A. When we say that everything is empty, it means that lust and greed are also empty. Saying that lust and greed are also empty implies that lust and greed are also the Buddha since Emptiness is another name of the Buddha. Lust and greed are not different and separate from the Buddha, but they are one and inseparable from each other.
It can be said that lust and greed contain the Buddha and that the Buddha is hidden in lust and greed. This is why it is said that lust and greed are all Buddhas’ mother. When they are seen and heard as they are, they appear and sound as the Buddha. So, once upon a time when a monastic asked his master how he could remove his lust and greed, the master answered, “Why do you want to discard such a good thing?”
When Yangshan was abbot of a monastery at Donping, Guishan sent a letter and a mirror to him. During his talk in the dharma hall, Yangshan received the letter, held up the mirror, and said to the assembly, “Guishan has sent a mirror. Tell me, is this Guishan’s mirror or Yangshan’s mirror? If you say it’s Yangshan’s mirror, I say Guishan sent it. If you say it’s Guishan’s mirror, I say it’s in Yangshan’s hand. If you can say a word, I will keep it. If you can’t say a word, I will destroy it.”
Yangshan said this three times. No one in the assembly responded, and Yangshan struck the mirror.
Student: “Why did Yangshan destroy the mirror?”
Master: “In order to let the assembly know the owner of the mirror.”
Student: “Who in the world is the owner?”
Master: “He never speaks.”
Commentary:
It is not a king but his people who quarrel about the ownership of land.
“Subhuti, that which is called Buddha Dharma is not Buddha Dharma.”
Commentary:
‘That which is called Buddha Dharma is not Buddha Dharma’ signifies that Buddha Dharma is just a name, an imaginary label created by people and not the essence of it, because it is originally nameless, boundless and formless. It is changeless since it is formless. It has no beginning and no end because it is changeless and boundless. This is why it is referred to as eternity itself and perfection itself. There is nothing that doesn’t belong to it because it is boundless. For this reason, in Buddhism, it is said that everything is equal as the Buddha and that the Buddha is everywhere all the time.
Seen from this perspective, what is called a flower is essentially not a flower. It is a flower because we named it a flower and blooms and withers because we think it does. This is why the historical Buddha said that everything is an illusion created by our minds.
So, seeing what is changeless, nameless and boundless when we see things is seeing the Buddha. He who can see in this way can see the Buddha all the time. This is why a Bodhisattva in the Avatamsaka Sutra said, “Whenever I want to see the Buddha, I can see Him anytime. However, never does He come to me, nor do I go to Him.”
Student: “What is Buddha Dharma?”
Master: “No one can hide it.”
Student: “Why don’t you show it to me if no one can hide it?”
A. The Buddha is the state in which everything is one. In this state everyone is at one with everything as the Buddha. If someone sees the Buddha and wants to approach him, he is not seeing the Buddha but being deluded by an illusion of the Buddha.
What you can be close to, or far away from, is not the Buddha. No matter how hard you may push him away, you cannot be separated from it. No matter how hard you may pull him, it never becomes closer to you because there is no other Buddha than yourself and because the Buddha is formless. This is why the wise who see the true Dharma, the true-Self that is the true-Buddha are never tempted to follow the Buddha nor are they scared away by Mara.
When a monk asked Master Sukshang, “What’s the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the west?”, the master clapped his teeth. The monk didn’t make sense of the meaning and asked Master Goobong, “What’s the meaning of the master’s clapping his teeth?” after Master Sukshang passed away. Goobong said, “Even if I get my tongue cut out, I can’t violate what the nation prohibits.”
Student: “Why did the master clap his teeth?”
Master: “Because of toothache.”
Student: “What is it that the nation prohibits?”
Master: “It prohibits people from breaking one into many.”
Student: “What happens when we violate the national law?”
Master: “We cannot avoid illness and death.”
Student: “Did the master have toothache because he violated the national law?”
Master: “No, you have it.”
Commentary:
One with earache is liable to take praise for blame.
“Why? Subhuti, it’s because all the Buddhas, and the Dharma of unexcelled complete perfect enlightenment of all the Buddhas, come from this Sutra.”
