Explanations by Master Cheng-Yan
Subject: The Three Views of Emptiness and Existence (三觀空有行菩提道)
Date: June.01. 2015
“Infinite loving-kindness brings infinite love. Infinite compassion is endless and spreads without bounds. All sentient beings are the Buddha’s children with lasting relationships and deep affinities.”
“Infinite loving-kindness brings infinite love.” For us, as Buddhist practitioners, this is the most fundamental lesson we must learn and apply. After taking the Dharma to heart, we must act in accord with the Dharma. Therefore, we must have great loving-kindness and must have great compassion. Our “infinite compassion is boundless.” However expansive this world is, our compassion will be just as expansive. Thus it “spreads without bounds.” “All sentient beings are the Buddha’s children.” Recently, we have been describing the great elder who of course could not be separated from his children. So, “with lasting relationships and deep affinities” means that this connection is still there after all this time.
The Buddha, countless kalpas ago, started to engage in spiritual practice and transform sentient beings, and He is still doing that. We do not know how many lifetimes we have spent following the Buddha in spiritual practice. Because we have this karmic affinity, He guides us and transforms us. This relationship has lasted for a very long time. We often say that we must “extend our compassion, spread great love.” This is what Bodhisattvas do.
As we learn the Buddha’s Way, we must become awakened sentient beings. We must constantly form and maintain relationships with sentient beings. As a recent example, after the Philippines suffered a great disaster (Typhoon Haiyan), people from more than 40 countries so far have contributed to help them. Every day, the news that they report is very moving and touches our hearts. The “cash for work” program is about to come to an end. This final stage took place in the town of San Jose.
When we were initially launching the “cash for work” program there, fewer than 200 people signed up at first. How could we possibly clear away everything? Mr. [Alfredo] Li immediately gathered neighborhood leaders and told them, “Please go to every household right away and tell them that anyone over 15 can help clean up the debris and make some money, 500 Philippine pesos per day.” The neighborhood leaders made a great effort. Right away, they invited people to come help. Suddenly, many people showed up. On the first day, over 1000 people started working. Of course, mobilizing them took a lot of wisdom and skill. After two or three days, we began to wrap up. But there were many touching stories in this time. The interactions of the Tzu Chi volunteers with survivors raised their hopes and helped them see the potential of rebuilding.
The survivors heard Tzu Chi volunteers say, “Doing good deeds is not the privilege of the rich, it is the right of those with the will. Everyone can do good deeds.” Many disaster survivors became volunteers. One of the stories came from a man who was part of a family of fishermen. When the typhoon suddenly struck, he lost six or seven members of his family; they have still not been found. At that time, he lost all hope. How could he go on with his life? After seeing the dedication of Tzu Chi volunteers, he made a vow, “As long as I am still alive, I can still be very useful and can help others.” There was also a brother and sister who lost many members of their family. Their home and livelihood were destroyed overnight; there was nothing left.
They said that for the past month, they found it hard to survive.They did not know how to get by, how to make a living.After joining the “cash for work” program, they were very happy to receive their wages.
The brother said, “We should go buy some fish and meat.”
But his younger sister said, “We just heard Tzu Chi volunteers say that [these wages] come from the love of people all over the world. Love means having for all living beings. These funds from around the world are given to us to help us rebuild our homes, and using it to buy fish and meat would not be the right thing to do.”
The brother said, “You’re right! We should respect what the Tzu Chi volunteers shared with us. Fine, as long we aren’t hungry, it is good enough. Then we can use the money for roofing materials.”Thus they began to work on rebuilding every day.
Even though they did not have much money, they took the Dharma to heart.Seeing the [volunteers’] infinite loving-kindness, boundless compassion and an “infinite love that knows no boundaries,” they cherished the love shown to them a respected the Tzu Chi volunteers in return.Aren’t they behaving like one big family?This is what the Buddha taught us.
In this world, living-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity are essential parts of our lives.In the previous sutra text, the Buddha told Sariputra that originally, the elder placed three kinds of carts outside, sheep-carts, deer-carts and ox-carts, but in the end, he gave each child a cart adorned with the Seven Treasures and drawn by a great white ox.
