339 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
339 lines
14 KiB
Plaintext
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THE UNITIVE STATE
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The unitive state is the final goal of salvation in the great
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religions of the East. The experience of this unity is profound, and can
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be hinted at only vaguely by the words of scripture. It encompasses both
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union with God or Absolute Reality and union with all existence, the
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dissolution of subject and object, knower and known. Mystical union is
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less common in the Abrahamic faiths, which in their uncompromising
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monotheism have always insisted upon an absolute distinction between the
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infinite God and even the most saintly of his creatures. Yet the
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scriptures of Judaism and Christianity speak of a Beatific Vision, an
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encounter with God's presence that transforms the viewer. In Islam,
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traditions attributed to Muhammad himself undergird the unitive
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experiences of Sufi mystics.
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Brahman is the end of the journey. Brahman is the supreme goal.
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Hinduism. Katha Upanishad 1.3.11
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Rooted in Nibbana, the holy life is lived. Nibbana is its goal, Nibbana
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is its end.
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Buddhism. Samyutta Nikaya iii.188
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Meditate upon him and transcend physical consciousness. Thus will you
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reach union with the Lord of the universe. Thus will you become
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identified with him who is One without a second. In him all your desires
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will find fulfillment.
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The truth is that you are always united with the Lord. But you must know
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this.
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Hinduism. Svetasvatara Upanishad 1.11-12
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Katha Upanishad 1.3.11: Cf. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.6-7, p. 352.
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Svetasvatara Upanishad 1.11-12: Cf. Bhagavad Gita 5.24, p. 533; Isha
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Upanishad 15-16, p. 74.
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As rivers flow into the sea and in so doing lose name and form, so even
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the wise man, freed from name and form, attains the Supreme Being, the
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Self-luminous, the Infinite. He who knows Brahman becomes Brahman.
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Hinduism. Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.8-9
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Gettan Osho said, "Keichu, the first wheelmaker, made a cart whose wheels
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had a hundred spokes. Now, suppose you took a cart and removed both the
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wheels and the axle. What would you have?
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Mumon's Comment, "If anyone can directly master this topic, his eye will
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be like a shooting star, his spirit like a flash of lightning."
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When the spiritual wheels turn,
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Even the master fails to follow them.
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They travel in all directions above and below,
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North, south, east, and west.
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Buddhism. Mumonkan 8
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That which is the finest essence--this whole world has that as its Self.
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That is Reality. That is the Self. That art thou.
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Hinduism. Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7
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When I love him, I am his hearing by which he hears; and his sight by
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which he sees; his hand by which he strikes; and his foot by which he
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walks.
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Islam. Forty Hadith of An-Nawawi 38
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Heaven and earth contain me not, but the heart of my faithful servant
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contains me.
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Islam. Hadith of Suhrawardi
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If the heart of God is not moving within your heart... once the invisible
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but powerful axis of the heart of God is moved out of you, everything
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becomes empty. Once the heart of God dwells within you, no matter how
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lonely you may be you will be filled and the universe will be filled. A
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person who is completely filled is a joyful person because he lacks
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nothing.
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Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon, 9-11-77
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Mundaka Upanishad 3.2.8-9: Cf. Chandogya Upanishad 7.23, 27, p. 581; Katha
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Upanishad 3.13, p. 840; Maru Ashpadi, pp. 542f. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi
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38: This is a sacred hadith, with God Himself the speaker. Mumonkan 8:
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'The wheels and the axel' means the body and mind. Cf. Sutta Nipata
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1072-76, p. 532. Sun Myung Moon, 9-11-77: Cf. Sun Myung Moon, 10-20-73,
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p. 197.
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Now are for us no entanglements or snares,
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Nor a bit of egoism left.
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Now is all distance annulled, nor are curtains drawn between us.
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Thou art mine, I Thine.
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Sikhism. Adi Granth, Bilaval, M.5, p. 821
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I know that my Redeemer lives,
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and at last he will stand upon the earth;
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and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
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then from my flesh I shall see God.
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Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Job 9.25-26
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Beloved, we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall
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be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him.
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Christianity. Bible, 1 John 3.2
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And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being
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changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this
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comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
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Christianity. 2 Corinthians 3.18
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Some persons asked the Prophet, "Shall we see God on the day of
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resurrection?" He answered, "Do you feel any trouble in seeing the moon on
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the night when it is full? Do you feel any trouble in seeing the sun on a
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cloudless day?" They answered, "No." He said, "In the same way you will
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see your Lord."
