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answer is that the nature of seeing comes first, then
consider how it can manifest itself in the absence of
form. If, on the other hand, the answer is form, then
ask yourself, how you can become aware of it with-
out your seeing nature. There is really no difference
between form and seeing; all of it is relative dharma.
The seeing nature, or the seeing consciousness, is
like this; and the hearing, smelling, tasting, touching
and knowing consciousnesses are also.
The just concluded study of form and nature accord-
ing to T ien T ai has helped us to realize that they
are inseparable, or nondual. Since the void is the
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substance of nature, it must be the substance of form
as well. Accordingly, to perceive that  Form does
not differ from the void, and the void does not differ
from form is to understand that they are insepar-
able. It is the Dharma of Nonduality.
Let me give you another example. A mirror is made
to reflect whatever is in front of it. The whatever
may be near or far, round or square, green, yellow,
red or white, or all four. The mirror will reflect all
with equal clarity. Facing clothes, the mirror will
reflect clothes; facing a table, the mirror will reflect
a table; and when made to face the sky, the mirror
will reflect it. The mirror always reflects something,
and, therefore, it is comparable to our Self Nature;
the reflection itself can be compared to dust. A
person of mundane concerns will misunderstand the
situation, hold the reflection (dust) for the real thing,
and struggle to grasp it. Who would believe that
mountains, rivers, the earth, and even the entire uni-
verse are mere reflections, or dust; and, as such, they
must all rise and vanish in the cycle of existence?
What this means is that phenomena are the Dharma
of Birth-and-Death. The mirror s reflective capacity
is like the True Nature of seeing, hearing, smelling,
tasting, and touching; and being True Suchness, it is
unmovable, so cyclic existence cannot touch it.
However, without a mirror, how can there be a re-
flection? Their relationship is immutable yet clearly
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defined in terms of sharp contrast. Similarly, form
and mind-nature are one and the same. One can
became enlightened and see one s own True Nature
by practicing this Dharma. The Surangama Sutra says:
 When you see light, your seeing is not the light;
and when you see darkness, your seeing is not the
darkness. When you see the void, seeing it is not the
void; and when you see a slab, the seeing is not the
slab. When your Absolute Seeing perceives the
essence of seeing, the former is not the latter; they
still differ from one another. Therefore, how can
your affected seeing reach that Absolute Seeing? In
the part of The Heart Sutra we are presently study-
ing, seeing applies in the first instance to subject-
seeing and in the second one to object-seeing. This
point should be cogitated and comprehended intui-
tively. Without form there is no nature because form
and nature are of the same substance and there is no
inside or outside. This is the stupendous, wonderful
Dharma of Suchness.
Let s return to the example of the bright mirror. The
worldling, unlike a Saint, is interested solely in the
reflection, never giving as much as a thought to the
mirror s reflectivity. Clinging to the reflection, the
worldling grasps an incidental occurrence on the
mirror s surface and mistakes it for the original. The
uninformed fail to understand that all that exists has
its nature: earth has earth nature; fire has fire nature;
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water has water nature; wind has wind nature; and,
consequently, the mirror has a mirror nature. Our
True Nature is also like that, and yet most people are
always confusing illusion with reality, being quite
unaware of their True Nature. They grasp at and
cling to reflections and dust. Thus, for them, the Tao
of Bodhi is difficult to attain. The Buddha made use
of many expedients while teaching the Dharma of
Truth. He repeated them over and over again so
those who listened could follow his example and
attain Enlightenment. Reflections in the mirror are
impermanent, but the mirror-nature is constant.
Reflections come and go, but the reflectivity of the
mirror remains.
The Enlightened practitioner of the Theravada trad-
ition dualistically holds form and mind to be distinct
and separate. However, a Bodhisattva of the Maha-
yana tradition, who has attained the intermediate
level of practice, views the reflection as the charact-
eristic of the mirror s nature; and so the mirror s
capacity for reflection is not dualistically held to be
separate from the reflection. There is a cohesive
bond, meaning that form and mind are inseparable.
It is the material entities that are unreal; this is what
immateriality of substance means. Although it is true
that a Bodhisattva is enlightened and the Mahayana
doctrine more accomplished than that of the Thera-
vada, there is still more that needs to be done. The
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only Complete Enlightenment is that of the Buddha,
and it is attainable only by means of mindfulness, by
being observant, and by awakening to the Ultimate
Truth. Form is mind, and mind is form; they are
neither two nor one. Such is the fundamental Buddha-
dharma. True existence is the supramundane Void,
and the true Void inconceivably exists.
In the next part of our discussion, we shall direct our
attention to a further analysis of  He perceived that
all five skandhas are empty; thus, he overcame all
ills and suffering. The adherents of the Buddha
need to understand clearly that the form-skandha is
the first one of the five. Then the fundamental
question arises: Why is form different from the
Void, and why is the Void different from form?
Form is one of the six dusts and the first of the five
skandhas. To consider form as having an indepen-
dent existence is one of the wrong views. Actually,
form is not different from the Void.
Someone once asked why we talk only about the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]