Spectators are terrified when a magical elephant charges at them; the magician sees the elephant but knows it is not real and thus is not afraid. Latecomers see only sticks and stones and wonder what all the fuss is about. Similarly, sentient beings react with attachment and aversion to the false appearances they believe are true. In post-meditation, aryas and those who have realized emptiness inferentially see the appearance of truly existent things but, knowing they are false, remain calm and do not respond with attachment, aversion, fear, or any other disturbing emotion. Aryas in meditative equipoise on emptiness perceive only the ultimate nature — emptiness.
112.An illusory elephant does not come from anywhere,
nor go anywhere;
since it is merely [a manifestation of] mental confusion,
it does not ultimately exist.
113.So too the world, like a magical illusion,
does not come from anywhere nor go anywhere;
since it is merely [a manifestation of] mental confusion,
it does not ultimately exist.
In fact, illusory horses and elephants don’t come from anywhere and don’t go anywhere even though actual horses and elephants appear to parade around to spectators. Just as the audience is befuddled by the magical substance and mantra and believes that real horses and elephants are there, in the same way, ordinary beings are confused and deceived by ignorance. A truly existent world and truly existent people appear to them, and they believe them to be real when in fact they do not exist at all.
How would understanding that things are like illusions influence our lives and our interactions with the world? Words that we previously considered offensive or insulting would no longer elicit an angry response from us. The prospect of inheriting wealth or meeting the ideal person would no longer spark selfish desire and yearning. We would stop comparing ourselves to others in a way that makes jealousy or arrogance surge in us. Seeing all these things as like illusions and similarly seeing ourselves as like an illusion, we would remain balanced and able to interact with others without being obscured by attachment or aversion.
114.The nature of the world transcends all three times.
Except for [being designated in] conventional terms,
how could it be ultimately
either existent or nonexistent?
Everything Is Only Designated by Name
Since they do not truly arise and cease in the past, present, or future, objects and people are mere conceptual designations. They are not found in their bases of designation or separate from their bases of designation. Like illusions, they appear and they do things, but they are neither ultimately existent nor totally nonexistent. They exist by mere name; they are mere appearances. Like illusions, there is nothing really there that we can point to and say, “This is the world” or “This is the person.”
115.For this reason and no other,
the Buddha said that [the world] was indeterminate
with regard to four aspects —
having or not having an end, both, or neither.
Therefore the Buddha Didn’t Make a Statement Regarding the Four Extremes
The four alternatives — the world has a truly existent end, doesn’t have an end, both, or neither — were propounded by different philosophical systems in ancient India, and today some people have similar ideas. Since the world transcends these four extremes, the Buddha did not make any statement about them.
Members of the Charvaka School — also called the Lokayatas or “Hedonists” — accept that the world has an end. They assert that a truly existent person exists in this life but at the time of death completely ceases to exist, like the flame of a candle whose wax has been consumed. There is no continuity of the person into the next life. Giving the reason that they can’t see past and future lives, the Charvakas deny their existence.
Samkhyas (Enumerators) propound that the person does not have an end because it is permanent and does not cease. They propose that a permanent person exists and goes from the past life to this life and from this life to future lives, endlessly.
The Jains (Nirgranthas) say the person both has an end and doesn’t have an end. The person is life and is the same size as the body. Its nature is permanent, but since it changes states it is also impermanent. This is similar to thinking that, overall, I am exactly the same person as yesterday, yet a few things about me are different.
A Buddhist sect called the Vatsiputriya states that the person neither has an end nor doesn’t have an end. The person is such that no specific existential state of having an end or not having one can be determined. The person is a self-sufficient substance but its properties cannot be explicitly determined.
All of these philosophies are based on the notion that a person exists from its own side. Their proponents must assert a truly existent person because otherwise they do not know how to posit the process of karma bringing its results. For them a person that exists as a mere designation could not possibly create karma and go on to a future life where it experiences the result of its karma. Since they stubbornly hold on to wrong views, none of these people could benefit from the Buddha explaining selflessness to them. However, he could not answer their questions by going along with their assumption that the world and the person truly exist.
116.The impurity of the body is obvious —
it is an object of direct perception:
although one can see it constantly,
it does not remain in one’s mind.
117.If that is the case, then how could this
extremely subtle, profound, and unlocated holy Dharma,
which is not directly perceptible,
easily enter into one’s mind?
Why It Is Difficult to Realize the Profound
We will look at verse 117 first. The Dharma of highest good is difficult for those who aren’t suitable vessels to understand, because to do so, they must realize the nonexistence of the conceived object of true-grasping. Due to their strong true-grasping, ordinary people have a hard time understanding that nothing exists in the way true-grasping holds it to exist.
Sentient beings can’t directly see things such as subtle impermanence or gross and subtle selflessness with their sense faculties. These must be realized by depending on a sign that has the three criteria — the property of the subject, the subsequent pervasion, and the reverse pervasion. In other words, a syllogism with a perfect reason must be employed and properly understood in order to have a correct conceptual understanding of subtle impermanence and of emptiness. After realizing impermanence and selflessness inferentially, we must meditate on them single-pointedly to realize them directly. These topics require deep contemplation and perfect reasoning; there is no easy way for ordinary people to understand them. Even hearing the words “syllogism” and “three criteria” is intimidating to some people, so how can this holy Dharma easily enter their minds?
