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Essence of the Heart Sutra
The 5 Aspects of existence: form, feeling, perception, mental formation and consciousness
Among more than countless beings in this world,
only a handful of them are ''enlightened ones''
who have understood the ultimate truth in life
We refer to each of them as ''Buddha''
Let's presume that the world they live in
as ''The Other Shore''
Most of the rest of all sentient beings
mistake the real essence of life
and live in distorted illusions of this world
Let's call their world ''This Shore''
People who live on This Shore are
preoccupied with the subjective ego-self
At any space and time they happen to be in,
they hold onto their sense of ego-self
like a needle falling into a bucket of water
not willing to dissolve into the water of space and time.
As long as the ego-self, "I", exists, discriminations in this space and time exist,
such as good vs. bad
high status vs. low status
As long as the ego-self exists there is ''they''.
Through a person's own senses,
eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind
information is received from the external world.
Sight, sound, smell, taste touch and all other phenomena
these information enter
a person's inner world.
After the information is transferred
to the cortex of the brain,
it is stored in the information center,
and then compared and contrasted.
New information is compared with existing information
and the ego-self's ever-changing emotional values are added
to analyze, deduce and reason.
And finally, it comes to the decision to act.
Therefore, these inner responses and decision-making processes
produce their results.
This inner world is ever-changing in response to external stimuli
and is referred to as sensations perceptions, decisions and awareness.
All of the external world
including the self's own physical body
which is outside of the inner mind is referred to as the material world
The external material world
and the sensations, perceptions decisions and awareness
of the inner world
are referred to as ''the five aspects of existence''.
All living beings exist in the relative world
of ego-self and objects
Therefore, there is the contrast of big vs. small
Beauty vs. ugliness
The mind distinguishes fortune from misfortune
When people live with this attitude
of separating ego-self from time and place
we refer this phenomenon as living in the ''REALM OF FORM''
Emptiness
The enlightened ones
who live spiritually on The Other Shore
have a different attitude toward their lives in this world
Whatever place they happened to live in
they dissolve themselves into that space without any ego involvement.
Whatever time they happened to live in
they dissolve into that time without any ego involvement as well.
"A nice hot day. Perfect for sun bathing"
When an enlightened one observes flowers
"I am the flower. I am the fragrance"
When an enlightened one listens to the rain
"I am the rain I am the sound of the rain"
When an enlightened one gets born grows old, gets sick and dies.
"I am birth! I am aging!"
"I am sickness! I am death!"
An enlightened one lets go of the ego
and sincerely embraces all changes in the external world.
And mindfully appreciates any moment of space and time
An enlightened one's attitude toward living in this world
is like a grain of salt dissolving into a bucket of water
A grain of salt dissolves into water as countless molecules.
Although the ego-self disappears
every part of the water is salty.
In the water bucket of space and time,
there is no more ego-self to be found.
Instead, it has dissolved into one with the entirety of space and time
An enlightened one is like endless light
that fills up all space
Like an endless life-span that lasts throughout all time.
We refer to this attitude
of high consciousness in living as:
Emptiness!
Form and Emptiness
If the world is like a big meadow
and everyone is a blade of grass.
If you consider yourself to be a tiny blade of grass,
you are living in the ''Realm of Form'' on This Shore
"I am a tiny blade of grass!"
If you consider yourself to be one with the meadow,
then you are living in the ''Realm of Emptiness'' on The Other Shore.
"I am the meadow!"
If the world is like a vast ocean
and everyone is a drop of water.
If you consider yourself to be a drop of water,
you are living in the "Realm of Form".
I am one drop of water in a vast ocean
If you consider yourself
to be one with the vast ocean
then you are living in the "Realm of Emptiness".
"I am the vast ocean!"
The so-called This Shore and The Other Shore are
as a matter of fact in the same physical space and time
"How boring..."
"How serene..."
The only difference lies in the mindset (This Shore or The Other Shore)
adopted by those living in any particular space and time.
And thus the quality of life between them differ significantly.
"How noisy..."
"What a delightful sound!"
Therefore, the Buddha Shakyamuni says :
"Form is not different from Emptiness."
"Emptiness is not different from form."
"Form is Emptiness and Emptiness is Form."
A human being in any space and time
should be like a grain of salt dissolved in a bucket of water.
The moment a grain of salt lands into a bucket of water,
there is ego-self and there is water.
"I am a grain of salt!"
After it dissolves into the water,
there is no more pure salt or pure water.
Ego disappears
as self dissolves into every part of that particular space and time.
Every part of the water has me I am one with the water.
"Dissolve the ego-self into a bucket of water."
"You therefore possess the entire bucket of water."
"Dissolve the ego-self into the space and time you happen to be in"
"and you possess the entire space and time."
"Most people are always"
"carrying the burden of the past"
"and anticipating the future while missing life at the present moment."
"Be a person who dissolves into the present moment"
"Do not be a slave who carries the burden of the past"
"and anticipates the future"
"Be like a boat that flows in time and space"
Wherever the water flows to, the boat will there at the same place too
wherever the boat is at, the body will be there at the same place too
wherever the body is, the mind will be there at that place too
The path of enlightenment
This Chinese character represents " Space" (Up and down and in all directions)
It is inclusive of everything from the nearest to the furthest away
and thus, there is no end or boundary.
