation of the Reverend Xuan-Zang's Chinese version of the "Heart
Sutra." This is a revised version of the one contained in my "Pure Land
Daily Practice;" the minor revisions simply serve to elucidate the meaning.
My original translation was done in August 1989, and the revisions were made on
March 30, 1992.
Second, my English version of the Sastra on Limitless-Oneness
Compassion, which appeared as the appendix to my book, "A Blessed Pilgrimage."
It was originally composed on December 6, 1990, and the minor revisions presented
here were made on April 5, 1992.
Third, a refined transcript of a talk on "The
Unification of Wisdom and Compassion" given by me to members of the Miami
Buddhist Lotus Society on July 29, 1991.
Readers who are not familiar with
Buddhist terminology are advised to first read the talk before reading the Sutra
and the Sastra.
My sincere thanks to Manli Peng, Ann Klein and Chun Jane Chen
for their help with this work.
Yutang Lin
July 18, 1992
El Cerrito, CA
U.S.A.
The
Heart of Sublimation through Transcendent Wisdom Sutra
(The Heart Sutra)
Translated
into English by
Dr. Yutang Lin
From the Chinese translation by the Reverend
Xuan-Zang
Whenever Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara practices deeply sublimation
through Transcendent Wisdom, He intuitively perceives that the five aggregates
are of Blank Essence, thus transcending all suffering and difficulties. "Shariputra,
phenomena are inseparable from Blank Essence, and Blank Essence is inseparable
from phenomena; phenomena are identical to Blank Essence, and Blank Essence is
identical to phenomena. Feeling, conceptualization, motivation and consciousness
are also inseparable from and identical to Blank Essence."
"Shariputra,
the characteristics of Blank Essence of all these things are: neither born nor
deceased, neither dirty nor clean, neither increasing nor decreasing. Therefore
in Blank Essence there are no phenomena, no feeling, conceptualization, motivation,
consciousness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; no color, sound, odor, flavor,
touch, impression; no eye-species up to and including no perceptual-consciousness-species;
no Ignorance and no elimination of Ignorance, up to and including no senility
and death and no elimination of senility and death; no suffering, its causes,
its transcendence, the path toward its transcendence; no Wisdom and no attainment.
Since there is no attainment, by sublimation through Transcendent Wisdom, a Bodhisattva's
mind has no attachment. Since there is no attachment, there is no fear. There
is freedom from pervasive delusions, and Nirvana is realized."
"Buddhas
of the past, present and future attain the Unsurpassable Right and Full Enlightenment
by sublimation through Transcendent Wisdom. Therefore sublimation through Transcendent
Wisdom is known to be the great wondrous mantra, the great open mantra, the unsurpassable
mantra, the no-equal-rank mantra, capable of eliminating all suffering, truthful
and without deceit. Hence, the mantra of sublimation through Transcendent Wisdom
is to be proclaimed." So He utters the mantra:
Gate, gate paragate parasamgate
bodhi svaha
The Heart of Sublimation through Limitless-Oneness Compassion
Sastra
By Dr. Yutang Lin
Wherever Bodhisattva Manjusri practices sublimation
through Limitless-Oneness Compassion effortlessly, He intuitively understands
that the five aggregates are of one essence, thus enduring all suffering and difficulties.
"Sudhana! Phenomena are inseparable from essence, and essence is inseparable
from phenomena; phenomena are identical to essence, and essence is identical to
phenomena. Feeling, conceptualization, motivation and consciousness are also inseparable
from and identical to essence."
"Sudhana! The Limitless-Oneness of
all these things transcends existence and non-existence, attraction and repulsion,
plurality and singularity. Therefore the Limitless-Oneness contains phenomena,
contains feeling, conceptualization, motivation, consciousness; contains eye,
ear, nose, tongue, body, mind; contains color, sound, odor, flavor, touch, impression;
contains eye-species up to and including perceptual-consciousness-species; contains
Ignorance and elimination of Ignorance, up to and including senility and death
and elimination of senility and death; contains suffering, its causes, its transcendence,
the path toward its transcendence; and transcends Loving-kindness and loss. Since
there is transcendence of loss, by sublimation through Limitless-Oneness Compassion,
a Bodhisattva's mind is free from attachment. Since there is no attachment, there
is no criticism. There is freedom from prejudiced discriminations, and Nirvana
is realized."
"Buddhas of the past, present and future attain the
Unsurpassable Right and Full Enlightenment by sublimation through Limitless-Oneness
Compassion. Therefore sublimation through Limitless-Oneness Compassion is known
to be the great mind mantra, the great loving-kindness mantra, the indiscrimination
mantra, the all-encompassing mantra, capable of enduring all suffering, absolute
and joyous. Hence, the mantra of sublimation through Limitless-Oneness Compassion
is to be proclaimed." So He utters the mantra:
Tolerance, tolerance, tolerance
for all, tolerance with joy, bodhi svaha!
The Unification of Wisdom and
Compassion
By Dr. Yutang Lin
July 29, 1991
Miami, Florida, U.S.A.
