Heart Sutra, 28 November 2000, part 1

So our practice of listening and giving rise to wisdom will become very effective and beneficial if it’s done with the motivation of altruistic intentions. To develop a compassion here, with conjunction with the special insight, wishing that both self and other sentient beings be free from all the sufferings and their causes and I will take all the responsibility to free them from all the sufferings and through this meditate or develop compassion. And then, wish both self and other sentient beings to have entire happiness in their causes and shall take all the all the responsible to bring all bring self and others towards the happiness. Through this meditate on love. And then develop a special altruistic intention or a bodhicitta, enlightened mind, wishing that I shall attain enlightenment in order to free all the self and others from all the suffering and bring them to a state of ultimate happiness.

So, for that purpose I shall here listen to this essence teaching of Mahāyāna, Heart Sūtra, and bring all the hearing into contemplation and meditation. Through this I shall benefit both self and others. And with this motivation, we shall do short meditation. The Lord Buddha Śākyamūni has set forth so called three ever liberated doors during the teaching of emptiness. So we shall here go through the three liberated ever liberated door today in this class.

So we have set forth the five paths, five Mahāyāna paths in the earlier classes. The five paths are path of accumulation, preparation, path of seeing, path of meditation and the path of no more learning or no more training. About the first two and how one meditates or cultivates meditation on emptiness during the first two parts, the accumulation and the preparation part, we have briefly explained about how the practitioner performed the practices of emptiness during those two parts briefly. So, the text, the Heart Sūtra set forth from the beginning, it begins from the form is emptiness, emptiness, the form is empty or emptiness, and the emptiness is formed. These two explains explains how and explains and teaches one how to protect oneself from falling into two ends, which means to extinct, the eternalism and the nihilism.

So the first one, the form is empty, which avoids ones from falling into eternalism, and the emptiness is formed, help one to avoid ones from falling from nihilism. So that by training in these two, which one leads into the middle part. And then the next two forms, say the first one is form is emptiness, then emptiness. Form. And the next two are emptiness is not other than form, and form is not other than emptiness.

Those two means So those two, the form is emptiness is not other than the form and form is not other than emptiness, which implies that the form and the emptiness of the form are one in entity or in nature but exist exist different in nominal terms. For example, it is like the flower and the metal in Tibetan word which means flower. So the flower and the metal metal holds one entity or one nature, but as we said that exist different in nominal terms which means they have different names. The flowers exist by its own, by its name, flower, whereas in metal it’s as metal. So they are different in nominal terms but hold the same entity.

Flower means metal. So it is like the form and the emptiness of the forms are exist different differently in nominal terms, nominally, but holds the same entity or one nature. So by basis on the form, we meditate on the four types of emptiness of the form like form is empty, emptiness is form is not other than empty, emptiness is not other than form, these are the four empties. And likewise we can take the same meditation or analysis of emptiness onto the rest of the aggregates like feelings and so forth. And so the path of accumulation of the Mahāyāna path, it has also been classified into three which means three which are the small, middling and the great.

And one or when one reaches the great path of accumulation path, one has already attained the calm abiding meditation, focusing on emptiness. So at that time during the great part of the accumulation path, as we say accumulation path has been three, small, middling and the great one. When one during the great time, the great part, one is in the calm abiding single pointed meditation on emptiness and maintaining and continuing with the single pointed meditation and after that and through this one attains what is called lhaktong, the special insight. And then by yeah. So continuously, constantly single pointedly doing meditation on emptiness on that particular path one attains special insight and after that whenever one achieves the wisdom derived from the meditation that is the time or is the criterion having attained or reached the second part which is part of preparation.

And then whenever one reaches the second path, the path of preparation, at that time or during that period one does realize the emptiness but not directly. And during that time, recall, it said the one realizes the generic image of emptiness. The one does realize emptiness but not directly. And then for the second part, the path of preparation, it has four periods which are called the four types of path of preparation called the training, the heat of the path of preparation and the peak training of the path of preparation, the forbearance or patience of path of preparation, and the last one is called the supreme practice or the supreme Dharma of the path of preparation. So when one reaches the last one of those four, which is the supreme Dharma of the path of preparation, it is considered that one has reached the most ultimate or the utmost path of the ordinary being.