This Chinese character represents ''the beginningless of time to the present moment".
It comprises time from the first beginning to the last ending
inclusive of all time periods.
And thus, there is no starting point and no ending point in time.
When Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara utilized a selfless mindset
to obtain the most perfect and profound wisdom,
he realized that everything in the universe is of one essence
and nothing can truly exist independently.
The external material world
and one's inner sensations, perceptions, decisions and awareness
all flow and change constantly in space and time.
One should dissolve the ego of self
into the unity of space and time.
The concept and practice of being part of the universal
whole is defined as ''Emptiness''
When one understands and appreciates that everything is empty and puts this into practice,
by completely allowing oneself to immerse into the realm of emptiness.
Thereafter, there is no more hardship and misfortune
as both are sufferings generated by
the distorted viewpoint of the ego-self.
Buddha Shakyamuni said to his disciple Sariputra:
"Sariputra"
"We often see external entities as completely independent and separated from us."
"In reality, all objects are one with the same ultimate essence"
"and this essence is inseparable from any entities."
"Nothing can be independent of this ultimate essence"
"And this includes your body and mind, as well as sensations"
"are all part of this essence."
"This ultimate essence of the universe is refered to as "emptiness" "
"All entities you see may be referred to"
"as form"
"As a result, Emptiness and Form are not different"
"Form is Emptiness, and Emptiness is Form"
"Both are not different from each other"
"This is also the case for all our sensations"
"perceptions, decisions and awareness."
"They are all included in the essence of emptiness."
"Sariputra, all of your observations and opinions originate"
"from the point of view of the ego-self!"
"Phenomena such as Birth and Death,"
"Beauty and Ugliness"
"Abundance and scarcity"
"are all generated from one's individual point of view!"
"Thus, if you are able to see the world without any particular viewpoint or pre-existing attitudes"
"When I observe a flower, I am mindful of the flower."
"When I observe a butterfly I am mindful of the butterfly"
"At any time"
"you can dissolve the ego-self into that particular time"
"At any space,"
"you can dissolve the ego-self into that space"
"When I am in the water, I am mindful of the water"
"When I am with a school of fish I mindful of these fishes"
"Transform the ego-self into countless molecules"
"and dissolve into any space and time you happen to be in"
"All this time there is no more separated ego-self"
"and no more separated universe phenomena, space and time."
"This is like a grain of salt dissolved into a bucket of water"
"Although the grain of salt has disappeared, Every part of the water is now a bit salty"
"No more pure salt and no more pure water"
"They became one complete whole"
"As such, there are no more activities of the ego-self"
"No more use of the six senses to view the external world from an ego-self"
"And thus one will not have all of the distorted information"
"obtained from the senses"
"No attempt to understand ''death'' from the standpoint of ''life'' "
"no illusion of ''presence'' from the standpoint of ''absence'' "
"Without distorted viewpoints,"
"there will be no more discrimination."
"There will be no such thing as ''causes'' "
"and therefore no such thing as the cultivation of seeds (causes) "
"There will be no such thing as ''result'' "
"and therefore, no such concern as ''harvesting the fruit (results) ''
"The meaning of life is found"
"in completely dissolving into the process of living"
"and no longer focusing on any specific goals in mind"
"With such an understanding,"
"one will no longer be troubled by the problems of aging and death"
(1) Understanding what Suffering is
(2) Discovering the Origin of Suffering
(3) Arriving at the Cessation of Suffering
(4) Practicing the Path to the End of Suffering."
"These are the Four Noble Truths"
"When we understand the true nature of existence"
"which is an ever-changing and endless cycle of life and death"
"and when we dissolve into this process of existence"
"there are no more problems of birth, aging, sickness and death"
"And no more Four Noble Truths."
"This principle appears profound"
"However, there is nothing profound about it"
"This principle clearly lies in front of everyone's eyes"
"It is just that most beings are ignorant of it"
"One who practices this principle would appear to have a lot to gain."
"But what is there to be gained?"
"This principle basically exists the as way it is"
"it is just that most people don't know how to use it"
The enlightened ones have realized these principles
and clearly see everything as they truly are.
The enlightened mind is therefore freed
and no longer influenced by distorted points of view
After letting go of one's ego-self and the sense of discrimation,
one no longer possesses fear, desire and fantasy.
and no longer lives a life influenced by a distorted point of view
"Because an enlightened one knows that all distortions"
"of existence are generated from an ego's selfish viewpoint."
"Therefore, an enlightened one's mind is like the water in a lake"
"which gradually settles down from muddiness"
"to complete clarity and serenity"
"This is what is meant by The Other Shore"
"All enlightened ones"
"from the past, present, and future"
"follow this kind of wisdom to reach"
"from This Shore of worldly life"
"to The Other Shore of highest consciousness"
"Cleansing oneself of all distorted attitudes and illusions"
"means fully reaching The Other Shore"
"Therefore, we should know that"
"such utmost and perfect wisdom"
"is a method of ultimate illumination"
"A method of supreme excellence"
"and an outstanding method without comparisons!"
"This approach can alleviate all suffering and free one from delusions"
"generated from distorted viewpoints"
"This method is realistic and practical"
"Everybody can adopt it to reach The Other Shore"