This
evening I would like to talk about "The Unification of Wisdom and Compassion."
When Buddha realized Buddhahood he attained the original state of the oneness
of everything without limit. That state is beyond any description; however, in
order to help sentient beings who were not aware of this reality, he used language
that they could understand in order to guide them toward that experience. In so
doing there is a limitation, because languages are built upon concepts, and concepts
automatically set limits. The concepts are limited by nature, so how are we going
to accomplish the task of using limited tools to describe a limitless state? Because
of that, in describing Buddhahood, quite often in the Sutras you will find that
they will have to say, "Buddha is complete in two ways."
Because
of the limits of language we can speak only about certain aspects at one time.
The rational aspect of Buddhahood is called Wisdom, and the emotional aspect or
the aspect of the will is called Compassion. So we always say, "Buddha is
complete in Wisdom and Compassion." However, we should realize that in Buddha
himself there is no such distinction between Wisdom and Compassion. Whatever he
does, whatever he says, whatever he thinks, is the totality and the unification
of Wisdom and Compassion. But for us to understand it, we must describe it from
different angles; therefore we say it has two sides.
So in our practice it
is important to know that although our goal seems to be Wisdom and Compassion,
ultimately they should be unified to the extent that the practitioner makes no
distinction between Wisdom and Compassion. Also, precisely because of this, for
our theory to be correct as to what Buddhahood is and how to achieve the unification
of Compassion and Wisdom, it should be such that you can start from the practice
of Wisdom and finally reach Compassion, and also from the practice of Compassion
you should be able to reach Wisdom.
Wisdom and Compassion are abstract ideals.
What are the principles that we can use in order to practice Wisdom and Compassion?
In order to explain this, I will give an explanation of two articles. Both are
included in the beginning of this book. One is the famous "Heart Sutra,"
which I have translated and published in a booklet entitled "Pure Land Daily
Practice." The "Heart Sutra" emphasizes the Wisdom aspect of Buddhism;
it contains the essence of Buddhist Wisdom but what about the essence of Buddhist
Compassion? Parallel to the "Heart Sutra," I have written an article
entitled "The Heart of Sublimation through Limitless-Oneness Compassion Sastra,"
because it has been written by me, not something given by Buddha, it cannot be
called a Sutra; it is called a Sastra. In Buddhism, Buddhists are allowed to offer
their theses as long as they are consistent with the Sutras, and those are called
Sastras.
For English readers, in addition to the "Heart Sutra" in
the "Pure Land Daily Practice," I have provided the English version
of my Sastra as the appendix to my book entitled "A Blessed Pilgrimage."
All of these books are available as Dharma gifts.
So let us start with the
famous "Heart Sutra." Since we have only a very short time, I am not
going to give a detailed explanation, but I will try to emphasize the essentials
of this Sutra. Then I will compare it with my Sastra to help you learn how to
practice them in a unified way. I have given a succinct explanation on the concept
of Blank Essence in the preface to the "Pure Land Daily Practice." Now
I will go directly to my explanation of the "Heart Sutra" and explain
the concept of Blank Essence along the way in details.
Usually the title of
the "Heart Sutra" is translated as the "Heart of Wisdom Paramita
Sutra." Paramita means reaching the other shore, meaning that from this shore
of suffering we reach the other shore which is the state of liberation and peace
of Buddhahood. It is sometimes translated into English as perfection. You may
wonder why I use sublimation instead of perfection. The reason is because when
you say something is perfect, you mean it is complete. Although it may be complete,
it is still at the original level. But in Buddhism, the Wisdom is to transform
you in such a way that you transcend your ordinary level of being human. It is
sublimation, a refinement, so I translated it as sublimation to emphasize this
aspect. It is not the same level as becoming a complete man. You reach a higher
level and you become a Buddha.
I translated it from the Chinese version, which
was done by a great monk, the Reverend Xuan-Zang of Tang Dynasty. It begins with,
"Whenever Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara..." this Bodhisattva represents
the Compassion of all Buddhas. Here, there is a hidden teaching which is extraordinary.
In Buddhism, it is said that the essence of all Buddhas' Wisdom is embodied in
the Bodhisattva Manjusri. But here, the Sutra is about the essence of Wisdom,
and yet the teaching is not coming from Manjusri; instead, it is from Avalokitesvara
who is the essence of Compassion. You may ask why. It is because the Sutra implies
that Wisdom and Compassion are fundamentally inseparable and that profound Wisdom
is contained in great Compassion. This is a very subtle point.
So, when He
"practices deeply Sublimation through Transcendent Wisdom, He intuitively
perceives that the five aggregates are of Blank Essence, thus transcending all
suffering and difficulties." What is meant by Sublimation through Transcendent
Wisdom? Namely, Avalokitesvara goes into meditation to reach the oneness of all.
That is the sublimation. Ordinarily we are confined by concepts. We think, "body
is body, mind is mind, I am I, and you are you; they all have boundaries."