And then after training in all these parts of the path of preparation, the training during the heat, the peak training, forbearance, patient. And during the last one called the Supreme Dharma, during that time one again single pointedly meditates on the emptiness and one realizes the emptiness directly, which means that one, not the generic image of emptiness, one realized the emptiness directly. So one does the single pointed meditation on emptiness during the Supreme Dharma of the path of preparation, the training of the path of preparation, And during that time after the constant single pointed meditation one realizes the emptiness directly and whenever one realizes the emptiness directly is the sign or is the time or period where one has reached the third path which is path of seeing, the meaning of the seeing is that way it’s the path where one sees the emptiness. And when one reaches the third path, the path of seeing, it is very powerful, which means that the practices performed by the person who has reached the path of seeing all become very powerful or effective. Very good.

And that time the one’s wisdom is also very very good. So, and when one reaches the path of seeing, the path of seeing is the path or is the door towards the called ever liberated, ever liberated doors. So liberated which means liberation from the suffering and the disturbing emotions and the door is the door where one enters. The path of seeing is the entrance towards the liberation. So, and as for the path of ever liberated door, there are set forth to be three types of doors.

And the first one is the door which is called all the phenomena are empty of inherent existence or free of inherent existence. All the phenomenons are empty of inherent existence from their entity. For example, then here, like the flower. What it means is the flower from its entity, flower is free of inherent existence through its entity or its nature. So yeah, so the first one, the first door, example like a flower, by its own nature it is free of inherent existence.

And it’s not only the flower by its nature or its entity itself, it’s not only free of inherent existence but all the causes of the flower. We are on to the second door now. The second door is that the causes are also free of inherent existence or are, say, signless, are invalid, which means the causes of the flower are also free of inherent existence. Seeds, water, and so forth are also empty of inherent existence. It’s the second door which, the word to word which says that the causes are also signless or invalid, which means the free empty of inherent existence.

And then the third one is the results are unproduced or unproduced inherently existent which means that the flower has a cause but flower is also a cause. Flower itself is also a cause because it has results. So because, so what it means is the results, the results of the flowers are also, they are produced but they are not produced inherently, which means the results are also unproduced inherently, which shows the third door. So then briefly speaking, the wisdom we realize is that the entity of the flower is empty of inherent existence. First wisdom.

And wisdom which realizes all the causes of the flowers are also signless, which means they’re free of inherent existence. And the wisdom which realizes the results of the flowers are also free of inherent existence or unproduced, are not produced inherently. So these three wisdoms are called the three ever liberated doors. So these three wisdoms, wisdom realizing directly realizing emptiness or the door towards liberation. And whenever one attains any of those wisdoms or one can quickly or easily or very soon reach the city of nirvana or liberation when one attains any of these wisdoms.

It is like sitting or standing right next or right in front of the Buddha house main gate or main door. And it is very obvious that when one reaches there, if one walks in one can quickly or very quickly within a minute or seconds one is inside the Buddha house. So those three wisdoms are like the entrance of the Buddha house to reach inside Buddha house. So those three wisdoms a door towards liberation and when one reaches those or realizes or attains any of those wisdoms, one is like sitting next to the door. You can easily reach the liberation, city of liberation.

So for that reason these three the doors or the wisdoms are very, very important to cultivate or realize within our mind stream. Because without achieving any of those wisdoms one can’t free oneself from this cyclic existence or saṃsāra, and one undergoes to whose suffering being in saṃsāra. So therefore, therefore, therefore, the Buddha Śākyamūni has set forth the teachings of three ever liberated doors very affectionately set forth the teachings of three ever liberated doors because he wants to free sentient beings from the saṃsāra or cyclic existence. So now follow the Heart Sūtra text. Half of the blue.

You gotta. So we are dealing we have reached the third part, the path of $1, and path of seeing. And the text, the part begins from the calling Śāriputra. Listen, please. So the text starts that Śāriputra, thus all phenomenas are empty.

Means this shows the first first first door of the tree saying that that’s So the text says that Śāriputra, thus all phenomena are empty, which is saying the empty of inherent existence. And this bit, this line shows the first liberated door. And the reason why it said thus all phenomena are empty, the reason using thus is because during the person, the practitioner has been meditating single pointedly on emptiness from the previous path which is path of preparation. And then the rest, the text begins with signless, unproduced, unceased, stainless, and not stainless. These five, these five show the second door of the three ever liberated doors and which calls the door, the title is set for the door of signlessness.

