Two general viewpoints of “emptiness” and “no-self”

© Anonymous comment to “The four kinds of nirvana states”, November 22, 2011 3:47 PM

In terms of Buddhism, the most known terms are the “emptiness空” and “no-self無我”. Here are two general viewpoints of “emptiness” and “no-self”:

Firstly from the Hinayana viewpoint, if we observe further into the five aggregates, analyzing our ever changing thoughts, sensations, and body functions which are indeed dependent arising from one second to another according to the supporting conditions; we are slowly and surely moving towards our cessation of this life. What am “I”? From a stance of eternity, we were born to existence and will die some day. The fact is whatever was brought forth on earth will eventually cease to exist, because all things belong to a dharma of arising and ceasing有生必有滅. Within the Three Realms, all manifestations are of conditional phenomena, thus they are variable, impermanent, and will eventually become empty; thus for an individual, it is called “no-self” in the Three Realms. The most popular four-line verses in the “Diamond Sutra” are:

All conditional dharmas
Are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, or shadows;
Like drops of dew, or flashes of lightning;
Thus should they be contemplated.

To avoid the misinterpretation of “emptiness” into nothingness, the Buddha also stated in the “Diamond Sutra” that “Those who can see the non-phenomenon beyond all phenomena are those who truly see Tathagata.” Here is one of the core indications to the true reality that the Buddha nature is without any form or appearance; it manifests together with the name-and-form; if the ones who are able to see through the name-and-form, those are the ones who see the true reality.

Yet the mundanely “emptiness” is derived from the impermanent and illusory dharma nature of the Three Realms; this is a sense of so-called “emptiness”, but not a true “emptiness.”

Secondly from the Mahayana viewpoint, the Alayavijnana possesses its own nature that does not belong to any characteristic within the Three Realms. It exists independently since beginningless eons and is not a conditional arising dharma, so it will never cease to exist. It does not respond to the worldly six-sense objects; it is neither-seeing-nor-hearing (no sensation functions), neither-perceiving-nor-knowing (no logical thought or understanding). In other words, the Buddha nature is the everlasting true “no-self” because it does not reflect or contemplate to its own function or existence. In terms of emptiness, the Alayavijnana is eternally in a state of true “emptiness” because it does not arise to manifestation prior to cessation as all phenomena do within the Three Realms. Yet it possesses its own emptiness-nature which functions unceasingly either in nirvana or within the Three-Realms.

1 comment:

  1. Q: Can an arhat become a Buddha?
    A: The answer is “yes” and “no,” it depends.
    For a fixed-nature arhat 定性聲聞阿羅漢, he is afraid of losing all his current attainment when proceeding into next life due to the loss of memory during reincarnation (胎昧); he will not take any risk in his future lives. So the fixed-nature arhat will enter nirvana after death and cannot become a Buddha.

    As the Buddha is able to see through every individual’s mind and nature, He would preach to all arhats the wondrous connotation of the Buddhahood-Way before their time (entering nirvana), hoping to sow the seeds of the Mahayana nature into the arhats’ Alayavijnana. Most arhats would eventually change their mind to practice the Mahayana (迴心大乘) and will not enter nirvana; some of them would still enter the remainderless nirvana after their death. However, the chance is there that in the state of remainderless nirvana, the Alayavijnana remains its functional distinctions of flowing, after immeasurable eons, the stored memory-seeds of the Buddha’s teachings would initiate the rise of the seventh vijnana, then a new being would be born in the three realms.
    Then the possibility exists that this individual might eventually become a Buddha.