Nevertheless, when Avalokitesvara goes into meditation to go beyond all these
boundaries, all become one. When He is able to reach that experience, He will
transcend all suffering and difficulties. You may ask why, because all our experiences
are transient. For example, when we are in pain, at first we are very aware of
it, but with time it seems to disappear. But when you add the psychological complaining
"Oh! I'm in such terrible pain." That is what really causes the trouble.
Because Avalokiteshvara's mind is so large--as large as the whole universe--the
severe pain, by comparison with the whole universe, becomes insignificant. He
would not allow all these thoughts to bother him: "Oh! This is painful! I'm
unlucky! Why is God so unfair to me!" All these kinds of complaints will
increase the pain. Just take it as it is, and let it be part of the universe.
That is the best way to take it; since it is transient, it will just disappear
by itself. That is the way to truly free yourself from all suffering.
What
I have just talked about is not just theoretical. It can be realized through practice,
however it is not magic. You need to train yourself in order to reach that state
of mind. It becomes a problem only when we blow it out of proportion. Release
those thoughts, and life will not be so difficult. Many of our problems in life
are created by our conceptions. The "Heart Sutra" continues with "He
intuitively perceives..." which means it is not the result of rational thinking.
Whenever you are still using ideas to explain or understand phenomena, you will
not be able to have the freedom of becoming one with the whole universe. Therefore
you have to go beyond. You have to go beyond through your meditation so that your
thinking can stop. In meditation the first step is the concentration practice.
We want to be able to concentrate on one point, for example, a dot. When you are
able to concentrate on that dot, the ideal state is such that your thoughts have
stopped. No other thoughts will distract you from that mindfulness.
In the
"Heart Sutra" it says: "He intuitively perceives that the five
aggregates are of Blank Essence..." What are the five aggregates? In Buddhism,
we classify our experiences into the following five categories: phenomena, feeling,
conceptualization, motivation and consciousness. All the things that we experience
are of Blank Essence. What is meant by Blank Essence, the Chinese character is
Kong Xing; Kong literally translated into English means empty, but in Buddhism,
when we talk about emptiness it does not mean nothingness. The word itself, unless
you understand it well, usually means nothingness. So it may be misleading if
I use emptiness. Nevertheless, there is a proper way to explain it, but it is
very philosophical--the philosophical meaning is empty of inherent existence.
To understand why they use this kind of terminology would require a long explanation
of how they arrived at this concept. Let us not get into a philosophical analysis
in this talk; we want to be able to understand it as ordinary people, not as philosophers.
This
concept in Buddhism is usually called emptiness; but I have translated it as Blank
Essence means essence, but what kind of essence is this? It is the essence of
all; all things share this common essence. But what is the property of this common
essence? The property is that of being blank. I use the term blank to help you
understand it. You may ask why. Since it is common to all, it cannot have any
particular property of its own. For example, if it is white, and then combined
with red, it will become pink. Therefore, this essence cannot have any property
of its own in order for it to be so universal.
So, in order to introduce this
concept, I use the word blank because it is easy to understand. We have a blank
board here, but it is not nothing, it is just blank. You can draw whatever you
like on it. Another way to understand this concept is to look at it as you would
a blank TV screen. Before you turn on your TV, the screen is blank, but once you
turn it on, all kinds of things appear and come and go, just like our experiences.
This example should make it a little easier to understand the concept of this
essence, without mistakenly thinking of it as nothingness. No, it is not nothingness.
It is common to all and yet has no particular property of its own; it is everywhere,
and yet nowhere to be found. Since it has no particular property, you cannot pinpoint
it and you cannot picture it. But why do we need to use such a concept that has
no reference to anything? Isn't it just a thought? Yes, it is just a concept.
The whole teaching is just a system of concepts trying to bring you from your
ordinary experiences to the experience of oneness with everything without limits.
But
then what is the function of this concept? It is as follows: All of our concepts
are limiting; they set boundaries. Now we introduce this concept of Blank Essence,
which is at the same level as other concepts because they are all only concepts.
But this concept tells you, "Let us erase all the boundaries." Since
the characteristic of this concept is that it is common to all, let us forget
about the boundaries and recognize that all are basically the same. At first,
you begin to learn to free your mind from conceptual limits. In one of the Sutras
it says, "the emptiness is also empty" which means after you achieve
unification of everything and erase all the boundaries, then you should be free
from even this concept. Since this is simply an artificial tool to induce you
to a certain natural state, after you become free from all the other concepts,
you also need to become free from the tool itself. As long as you have a concept,
there is bound to be a distinction between subject and object, and you cannot
reach the oneness of all. So, after you free yourself from conceptual limits through
Buddhist practice, you should also become free from Buddhist concepts. That is
how free Buddhism is, and that is the real essence of Buddha's teachings. It gives
you all the teachings, but in the end there is nothing to hold you down. So I
hope that by translating (Kong Xing) into Blank Essence and providing such an
explanation you will understand how useful it is. It should now be easier for
you to understand the rest of this Sutra.
The Sutra continues with "Shariputra..."
