Heart Sutra

Very interesting explanation on Heart Sutra. This cartoon is in Mandarin. 

Story of the Buddha

For six long years, Siddhartha endured many form of ascetic practices, until he finally realized that The Middle Path was the answer.

Cultivation is like playing a musical string instrument. The string will snap if it is too tight or not make any noise if it is too loose. Indulgence in sensual pleasure or extreme penance are attachments. Be at peace with the Middle Path for achieving the liberation of body and mind.

Drama on Kuan Yin Bodhisattva

This is the first episode of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva . There are a total of 20 episodes. This drama is based on a novel in China.

Emptiness in nature and its application in daily life by Master Sheng-Yen

What is the relationship between impermanence, no-self and emptiness? In this video Master Sheng elaborated on Emptiness in nature and its application in daily life.

All things are produced by causes and conditions and they change over time. This shows the truth of existence by causes and conditions, which is empty in its nature.

Buddhism talks about emptiness in nature while existence produced by causes and conditions, which involves change, non-stopping, unfixed, non-staying without ever remaining in the same state.  This is what impermanence means. 

Since it is ever-changing, constantly changing in appearance, then what about its nature? Its nature changes too. The nature of clouds and that of water are somewhat different. So they exist out of emptiness. In their existence, you see emptiness. 

So the Heart sutra, " Neither increase nor decrease." It is neither arising nor ceasing in the first place. This actually means its neither empty nor existing. 

Emptiness in Buddhism refers to the kind that is neither empty nor existing. That is true emptiness. Rather than a distinct separation between existence and emptiness. That would be a kind of void, hollowness, a lonely kind of nothingness. Buddhist emptiness is not lonely at all. Instead, its lively and bustling. It is ever evolving and constantly changing. This is existence of importance. 

We can see impermanence from changes, from existence. Therefore impermanence is also referred to as no-self. 

Take our body for example. We often think our bo dy represents "I", however is it true? Is yesterday's "I" the same as today "I"? 

They are different. There is no continuous "I" that stays the same and never changes. This is what no-self means. It does not mean this body is not existent now. The body does exist now. However this is only temporary existence, not eternal. This is emptiness, or no-self （无我).

Understanding these truths, how can we apply them in our daily life? How can they help us? 

Things in our daily life can be divided into three different categories, in terms of how we feel.The first are things that benefit us, anything that goes well. The second are things that go badly. The third are things of no importance, not affecting us. 

If we often view these three categories as empty, as selfless, as essentially empty, then we won't be prematurely happy when good things happen. And we should show more concern about things that don't seem to affect us or concern us because they do in fact. Showing more concern does not increase our worries but is an increase in compassion. With more compassion, we'll be more devoted towards the world and contribute more. 

This way we'll have fewer worries while becoming more diligent. 

The meaning of eating a vegetarian diet

Buddhism encourages people to eat a vegetarian diet not only for health and hygiene reasons, but mainly out of compassion and the belief that all sentient beings are equal.

For me, I started to reduce meat intake as not eating meat reduce the demand for meat and thus lesser animal suffering. Maybe the impact from one person is not sufficient to reduce demand for meat. But if more people do not eat meat, then demand for meat will definitely reduce thus reducing more animal suffering. 

I used to eat fried shrimp every week. But after reciting Heart sutra and Om mani padme hum, strangely my desire for meat has drastically reduced. 

When animals were slaughtered, they were in a state of fear and anguish and thus their bodies secreted toxin. Eating too much meat is thus not so good for health. Some people said not eating meat makes you weak but Shaolin monks who are strong and great in martial arts only eat vegetables.

For protein, there are plants rich with protein like peas, mushroom, kale. Also vegetables are rich in fibre and vitamins! Also plants used energy from the Sun by producing glucose from photosynthesis. Thus herbivores are known as primary consumers and they gain energy from eating plants directly. 

Carnivores and omnivores who get energy source from eating herbivores or omnivores is actually lesser than compared to eating the plants directly. In fact you gain more energy from eating plants directly! 

How the teachings in the Heart Sutra help us live our daily life

In the Heart sutra, the verse “perceiving that all the five aggregates are empty and transcended all suffering”(照见五蕴皆空，度一切苦厄,) serves as an overall guideline. Based on the five aggregates, it is then further analysed in terms of space and time.

