Today, I will discuss the concept of ’emptiness of nature.’ In this context, ‘nature’ signifies one’s inherent nature, and ’emptiness’ refers to absence. When a person’s nature is empty, they become receptive to the truth, subsequently attaining it. However, if the nature is not empty and is instead tainted by worldly defilements, consider what your mind can hold. Even when new concepts are introduced, they will inevitably be contaminated and disintegrated. Only through complete emptiness can one ascend to a higher level of understanding.
Consider this analogy: in a fish tank, if you extract two-thirds of the water, leaving behind one-third of the dirty water, and then replenish it with two-thirds of clean water, you merely dilute the concentration of impurities in the original dirty water. You cannot completely eliminate the impurities from the original water, and, paradoxically, you end up contaminating the newly added clean water.
This is similar to a mind brimming with defilements. It’s not possible to entirely purge those defilements by yourself and in the process of removal, the recently acquired positive elements get intermingled with the remaining defilements. This creates a division of mental states and thought processes within your mind. At times, they might blend with the defilements and at other times, the two kinds of thoughts might find themselves in conflict. For instance, suppose your mind is filled with defilements, you will become doubtful when encountering wholesome thoughts; this doubt will prevent these wholesome thoughts from taking root in your mind.
I encourage you to deeply contemplate the concept of ’emptiness of nature.’ Once nature is rendered empty, the inherent nature returns to kindness. When your inherent nature is emptied, there will be no space for defilements or negativity. This state signifies the restoration of truth, a return to your original nature.
The concept of ’emptiness of nature’ encompasses twelve interdependent links that must be eliminated and overcome within your inherent nature to achieve emptiness. This is no easy task. Upon attaining enlightenment, one should understand that the true right view of these twelve interdependent links lies in the emptiness of nature. Only by thoroughly comprehending this concept can one attain emptiness. For example, it’s important to appreciate that all the pleasant experiences or moments of happiness you encounter are fleeting and serve as barriers that hinder your spiritual practice. To awaken to the true meaning of life, you should dismantle these obstacles and recognise their transient nature.
Emptiness of nature is equivalent to the right view, which signifies the correct understanding. Comprehending the emptiness of nature involves grasping the true essence of things. For example, someone might tell you how delicious a certain seafood dish is, but you don’t get excited because you realise that even if it tastes great, the experience is fleeting, and the food will soon be gone, transforming into something else. When you understand its essence, you won’t appreciate it or obsessively pursue it. The problem with people is that they only see the surface and not the essence. I guide you to approach things and issues by learning to discern their essence, to perceive their truest aspects, and to derive an accurate understanding from them.
Take, for instance, a lobster dish. You know you shouldn’t eat it for several reasons: first, the lobster will die for your meal; second, consuming it will generate negative karma, and so on. When you form these correct thoughts, you will choose not to eat it. Thus, in any worldly matter, if you can find the right reasons to prevent your mind from obsessively pursuing something, you demonstrate Buddha-nature.
The twelve interdependent links in the human realm are: 1) Ignorance; 2) Volitional actions; 3) Consciousness; 4) Name and Form; 5) The Six Sense Bases; 6) Sensory contact; 7) Sensation; 8) Craving; 9) Attachment; 10) Becoming; 11) Birth; 12) Aging and Death. (I will delve into the intricacies of these links in detail for my disciples in the future.)
Each person’s life is unique, as everyone’s living environments, backgrounds, and experiences differ. This is why it is said that human lives vary. We continually cycle through the twelve interdependent links, but none of these links pertain to the right view. For example, the pleasure you draw from smelling a pleasant fragrance will soon disappear. This is not the right view. ‘Right’ means everlasting. Only the emptiness of nature constitutes the right view. When your inherent nature is completely emptied, it embodies the right view, which is equivalent to the true emptiness of time – the emptiness without the concept of time is the true emptiness. In a world without time and space, you won’t harbour prejudices.
With the right view, you can see through all worldly matters, developing a correct perspective on everything in the world. Having the right view and understanding all worldly matters allows you to attain the emptiness of nature and use this emptiness to resonate with the truth in the Human Realm. This leads you to the attainment of the ‘enlightened right view.’ This is possible because human nature is empty, enabling it to resonate with the truth. Let me elaborate on the concept of ‘resonating with the truth.’ For example, people universally love peace because our human nature aligns with the truth of the world. This implies that everyone has a sincere heart, dislikes doing bad things, and strives to conform to the truth in all their actions. This is the right view.
If you cannot distinguish between good and bad deeds and still try to justify your bad actions by saying, ‘I had no choice today; I committed the wrongdoing for the purpose of punishing them,’ that is not the right view. The right view is the emptiness of nature; emptiness of nature is the right view, and the emptiness of nature is the truth. Only with the truth can you remain untainted among the myriad sentient beings.
When a person is untainted, there is neither increase nor decrease, and no purity, meaning there is neither purity nor defilement. Purity is simply the absence of defilement and anything that can affect your body. There is also no birth, as your life has already attained your inherent nature. In other words, there is no birth nor death, no aging nor death. Because your nature is empty, there is no aging and death, nor the cessation of aging and death. Since you have no birth or death, there is no cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, so there is no extinction.
There is no suffering, the cause of suffering, the cessation of suffering, or the path to the cessation of suffering. Specifically, there is inherently no cessation of suffering; without suffering, even death is absent. So, what causes and conditions are there? Because of this, the twelve interdependent links automatically break, and afflictions cease. Once the twelve interdependent links are broken, there is no birth or death, no increase or decrease, no defilement or purity. The essence of the Heart Sutra is the emptiness of nature. If one can achieve the emptiness of nature, the power that arises from it is infinite. As my disciples, if you are willing to learn more, I can often use plain language to explain Buddhist scriptures and enlighten your wisdom.
Remember this: you should see through all the afflictions and lives in the world. These are merely superficial manifestations of life, a kind of external appearance, and they have no real substance.