Shariputra is one of the ten foremost disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha, and he is
famous for his wisdom. It is said that among all Buddha's disciples, Shariputra's
wisdom is the most profound; therefore he is capable of receiving this teaching
on the essence of Wisdom. Not everyone is capable of understanding such subtle
teaching, so when it comes to teaching the essence, it is given only to the student
who is ready for it. That is why Avalokitesvara gives this teaching to Shariputra.
He called his name to get his attention and said, "Shariputra, phenomena
are inseparable from Blank Essence, and Blank Essence is inseparable from phenomena."
That is exactly what we have just said. It is everywhere, but it is nowhere to
be found. There is no such independent thing as a Blank Essence; therefore it
is inseparable from phenomena. Furthermore, he said, "Phenomena are identical
to Blank Essence, and Blank Essence is identical to phenomena." There is
a very subtle point here. Earlier we had said phenomena are inseparable from Blank
Essence and vice versa, and now we say one is identical to the other and vice
versa. It sounds redundant. Is Avalokitesvara just repeating Himself to emphasize
His point? I don't think so.
Years ago the Buddhists developed their logic.
It was not as detailed and as well developed as the modern mathematical logic,
however they had excellent philosophical studies and works. They were careful
and had logic in mind when they composed the Sutra. First they said, "A is
not different from B"--the word inseparable in the sense of not different.
(Literally I could have used not different to translate (Bu Yi), nevertheless,
inseparable conveys more the appropriate sense in the context.) Then why do they
have to say that they are identical? If I have two copies of the same book, one
copy is no different from the other, but they are not identical. We know that
they are two copies, but we cannot distinguish one from the other. When you say
that they are not different, you still need to say that they are identical to
make sure that it is not two copies of the same book, but there is only one copy
there. Well, if that is the case, why not simply say they are identical and eliminate
the first part, i.e., one is not different from the other. But then you have to
examine it more closely to recognize the finer subtleties.
The Sutra says that
Blank Essence and phenomena are identical. But what are they? They are two concepts.
When we say phenomena we talk about all our experiences, but this phenomena is
just an abstract concept used to talk about all particular experiences. It is
a concept, and Blank Essence is another concept. They are two concepts and they
are defined differently. But now we say the two concepts are identical. What does
this mean? The only way that you can say that two concepts, although defined differently,
are identical is to say that they are referring to the same thing. Phenomena refer
to all of our experiences, and Blank Essence also refers to all of our experiences.
The classes of particular ones that they refer to are identical. That is the only
way for us to understand that these two different concepts are identical. However,
that is not what is meant, because there is no need to say that the universe is
identical to the universe. Since the Sutra wants to bring out the even subtler
part, it needs to say that they are not different they are inseparable. This is
very strange and logically a contradiction. They are two concepts, defined differently,
yet the Sutra says that they are inseparable, not different. How could that be?
Here lies the key point. The essence of Buddhism can be explained only through
the use of contradiction because if everything is understood through definitions,
then the distinction of subject and object will always be there, leaving us with
no way out. The only way out of this dilemma is to recognize the basic fact that
language is just a tool. Blank Essence is a concept, which is just an artificial
device. When we say that they are inseparable, that they are not different, we
are emphasizing that they are simply our mental constructions and we should not
be fooled into thinking that concepts have an independent existence. So Blank
Essence helps us to be free from concepts. Eventually we also have to go on without
this device.
I added the following remarks on July 12, 1994:
The "Heart
Sutra" states first, "Phenomena are inseparable from Blank Essence,
and Blank Essence is inseparable from phenomena;" and then, "Phenomena
are identical to Blank Essence, and Blank Essence is identical to phenomena."
The order of this presentation, in the light of my explanation given above, makes
sure that the subtle identification of phenomena and Blank Essence is conveyed,
without bringing forth the underlying logical paradox.
In contrast, consider
the case when the order of presentation of these two pairs of sentences were reversed.
Then the logical difficulty becomes protrusive and bewilders novices.
Reflecting
as above, I cannot but admire the beauty of the underlying structure in this part
of the Sutra.
I added the following remarks on March 31, 1992:
There are
two additional subtleties in the composition of the "Heart Sutra" that
I would like to point out. Instead of simply stating that phenomena are inseparable
from Blank Essence, it says, "Phenomena are inseparable from Blank Essence,
and Blank Essence is inseparable from Phenomena..." Similarly presented are
the statements on the identification of phenomena and Blank Essence.
My explanation
is that in both cases the underlying logic is to avoid the misunderstanding of
a partial inclusion relationship between the two classes referred to by these
two concepts, and to ensure the correct understanding of a complete identification
of the two classes. Consider the following examples: "Human beings are inseparable
from mammals," and "Human beings are mammals," are both true, but
the reverse statements are not true.
Following this, the Sutra talks about
feelings, conceptualization, motivation, and consciousness. These are the traditional
Buddhist classifications of our experiences. In all these classifications, each
class has the same relationship with Blank Essence as explained above in the case
of phenomena. The function of the concept of Blank Essence is to erase the limits
set by all of them.
