GƯƠM BÁU TRAO TAY _ Handing Down the Precious Sword (Song ngữ)

[trantu]

Once I talked to a monk regarding my question about “beings”, he answered briefly “those who depend on causes and conditions to come into being” and that was all he said. But to me that was enough, that was very clear; after long periods of searching and pondering, my concerns finally resolved. Now I understand why Zen masters used to demand that their disciples pound rice, fetch water and cut wood for many years without any semblance of teachings, until the disciple internalized a sense of maturity. Like in the old days when an apprentice wanted to learn from a master alchemist, the master would examine the disciple from every angle before proceeding to teach him skills on how to cut herbs, shed, pound and cook them… only after five to seven years would the disciple be allowed to check pulses and prescribe remedies because a minor mistake can be fatal! And when he succeeds, the master might even give him his daughter’s hand in marriage! So we can say that the context of “beings” here is not what we typically understand but refer to the causes and conditions linking up with one another and coming together, or coming into ‘being’, that is why we call them “beings”. As the chanced meeting ends, so does the act of ‘being’. In Buddhist studies we cannot rely on words alone, nor can we depart from them…

In the latter parts of the Diamond Sutra, it is said clearly that “the beings are not beings”. We are acquainted now with the “it is no…, therefore it is called…” phrasing in this sutra. This kind of saying, this unconventional, beyond-the-thinking language helps us to refute false tenets and to destroy concepts which have long been frozen in our cortex. To be liberated, a man must first free himself from his extremely solid concepts and perceptions into which, as in a spider’s web, he is entangled, caught up, hampered and unable to move.

[trantu]

4. That is the way it is but it does not appear so.

Once we understand “beings are not beings, therefore they are called beings,” we thought we held the password to enter the Diamond Sutra vaults, but that in fact is not the case, because that it the way it is but it doesn’t appear so.

Let’s revisit the previous episode during which the “precious sword” was being handed down. Seeing scores of people in amazement by his beyond-the-thinking language, the Buddha asked “Why is that?” Then he affirmed: “Because if a Bodhisattva still holds on to the arbitrary illusions of form or phenomena such as an ego, a personality, a being, or a life , then that person is not a Bodhisattva”.

Once again I was dumfounded! I expected an explanation from the Buddha, but what he said seemed to be of no relevance to what was said previously. May be there is something mysterious here.


Initially, I thought about the first, second and third person in singular and plural in the past, present and future as in the grammatical verbs conjugation in order to mark the relativeness between the self with the others, with time and space, but it seemed that was not the way it is! Then I thought that it might be a 3-dimensional chart and a curved line representing the time on which each individual affirms his present status in society, his connection with other “beings” at a certain point, but that still was not right either! What was it then? It took me a long time to realize it: That is the no-self state of a practitioner on his way toward liberation! The practitioner must “meditate on the emptiness of the five aggregates” (skandas) – the true no-self – in order to “overcome all ills and sufferings” [The Heart Sutra].
But he must first overcome all ills and sufferings for himself, then be able to help others to be a worthy Bodhisattva. So this is a compulsory, necessary condition in order to…

This “no-self” doctrine is rather elusive! Even if it is possible to use logic, philosophy of interdependency, of emptiness to understand the meaning of “no-self”, but it is only the result of a theoretic, conceptual body of knowledge. Here, the no-self is a state, a realm that the practitioner can perceive through a long and consistent practice, the meditation!

[trantu]

Meditation exists from time immemorial. When prince Siddharta was still very young, he would sit shaded under a tree to observe the laborers in the distant paddy fields, and unknowingly attained the first dhyana state.

Later, on the path of enlightenment, he studied under two of the foremost meditation masters of his time, and in a short time mastered the 8 dhyana absorptions up to the “neither perception-nor-non-perception” stage, but still did not find peace and yearned to search for a path to call his own, so he left them! It was only when he attained the ninth dhyana realm “the absorption of complete extinction of sensation and perception” that lead to the stage of “all-knowing”, to the “Buddha-hood” in which every delusion vanished. In other words, the dhyana “extinction of sensation and perception” is the only remedy to heal all inflictions and sufferings at their roots, while the previous process only treated the symptoms superficially as and where it was needed and cannot prevent the recurrence of diseases. To treat a disease at its root is to heal it thoroughly, without any risk of recurrence or post-treatment sequela.

The term “extinction” in “dhyana of extinction of sensations and perceptions” does not mean “extinguish (annihilate)” them but prevent them from development further. Destroying a tumor is not as good as preventing it from developing in the first place. Prevention is better than cure. In short, to be worthy of being a Bodhisattva, one must successfully endure this path. In other word, a Bodhisattva must thoroughly “deeply practice meditation” to attain the no-self state. He must relinquish all attachment to the illusions of form or phenomena such as an ego, a personality, a being or a life-span. He must also relinquish all discrimination, all seizing – then he can serenely stroll into the bustle of the market place of the world, immune to any affliction, without fear of being contaminated.

[trantu]

Fortunately, if we listen carefully, we will hear that the Buddha instructed Subhuti very precisely “The Great Bodhisattva should subdue their mind in this way”. All the Great Bodhisattvas have practiced in “that way” to control their minds. As for…“rookie” or lesser Bodhisattvas… please do not be in a hurry. We still must take steps, have patience, strive diligently and persevere … the enduring paths ahead!

“The Buddha told Subhuti”, as a reminder to all who wish to join the Bodhisattva’s path that they cannot allow themselves to skip meditation. Without meditation (or concentration) it is difficult to have wisdom. The ethical disciplines lead to concentration, concentration to wisdom, and vice versa. It is an equilateral triangle with two directions: onward and backward. In my opinion, ethical disciplines, concentration and wisdom are specific antidotes for greed, aversion and delusion; the ethical disciplines to counter greed, concentration to counter aversion and wisdom to counter delusion. If we only treat the symptoms… the disease will not be eradicated, it will recur with sequelae risks. So, in order to eradicate it and cure it thoroughly, one must combine the three remedies to foray the disease on 3 planes. If one focuses too much on concentration, one tends to be out of touch with the real world; on ethical disciplines, one tends to be too intransigent, too rigid; and with an imbalance of wisdom, one tends to brag…

In spite of this, these three healing drugs must be dosed according to the patient’s need. The “aversion type” tends to be over sentimental, easy to love, easy to suffer…
[In the case of]:
When injured, one keeps the arms
Refusing to be healed, to be cures of the poisonous inclination…
Rồi bị thương, người ta giữ gươm đao
Không muốn chữa, không chịu lành thú độc.
(Xuân Diệu)
We parted even before our meeting
My soul follows your shadow…
Chưa gặp nhau mà đã biệt ly
Hồn anh theo dõi bóng em đi…
(Hàn Mặc Tử)
then these situations are best treated by meditative concentration.