Commentary:
This Sutra here, as mentioned earlier, doesn’t mean the text made of words on paper but Emptiness, the true-Self. This is why all the Buddhas and the perfect enlightenment of all the Buddhas come from this Sutra. The point is how to recognise and read the Sutra. Everyone has this Sutra, which is shared by all sentient beings and the Buddha. This Sutra explains everything exactly. We can’t put it down even for a moment, and it is open before us all the time and is as readable in a dark place as it is in a light place. The wise can read this Sutra at midnight without any light while the foolish can’t read it even in broad daylight. Enlightenment can be referred to as the ability to read this Sutra.
Student: “Where is this Sutra from?”
Master: “I am very sorry I cannot tell it to you.”
A. No matter how many offerings you may make, it is no more than making good karma in the realm of form. This means that the merit of your offerings is supposed to run out with time since all things in the realm of form have a beginning and an end. No matter how much wealth you may possess at the moment, for example, it is yours merely whilst you remain alive; at most for one hundred and twenty years. However, realising the true-Self implies transcending birth and death, to realise that you are eternity itself. This is why the merit of making offerings to all sentient beings in the world for billions of years is not as much as that of realising the true-Self.
Regarding the offering, giver, and receiver as one, we should make offerings not as a means of making good karma but as part of our practice to realise the true-Self.
When a monk asked Master Sukshang, “What’s the meaning of the Patriarch’s coming from the west?”, the master clapped his teeth. The monk didn’t make sense of the meaning and asked Master Goobong, “What’s the meaning of the master’s clapping his teeth?” after Master Sukshang passed away. Goobong said, “Even if I get my tongue cut out, I can’t violate what the nation prohibits.”
Student: “What’s the meaning of the master’s clapping his teeth?” Master: “Goobong already said the answer.” Student: “What is it that the nation prohibits?” Master: “It prohibits people from breaking one into many.” Student: “Why can’t I understand it?” Master: “Because you violate the national law.”
Commentary: Breaking one into many is the source of all calamities.
“Subhuti, what do you think—if someone gives seven kinds of treasures in charity that are sufficient to fill a billion-world universe, would this person gain many blessings?”
Subhuti said, “Very many, World Honoured One. Why? These blessings are not of the nature of blessing; therefore the Realised One says the blessings are many.”
The Buddha said, “If anyone accepts and holds even a single four-line verse from this Sutra, and tells it to others, the blessing exceeds the aforementioned.”
Commentary:
No matter how much valuable treasure we may give in charity, it is no better than making good karma unless we are aware that it is empty. Good karma, no matter how much it may be, is supposed not only to come to an end but also to be accompanied by bad karma since there cannot be good karma without bad karma.
We should know that ‘this Sutra’ doesn’t imply the text that is printed on paper or on silk, or carved on wood or on rock but the true-Self, Emptiness that is the essence of our being and that a four-line verse from this Sutra signifies the function of the true-Self whether it is a movement, or a sound.
As mentioned in earlier parts, everything, ourselves included, is the true-Self, the Buddha, and every movement and every sound of it is the function of the true-Self. It follows from this that not just everything we see and hear but all actions and sounds we make as well are a four-line verse.
So, ‘accepting and holding even a single four-line verse from this Sutra and telling it to others’ doesn’t mean to accept and hold even a literal verse from the material Sutra and tell it to others. Rather, just as the Lotus Sutra says that once we realise the true-Self, no matter what words we may read, or speak such as mundane books, political discourses, wealth, or careers, they will be a Dharma talk, we, aware that everything we see and hear is the Buddha’s Dharma talk, should know that all actions and sounds made by us are no other than four-line verses.
A. ‘What you can send back’ implies all words, labels such as person, male, female, Korean, Briton, father, mother, son, daughter, tall, short, young, old and so on that define your identity because they are not innate but artificial, or attached to you after your birth. ‘Send back’ here means to remove, or to detach.
Detaching all the words, imaginary labels from you that define your identity means removing all boundaries that confine your being within your physical body. The boundless state is referred to as the true-Self, Emptiness, or the Buddha, the boundless state is formless, the formless state is unchangeable, and the unchangeable state has no beginning and no end, which is no other than the essence of your being.
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