07. Week 1 - Teaching 5
2025.07.30
In Heart Sutra Buddha says, “Form is empty, emptiness is form, emptiness is not other than form, form also is not other than emptiness.”
Form is empty
Take our body as an example of form. We search for our body with wisdom (in Modern Buddhism). It’s unfindable. It does not exist at all. As long as we believe the body we normally see exists, we continue to experience pain and suffering associated with this body.
Our body’s real nature is emptiness. Analogy of dreams. “It was just a dream” means that it was just an appearance to mind. We think that the appearances of our waking mind and dreaming mind are completely different, but Buddha is telling us that they’re the same. The appearances in our waking day are just appearances to our waking mind. They need to be teaching us that they’re not actually there. A useful word is “there” - it implies “separate from the mind”.
Nevertheless our world functions with its apparent rules in accordance with cause and effect, just in the same way this happens in dreams.
The experience of realising emptiness can be compared to waking up. The world and the experiences of our waking life depend upon our mind.
Emptiness is form
The 2nd profundity of form - that form is a manifestation of emptiness. E.g. our body. The ultimate nature of our body is emptiness. Nevertheless from the emptiness of our body, a body appears to our mind. Therefore it’s a manifestation of its emptiness. E.g. the sky and the blue of the sky. From the sky, blue manifests. In the same way, form manifests from emptiness.
Emptiness is not other than form, form also is not other than emptiness
The meaning of these words is that form and the emptiness of form are not different objects, but are the same entity. This is the union of the two truths of form. Conventional truths such as our body are just creations of our self-grasping ignorance that strongly thinks, “my body my body”. The question may arise, ‘how do conventional truths actually exist if they are just creations of the wrong awareness self-grasping?’ The correct answer is very subtle. (So please be patient - the patience of definitely practising Dharma). We can say that conventional truths actually exist, but only to common appearance, appearance to ordinary beings. According to uncommon appearance to superior beings there are no conventional appearances because they have been dissolved into emptiness completely. Something that has been created by an ignorant mind is a conventional truth. Fabricated things exist only conventionally. Something that has been created as truth by self-grasping ignorance is a conventional truth. This means that all conventional truths are just creations of self-grasping ignorance. This implies that the things we normally perceive are just creations of self-grasping ignorance. This part of the sutra reveals the union of the two truths which is a very profound topic. For enlightened beings these two truths are one. In the state of enlightenment there are no conventional truths. Because conventional truths are creations of self-grasping, and enlightened beings do not have self-grasping.
In New 8STH, HTTYL, and Modern Buddhism, Geshe-la summarises this.
When we receive the 4th empowerment of HYT, we receive the oral instructions of the union of the 2 truths. This is Buddha’s ultimate intention. It’s our root guru’s view.
The union of the two truths - there are 2 or 3 ways to understand - according to sutra, to action tantra, and to HYT.
If we believe conventional truths exist, it is impossible to understand the union of appearance and emptiness from our own experience.
When you perceive your sister, in reality emptiness appears as your sister, but due to ignorance we never think it’s just emptiness appearing. We think all things we normally see actually exist. Everything is mere appearance, mere name. Behind mere appearance, mere name, nothing exists. Emptiness and appearance are not separate, they are union. Always when there’s time, relaxing, lying down, or sleeping, learn this. Finally find ultimate truth. We will not find quickly. At the beginning we can be satisfied with mere appearance. Even in sutra the emptiness object is clearly explained. The real meaning is explained in the POW sutra. In NHOW it is explained very quickly. What we change is the mind holding emptiness. Emptiness we can’t make more subtle but we can make more profound with the mind. Can be according to sutra or to HYT. Using v subtle mind - huge difference. Finally we can attain the union of HYT, Buddha’s ultimate intention. In Buddha’s mind everything is truth. Union means everything is one - no form other than emptiness, emptiness is not other than form. We need to accumulate merit, purify negative actions of denying Dharma in previous lives.
The things we normally see don’t exist but the things that Buddhas normally see exist.
How do I practise this in my busy daily life? We have 3 Lamrim prayers - POTSOTP, request prayer of the SOTP in OSG; 3rd is the most important to us, it is the request to the Lord of all Lineages. This is my Lamrim prayer. We can engage in this practice at any time. It comes from our guru’s heart to us.
How powerful are the sadhanas and texts? Geshe-la said:
Our faith is like a ring, powerful blessings like a hook. The hook’s function depends upon the ring. If strong faith and special recognition of our spiritual guide, then their instructions are more powerful than 1000 Buddhas. We need pure faith, pure view, pure intention. This makes our spiritual teacher’s instructions, commentary, sadhanas more powerful than all the Buddhas.