And the next two shows the undiminished and the unfilled, it shows the third door which is called the door of Wishlessness. Yeah. So, the wishlessness, which I said, to word. And what the meaning of that is that the third door is, as we demonstrated by example before, the flower result and its causes, the third door is towards that its results are also free of inherent existence. So Mongpa Mepa, which is called the peerless or wishless which we say, now we wish for the result saying in future may I attain this and this and may I have this and this and so forth.

So what it means is all the results are also the free of the less which refers to us the free of empty of inherent existence or not exist inherently. So, briefly speaking, then what it means is what it mentioned all these eight, all phenomena are empty, signless, unproduced, unceased, so forth. They are eight in numbers. Briefly speaking what it means is all those phenomena are empty of inherent existence or yeah empty of inherent existence and where it is a time which we are in the path of seeing. So where one sees all the phenomena are empty of inherent existence and directly realize the emptiness in one’s single pointedly meditation on the emptiness.

So, these three are the wisdom directly realizing emptiness are very, very powerful and very effective. That they are like the fire to burn all the bushes. And so the path of seeing is the part where one a path of seeing is the very strong antidote towards the negativities or to get rid of all the negativities or the faults in terms of disturbing emotions, the calm, the bad calmness, and there’s also one called the obstructions towards omniscience. So as for the path of seeing, it has been divided into sixteen subdivisions which are called the the is Four Cognitions sorry, Eight Cognitions and the Eight Forbearance, which are called the sixteen Moments of Cognition and the Forbearance of the path of seeing. And so if the eight forbearances are the actual ones which counter, which directly apply antidote towards disturbing emotions and so forth and get rid of them.

And the eight cognitions are called awareness or the cognitions are the ones which never let all the disturbing emotions and so forth to never let them return. So so we we are in Samsāra and circles in saṃsāra and undergo the huge sufferings. And all the sufferings are caused, are the result from the disturbing emotions and so forth. And as for the disturbing emotions which lets us circles in the cyclic existence to undergo through the sufferings, for the disturbing emotions they are set forth the one hundred and twelve gross disturbing emotions. And so from the path of seeing at that time, the path of seeing is the path which is the antidote towards the disturbing emotions and so forth.

So during that path where one applies the antidote towards the one hundred and eight, so did I say one hundred and twelve before? Yeah, it is. It’s one hundred and twelve gross disturbing emotions starting from ignorance and so forth, ignorance which let us, obscures us from seeing the reality or seeing emptiness. And it also helps during the path of seeing, the path of seeing also helps us to, yeah, we also abandon or apply antidote towards the one hundred and eight, obscuration towards omniscience. The obscuration towards omniscience is the one which obscures us from seeing the true mode of existence of the phenomena.

So what it does here, what it means is the sixteen moments of cognition and the forbearance of the path of seeing, So the eight forbearances and the eight cognitions or awareness, the eight forbearances are which directly counteract or apply antidote towards those called the one hundred and twelve disturbing emotions and the one hundred and eight obscurations towards omniscience. So which directly counteracts and abandons the total in number, two hundred and twenty two, which let us circle in the cyclic existence. And the eight cognitions or the awareness is the one which locks the door and lets all the disturbances, the two hundred and twenty two in number, as I said before, be locked outside the door and never let them return or never let them inside your mind or inside the house. So, by directly applying the eight forbearances one abandons all those one hundred and twelve disturbing emotions and then the one hundred and eight obscurations towards omniscience. And the eight cognitions lock the door, shut the door which never lets all these two hundred and twenty two return, which means then they abandon entire disturbing emotions and the obscurations towards omniscience.

So the first two parts, the path of accumulation and the path of $1 are like the preparation part which actually prepare all everything. They do, yeah, it’s like preparation for the practices. One actually can’t abandon all these different emotions and so forth during the path of accumulation and the path of $1. And the next two parts, the path of seeing and the path of meditation are the two main parts where one strongly applies counteraction or applies antidote towards one hundred and twelve disturbing emotions and the one hundred and eight obscurations towards omniscience and where one strongly is very effective and powerful and where one abandons all the disturbing emotions and so forth. And then the last part is the part of so called training or no more learning is where one becomes Buddha, and abandon everything.