The Sutra continues: "Shariputra, the characteristics
of Blank Essence of all these things are: neither born nor deceased..." Originally
we have the polarized pair of concepts of born and deceased, but this Blank Essence
is not a polarized concept. If it is polarized, then it is still within the subject,
object distinction. "Neither born nor deceased" is about existence;
"neither dirty nor clean" is about quality; and "neither increasing
nor decreasing" is about quantity. The concept of Blank Essence transcends
all such distinctions. It is not limited by existence or non-existence, quality
or quantity.
The Sutra continues with: "Therefore in Blank Essence there
are no phenomena, no feeling..." The Sutra seems to be denying the existence
of all things, but it is not denying the occurrences of our experiences. It is
just telling us to be free from all these categorizations. It does not mean that
we would become incapable of differentiating our experiences; rather it teaches
that only after we have learned to become free from conceptualization, can we
experience things as they are. Basically it is saying that the function of Blank
Essence is to remove all boundaries set by the concepts of phenomena, feeling,
conceptualization, motivation and consciousness. We don't even pay attention to
the distinction of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind. The Sutra continues
with "No color, sound, odor, flavor, touch and impression; no eye-species
up to and including no perceptual-consciousness-species." Up to this point
the Sutra is talking about various Buddhist categorizations of our experiences.
Now we are told to forget about all these classifications.
Then we are also
told to forget about the basic classifications that constitute the Buddhist teachings.
Here the Sutra begins to talk about the Twelve Dependent-Origination Links. It
states, "No Ignorance and no elimination of Ignorance, up to and including
no senility and death and no elimination of senility and death;..." These
are the basic teachings within Buddhism; however, the Sutra says that Blank Essence
goes even beyond the teachings. The teaching tells us: If the Twelve Dependent-Origination
Links go one way, then it is Samsara; if it goes another way, then it is Nirvana.
Now we should forget about all of that; everything should be erased. Furthermore,
the Sutra even says that it is not limited by the Four Noble Truths, "No
suffering, its causes, its transcendence, the path toward its transcendence..."
And finally it even says that there is no fruit, "No Wisdom and no attainment."
Previously we wanted to achieve the Wisdom of Buddha and attain Buddhahood. But
now it says "No Wisdom and no attainment." Since these are still concepts,
now in view of Blank Essence, let us erase them, let us return to the original
blank.
The Sutra continues with: "Since there is no attainment, by sublimation
through Transcendent Wisdom, a Bodhisattva's mind has no attachment." This
is most important. If we are obsessed with the question of whether or not we have
achieved Buddhahood, then we can never be truly free, even though Buddhahood means
complete liberation. For example, you cannot really enjoy your marriage if you
always have an ideal wife or ideal husband in your mind. Then you will always
criticize the one you married by making the comparison with the ideal one who
has never existed and will never exist. If you really understand the teaching
of Buddhism, you will realize that the teachings are not only for attaining Buddhahood,
but are also applicable to our daily lives. According to the teaching, from the
Wisdom aspect, the distinctions are to be forgotten. Then what happens? It follows
that we need to learn no attachment. This is the key to practicing Wisdom. In
my previous talks on "Introduction to Buddhist Meditation" (available
now as a book titled "A Golden Ring") I said, in order to achieve this
Limitless-Oneness, the principle of the inactive aspect, both for our practice
and for our daily lives, is no attachment, i.e., to give up our prejudices and
our attachments.
The Sutra continues with: "Since there is no attachment,
there is no fear." Actually, in the Chinese translation of the Reverend Xuan-Zang,
if I translated it literally, it would read, "...a Bodhisattva's mind has
no hindrance. Since there is no hindrance, there is no fear." But according
to his version we don't know what the hindrance is. Therefore I point out that
the hindrance of a Bodhisattva is nothing external but rather his own attachment.
When you are free from your attachments, then there is no fear. When you have
some attachments, then you start worrying about what is good or bad, or better
or worse. If it is good, can I keep it from deteriorating? There will be no end
to your worries. Only when you are free from attachments, can you have no fear--you
simply accept things as they are. When your mind is as large as the entire universe,
there is nothing that you cannot accept. Whatever happens will not bother a mind
so great.
Hence, the Sutra continues: "There is freedom from pervasive
delusions..." which means we are free from all attachments and the limited
views that we previously had "... and Nirvana is realized." "Buddhas
of the past, present and future attain the Unsurpassable Right and Full Enlightenment
by the sublimation through Transcendent Wisdom." That means all Buddhas of
past, present and future attain complete freedom through the realization of this
state of Limitless-Oneness.
"Therefore sublimation through Transcendent
Wisdom is known to be the great wondrous mantra..." Since it has such a magical
effect, it is comparable to a mantra. Once you realize the Limitless-Oneness,
you can achieve great results. Therefore, it is called "the great wondrous
mantra." "The great open mantra," and in Chinese, it literally
means the great brightness mantra. But I use open to emphasize that brightness
is attained through the active principle of opening up that is why I translated
it as the great open mantra. The Sutra concludes with: "...the unsurpassable
mantra, the no-equal-rank mantra, capable of eliminating all suffering, truthful
and without deceit. Hence, the mantra of sublimation through Transcendent Wisdom
is to be proclaimed." So He utters the mantra: "gate, gate paragate
parasamgate bodhi svaha." Why does the Sutra give us a mantra at the end?
