by Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
To generate the type of love and compassion that motivates you to
seek buddhahood, not for yourself but for the sake of others, first
you must confront suffering by identifying its types. This is the
first noble truth. From the time we are born to the time we die we
suffer mental and physical pain, the suffering of change, and
pervasive suffering of uncontrolled conditioning. The second and
third noble truths lead us to understand the causes of suffering
and whether or not those causes can be removed. The fundamental
cause of suffering is ignorance—the mistaken apprehension that
living beings and objects inherently exist.
We all have a valid, proper sense of self, or “I,” but then we
additionally have a misconception of that “I” as inherently
existing. Under the sway of this delusion, we view the self as
existing under its own power, established by way of its own nature,
able to set itself up.
However, if there were such a separate I—self-established and
existing in its own right—it should become clearer and clearer
under the light of competent analysis as to whether it exists as
either mind or body, or the collection of mind and body, or
different from mind and body. In fact, the closer you look, the
more it is not found. This turns out to be the case for everything,
for all phenomena. The fact that you cannot find them means that
those phenomena do not exist under their own power; they are not
self-established.
Sometime during the early sixties when I was reflecting on a
passage by Tsongkhapa [founder of the Gelugpa school to which the
Dalai Lama belongs] about unfindability and the fact that phenomena
are dependent on conceptuality, it was as if lightning coursed
within my chest. Here is the passage:
A coiled rope's speckled color and coiling are similar to those of
a snake, and when the rope is perceived in a dim area, the thought
arises, “This is a snake.” As for the rope, at that time when it is
seen to be a snake, the collection and parts of the rope are not
even in the slightest way a snake. Therefore, that snake is merely
set up by conceptuality.
In the same way, when the thought “I” arises in dependence upon
mind and body, nothing within mind and body—neither the collection
which is a continuum of earlier and later moments, nor the
collection of the parts at one time, nor the separate parts, nor
the continuum of any of the separate parts—is in even the slightest
way the “I.” Also there is not even the slightest something that is
a different entity from mind and body that is apprehendable as the
“I.” Consequently, the “I” is merely set up by conceptuality in
dependence upon mind and body; it is not established by way of its
own entity.
The impact lasted for a while, and for the next few weeks
whenever I saw people, they seemed like a magician's illusions in
that they appeared to inherently exist but I knew that they
actually did not. That experience, which was like lightning in my
heart, was most likely at a level below completely valid and
incontrovertible realization. This is when my understanding of the
cessation of the afflictive emotions as a true possibility became
real.
Nowadays I always meditate on emptiness in the morning and bring
that experience into the day's activities. Just thinking or saying
“I,” as in "I will do such and such,” will often trigger the
feeling. But still I cannot claim full understanding of
emptiness.
A consciousness that conceives of inherent existence does not
have a valid foundation. A wise consciousness, grounded in reality,
understands that living beings and other phenomena—minds, bodies,
buildings, and so forth—do not inherently exist. This is the wisdom
of emptiness. Understanding reality exactly opposite to the
misconception of inherent existence, wisdom gradually overcomes
ignorance.
Remove the ignorance that misconceives phenomena to inherently
exist and you prevent the generation of afflictive emotions like
lust and hatred. Thus, in turn, suffering can also be removed. In
addition, the wisdom of emptiness must be accompanied by a
motivation of deep concern for others (and by the compassionate
deeds it inspires) before it can remove the obstructions to
omniscience, which are the predispositions for the false appearance
of phenomena—even to sense consciousness—as if they inherently
exist.
Therefore, full spiritual practice calls for cultivating wisdom
in conjunction with great compassion and the intention to become
enlightened in which others are valued more than yourself. Only
then may your consciousness be transformed into the omniscience of
a Buddha.
Selflessness
Both Buddhists and non-Buddhists practice meditation to achieve
pleasure and get rid of pain, and in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist
systems the self is a central object of scrutiny. Certain
non-Buddhists who accept rebirth accept the transitory nature of
mind and body, but they believe in a self that is permanent,
changeless and unitary. Although Buddhist schools accept rebirth,
they hold that there is no such solid self. For Buddhists, the main
topic of the training in wisdom is emptiness, or selflessness,
which means the absence of a permanent, unitary and independent
self or, more subtly, the absence of inherent existence either in
living beings or in other phenomena.
The Two
Truths
To understand selflessness, you need to understand that everything
that exists is contained in two groups called the two truths:
conventional and ultimate. The phenomena that we see and observe
around us can go from good to bad, or bad to good, depending on
various causes and conditions. Many phenomena cannot be said to be
inherently good or bad; they are better or worse, tall or short,
beautiful or ugly, only by comparison, not by way of their own
nature. Their value is relative. From this you can see that there
is a discrepancy between the way things appear and how they
actually are. For instance, something may—in terms of how it
appears—look good, but, due to its inner nature being different, it
can turn bad once it is affected by
conditions. Food that looks so good in a restaurant may not sit so
well in your stomach. This is a clear sign of a discrepancy between
appearance and reality.
These phenomena themselves are called conventional truths: they
are known by consciousness that goes no further than appearances.
But the same objects have an inner mode of being, called an
ultimate truth, that allows for the changes brought about by
conditions. A wise consciousness, not satisfied with mere
appearances, analyzes to find whether objects inherently exist as
they seem to do but discovers their absence of inherent existence.
It finds an emptiness of inherent existence beyond appearances.
Empty of
What?
Emptiness, or selflessness, can only be understood if we first
identify that of which phenomena are empty. Without understanding
what is negated, you cannot understand its absence, emptiness.