And then, so where we sit and also they are called the ten grounds of the Mahāyāna path, which which start those ten grounds of the Mahāyāna, ten Mahāyāna grounds which started from during or placed within those two, the path of seeing and path of meditation. So the at the the during the path of seeing where one abandons all these two hundred and twenty two folds or negative vities. And so therefore, name of the first part is called the path of disorder. The name of the first ground is called the joyous ground or joyous ground, which the reason why it’s called joyous is because during that part one abandons all the force or negativities and one is very happy to know that one is attaining or becoming enlightened very soon. So that’s the reason it’s called the joyous ground.

So somebody asked a question during the week saying what what it mean by the emptiness or empty of something something. So I just want to explain about how what the meaning of emptiness and how. So, it says the form is free of inherent existence. And which here in terms like Rangzhinki, Tongpa or Tongwa, which Tongpa can be translated as emptiness. Or here in terms of not emptiness, what it means is free of inherent existence.

So, want to explain here what it means by freeing or freeing of the inherent existence. So, it means the, for example, like a milk and a yoghurt. During the time of the milk, the milk is not a yoghurt. The yoghurt was not there. So and that one is called set forty first free, which means you’re free from the beginning.

From the very beginning it’s milk and the milk is milk and there is no yogurt at all. So that means they’re free from the beginning, which is, yeah, no. So we are talking about four entities. So first goal is free from the beginning. So which means the milk and the yogurt, and here is the yogurt.

So yogurt is free of milk. What it means is So, yeah, it means that it says the yogurt is free of milk and which is set forth the set forth the first empty, called the empty from the beginning, which means is that that that free yogurt is free of milk. It means is that yogurt doesn’t exist before the milk. So that’s the meaning of being free from the beginning, which means that the yogurt can’t be before the milk at all the time. So that’s the meaning of it.

What it means is the second empty is called the empty or free of being destroyed, which means that during the yogurt time the milk doesn’t exist because the milk has been destroyed or converted into yogurt. So, milk doesn’t exist and that is called the anti of being diminished or free of being destroyed or diminished. And the third one is called the empty of being example is like the ox or a cow is free or empty of horse because the horse is not in the ox or a cow, which is called the free or empty of not exist or not within. And the fourth one is called the emptiness of entityness, which means that, for example, like the piles of tiny little stones piled up. And from the very far distance from the very far distance, it appears or looks like a human or a person is standing.

But in in reality, in real terms, there is not a human and there’s no person. And that pile of stone is the empty of human or empty of human. That emptiness is called the emptiness of entityness. Yeah. So as we said, the fourth one is called the emptiness of entityness, which means they set forth the four terms of emptiness, which is called the first one, the non-existence at the prior time, for example, like the absence of yogurt during the time of milk, which is called the emptiness that is non-existent at the prior time, so that the non-existent towards the prior time, the yogurt is not before the milk, never been.

And the second one is called the non-existence of being after, which means after being destroyed, like milk doesn’t exist when it’s converted into yogurt. And the third one is called the non-existence of one thing in another. For example, like the cow in the horse or no horse in the cow. And the fourth one is called the non-existence of, or called the emptiness of entityness. When we say the form is empty, and that emptiness comes under the fourth emptiness which is called the emptiness of entityness, which means that the form by its nature, by its entity, it is free of inherent existence, which shows the fourth emptiness.

So one can analyze through, from the very first thing, the form is emptiness, and recall all the four empties, how the non-existence prior to the object, after being destroyed, one in another, or by its entity. And then the form is emptiness, and the emptiness of the form becomes the definitive one called because the entity, the form itself by its own entity is free of inherent existence. When one analyze through this, one can understand the emptiness swiftly. So, it is so, for example, the mistakenly by mistake, the realizing or cognizing or recognizing the pile of stones as a person from a long distance, it was the mistaken consciousness or cognition. So the pile of stones appears as human to us, but by its own entity, by its own path, it doesn’t exist in the way it appears to the mistaken consciousness.