Although the teaching is simple, it is contrary to the actual practice of our
daily lives. Life in our society is based upon concepts, customs and culture.
What can we do to unlearn them? We need a practice, and the practice implicitly
recommended here is the chanting of this mantra.
An essential way to reach
Wisdom through practice is to chant a mantra or the name of a Buddha, for example,
Amitabha Buddha; it does not matter which one you choose. After you have chosen
one, just stay with it and you will grow and gradually have the strength to free
yourself from many layers of conceptual bondage. Do not be concerned that it will
bring disorder into your life. On the contrary, the fewer mental limitations you
have, the more you will become one with and compassionate to others. Do not worry
that the result will be anarchy. No! The result will be a natural feeling of love
and fellowship for all beings. Then you will only do good deeds.
Usually we
do not need to know the meaning of a mantra. Nevertheless, the meaning of this
mantra is Reach, reach, reach the other shore, reach beyond the other shore, and
reach Enlightenment soon! It is a blessing from the Great Compassion of Avalokitesvara
to whomever receives this teaching. He is giving you a blessing, wishing that
you will soon achieve this liberation.
I have given you a brief explanation
of the "Heart Sutra." It is a teaching from the Wisdom aspect, but we
also want to learn about the other aspect, which is the Great Compassion. When
you realize the Oneness of all things without limits, then stemming from that
Oneness, the Great Compassion comes naturally and it knows no boundaries. With
this Great Compassion there is no distinction made between species, friends, relatives,
etc.; it is a natural outflow of loving-kindness from your heart.
Let us examine
my work "The Heart of Sublimation through Limitless-Oneness Compassion Sastra."
I gave it this title because this Compassion is the result of Limitless-Oneness.
The best way to learn how to achieve the Great Compassion is to look at the result
of Buddhahood, which is the Limitless-Oneness. It is obvious that the emotional
aspect of the Limitless-Oneness is limitless Compassion.
The "Heart Sutra"
begins with: "Whenever Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara..." parallel to that,
this Sastra begins with: "Wherever Bodhisattva Manjusri..." Although
using whenever and wherever are essentially the same, however, the "Heart
Sutra" is talking about the time aspect, so in contrast I am bringing out
the other coordinate, which is the space aspect. The Sastra reads, "Wherever
Bodhisattva Manjusri practices Sublimation through Limitless-Oneness Compassion
effortlessly..." In the "Heart Sutra" the teaching on Wisdom is
given by the Bodhisattva of Compassion; hence, in my Sastra the teaching on Compassion
is given by the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. When Avalokitesvara was giving the teaching
on Wisdom, He went into the Meditation of Transcendent Wisdom, which is the static
state. Now I am bringing out the dynamic aspect, because out of Compassion you
have to act. When you see someone suffering, you must help. So Compassion brings
out the dynamic state, the salvation activities of Buddha. So, I am saying that
when Manjusri practices, His practices are the salvation activities. Why does
He practice effortlessly? It does not mean that He does not work; it just means
that it is a natural result of such Compassion. In His Compassion everything He
does is natural, just as what a mother is giving to her children. His activities
are without selfish motives, never being compelled by anyone. He acts naturally,
effortlessly and spontaneously out of Great Compassion. Besides, the Great Compassion
is not just a transient feeling; it has matured into devoted activities. Therefore
He practices compassionate activities.
The Sastra continues with: "He
intuitively understands that the five aggregates are of one essence..." because
this insight is not merely a conceptual understanding. Anyone who practices Compassionate
activities will gradually see many kinds of people and learn that all of them
are capable of both happiness and sorrow. All want happiness and all worry about
unpleasant things happening to them; all have attachments. You see the sameness
in them and yourself. Through service you will learn the Oneness of all. The reason
that we are prejudiced is because we are limited to certain environments and certain
views. If we never encounter varieties of situations, then we will not broaden
our minds. We are limited by what we are accustomed to.
Once you begin to serve
other people in the Buddhist way, when the time is right, you will tell them about
the benefits of chanting Amitabha without expecting any rewards. You simply keep
doing this. Gradually, you will learn that we are all the same, and we can all
benefit from doing Buddhist practices. That is how Manjusri became able to intuitively
understand and realize that we are all the same "...thus enduring all suffering
and difficulties." In the Wisdom aspect, His mind becomes so broad that He
transcends suffering; and through the practice of Buddhist service His Compassion
grows. The more He serves, the more He is able to endure all the difficulties
and suffering that others cannot endure. Others may complain when someone hurts
or offends them, but because Manjusri has helped many people and has been through
many situations, He understands that someone did something out of ignorance, or
suffers because of limited views, or does not know how to be nice to others, or
does not understand others' intentions. He understands why others act in such
ways. Gradually He will understand that, as long as He keeps His intentions pure
and does pure service, eventually all misunderstandings will be resolved. Then
He can endure everything through practicing Compassion.