You might think that emptiness means nothingness, but it does
not. Merely from reading it is difficult to identify and understand
the object of negation, what Buddhist texts speak of as true
establishment or inherent existence. But over a period of time,
when you add your own investigations to the reading, the faultiness
of our usual way of seeing things will become clearer and
clearer.
Buddha said many times that because all phenomena are
dependently arisen, they are relative—their existence depends on
other causes and conditions and depends on their own parts. A
wooden table, for instance, does not exist independently; rather,
it depends on a great many causes such as a tree, the carpenter who
makes it, and so forth; it also depends upon its own parts. If a
wooden table or any phenomenon really were not dependent—if it were
established in its own right—then when you analyze it, its
existence in its own right should become more obvious, but it does
not.
This Buddhist reasoning is supported by science. Physicists
today keep discovering finer and finer components of matter, yet
they still cannot understand its ultimate nature. Understanding
emptiness is even deeper. The more you look into how an ignorant
consciousness conceives phenomena to exist, the more you find that
phenomena do not exist that way. However, the more you look into
what a wise consciousness understands, the more you gain
affirmation in the absence of inherent existence.
Do Objects
Exist?
We have established that when any phenomenon is sought through
analysis, it cannot be found. So you may be wondering whether these
phenomena exist at all. However, we know from direct experience
that people and things cause pleasure and pain, and that they can
help and harm. Therefore, phenomena certainly do exist; the
question is how? They do not exist in their own right, but only
have an existence dependent upon many factors, including a
consciousness that conceptualizes them.
Once they exist but do not exist on their own, they necessarily
exist in dependence upon conceptualization. However, when phenomena
appear to us, they do not at all appear as if they exist this way.
Rather, they seem to be established in their own right, from the
object's side, without depending upon a conceptualizing
consciousness.
When training to develop wisdom, you are seeking through
analysis to find the inherent existence of whatever object you are
considering—yourself, another person, your body, your mind, or
anything else. You are analyzing not the mere appearance but the
inherent nature of the object. Thus it is not that you come to
understand that the object does not exist; rather, you find that
its inherent existence is unfounded. Analysis does not contradict
the mere existence of the object. Phenomena do indeed exist, but
not in the way we think they do.
What is left after analysis is a dependently existent
phenomenon. When, for example, you examine your own body, its
inherent existence is negated, but what is left is a body dependent
on four limbs, a trunk, and a head.
If Phenomena Are
Empty, Can They Function?
Whenever we think about objects, do we mistakenly believe that they
exist in their own right? No. We can conceive of phenomena in three
different ways. Let us consider a tree. There is no denying that it
appears to inherently exist, but:
We could conceive of the tree as existing inherently, in its own
right.
We could conceive of the tree as lacking inherent existence.
We could conceive of the tree without thinking that it inherently
exists or not.
Only the first of those is wrong. The other two modes of
apprehension are right, even if the mode of appearance is mistaken
in the second and the third, in that the tree appears as if
inherently existent.
If objects do not inherently exist, does this mean that they
cannot function? Jumping to the conclusion that because the true
nature of objects is emptiness, they are therefore incapable of
performing functions such as causing pleasure or pain, or helping
or harming, is the worst sort of misunderstanding, a nihilistic
view. As the Indian scholar-yogi Nagarjuna says in his Precious
Garland, a nihilist will certainly have a bad transmigration upon
rebirth, whereas a person who believes, albeit wrongly, in inherent
existence goes on to a good transmigration.
Allow me to explain. You need a belief in the consequences of
actions to choose virtue in your life and discard nonvirtue. For
the time being, the subtle view of the emptiness of inherent
existence might be too difficult for you to understand without
falling into the trap of nihilism, where you are unable to
understand that phenomena arise in dependence on causes and
conditions (dependent-arising). Then for the sake of your spiritual
progress it would be better for now to set aside trying to
penetrate emptiness. Even if you mistakenly believe that phenomena
inherently exist, you can still develop an understanding of
dependent-arising and apply it in practice. This is why even
Buddha, on occasion, taught that living beings and other
phenomena inherently exist. Such teachings are the thought of
Buddha's scriptures, but they are not his own final thought. For
specific purposes, he sometimes spoke in nonfinal ways.
In What Way Is
Consciousness Mistaken?
Because all phenomena appear to exist in their own right, all of
our ordinary perceptions are mistaken. Only when emptiness is
directly realized during completely focused meditation is there no
false appearance. At that time, the dualism of subject and object
has vanished, as has the appearance of multiplicity; only emptiness
appears. After you rise from that meditation, once again living
beings and objects falsely appear to exist in and of themselves,
but through the power of having realized emptiness, you will
recognize the discrepancy between appearance and reality. Through
meditation you have identified both the false mode of appearance
and the false mode of apprehension.
Let us return to the central point: All of us have a sense of
"I" but we need to realize that it is only designated in dependence
upon mind and body. The selflessness that Buddhists speak of refers
to the absence of a self that is permanent, partless, and
independent, or, more subtly, it can refer to the absence of
inherent existence of any phenomenon. However, Buddhists
do value the existence of a self that changes from moment to
moment, designated in dependence upon the continuum of mind and
body. All of us validly have this sense of “I.” When Buddhists
speak of the doctrine of selflessness, we are not referring to the
nonexistence of this self. With this “I,” all of us rightfully want
happiness and do not want suffering. It is when we exaggerate our
sense of ourselves and other phenomena to mean something inherently
existent that we get drawn into many, many problems.
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