Why?The Buddha explained that the elder said, “I have a lot of money, enough resources to give to every person in this country and still have extra. How could I not give more to my children?”So, after his children left the burning house, they climbed onto the carts drawn by the great white oxen.The great white oxen pulled these carts on the bright and broad path in a very steady manner.These children were very happy.What they received was something they would have never has dreamed of asking for.Now, they had received so much.This is the general idea of the previous text.
Why is this so?With what I have, I could give to a whole country and still not, to say nothing of my children.At this time all the children boarded their great carts.
They obtained what they never had before, beyond what they had ever wanted.
The Buddha called to Sariputra again.
“Sariputra!”“What would you say?”“Did this elder, in giving his children these precious great carts, speak any falsehood?”
Was there anything false in what he said?This is talking about what the elder did when he saw flames arise on all sides of this great house.His children were still clinging to being inside, indulging themselves and playing.They did not realized that fire was already burning on all four sides.
This was why he set us the three kinds of carts to draw them out.He showed them that outside this great house were things that they loved.With this method, he enticed the children to leave the burning house.
Sariputra, what would you say?This is discussing how the elder saw his children in the burning house, clinging to desires and sensory pleasures and completely unaware that the great house was burning on all four sides.
The entice the children to leave the house, he promised them three kinds of carts.
This is the elder’s wisdom.The various carts outside were so beautiful; they were made completely out of treasures.
When these children heard about this, they felt these carts suited their desires.These happened to be precisely what they wanted, so they were very happy to leave the great house to get the kinds of carts that they wanted.
But once they were outside the great house, the elder gave them just one kind of cart, the biggest and the best.
Now the children had heard about the three carts which suited their desires.Once they were outside the house, he gave them each a great white ox-cart, different from the three carts he promised before.
This was why the Buddha asked Sariputra, “Think about this. Since I later gave everyone the great cart, was there anything false in what I said?” “Did I lie?” This elder originally set up three kinds of carts, but in the end, he only gave them one kind. So, did he speak a falsehood? The Buddha asked this to prove that there was nothing false in what the elder said.
This explains that the elder did not speak falsely. The elder at first promised his children the three carts. Once his children had come out of the house, he did not give them sheep-or deer-carts, but gave them all precious great carts. First speaking of three, then giving one, is this speaking a falsehood?
Speaking a falsehood means harming others when what we say does not add up. Then we are speaking a falsehood. If I said I was giving you a small present, one or two items, but end up giving you five, six, seven, eight, nine items. I give you more than just one or two, but many things, many great things. This is beneficial to you, so I did not commit the fault of speaking a falsehood. This is also kind of analogy. The three carts are an analogy for the Three Views, three different teachings.
The Three Views are the view of emptiness, the view of illusoriness and the middle views. The view of emptiness is “contemplating all phenomena as arising interdependently, with no nature; thus their essence is empty”.
This is what I often explain to everyone as “true emptiness”. The Buddha established the Three Vehicles. For the Small Vehicle practitioners, the Hearers, He told them that all things arise from karmic conditions. If we [look] deeper into karmic conditions, we see they have no nature. What do karmic conditions actually look like? If we did not create any karma, how would there be any karmic conditions? Take a big tree for example. A thick-trunked tree comes from a small seed. If there is a seed but not the right conditions, if a seed is placed on a desk for one year, three years, ten years, this seed will always remain a seed. A seed requires the conditions of soil, of air and of water to converge with this seed. When this cause converges with conditions, it will grow into a thick-trunked tree.
If we separate all these conditions, we realize “All phenomena arise interdependently with no nature”. This means that phenomena do not have any particular kind of nature. Things are dependent on the convergence of various [conditions] to arise. When conditions disperse, there will be nothing there, no nature.
“Thus their essence is empty”. We must see that “All phenomena arise interdependently with no nature”. There is no independently existing nature; to give rise to this substance. When these causes and conditions disperse, there is just emptiness. There is nothing left. This is the “view of emptiness”.
Next is the “view of illusoriness”. Everything is illusory, like a dream or mirage. Although everything is like a dream or illusion, everything has an illusory appearance and function.
We can say things are illusory and unreal, but living in this world, we must make use of the illusory in order to achieve the “true”. How do we survive in this world? Of course, we need to have certain necessities. Every day we have to eat and absorb the nutrients which make our body healthy so we are able to do things make our body healthy so we are able to do things. Although these things are illusory, we can use them to cultivate the true.