In comparison to the difficulty of comprehending these subtle topics, it is easier to understand the unclean nature of the body spoken of in verse 116. Everything that comes out of the body — from our eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth, skin pores, excretory orifices, and reproductive orifices — is unclean. As soon as we see these substances, we want to wash them away. That our body is unclean is easy to realize; these filthy substances are coarse objects that can be known with direct sensory perception — we see, smell, and touch them. It is not necessary to make a perfect syllogism as is necessary to initially understand subtle impermanence and emptiness.
Yet ordinary beings in general don’t realize that the body is unclean and instead perversely conceive of it as clean. This misconception and three others — conceiving feelings as pleasant, the mind as permanent, and phenomena as self-existent — make up a group called the four distorted conceptions. Because of these we constantly engage in various destructive actions. Even if we have some understanding of the filthy nature of the body, it doesn’t remain in our mind; we quickly forget and return to seeing the body as pu
re and a source of pleasure.
It is no wonder that it is difficult for us to realize profound emptiness when we consider that even though it is relatively easy to realize the body is unclean, this awareness doesn’t stay in our minds for long.
118.Hence, having attained awakening,
the Sage realized that since this Dharma was so profound,
people would not understand it;
so he refrained from teaching the Dharma.
Why the Buddha Didn’t Teach the Profound to Unsuitable Vessels
Just after he attained awakening, the Buddha said, “I have found the nectar of the deathless, a Dharma that is profound, peaceful, free of elaborations, clear light, and unconditioned. Since whomever I teach this to will not be able to understand it, for a while I will stay in the forest and be silent.” For forty-nine days, he didn’t manifest turning the wheel of Dharma of the four truths of the aryas for ordinary trainees.
The Dharma he spoke of was emptiness. Emptiness is profound because it is not obvious and must initially be realized by employing reasoning. It is peaceful because by meditating on it, the afflictions in our mindstream are pacified. It is free of elaborations because it is free of the appearance of true existence. It is clear light, because the nature of the mind, for example, is not stained by true existence. It is unconditioned in that it is not unstable and does not arise and cease due to fluctuating conditions.
119.If this Dharma is misunderstood,
it will ruin the unwise,
for they will sink deeply
into the filth of nihilistic views.
120.And from misunderstanding this,
fools who presume themselves pundits,
ruined by their denial of it,
plummet straight down to Avici hell.
The Disadvantages of Misconceiving the Profound
Someone says, “If the profound is easy, there’s not much purpose in the Buddha explaining it. If it is difficult to understand, he should explain it repeatedly with many reasons.”
Again the question arises about who should be taught emptiness, and the disadvantages that ensue from teaching it to inappropriate vessels. Emptiness should not be taught to the unwise — those who are not intelligent in the way of Dharma — because they would not understand it; they would think that if things don’t inherently exist, they do not exist at all. They then will think the Three Jewels don’t exist and lose their refuge; they will believe that the law of karma and its effects doesn’t exist and will not live in accord with precepts. Misunderstanding the causes for the truth body and enjoyment body of a buddha, they will give up their practice. Such a reaction to the teaching of emptiness confirms their inability to think properly about emptiness. It destroys their chances of having a higher rebirth and attaining the highest good of liberation and awakening. They will be ruined by committing a grave error and as a result will experience great suffering, and they will live in the filth of the lower realms as a result of holding such wrong views.
Emptiness should also not be taught to arrogant people who have an inflated sense of their intelligence — or as Nagarjuna refers to them, “fools who presume themselves pundits.” These people arrogantly consider themselves highly educated and intelligent, yet they, too, misunderstand the meaning of emptiness. Some think that emptiness means total nonexistence, while others think that the emptiness of inherent existence isn’t the ultimate nature of all phenomena. In this way they, too, abandon emptiness. Practicing emptiness incorrectly they cannot attain a perfect result. Both are ruined by their denial of emptiness and consequently plummet straight to the hell of unceasing torment. Because their minds cannot properly understand the meaning of emptiness, explaining it to them does not help them, and in fact, it harms them.
If you find that you do not appreciate the meaning of emptiness and are unsure if it is the ultimate truth, or if you are going in the direction of thinking that nothing exists at all, it is better to leave emptiness aside for the time being with a sense of equanimity. Do not push yourself to understand it, but focus instead on other Dharma topics and practices that you find help you to tame your mind.
This advice is specifically for those who think they are going down the path to nihilism. However, when we think about emptiness it is quite natural to sometimes wonder, “What is this ‘not inherently existent’ all about? If things are not inherently existent, do refuge and karma all become nonexistent?” It is normal to ask yourself such things. But once you are in the process of making up your mind that things do not exist at all, you should just leave contemplating emptiness aside for a while. Meditate on bodhichitta or study other topics instead.
