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What is Reality? Evil Views #7 & #8

Painting of "77 Stones" by Yu Hua Shouzhi Wang
Sculpture of “77 Stones” by Yu Hua Shouzhi Wang

The Buddha’s teaching of the “Middle Way” manifests in many ways in Buddhism. One way is the view that reality is based on all things being material or eternal as seen in “substantialism” and the other being “nihilism” or that nothing exists.

Evil View #7: Acknowledging the eternalistic view that phenomena truly exist and are not illusory
This touches upon the ultimate truth. Those with this view regard all phenomena as truly existing, not illusory, and real. They think everything that exists among people, among things, and among events is real. To them, all worldly phenomena are not impermanent but truly exist and are real. They regard everything as real and not illusory. This is an evil view.

Evil View #8: Acknowledging that emptiness exists separate and independent from the mundane
Those with this view think that emptiness is unrelated to all views that accept the substantial-ness of worldly phenomena. They think that as long as one enters emptiness, everything that is actually present will no longer exist. They think that conditioned phenomena do not exist within emptiness and that emptiness is independent of conditioned phenomena. This view is already evil. One must understand that emptiness is not separate from worldly phenomena. After realizing emptiness, one knows that form is emptiness and emptiness is form. The two are not mutually incompatible. The fundamental truth is that the two are one and the same. That is the unattached true such-ness, the Buddha-nature from which usages arise.

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Zhaxi Zhuoma

Thus Have I Seen (and Heard) on zhaxizhuoma.org is a blog offered by Zhaxi Zhuoma for English-speaking followers and those interested in the teachings and activities of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III. Read more about this blog

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Most of the quotes from H.H Dorje Chang Buddha III posted on this blog are from unapproved translations and may contain errors. Likewise the contents of this blog have not been reviewed or approved by the Buddha and should be considered as reference material and not Buddha-dharma.

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