The Middle Way teachings (III) .VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.

If we have seen the nature of things as dependent origination, they do not have true nature, are there or are not, so he does not have, nor does not accept. This disobedience is called the Middle Way, it is also called the First Meaning.

4. Pratyekabuddha is the Middle Way

Before we go into the analysis to explain the meaning of 'dependent origination is the Middle Way'. Here we should first note that, according to Indian Buddhist history, the Bat Nha ideological ideology of Mahayana Buddhism emerged after the period of sectarian Buddhism. Therefore, in the texts of Mahayana Buddhism of the Prajnaparamita system, promoting the ideology (§ènyatˆ) and criticizing the right thought (bhˆva). Here the concept of property that Mahayana Buddhism rejects is the policy of "The Three Realities, the Eternal Body" of the Theory of the Best Friends (SarvŒstivŒdin). This notion of being or not, it is not the object that the A and Nikˆya sutras reject the thought of the non-pagan, because these are two different historical periods. Another point to note is that the Chinese translation sometimes confuses us.

For example, the word Pratyekabuddha (S. pratuttya-samutpÊda, P. paÊcca-samuppˆda) is the theory enlightened by the Buddha under the Bodhi tree, which is sometimes translated as 'karmic affinity', while the word 6-theory theory (sad-hetavah) 4 charm (catvārah pratyayāh) 12 of the sectarian set is also translated as 'causal'. In terms of semantics, these two words have different meanings, not completely the same, because the Pratyekabuddhabharma is lawful, and then evolved into twelve conditions, which are the explanatory doctrine of the process of arising and passing out of suffering, Psychologically, the theory of 6-conditions and 4-conditions is also based on the law of dependent origination, but the theory of 6-causes and conditions has mainly analyzed the formation of the material world.

Mahayana Buddhist teachings often disprove the stubborn attitude, or take negative methods to explain the problem.

The first example of "Trung Luan" is 'Quan kam kien kap kam', with the content of this section Long Tho refutes the predestined theory. But the 22nd product, including the poem: 'they are predestined to arise, ego theory means nothingness ...', with the content that the legal conditions are born. Is the thought of these two products self-contradictory. This contradiction is due to the word confusion. Thus, the word predestined in the first product is the theory of 6 causes and conditions of Huu bo, so Long Tho countered, whereas the predestined word in the 22nd product only for the theory of dependent origination. This is the point we need to pay attention to.

Back to the issue, in the "Great Nirvana Sutra" refers to the meaning of dependent origination as the Middle Way:

“Bodhisattvas Buddhas often display with the Middle Way look. Why ? Because things are neither there nor there are no certain generals. Why ? Beings are due to conditions, eyes, light, thoughts and thoughts, so this consciousness is not caused by just one eye, it is sharpness, etc. , not in the middle too. Because of predestined causes so called yes, they have no nature so called no. Therefore, the Tathagata says: There is neither there nor no dharma. 13

The content of the passage just showed that the Blessed One often uses the Middle Way to treat all problems in daily life, without falling into any obstinate attitude, whether accept or not, right or wrong ..., because there is or is not only a temporary phenomenon, not the nature, because the nature of the dhammas is the condition of impermanence and impermanence, now there is no tomorrow, no fashion is available, any evidence to assertive yes or no? Whoever asserted whether or not, would surely take suffering for himself, because all things are changing. Sorrowful about his failed business plan, or the misery of his loved one, perhaps the cause of which was probably not outside his stubbornness.

True and false, too, how to decide whether it is right or wrong, making a common denominator for everyone, with one person right and the other wrong. Like someone who hangs clothes in the sun, but gardeners expect rain. Which one of them is right, is wrong? Today this treatment with this drug is true, but it may become dangerous (wrong) if it is not. Yes and no, true or false it's hard to say, when the problem isn't specific. Therefore, the wise person cannot make a joint decision in this case. The main reason for the problem of everything in this life, all due to predestined success, moreover, the causes and conditions of each issue are different, unable to solve the problem in a stereotyped, rational way. Maybe this solves another problem, get the problem today solve the problem for the future.