The weather is so cold; we must dress warmly. We need these materials to help keep the warmth within our bodies. But if we break down this material, we can see that its existence is illusory. What are the origins of this material?
Cotton, sisal and so on, were planted to become material for cloth. Cotton and sisal each have their own kind of seed. They also rely soil, water, air and the work farmers do to cultivate and harvest them. After a manufacturing process, they become cloth. Cloth can be weaved to help us keep cool or stay warm. Then this can be made into clothes. But when we keep analyzing these materials, ultimately they are illusory. There is nothing in this world that will last forever.
However, we rely on the illusory to cultivate the true. We depend on many illusory material things. Life is short and temporary, but we depend on the environment we live in. this is the view of illusoriness. This is what we need to understand. But people are deluded. Everything is illusory, but people continue to cling to their desires, so they want to occupy other countries, take over other people’s businesses. People create conflicts and oppose each other, fighting simply so that “Yours is now mine; I must have more than you”.
That is the sole reason. So, clinging to these things in this world is like clinging and lingering in the burning house. This happens because of our delusions.
The Buddha comes to teach us some principles. Emptiness! All things return to emptiness; all things are impermanent. All material things are illusory. It is through the illusory that we cultivate the true. We must not be enticed by illusory things to give rise to so much ignorance and afflictions. In the end, it is we who will suffer.
So, we have to understand the truths of emptiness and illusoriness and their principles.
Most importantly, we must have “the middle view.” There is wondrous existence in emptiness and true emptiness in wondrous existence.”
This means “Contemplating all phenomena as neither empty nor illusory and both empty and illusory, with the true principle of the Middle Way.” These are the true principles.
Don’t I constantly say this? Although we understand “true emptiness, we need to use the illusory appearance of things or the empty space around us, to be grounded and steadfast in our daily living.
The sheep-cart and deer-cart are like the “view of emptiness, the truth of emptiness or truth of illusoriness.” As we engage in contemplation of emptiness, if we can understand this principle, we can use the illusory to cultivate the true.
In fact, the most true thing is the Middle Way, the cart drawn by the great white ox. The “view of emptiness” and “view of illusoriness” are part of the process of spiritual cultivation. The most important is the “middle view,” which is like the cart drawn by the great white ox.This is a thorough understanding of how all phenomena are neither empty nor illusory.”
If not for the principle of emptiness, how would we possibly realize how we have been attached to existence and clinging to many things, thinking, “This is mind.” thus we constantly suffer from parting meeting with those we hate, parting with those we love and not getting what we want. This comes from not thoroughly understanding the principles of emptiness and illusoriness.
The Buddha taught these two principles to help understand this. As we come to understand them, we [internalize these teachings]. In the end, we can still steadily drive the white ox forward and onto the Bodhisattva-path. The great white ox-cart is the Bodhisattva-path; Great Vehicle Bodhisattvas have chosen the cart drawn by the great white ox.
The cart drawn by the great white ox: This is an analogy for the path chosen by Great Vehicle Bodhisattvas who harmonize three views to comtemplate the principles of the ultimate reality of all phenomena thus ending all ignorance and afflictions and achieving all-encompassing wisdom. This is like riding a great white ox-cart to where the treasures are kept.
By harmonizing the Three Views, we understand that everything is neither illusory nor real and both illusory and real. In conclusion, we must take the “middle view,” which is the “truth of the Middle Way.” This is how we “harmonize all three views.”
Only with the wisdom of Bodhisattvas can we realize these principles and go among people without being contaminated.
So, we “contemplate the principles of the ultimate really of all phenomena.” With the views of emptiness and of illusoriness though all things are empty and illusory, they contain many wondrously profound principles. There is “wondrous existence in true emptiness.” This true principle can this true principle can instantly break through ignorance and afflictions.By eliminating all afflictions, we achieve “all-encompassing wisdom.”
This is like riding an Ox-cart to arrive at the place where treasures are kept this is returning to our intrinsic Buddha-nature, our nature of True Suchness.
Dear Bodhisattvas, to learn the Buddha’s Way and engage in spiritual practice, we must thoroughly understand carious principles. Once we penetrate them, we will be able to steadfastly advance on the path we need to take, which is the Bodhisattva-path. So, everyone, please always be mindful.
(Source: Da Ai TV – Wisdom at Dawn program – Explanation by Master Chen-Yen)
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