When the six sensory organs are in contact with the six objects, the six kinds of consciousness serve as the agent for the biological and psychological phenomena to function.

The six sensory organ or the six sensory bases refer to they eye, ear, nose, tongue body and mind. The mind base is the mind consciousness. That is one thought is connected to the following thought which takes the previous thought as the base. 

What is this previous thought from? It happens when the sensory organs come into contact with the environment (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and idea) and generate the consciousness. 

Approaching the Heart Sutra in terms of Time: 12 links of dependent arising

In this video, Master Sheng Yen explained the verse, "No ignorance and also no ending of ignorance, until we come to no old age and death; and no ending of old age and death" from the Heart Sutra.  无无明，亦无无明尽，乃至无老死，亦无老死尽.

Craving and grasping foster our attachment, and therefore forms the karmic force that will bring us to our next life in the circle of birth, aging, and death.  

Ignorance without beginning is the root cause of samsara and our mental affliction. 

There are 12  links of dependent arising. The 12 links involve 12 stages but the Heart sutra stops at "there is no ignorance" and skips the following volition, sensation, name and then jumps to aging and death.

This reflects our life as continued and incessant existence emanating from ignorance without beginning. The ignorance from life to life brings about volition and consciousness life after life, and therefore there is consciousness going through rebirths one life after another.

After consciousness enters the womb, "name and form" begins and thus another life is started. Name and form mark the start of life. Entering the womb as a foetus. After birth, there is "contact". When the foetus is four or five months old, it can move on its on and make contact. In Chinese custom, a newborn is considered to be one year old which is actually more correct. Since it has been in mother's womb for 40 weeks, it has started its present life. A foetus actually can perform many activities like kicking, and sucking his/her thumb. 

Since conception since entering the womb and becoming a foetus, its life has started. The start of this present life. After the start, there is contact. And then birth, after which there are sensation/feeling and craving. And craving actually includes the element of dislike, That is one likes what is desirable or agreeable, while rejecting and refusing what is detestable and undesirable. "Craving" actually has two levels of meaning. One being what we like the other something we don't like. This becomes a stage, a rather long stage. 

It starts from birth with feeling, hunger, desiring and pursuing. It doesn't stop until death. This is craving (爱)and the next is grasping（取）。

Grasping actually follows closely on craving. What do we grasp? We grasp what is good, what we like and what we want. But we also grasp what work against our ends. In that case, we reject it or discard it. One is grasping and the other is rejecting or refusing. Craving includes love and hate, like and dislike. 

Craving and grasping as two elements and two stages actually last a long period; from birth until death. It's all within the state of mind. When we like something, we want to seize it right away. When we dislike something, we can't wait to get rid of it. We are constantly experiencing this situation. 

Craving makes us greedy, greedy without satisfaction or limitation. What we dislike we find detestable and want to throw it away and when we can't, we are full of hatred. When we can't get what we desire, we feel hatred too. Therefore we give rise to various mental afflictions. It's because we crave and grasp that we create various karma in our life. However, its not without its advantages because we crave and grasp, we get to sustain our life. 

Haven't you seen small babies? Not long after they're born, they grasp things and stuff them in their mouth. Even as a grown up, we still constantly crave and grasp. But out of courtesy and moral consideration and various factors that restrain us, we can't rampantly go about craving and grasping whatever catches our eye. We can't completely go along with what we desire. But still deep down in our hearts, we hope we can get more and more still. This continues until death. There we create karma and then existence follows on from that. Existence in what way? Existence of causes for the future. The causes for the future will then lead one to the future life. The force that forms the cause for the future will then already be in existence. 

With its existence, consciousness will form. And this consciousness will enter the womb for the next life. In the next life, there will be birth, aging and death again. So the existence will lead to the next life, life after life. This is the 12 links of dependent arising throughout three periods of time.

Craving and grasping foster our attachment, and therefore forms the karmic force that will bring us to our next life in the circle of birth, aging, and death. 

The 12 Dependent Origination by Venerable Guan Cheng

Image from here