We finished Lesson 13 with our study of the “Ten Illusory Things” and what they can teach us about emptiness as well as “The Eighteen Kinds of Emptiness”. The Buddha Master provided a detailed description of the two methods of observing emptiness and much more on how we should regard various manifestations. He also explained the “only emptiness” and “not only emptiness” doctrines and which way of discerning truth we should follow. You should read or listen to these teachings to fully understand. The following questions and quotes from the text represents part of this teaching as contained in the preliminary translation we have:
What must one have for holy states to appear and how should you regard them?
“Even holy states and so on seen by practitioners as they experience beneficial effects during their practice cannot be regarded as holy states no matter how good they may be. If you regard them as holy states, you will experience a multitude of evil effects and will enter into a demonic state. Holy states that appear due to one’s pure karma, one’s holy mind aspiring for enlightenment, or one’s marvelous application of the meaning of the Dharma should be regarded as illusions. They manifest from the power of your state, your holy mind aspiring for enlightenment, and the marvelous application of the meaning of the Dharma. They should be regarded as illusions. . . The appearance of holy states is not a bad thing. For holy states to appear, one must have the state and power of the holy mind aspiring for enlightenment. One must have the holy state of saving living beings. One must have the state of doing good deeds, carrying out the Six Paramitas, and cultivating oneself in accord with the Dharma. Only then will you be able to engender holy states. Only when your karmic forces become light can the karma-induced delusion that has deeply accumulated in your manas and alyaya consciousnesses like innumerable dust and sand evolve. Only then will supernormal powers ultimately manifest and holy states emerge. Even though holy states emerge, you still must observe them as illusions.“
What are the “only emptiness” and “not only emptiness” doctrines?
“Emptiness contains existence within it. Within existence there is emptiness. This is the truth that form is emptiness and emptiness is form.We cannot abandon emptiness to accept form, nor can we abandon form to accept emptiness. The principle that true emptiness is marvelous existence lies herein. Thus, emptiness contains existence within it, and within existence there is emptiness. . . Hinayana practitioners seek the realization of ‘only emptiness.’ Mahayana practitioners seek the realization of ‘not only emptiness.’ The path we must take is the path of ‘not only emptiness.’ “
What are the Eighteen Kinds of Emptiness?
“The eighteen kinds of emptiness are: (1) internal emptiness; (2) external emptiness: . . .[3] internal-external emptiness. . . (4) emptiness of emptiness, (5) great emptiness, (6) emptiness of the ultimate, (7) emptiness of the conditioned, (8) emptiness of the unconditioned (9) final emptiness, (10) emptiness of the boundless, (11) emptiness of limitless dispersion, (12) emptiness of original nature, (13) emptiness of individual and common characteristics, (14) emptiness of all phenomena, (15) emptiness of non-obtainability, (16) emptiness of absence of nature, (17) emptiness of self-nature, and (18) emptiness of the absence of self-nature.“
We began our study of the Lesson 14 on the Heart Sutra passage “…and crossed beyond all suffering and adversity.” The following are a few of the questions and answers from the text:
What do the words “crossing” and “all” mean in this context?
“Whenever crossing is involved, no matter what method of crossing is used, it means to save, deliver, or rescue. It means ferrying you from another place to your destination. That is called crossing. Perhaps a crossing over will take place by ferryboat. Or perhaps it entails crossing over your thoughts or state of realization. Both can be called crossing. . . However, crossing does not mean that you have been “crossed over” or ferried to your destination. Once you are crossed over, it means you have crossed over to liberation. Therefore, only when you have crossed over to the destination can it be said that you have crossed over to liberation. The word all refers to universality that includes everything.“
What about the word “suffering”?
” ‘Suffering’ means all of the myriad sufferings in the world. . . This includes all of the sufferings and hardships related to being in the midst of worldly matters, things, and time. Here, I am referring to sufferings within the three spheres, such as birth, aging, sickness, and death, fragmentary birth and death, and the afflictions from seeing and thinking.“
What are the two things that prove the magnitude of your accomplishment in this life?
“Wisdom is the first and main proof. It must be based on whether you are truly fully proficient in all five vidyas. . . The second proof of the magnitude of accomplishment occurs at the time you pass away, when it is seen whether you have free control over your own living and dying. That relates to whether your flesh-body will not decay, whether you transform into rainbow light and leave behind sarira-relics, or whether your flesh- body shrinks right at that time instead of a few days later. . . Or it must be determined whether you leave behind sarira-relics that correspond to your known level or rank, which are also called firm-relics.“
The Buddha Master also explained fragmentary birth and death and the sufferings stemming from the afflictions connected with seeing and thinking. He provided examples of how Buddhist practitioners who attained perfection and liberation left this world and the nature of sarira-relics and firm-relics left by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. He also explained the essential practice of Daoists and how it compares to Buddhist practice.