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Islam. Hadith of Muslim
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Veiled by ignorance,
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The minds of man and Buddha
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Appear to be different;
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Yet in the realm of Mind Essence
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They are both of one taste. Some-
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Time they will meet each other
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In the great Dharmadhatu.
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Buddhism. Milarepa
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Bilaval, M.5: Cf. Majh, M.5, p. 198; Maru Ashpadi, M.1, pp. 542f. Job
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19.25-26: Cf. Isha Upanishad 15-16, p. 74. 1 John 3.2: That is, we shall
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all become perfect and Christ-like. Thomas Aquinas described this
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Beatific Vision as "the ultimate goal for the redeemed." Cf. 1
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Corinthians 13.12, p. 322. 2 Corinthians 3.18: Cf. 2 Corinthians 3.7-16,
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p. 634. Hadith of Muslim: Cf. Hadith, p. 87; Isha Upanishad 15-16, p. 74.
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Milarepa: The 'Dharmadhatu' is the world of Reality, unclouded by temporal
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phenomena or grasping for existence, as perceived by those who have
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attained enlightenment. Cf. Sutra of Hui Neng 3, p. 218; 6, p. 536; Seng
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Ts'an, pp. 221f.; Surangama Sutra, p. 546; Isha Upanishad 15-16, p. 74.
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Buddha said, "Through the Consummation of Incomparable Enlightenment I
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acquired not even the least thing. This is altogether everywhere,
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without differentiation or degree."
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Buddhism. Diamond Sutra 22-23
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Whatever is here, that is there.
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What is there, that again is here.
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He obtains death after death
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Who seems to see a different here.
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By the mind, indeed, is this realization to be attained:
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There is no difference here at all!
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He goes from death to death
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Who seems to see a difference here.
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Hinduism. Katha Upanishad 2.1.10-11
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Those who see all creatures within themselves
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And themselves in all creatures know no fear.
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Those who see all creatures in themselves
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And themselves in all creatures know no grief.
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How can the multiplicity of life
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Delude the one who sees its unity?
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Hinduism. Isha Upanishad 6-7
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T'ien Ken was travelling to the south of Yin Mountain. He had
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reached the river Liao when he met a nameless sage, to whom he said, "I
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beg to ask about governing the world."
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"Go away," said the nameless man, "you are a low fellow. How
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unpleasant is your question! I would be in companionship with the Maker
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of things. When wearied, I would mount on the bird of ease and emptiness,
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proceed beyond the world, wander in the land of nowhere, and live in the
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domain of nothingness. Why do you come to worry me with the problem of
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setting the world in order?"
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T'ien Ken again asked his question, and the nameless man replied,
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"Make excursion in simplicity. Identify yourself with nondistinction.
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Follow the nature of things and admit no personal bias, then the world
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will be at peace."
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Taoism. Chuang Tzu 7
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Diamond Sutra 22-23: Cf. Mulamadhyamakakarika 25, pp. 91f. Lankavatara
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Sutra 78, p. 182. Katha Upanishad 2.1.10-11: Cf. Chandogya Upanishad
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7.23, p. 581; Lankavatara Sutra 78, p. 182; Mulamadhyamakakarika 25, pp.
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91f; Chuang Tzu 2, p. 181. Isha Upanishad 6-7: Cf. Chandogya Upanishad
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7.23, p. 581; 7.25.2, p. 530; Chuang Tzu 22, pp. 98f. Chuang Tzu 7:
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'Identify yourself with nondistinction:' see Seng Ts'an, pp. 221f; Chuang
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Tzu 2, p. 181.
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In the Great Beginning, there was non-being. It had neither being
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nor name. The One originates from it; it has oneness but not yet physical
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form. When things obtain it and come into existence, that is called virtue
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[power which gives them their individual character]. That which is
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formless is divided [into yang and yin], and from the very beginning going
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on without interruption is called destiny. Through movement and rest it
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produces all things. When things are produced in accordance with the
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principle of life, there is physical form. When the physical form
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embodies and preserves the spirit so that all activities follow their own
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specific principles, that is nature.