Now, Manjusri begins
to give the teachings, and the disciple he chose is called "Sudhana."
Sudhana is the main disciple of Manjusri in the "Avatamsaka Sutra."
In this Sutra, Sudhana, under the guidance of Manjusri, went through fifty-three
teachers and many kinds of training; he learned many things. I have chosen Sudhana
to be the disciple who is capable of receiving this teaching on the essence of
Compassion because he has gone through a lot and has seen many different situations.
What I am trying to say is that when you start to serve others, you have many
new experiences. In your services you need to maintain the humble attitude of
a disciple so that you will respect everyone as if they were your teachers. If
you learn from all beings just as Sudhana had done in the Sutra, then you will
gain the essence of Compassion.
So he says, "Sudhana! Phenomena are inseparable
from essence, and essence is inseparable from phenomena." This part, in English,
I have to state like this because there is no other proper way to do it. In Chinese,
what I am saying is, phenomena are inseparable from this Oneness. Everything is
within this Oneness, the concept of Oneness. Then, again, it is similar to the
"Heart Sutra" that phenomena are identical to essence and so forth.
As to feeling, conceptualization, motivation and consciousness, they are all the
same as in the "Heart Sutra." Then, "Sudhana the Limitless-Oneness
of all these things transcends existence and non-existence, attraction and repulsion,
plurality and singularity. Therefore the Limitless-Oneness contains phenomena..."
Now comes the beautiful part.
In the Wisdom aspect, they say, let us forget
about the boundaries. Erase them, there is no this, no that; everything is erased.
But that is contradictory to our daily lives. In our daily lives, everything is
there. But now from this Compassion aspect, it says, all is one. So, it does not
matter that there are many things. If I exclude anyone from this Compassion, then
this is not the Limitless-Oneness Compassion. This Compassion does not care that
there are differences, or varieties, or this or that; all are embraced. This makes
it easier for us to handle our lives. How do we achieve greatness? All are embraced;
accept all!
Of course, there is contradiction in this approach, but let us
stay at the abstract ideal level for now. At the abstract level it sounds simple
all are embraced. Of course, it is very difficult to do. Nevertheless, if your
mind is really as large as the universe, then what is there that you cannot accept,
that you cannot embrace? Life-death is just a part of the universe. Our life-death
is a very tiny thing in the whole universe, in the history of the universe. So,
it is insignificant in that sense; we can even accept our own life-death with
ease. Since this Sastra is parallel to the "Heart Sutra," here it reads,
"contains phenomena, contains feeling..." i.e., everything.
Finally,
in the "Heart Sutra," it says, "No Wisdom and..." Parallel
to that, I said this Limitless-Oneness "transcends Loving-kindness..."
In the "Heart Sutra" it mentions Wisdom, so in this Sastra I mention
Compassion, and Compassion here is paraphrased as Loving-kindness. The point here
is that the Limitless-Oneness not only contains Loving-kindness but transcends
it. You may ask why. When your mind is so open, you are not limited by anything.
If you think that you are doing this out of Compassion, then you are still limited
by the concept of Compassion. The Great Compassion transcends even that. This
means in practice you become so pure in doing good deeds that you do not know
that you are good. It is just natural to you. A child sometimes just naturally
offers something to you. He does not think that he is doing a good deed. No! He
just likes you, so he offers you something. It is natural, pure goodness without
the reflective awareness of being good.
Furthermore, it "transcends loss."
In the "Heart Sutra," it says, "no attainment"; here in my
Sastra it says, "no loss." You may ask why. Everything is contained
here. When money goes to others' pockets, if I am identifying with the universe,
then there is no loss. So, when your car is stolen, well, there is no loss in
that sense. It transcends the ordinary outlook on life. When your mind is open,
this is possible. For example, if you are very, very rich, losing a car does not
matter. Just think like that and gradually it will be possible to achieve such
broadness of mind. "Since there is transcendence of loss, by Sublimation
through Limitless-Oneness Compassion, a Bodhisattva's mind is free from attachment."
In the Wisdom aspect, we say there is no attainment. Since there is no attainment,
you have nothing to worry about; therefore you are free from attachment. Now,
we are talking about the Compassion aspect. In the Wisdom aspect it talked about
attainment; hence, in the Compassion aspect, for contrast, I talk about loss.
If there is no loss, then again, you have nothing to worry about.
I am showing
the essence of Wisdom and Compassion by parallel comparisons. Using language always
involves a polarization--you are limited to only one side at a time. He is practicing
Wisdom in that way, and I am practicing Compassion in this way. However, the point
is not to antagonize, but rather to unite. Buddhism is actually free from any
polarization. We should know both sides, know how to unify them, and thus be free
from one-sided limitations.
