"The Bodhiasattva Avalokita, while moving in the deep course of Perfect Understanding,
shed light on the five skandhas and found them equally empty.
After this penetration, he overcame all pain."
Quite a promise- with a perfect understanding of "emptiness", you can overcome all pain. The passage above is the first paragraph of the Prajnaparamita (The Heart Sutra) which is regarded as the essence of Buddhist teaching.
In helping to explain this first paragraph, Hanh writes that everything exists in a sheet of paper. The paper cannot exist on its own. Its existence relies on “non- paper elements” like rain, sun, trees, time, space, etc. Paper cannot be made without the cloud that produces rain and the sun that grows a tree…which is used to make paper, and the logger who cuts the tree, and his mother that gave birth to him, and so on. Paper is an example of how any one thing, is not entirely a separate thing- it does not entirely have a separate identity. Every “thing” is intimately linked and dependent upon everything else to exist and therefore in a sense "empty" of its own separate existence.
If we accept this idea of "inter-being" to be true and we bring this to the realm of
humans and their relationships- we can see that we are not made to live
separately from nature and other people. With this understanding, we are not
each a separate identity, but we are made of all other things. Thus, hurting
another, is hurting ourselves. We often overlook this, but when paying close
attention, we can see examples. When you get angry and yell at your partner,
you will notice that you are suffering in addition to the hurt you inflict on
your partner. When you cut down a tree, you are removing a source of oxygen
that gives life. Deep reflection and understanding of this truth has the potential to radically change our actions in the direction of peace and kindness.
Everything exists in a sheet of paper. And thus it is empty. Is this a contradiction? What does empty mean? It means the paper has no separate identity, it is
composed of all things. Likewise, humans are said to be empty. This may
initially sound depressing, but it is actually quite relieving. We are "in this" with all other beings. In a way, it means we are not alone and if we can practice being good to others and the world- the law of cause and effect/our interconnection, will bring good things back to us.
So what? Well, in a time when so many people experience loneliness, depression, and suffering from feelings of isolation- this universal truth suggests that we can never really be alone. In fact, in any moment- if we tap into this truth by deeply looking at a tree and experiencing this inter-being, this inter-reliance, we can relieve the suffering of loneliness. Or if we remember this truth and reach out to a friend or family member, or even a stranger- we can be open to the experience of this truth: that we are not separate and alone. Never.
And realizing emptiness...this is how he "overcame all pain." Deeply comprehending emptiness means deeply entering non-duality. We are not separate from anything else, we are one. To be "one" with anything else, we must deeply understand it, we must feel its feelings, percieve as the other percieves- this is meditation. According to Hanh, meditation is to be one with, in order to fully understand.
This takes focus, concentration, discipline, practice, direct experience. We must observe in a penetrating way. In fact, observing like an objective scientist is an outdated model. There is no separateness, therefore we cannot remove our self from a subjective experience and be that idea of an objective scientist, but we can deepen our subjective experience- so much that we become a participant, not an observer. If we are to master our feelings, for example, we must observe our feelings (which may decrease our suffering due to painful feelings by gradually exposing our self to them in a safe, calm space), but we must also bravely enter those feelings to truly understand them. This is fully participating in life- which can be a much richer experience, even if scary and sometimes painful.
"Form does not differ from emptiness" and vice versa. Emptiness is the ground of everything, it makes everything possible. Emptiness: without each thing having a separate identity, all things rely on other things to exist. One example can be how love exists in hate. Often a therapist may "re-frame" a problem. For example, the therapist may share a new perspective on an old problem, such as a husband's anger not only meaning frustration and hate, but also an expression of the great degree to which he cares about the wife. This would likely not be the case if the husband was verbally or physically abusive, but we can see that a husband must care about the wife in order to create such a strong emotional reaction like anger. It may not be a constructive way to show his love and care, but if he no longer cared, he would surely express no concern, emotionally shut down, remain quiet, or leave his wife in divorce.
Emptiness means that love relies on hate to exist and vice versa. It means that love partly comprises hate, and hate is partially made of love. Each thing that takes on form is emptiness. It means all other things, like the sheet of paper- is made of the sun, rain, logger, etc. In this way, the truth of emptiness makes everything possible. One thing could not exist without everything else that comprises it.
Emptiness is also impermanence, it is change- it makes everything possible. It allows a young child to grow up. It allows a seed to become a plant and food. Impermanence is crucial to the life of everything. All things are constantly in flux, are changing. Again, this allows a seed to change/grow into corn with the rain and sun, farmer, in it as well. So what?
Well, when we realize this, we understand that our husbands yelling is not entirely a negative thing. We begin to see love in the hate as well. Again, this does not mean we stay in a abusive relationship, but it provides us with understanding that helps to alleviate our suffering. The pain of harsh words remain, but our ongoing increasing suffering decreases. Likewise, the deep understanding of impermanence helps us cope with suffering. With impermanence we realize that the yelling will end, my pain will change and end. I am not a separate fixed entity that is hurt and broken from my partners abuse. I am made of all things, which is always changing- including my sadness and hurt. The pain is not constant if we observe closely.
Hanh also suggests that there is no birth of anything, only continuation. Things- a tree, a person, a cloud- cannot come from nothing. Before my birth, I was in my mother's womb, before that- I was half in my father and half in my mother. Before that- I was in my grandmother and grandfather. I used to be a tree, a snake, gas, sunshine,a cloud. In fact, I am still a cloud. Without the cloud, I cannot be here. In a very literal sense, I ingest water from a cloud and it becomes me. We cannot make something into nothing, it can merely transform- like when we burn a paper- it does not become nothing, but it becomes heat and ash. Energy transfers, it cannot be destroyed. There is no birth and no death, these are ideas in our mind that we tend to believe. But if we look closely at things, we observe interbeing, we know that I am more than a separate identity- I am air and water, a cloud, and a tree. I was never born, I continued on from another energy form. And I cannot die- my energy will take another form- maybe a bird or a leaf or a bug. So what...?
Well, humans tend to fear their idea of death. With daily meditation we develop this deep understanding, we realize, we experience, we see that " I am all things, and only continuation exists." There is no death to fear. We may think that we will miss our loved ones or they will miss us, but in fact we can see and visit them any time in a tree or leaf or a eagle in the sky. They also continue their being as part of us, in our actions, ideas, and memories.
According to Hanh, "Gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha" means Gone, gone all the way to the other shore, everyone gone over to the other shore, enlightenment, svaha (a cry of excitement/joy). Gone from suffering to the liberation from suffering. Gone from forgetfulness to mindfulness. Gone from duality to non-duality. The vision of reality as it truly is liberates you. The Heart Sutra has the ultimate potential to liberate us from fear. To transcend the fear of death. Everything is responsible for everything else that happens in life. When you produce peace and happiness in yourself, you begin to realize peace for the world. When we meditate, we sit for sitting- not for somehting else. In walking meditation, we walk to walk, not to arrive. When you look at someone or hug someone, breath in and out three times consciously to cultivate mindfulness and your happiness will be multiplied. Look and see deeply. When you are about to eat deeply to see the sun and rain and farmer in your meal and realize the gift of the nourishment and be happy, and also realize the suffering in this meal- that many million throughout the world will go hungry. Know this deeply and peace will come through reconciling ourselves with the world.
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