But as I see it, there is nothing that is not profound, nothing that is not deliverance. Followers of the Way, the Dharma of the heart has no form and pervades the Ten Directions. In the eye, it is called seeing; in the ear, hearing; in the nose, smelling; in the mouth, talking; in the hands, grasping; in the feet, walking. Fundamentally, it is one light; differentiated, it becomes the six senses. When one’s whole heart comes to a full stop, one is delivered where one stands.
Commentary:
‘There is nothing that is not profound, nothing that is not deliverance’ means that there is nothing that is not the true-Self, Emptiness. ‘The Dharma of the heart’ implies the true-Self that is formless and boundless. ‘In the eye, it is called seeing; in the ear, hearing; in the nose, smelling; in the mouth, talking; in the hands, grasping; in the feet, walking. Fundamentally, it is one light; differentiated, it becomes the six senses’ means that ‘eye’ ‘seeing’ ‘ear’ ‘hearing’ ‘nose’ and ‘smelling’ are all illusions, imaginary lines created by us. In other words, these may look separate and different from each other due to our discriminating, but they are, in fact, Oneness. ‘When one’s whole heart comes to a full stop, one is delivered where one stands’ means that when we stop discriminating or making illusions, Oneness, the true-Self reveals itself before us.
The Sutras say, “Many are one and one is many.” This means that we make Oneness, the true-Self into many by drawing imaginary lines, illusions. This causes the true-Self to look like many, but the many are one in essence. Seeing only the many and clinging to them is to be deluded by illusions. Enlightenment is to be able to see and hear in both ways; many as one and one as many.
Student: “What is the difference between seeing this vase as many and seeing it as one?”
Master: “When you see this as many, it is a vase. When you see this as one, it loses its identity.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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