TNH and the Heart Sutra

[Jinyo]

Thank you Jundo and Hans.

I think I understand - but can't be sure - to be honest I'm lost for words.

Perhaps that's the best place to be

Gassho

Willow

[jphiled]

Hello,

There is something more to Emptyness than things dependent on other things to make a whole. There is a great Symphony, and Dance of Emptiness, where a certain wonder happens more than the sum of parts, and transcendent of any one, yet each and all, one flowing into the other.

When I read this, this reminded me a bit of something Nagarjuna said with respect to Emptiness: because everything is empty, everything is possible. This can be a double-edged sword. A man with a bad temper and alcohol problems can, with the right environment and conditions, become a saint, but on the flip side a perfectly normal person can be a terrible dictator.

Also, the "greater than the sum of its parts" comment reminds me of the esoteric Shingon school in Japan who venerates Mahavairocana Buddha. Mahavairocana Buddha is supposed to personify this very thing from what little I understand, but at the same time, the real Mahavairocana is something beyond words. The statue is just a visual aid. Or so I understand it.

This is something very hard to express, so old Zen guys turn to the cushion, poetry and such. However, TNH's very mechanical description ... a bit like describing the parts of the orchestra ... strikes me sometimes as brilliant, but a little cold.

That explains why old Zen guys write a lot of poetry. I often wondered about that.

I don't read TNH's books very much, but I often do like reading his sutra commentaries. I have this book, plus his commentaries on the Diamond Sutra, Lotus Sutra (very helpful as it is not an easy read), and the Amitabha Sutra. In all such books, he seems to try to express things as down to earth as possible, presumably because his audience is very, very new to Buddhism and might be intimidated by anything less. I bet if you were to ask him in person though, he'd probably agree with your description of Emptiness. I imagine anyone in Buddhism who has experienced that insight would probably draw the same description.

Anyhow, great sutra commentaries, imho. They helped me out a lot back in the day and I still read from time to time.