Next:
We will continue DCB22 at our July 27, 2024 ZOOM session starting at 9:00 am discussing Lesson 14 “. . . and Crossed Beyond All Suffering and Adversity.”
TO DATE: DCB22-Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra: PART TWO–I and C41-Three Principal Stages & Paths of Buddhist Practice
The recordings of the July 27 DCB22 class are now available. You must be enrolled in DCB22 in one of the membership programs at the LFBCS to access the course materials, questions covered (in parenthesis), and/or the class recordings. Please note that these links will only work if you are logged into LFBCS with your membership identification number AND are enrolled in this class. Please note that Lessons 6A and 6B are part of Course C41.
“Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, when practicing deeply the prajna-paramita, illuminated the five aggregates, saw that they are all empty, and crossed beyond all suffering and adversity.”
July 27, 2024: Lesson 14A-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “. . . and crossed beyond all . . .”, (271-284) and (HERE) for recording of class.
July 27, 2024: Lesson 13C-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “The Ten Illusory Things & The Eighteen Kinds of Emptiness”, (261-270) and (HERE) for recording of class.
July 20, 2024: Lesson 13B-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Time & The Ten Illusory Things”, (242-260) and (HERE) for recording of class.
July 13, 2024: Lesson 13A-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Time”, (240-241) and (HERE) for recording of class.
July 13, 2024: Lesson 12-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “. . . saw that they are all empty. . .”, (220-239) and (HERE) for recording of class.
July 6, 2024: Lesson 11D-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Four Great Elements, Death, & Dreaming”, (202-219) and (HERE) for recording of class.
July 6, 2024: Lesson 11C–The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Becoming a Good Person”, (193-201) and (HERE) for recording of class.
June 29, 2024: Lesson 11B-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Dual-Use/Two-body Dharma”, (181-192) and (HERE) for recording of class.
April 20, 2024: Lesson 11A.2-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Consciousness”, (171-180) and (HERE) for recording of class.
March 30, 2024: Lesson 11A.1-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Consciousness”, (155-170) and (HERE) for recording of class.
March 23, 2024: Lesson 10B-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Five Aggregates”, (144-154) and (HERE) for recording of class.
March 16, 2024: Lesson 10A-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Five Aggregates”, (114-143) and (HERE) for recording of class.
March 16, 2024: Lesson B.2-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Two Levels”, (108-113) and (HERE) for recording of class.
March 9, 2024: Lesson B.1-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Two Levels”, (87-107) and (HERE) for recording of class.
March 9, 2024: Lesson 9A.3-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Practicing Deeply”, (78-86) and (HERE) for recording of class.
February 24, 2024: Lesson 9A.2-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Practicing Deeply”, (59-77) and (HERE) for recording of class.
February 17, 2024: Lesson 9A.1-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Practicing Deeply”, (51-58) and (HERE) for recording of class.
February 17, 2024: Lesson 8C-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Bodhisattva”, (37-50) and (HERE) for recording of class.
February 17, 2024: Lesson 8B–The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Avalokiteshvara”, (31-36) and (HERE) for recording of class.
February 10, 2024: Lesson 8A-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Text of the Heart Sutra–I, “Avalokiteshvara”, (1-30) and (HERE) for recording of class.
February 3, 2024: Lesson 6B-The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra-Prajna(Wisdom) & Dhyana(Ta), (355-369) and HERE for recording of class.
January 20, 2024: Lesson 6A–The Great Stage–Wisdom Path of the right view of emptiness, Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra-Prajna & Dhyana(Ta), (317-354) and HERE for recording of class.
CLICK for article on the entire text of Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra.
CLICK for article with instructions on how to enroll in LFBCS classes and how to register for the 8 ZOOM discussions.
CLICK for article on the last class held on DCB21 and links to videos of all 18 ZOOM class discussions on DCB21 held from November 2022 to April 2023. Note: not all of the forwards, notes, and introductions are complete.
CLICK for article on last class held on DCB26 and links to videos of all 8 ZOOM class discussions held on DCB26 held from April 2024 to June 2024.
CLICK for Background information on Expounding the Absolute Truth through the Heart Sutra and why it is such an important text.
Add comment