Someone asks, “It is said that except for aryas’ wisdom of meditative equipoise directly realizing emptiness, all consciousnesses of sentient beings are mistaken in that they have the appearance of true existence. In that case, are all the reliable consciousnesses of sentient beings mistaken?”
According to the Prasangikas, a reliable consciousness can be mistaken. A mistaken consciousness is posited according to whether the mind is mistaken with respect to its appearing object, the object that appears to it. It is not posited in relation to its conceived or apprehended objects, the object it apprehends or conceives. A mistaken consciousness does not necessarily misapprehend its conceived object. For example, a visual consciousness sees a pen. The pen appears truly existent to that mind, but that mind does not apprehend or grasp the pen as truly existent. This visual consciousness is mistaken with respect to its appearing object, a pen that appears truly existent, but is not erroneous with respect to its apprehended object, a pen. It is a reliable cognizer knowing the pen. An erroneous visual consciousness would be, for example, one seeing the green color of the pen as black due to lack of light in the room.
The pen appears truly existent to a conceptual consciousness thinking about the pen and is mistaken in that regard. However, that mind doesn’t grasp it as truly existent and is a reliable cognizer of the pen. Nevertheless, a mental consciousness that is attached to the pen and thinks “That is my pen!” is both mistaken regarding its appearing object and erroneous regarding its conceived object, because the pen appears truly existent to it and it grasps the pen as truly existent.
Bodhichitta, compassion, love, and the inferential realization of emptiness are all mistaken consciousnesses in that their objects appear truly existent. However, they are not erroneous consciousnesses such as thinking a scarecrow is a person or thinking that phenomena truly exist. They are reliable cognizers. Don’t think you shouldn’t meditate on love, compassion, and bodhichitta simply because one element of that mind is mistaken!
121.Through eating poor food,
one will come to ruin;
but by eating the right food,
one attains vigor, health, strength, and pleasure.
122.Likewise, through poor understanding,
one will come to ruin.
But through the right understanding,
one attains happiness and unexcelled awakening.
Just as we come to ruin and become severely ill if we eat spoiled food, misunderstanding emptiness brings dire results, such as rebirth in the hell realms. By eating nourishing food in proper amounts, we experience long life, good health, freedom from illness, strength, and physical and mental comfort.
An intelligent and conscientious person who is skilled at subduing snakes can apply a certain substance to a snake, cast a spell on it, and then be able to handle the snake. However, a person who doesn’t do this correctly is in great danger if he tries to handle a venomous snake — he will be bitten and fatally poisoned.
Similarly, if we don’t hear teachings on emptiness and instead follow our own ideas, or if we misunderstand the teachings we have heard, we will come to ruin spiritually, which is far more serious than eating bad food or getting bitten by a snake. However, if we meditate on emptiness properly, we will go from happiness to happiness — we will have a series of good rebirths with all the conditi
ons necessary to learn and practice the Dharma, and we will finally reach the state of peerless awakening.
123.Therefore, do not deny this Dharma,
and abandon nihilistic views.
In order to obtain all aims,
strive for perfect understanding.
The view of existence is absolutism; the view of nonexistence is nihilism. Having abandoned these two extreme views and seeing the importance of the correct view to fully accomplish the welfare of yourself and others, exert yourself in the middle way that is free of extremes. Learning how to think about emptiness properly, apply yourself to realize emptiness and to know the ultimate mode of existence. Do your best to make your life meaningful.
CAUSES AND EFFECTS OF HIGHER REBIRTH
In the first chapter Nagarjuna outlined the general causes for higher rebirth; now he again turns to the topic of higher rebirth and goes into more depth about it. Since we may not attain highest good in this life, it is important to create the causes for higher rebirth so that we will have an uninterrupted series of higher rebirths during which we can practice the Dharma and eventually attain liberation and awakening. To do this, we should act in accord with the Buddha’s teachings. For a king, that means to abandon following bad political treatises and to enact Dharma policies. Nagarjuna also discusses many practical actions to implement in daily life in order to create virtue, including the four ways of attracting others in order to introduce them to the Dharma; the four good practices to adopt — truth, generosity, peace, and wisdom; choosing companions wisely; remembering impermanence and death; and forsaking the causes of rebirth in the lower realms.
124.When this Dharma is not understood,
I-grasping continues.
Due to that, one engages in constructive and destructive karma,
and from that comes fortunate and unfortunate rebirths.
Circling in Samsara Because of Not Realizing Emptiness
When we do not understand this Dharma of emptiness, I-grasping — the view of a personal identity — will continue to arise spontaneously. Due to this, attachment will automatically arise toward objects that our inappropriate attention exaggerates as being attractive and the source of happiness. Similarly, anger will persistently arise toward experiences and objects that our inappropriate attention exaggerates as being unpleasant or threatening to our well-being. Due to attachment, anger, and other afflictions that stem from I-grasping, we will create destructive karma.
Practical Ethics and Profound Emptiness Page 18