Part 13-4
“Subhuti, what do you think—are there many particles of dust in a billion-world universe?”
Subhuti said, “Very many, World Honoured One.”
“Subhuti, all those particles of dust the Realised One says are not dust, they are just called dust. The universe that the Realised One says is not the universe, but it is just called the universe.”
Commentary:
The Avatamsaka Sutra states:
When ordinary people see all phenomena,
they are shaken by following only appearances.
Because they do not know that phenomena have no fixed form,
they fail to see the Buddha.
Knowing that sentient beings struggle to escape words and forms, the Buddha repeatedly emphasised in the Diamond Sutra that the Buddha Dharma, Adornment of Buddha lands, and Perfect Wisdom are not thosethings themselves, but merely names. Even in the Avatamsaka Sutra, when he describes countless worlds—such as the world of Exquisite Sound or Treasure-Adorned Light—he is emphasising once again: do not be deceived by the names and forms of these myriad worlds. Look and listen clearly to see the true-Self within them.
If we apply this to ourselves: the world we live in is not the world, but is merely named the world, the Earth is not the Earth, but is just named the Earth. We who live upon it are not humans, but are named humans. When I look at a flower, the flower is not a flower and I am not I. When both the flower and the I who sees it disappear, the distinction between us vanishes and we become one.
The Avatamsaka Sutra says:
The act of seeing, the object seen,
and even the one who sees—all must be erased.
Only then do you not destroy the True Dharma;
only such a person can know the Buddha.
This state—where the True Dharma of Emptiness is realised—is expressed as ‘In the heavens and on earth, I alone am the honoured one’. In this realm, everything is vivid, yet because the subject and object have become one non-dual, one can neither say they are seeing nor not seeing. This is what it means to see the True Dharma. To see in this way is to see Emptiness within Form and to see the Buddha in everything. This is called ‘Seeing lotus flowers everywhere’.
Disciple: “What is it like when the seen object and the seeing ‘I’ become one?”
Master: “If I were to answer, I would be committing the same error you are committing.”
Since a speck of dust is not a speck of dust,
the dust is not small.
Since the world is not the world,
the world is not large.
There is no difference between the two;
they enter and leave each other freely,
and their radiance covers the universe.
Koan:
A monk asked Yunmen, “What is it like when the tree withers and the leaves fall?”
Yunmen replied: “The whole body is revealed in the autumn wind.”
Question: What is it like when the whole body is revealed in the autumn wind?
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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