So therefore it is called empty by its own entity, empty by its entity of being a human or a person because it is not a human. Now, so which is called the empty of entityness, and it’s also called the appearance, it’s called Mtho to be, to exist as it appears. It does not exist as it appears to the mistaken consciousness. So when we say the form is emptiness or form is empty, the actual word the form is empty, so which is talking about the first of the five aggregates, which is form or a body. So body is empty or emptiness, which means like that mistaken consciousness perceives the pile of stones as human which is mistaken. Likewise, on our mind, on our how likewise we perceive that our body or our form by its own characteristic, in real terms it does not exist inherently, inherently or yeah it doesn’t exist inherently by its own characteristic.

Therefore, like that the mistaken consciousness perceives a mistaken perceives stone as a human, we make mistakes in realizing that our form exists by its own accord or by its own characteristic. And by knowing that and taking that as an example, the pile of stone as a human, taking that as an example, apply that it just appears within our mind and our form or the form aggregate appears inherently exists by its own characteristics, but in real terms it does not exist. It’s free of being inherent existence. And by analyzing through the main subject, the form, and and taking that as an example, the stone and the person. By conjoining both the example and the main analysis through this one can develop a good understanding of emptiness and the way of freeing, of being free, of being emptiness.

Very good. Very good. And then swap or turn one’s analysis from body form towards the I. We always say I and I so forth and always think that I exist by its own accord or by its own characteristic without or exists inherently which means without depending on the label, it exists without depending on others. But like the name and the mind which label the I towards the I.

And so we perceive that eye mistakenly as thinking that it exists by its own accord or without depending on other. So analyze, take all this analysis together. So yeah, it’s very good to analyze through our practice emptiness by focusing on many topics, the actual topic and like a form in I and take all the examples along with it which facilitate once to understand the emptiness more. That’s a good thing. We will stop here.

Any questions? A couple of questions. Questions. Yes, Pamela. I can’t really hear you because of the air con, please.

Lift. It doesn’t necessarily we need to have the different words for all these. And what it means is the topic here is on the empty topic. And what it means, for example, like flower, so we have to prove the flower is free of inherent existence. So what it means is flower by its nature is free of inherent existence.

In terms of its cause it’s also free of inherent existence and from and it’s also empty of inherent existence in terms of its results as well. So therefore, so if it does exist inherently it should exist either costly or through the resultant or through by entity or its nature. So the names of the doors are called, they’re first called the door of entity list, and the door of sign list, and the door of which I had a difficult with, you say, the peerless or wish wishful peerless, which means we have given the meaning before. Yeah. Wishing, for example.

Yeah. And these three entities are captured entire compounded phenomena. For example, like I. I do not exist on I entity or I nature and the causes of the I is not inherently existent and it’s the result of the I is not inherent in existence. For example, the entity of the the Buddha house is empty or empty of inherent existence and its causes are also empty of inherent existence as well as its results are also empty of inherent.

And then, so it can also be applied so, yes, so briefly speaking then it can also be applied towards both the compounded and uncompounded phenomenons. And as for the uncompounded phenomena, they have no actual cause and result, you can still say for example like the entity of the sky or space is free of inherent existence, and because it’s an uncompounded phenomena that the space hasn’t got an actual cause. Hasn’t got an actual real cause, but it’s called the secondary or the similar cause of this space or sky which is called Namba Zhu Zhi, is that right? It’s just the appearance of the sky is called the similar cause. Not the actual, but because of the space, the aspect of the space, the sky has been designated on or the space has been designated, which are set forth as the cause but not the actual cause because it’s an uncompounded phenomenon and hasn’t got the cause but has a similar cause.

And likewise it has a similar result, but both those results and the causes are not inherently existent. Then, briefly speaking, if you really want to know through all this entire analysis, then study the logic debates. Yes. It says to be yeah. It’s I’m trying to be put in in Tibetan terms.

Right? And, in terms of, you know, the existence, we say that nothing does exist. For example, in terms of the Vaibhāṣika school, they assert about the impermanent things. They set forth in duration times, you know, the phenomena, the born, and the moment they stay or exist, and then diminish or cease. So, the Prāsaṇgika schools or the higher schools, they assert that there is no time for the existence of the phenomena.

It never stays at all. Even in every single second things never stay. It changes momentarily. And so therefore the glass of the water never exists at all. But the glass water, right?

The glass of water or a glass of water has been labeled from the beginning by pouring the water into glass from a certain time. And after that