All things in the world are due to fortunes.

This is precisely why in Mahayana Buddhist teachings often refute the obstinate attitude, or take the negative method to explain the problem. This is also the morality that Long Tho advocates Duyen emptiness or the Middle Way theory. As the verse chanting in 'Quality Products' in "Abhidharma Commentary" states that:

If Law is Dependent on Destiny

If this method is not empty, do not follow the cause

For example, the image in the mirror is neither mirror nor face

Neither is the holder of the mirror

Neither with nor without and without

This language is not subject to such a name. 14

If the law is conditioned by predestined relationships,

That is inherently Dharma,

If the dharma is not it,

Not from predestined.

Like a mirror scene,

Not a scene, not a mirror,

Nor the man with the mirror,

Not self, nor inhuman,

This word does not last long,

So called Middle Way.

"Abhidharma Commentary" is the commentary with the content of the Bodhisattva Long Tho which explains the ideas of the Prajna Sutras. According to Lu Trung (呂 澂) The Bat Nha Sutta is the earliest appeared sūtra of Mahayana Buddhism15, the main idea of ​​this sutta is: 'Emptiness is illusory' (性 空幻 有). The reason is called emptiness, because the nature of the Dhamma has no nature, however the concept of 'no' here, does not mean there is no; it has but not really but is 'fake there' (praj-apti), so they are called 'illusory yes', this illusory concept is like bubbles, flowers in the air, like dreams .. This meaning is poem in "Kinh Kim Cang Bat Nha La La" describes:

Everything works,

Like a dream bubble,

Rulu is like electricity,

It should be viewed as such. 16

Uniquely organic,

Like a dreamlike illusory image,

As exposing herons as electricity.

Falcon as market consistent work.

The compounded dharma that is mentioned by this stanza are the dharmas created by the four elements, their existence is unstable, light and afternoon disappear, like dewdrops on the tip of grass, like a dream, like bubbles in the river, like lightning in the sky ... their very short existence. Human life too, hundred years is how much compared to endless time! Life was impermanent, suffering, but the obstinate of attachment, not letting go of people made people more miserable. Try asking where the problem stems from? It must be the word ignorance, but ignorance about what? it is not to see the nature of the dhammas which are interdependent, yet also stubbornly claim that they are real. That is exactly why in the 24th "Meditation" of the Four Noble Truths ((ryasatya-par´k • ˆ, 觀 四諦 品) 24th.

The law of all generations due to fate, I say nothing,

It is also a pseudonym, and it is also a moral. 17

Because of the predestined conditions,

I said it is not,

It also called fake names,

Also called the Middle Way.

If today's society does not accept a doctor for patients who take the wrong medicine, if we consider Buddha as a therapist, surely he cannot arbitrarily a kind of teaching, A therapy that cures everyone.

All things in the world are due to fortunes. What is created by predestined relationships, it has no nature, because there is no nature, so call it no; no but it doesn't mean no, yes but it's not true, so that yes is only illusory or false. If the wise man understands the nature of such dhammas, there is neither attachment nor attachment, calling it the Middle Way. Thus, the content and meaning of this concept of Middle Way is built on the basis of the doctrine of Interdependent origination. Whoever sees the doctrine of dependent origination, he sees the dharma, who sees the dharma, then he is Buddha, whoever sees the Buddha he sees and lives with the Middle Way, does not accept neither nor does not accept, does not accept often nor does not accept the passage . This is the meaning of the doctrine of Interdependent origination as the Middle Way.

