In
the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, the Buddha gave teachings on the Four
Noble Truths, laying a foundation and framework by which all of his teachings
could be understood. In the Four Noble
Truths, the Buddha identified ignorance as the root of all suffering. Ignorance is a state of confusion about how the
self exists. We perceive of an
independent, autonomous self, one that is the basis for all experience and
continues from moment to moment. Through
the teachings on the skandhas, ayatanas and dhatus, the Buddha broke down the
self, revealing the wisdom of selflessness as well as the path to the cessation
of suffering.
The teachings of the Second Turning
of the Wheel of Dharma don’t depart from the teachings of the First
Turning. The understanding of the truth
of origin and the abiding reality of the truth of cessation become more subtle
and profound in the Second Turning.
The basis for the Second Turning of
the Wheel of Dharma are the Prajnaparamita Sutras. The 8000 verse Prajnaparamita Sutra is the
earliest known sutra from around 100 BCE.
This was later expanded into the 10,000, 18,000, 25,000 and 100,000
verse sutras, which bear close resemblance to the 8,000 verse sutra but expand
on abbreviated sections and enumerate lists.
The shorter Prajnaparamita Sutras include the Heart Sutra, also called
the 25 verse sutra, as well as the Diamond Sutra, also called the 300 verse
sutra.
We can see in the Heart Sutra how
the understanding of the truth of origin becomes more subtle and profound in
the Second Turning. Remember, in the
First Turning we use the skandhas, ayatanas and dhatus to deconstruct self-grasping
and realize the wisdom of selflessness.
In the Second Turning we find Avalokiteshvara exploring this even futher
in the Heart Sutra:
At
that time, the Blessed One entered the meditative absorption on the varieties
of phenomena called the appearance of the profound. At that time as well, the noble
Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva, the great being, clearly beheld the practice
of the profound perfection of wisdom itself and saw that even the five
aggregates are empty of intrinsic existence.
The Heart Sutra starts by stating that the Buddha
entered into meditative absorption called the appearance of the profound. Profound here is emptiness, the appearance of
emptiness. It is profound because it is
not easily realized, that it is beyond concepts and ideas about how things
exist. In the First Turning, we used the
five skandhas to uproot self-grasping, but here Avalokiteshvara is saying that
even the five skandhas or aggregates are empty of intrinsic existence. The teachings of the Second Turning examine
not only the selflessness of the person, but also of all phenomena. In order
for bodhisattvas who aspire to realize this perfection of wisdom Shariputra and
Avalokiteshvara engage in discussion on how to practice the perfection of
wisdom. Avalokiteshvara expands on the
practice saying bodhisattvas should see clearly in this way:
Form
is emptiness, emptiness is form;
Emptiness
is not other than form, form too is not other than emptiness.
This famous verse describes the Middle Way free
from extremes. We should analyze that
form is empty of inherent existence, eliminating the extreme of eternalism or
existence. We should also analyze that
emptiness is form, eliminating the extreme of nihilism or non-existence. The last two verses reiterate this union of
appearance and emptiness.
In order to clarify the view of
emptiness as presented in the Prajnaparamita Sutras, Nagarjuna wrote his famous
Mula-Madhyamakakarika, or the Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way. In it, he presents the teachings on the two
truths, conventional and ultimate truth, so that we can eliminate doubt and
uncertainty about the view of emptiness.
In Nagarjuna’s Mula-madhyamakakarika:
The
Buddha’s teaching of the Dharma
Is
based on two truths:
A
truth of worldly convention,
And
an ultimate truth. XXIV.8
Those
who do not understand
The
distinction between these two truths
Do
not understand
The
Buddha’s profound teaching. XXIV.9
Without
depending on the conventional truth,
The
meaning of the ultimate cannot be taught.
Without
understanding the meaning of the ultimate,
Nirvana
is not achieved. XXIV.10
Nagarjuna’s presentation of the two truths reveal our
confusion about the way that things appear versus the way that they actually
exist. Things appear very solid,
concrete and independent. We appear as
independent autonomous selves. But if
you examine the nature of the self or of phenomena, you find that self is
actually dynamic, connected and interdependent.
Traditionally there are Four Great
Arguments of the Madhayamaka or Middle Way that logically establish all
phenomena as being empty of inherent existence.
1.
Vajra
Splinters, investigating the cause.
2.
Investigation
of the result.
3.
Chariot
argument, being neither one nor many.
4.
Great
Interdependence.
Nagarjuna’s famous tetralemma forms
the basis for the Vajra Splinter argument and refutes production or arising
from any of the four alternatives:
Neither
from itself, nor from another,
Nor
from both,
Nor
without a cause,
Does
anything anywhere, ever arise. I.1
For our purposes, the easiest and perhaps best
method of establishing emptiness is the Argument of Great Interdependence. This king of reasonings includes all of the
other logical arguments because it examines the seemingly real appearances of
dependent origination. According to the
Middle Way as presented by Nagarjuna, all the illusory appearances of dependent
origination and emptiness arise as the union of the conventional and ultimate
truths. In the Mula-Madhyamakakarika:
That
which is dependent origination
Is
explained to be emptiness.
That,
being a dependent designation,
Is
itself the middle way. XXIV.18
There
does not exist anything
That
is not dependently arisen.
Therefore
there does not exist anything
That
is not empty. XXIV.19
Nagarjuna makes it clear that whatever is
dependently originated is empty of inherent existence, form is emptiness. To be dependently originated and to have some
kind of independent existence are logical contradictions that cannot be
maintained once they are revealed. The
wisdom of the two truths illuminates our confusion about how phenomena exist
versus how they appear to us. This
simple insight that all phenomena arise dependently based on causes and
conditions reveals the nature of suffering, how that suffering arises and
whether we are able to eliminate it, as well as the actual path to be free from
suffering. As Nagarjuna states in his Mula-Madhyamakakarika:
Whoever
sees dependent arising
Also
sees suffering,
And
its origin,
And
its cessation, as well as the path.
XXIV.40
For
whom emptiness makes sense,
Everything
makes sense.
For
whom emptiness does not make sense,
Nothing
makes sense. XXIV.14
The correct view of emptiness is not that
complicated. Logically we can see that
it is relatively easy to establish that all phenomena are empty of inherent
existence. But to fully appreciate this
profound wisdom we have to move beyond a simple intellectual understanding,
beyond mere logic and conceptual analysis.
We need to apply this view of emptiness to our own mind and our own
experience. Like the Buddha in the Heart
Sutra, we need to meditate on the appearance of the profound.
In the Heart Advice, Younge Khachab Rinpoche encourages us to apply
the two truths to our own mind and experience, for this is truly the doorway to
the Middle Way. It is not necessary to
undergo extensive philosophical and logical analysis, we simply need to carry a
direct understanding of the union of dependent origination and emptiness, or
appearance and emptiness, into our own meditation.
Focusing on our own mind, Rinpoche
teaches the view of emptiness with five features- profound, peaceful, free of
elaboration, luminous clarity, and uncompounded. By recognizing this view of emptiness with
five features in our own meditation and relying on the union of shamatha and
vipassana, we can enter into absorption on the appearance of the profound and
realize the perfection of wisdom, the essence of the Middle Way.