"Since there is no attachment, there is no
criticism." When you have a panoramic view, you can see that each person
is acting from a one-sided view. They are attached to their view and acting in
their particular way, therefore they have conflicts. People fight because of their
ignorance and attachment. But once you have awakened to this Oneness, then you
are beyond conflicts. When you are criticizing others, you are judging from a
certain point of view; from that point of view, people are right or wrong. Whenever
you are involved in criticism, you are standing on some ground. But this Oneness
transcends all grounds, consequently all criticism just disappears. You do not
have to waste your life fighting or criticizing others, you will live in harmony
with all. You will see the reason for everyone's actions; all actions are based
on certain views or attachments, and are limited by such views or attachments.
If
all of us are free from narrow-mindedness, then we will not fight and we will
naturally do only good deeds for others. The basic difficulty in obtaining peace
is ideological. Instead of the Russians and the Americans trying to live together,
they were blocked by their ideologies; previously there was no free communication;
anyone who came from the other side was considered a spy. No matter how good they
were, they were already labeled as spies; consequently they never found out what
they all had in common.
"There is freedom from prejudiced discriminations,
and Nirvana is realized." In our lives, we are limited by our culture; we
have many prejudices. We mistreat other people and we discriminate against others
according to our prejudices. But when you are free from prejudiced discriminations,
you will not mistreat others. And then "Nirvana is realized." "Buddhas
of the past, present, and future attain the Unsurpassable Right and Full Enlightenment
by Sublimation through Limitless-Oneness Compassion. Therefore Sublimation through
Limitless-Oneness Compassion is known to be the great mind mantra,..." Great
mind indicates the mind that is limitless. "...the great loving-kindness
mantra, the indiscrimination mantra, the all encompassing mantra,..." It
is great loving-kindness because it is limitless; it is beyond the concept of
loving-kindness.
In the "Heart Sutra," the approach is to eliminate
suffering through transcendence; but here in my Sastra it is "capable of
enduring all suffering, absolute and joyous." That means to obtain transcendence
through endurance. When you practice accepting things and enduring hardships,
at the beginning, of course, it is difficult. You will have complaints and you
will have to make an effort to endure. You will still think: "Oh! I am suffering
without complaining." Later when you have practiced it to the extent that
your endurance is absolute¾you are free from complaints and you simply
take it as it is, then it becomes joyful. What to others may seem like intolerable
suffering and endurance, to one who has practiced tolerance to the extent that
he is really free from being bothered by these things, it may bring joy. Such
a person sees that what had previously engulfed him in sorrows has now become
nothing to him. He realizes that he is really free from it. How joyful it is when
you have that freedom! A child cries over a toy that is broken, but when he grows
up he no longer cries for toys. Then he senses the freedom and happiness of growing
up. You might understand my point through reflecting on this parable.
"Hence,
the mantra of Sublimation through Limitless-Oneness Compassion is to be proclaimed."
What is the mantra? In Chinese, it has exactly the same number of characters as
that of the "Heart Sutra" in Chinese. It is:
(Rong Ren, Rong Ren,
Wu Bu Rong Ren, Wu Bu Le Rong Ren, Bodhi Svaha!)
The meaning is: Tolerance,
tolerance, tolerance for all, tolerance with joy, and reach Enlightenment soon!
This tolerance is limitless hence it is for all. If you practice tolerance for
all, some day you will experience tolerance with joy. You will enjoy your tolerance
and then you can become enlightened very soon. Thus, I have explained the unification
of Wisdom and Compassion through the Limitless-Oneness of all.
Question from
Mr. David Tseng:
To practice Buddha Dharma, either using the Wisdom approach
of emptiness or the Compassion approach of tolerance to transcend life and death,
that is the supreme goal. But for me, personally, the immediate question is how
to apply either one of them to help me through the dentist's drilling of my teeth?
That hurts!
Answer from Dr. Lin:
The first thing is to understand that all
these teachings come from that final awakening to the truth of the Limitless-Oneness
of all. So, first, try to broaden your mind. But this is not something you can
achieve at once. Nevertheless, you still can have immediate tolerance for your
immediate suffering. What you should do is rely on your daily practice and your
chanting. Both the Sutra and the Sastra, at the end, give you a mantra. You do
not need to switch to these mantras; just keep your original one. When you come
to a difficult situation, do the chanting because the strength of the habit of
chanting will calm you down. That is the most effective way--relying on one basic
practice that you always do. Furthermore, this is the one you rely on in case
of emergency or crisis. For example, in case of an accident, you do not have time
to think of what to do, it has to be a natural response--Amitabha simply comes
to your mind and it will help you.
My Bodhicitta Vows
(Used for Dedication
of Merits)
By Dr. Yutang Lin
1. May virtuous gurus remain with us and those
departed return soon!
2. May perverse views and violence soon become extinct
and Dharma spread without hindrance!
3. May all beings proceed diligently on
the path and achieve Buddhahood before death!
4. May all beings develop Great
Compassion and never regress until they reach perfect Buddhahood!
5. May all
beings develop Great Wisdom and never regress until they reach perfect Buddhahood!