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By cultivating one's nature one will return to virtue. When virtue
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is perfect, one will be one with the Beginning. Being one with the
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Beginning, one becomes vacuous, and being vacuous, one becomes great. One
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will then be united with the sound and breath of things. When one is
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united with the sound and breath of things, one is then united with the
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universe. This unity is intimate and seems to be stupid and foolish.
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This is called profound and secret virtue, this is complete harmony.
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Taoism. Chuang Tzu 12
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Homage to the Perfection of Wisdom, the lovely, the holy!
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Avalokita, the holy Lord and Bodhisattva, was moving in the deep
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course of the wisdom which has gone beyond. He looked down from on high,
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he beheld but five heaps, and he saw that in their own-being they were
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empty.
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Here, O Shariputra, form is emptiness, and the very emptiness is
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form; emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from
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emptiness; whatever is form, that is emptiness, whatever is emptiness,
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that is form. The same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses,
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consciousness.
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Here, O Shariputra, all dharmas are marked with emptiness; they are
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not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or
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complete.
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Therefore, O Shariputra, in emptiness there is no form, nor
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feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness; No eye, ear,
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nose, tongue, body, mind; no forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or
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objects of mind; No sight-organ element [and so on to] no
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mind-consciousness element; There is no ignorance, no extinction of
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ignorance [and so on through the twelve links of the chain of dependent
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origination to] there is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and
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death. There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path.
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There is no cognition, no attainment, and no non-attain- ment.
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Therefore, O Shariputra, it is because of his indifference to any
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kind of personal attainment that a bodhisattva, through having relied on
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the perfection of wisdom, dwells without thought-coverings. In the
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absence of thought coverings he has not been made to tremble, he has
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overcome what can upset, and in the end he attains to Nirvana.
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All those who appear as Buddhas in the three periods of time [are]
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fully awake to the utmost, right and perfect enlightenment because they
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have relied on the perfection of wisdom.
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Therefore one should know the perfection of wisdom as the great
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spell, the spell of great knowledge, the utmost spell, the unequalled
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spell, allayer of all suffering, in truth--for what could go wrong? By
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the Perfection of Wisdom has this spell been delivered. It runs like
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this, "Gone, Gone, Gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, O what an
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awakening, all hail!"
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This completes the Heart of perfect wisdom.
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Buddhism. Heart Sutra
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A monk asked Tozan, "What is Buddha?" Tozan replied, "Three pounds of
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flax!"
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Buddhism. Mumonkan 18
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Chuang Tzu 12: This account of creation of all things from non-being leads
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to the principle that when a person becomes vacuuous he can be united with
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all things. See Tao Te Ching 40, p. 90; 65, p. 546; Chuang Tzu 15, p.
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841; 19, pp. 562f; Doctrine of the Mean 1.4-5, pp. 228f. Heart Sutra: It
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is said that this short sutra gives the essence of the pefection of
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wisdom. 'Heaps' in the first paragraph are the skandhas: form, feelings,
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perceptions, impulses, consciousness. These, the five constituents of
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human personality, are declared to be in reality empty. Their emptiness
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is described in the paradoxical dialectic: 'form is emptiness... emptiness
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is form,' which also describes the transcendental unity of subject and
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object, self and world, samsara and nirvana that is realized by the
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bodhisattva coursing in perfect wisdom. The 'dharmas' in the third
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paragraph refer not to 'things' or 'laws' but to a group of 75 mental and
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experiental factors enumer- ated in Buddhst Abhidharma philosophy; many
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are listed in the following paragraph: the five skhandhas, six
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sense-organs, six sense-objects, six corresponding forms of consciousness,
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twelve links of the chain of causation, Four Noble Truths, gnosis, and
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attainment of the fruits of meditation. They are likewise declared to be
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empty. The final 'spell' or mantra, delivered by Wisdom personified,
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describes the experience of awakening to the realization of this wisdom.
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The reader is referred to the excellent commentary on this sutra in Edward
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Conze, Buddhist Wisdom Books (New York: Harper, 1972). Cf. Lankavatara
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Sutra, p. 155. Mumonkan 18: This Zen koan stresses the folly of
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definition. You do not define the truth; you enter into it. If you think
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you can simply understand this koan to mean that the Buddha nature enters
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into everything, what do you make of Mumonkan 1, p. 800? Cf. Chuang Tzu
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22, p. 98f., and Mumonkan 21, p. 99n.
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