5. The left edge is the Middle Way

Actually, the meaning of leaving the center is the Middle Way mentioned above. But these binary concepts have an extreme, bad, and not right meaning, so the practitioner must leave those two extremes in order to be liberated. Like enjoying sensual desire and practicing asceticism, whether you have or not, often and paragraph ... are two extremes of an ugly nature. However, here it is mentioned that this binary concept has a very specific meaning that needs to be explored. For example, good and evil are also two extremes to be abandoned. It is not good to do evil here, so it is right to give up, but why good deed also advises giving up. This is the point that will be clarified in this section. Concerning the meaning of leaving this boundary, we see in the "Abhidharma Commentary" mentioned by Long Tho:

“The ego-ego is one side, the ego-ego is also one side. Abandoning these two bigotors is called the Middle Way ”18

Also in this treatise, Long Tho continues to explain:

“Again, ignorance is one side (extreme), the end of ignorance is also an extreme; Bodhisattva is one side, 6 paramitas is one side; Buddha is one side, Bodhi is also one side; Prajnaparamita is a side, non-Prajna is one side. Away from these two sides is the Middle Way, it is called Prajna. ”19

Or in "The Great Sūtra", it is also mentioned:

"Hey Xa Loi Phat! Invincible thought and the five crimes of non-interruption are dwells in the fact that there is no difference, there is no birth or no destruction, no going nor going, no cause nor result, no good There is no evil either. ”20

Through the commentary just cited shows that its meaning is not the same as the extreme persistence as mentioned in sections 1, 2, and 3.4 mentioned, that both extremists are both wrong and wrong. , as the life of enjoyment is wrong, the ascetic life is also wrong, so have to renounce them, renounce these two ways of life called the Middle Way. However, it is mentioned in the Mahayana Sutras that there is another kind of extreme obstinate. Like doing evil is an extreme, but doing good is also extreme; ignorance is extreme, ending ignorance is also extreme; Bat elegant is an extreme, non-Bat Nha is also an extreme, even sentient beings are extreme, Buddhahood is also an extremity .... Unwholesome action is obstinate is an extreme, is justified , but why is doing good also extreme persistence? So what does it mean?

Buddha declared: "The Dharma also has to leave the situation is illegal."

Trying to ask, the Buddha advised us to abandon the evil deeds of good deeds, endeavor to practice to eliminate ignorance, Nirvana to what? is it a contradiction? There are actually no contradictions about these two teachings, because there is no right or wrong in case the question posed is not specific, such as which drug is better than the other in Pharmacy, they do have The function of treating different diseases, the medicine is called good or not depends on the coordination between the doctor, the patient and the medicine. If the combination is not good, the medicine will become bad or bad. unhealthy. Also, when it comes to the duality of the treatment between good and evil, between right and wrong, between sentient beings and the Buddhas ... to determine the absolute value of one of these two issues, then obviously that is unlikely to happen to the Enlightened One.

If today's society does not accept a doctor for patients who take the wrong medicine, if we consider Buddha as a therapist, surely he cannot arbitrarily a kind of teaching, A therapy that cures everyone. This is the meaning that Buddha said:

"... Bodhisattva is a person of profound intellect, cannot use the wrong method to teach sentient beings. So when he declared that the discourse was not contrary to the inborn nature of that being, that is why when he met the Mahayana people, he said the supreme teaching, not the doctrine of Pratyekabuddha and Sutta. Also; when meeting the object of Single Enlightenment, the teachings of Enlightenment are spoken, when they meet with the Sravaka, they say the Sutta text ... "21

Then in any case the Buddha said, doing good is an extreme, doing evil is also an extreme, negativity is extreme, Bodhi is also extreme ...? According to the writer, this meaning only appears when the Buddha breaks the obstinate of the Sravakas, (if standing on the Mahayana and Hinayana stances) or, rather, those who have a liberal mindset, want to bring Buddha Dharma to society in the normal life of people. This view must be of a conservative Venerable, of course, disagreeing that it is a dangerous, unwholesome and harmful deed to Buddhism, a path that goes against the direction of enlightenment or liberation. Nirvana. This is precisely why in the Mahayana Sutta it is mentioned that evil is extremely good and also extreme, sentient beings are extreme Nirvana is also an extreme or obstinate.

In order to clarify this meaning, here we can borrow the story of the raft22 of the two monks who wanted to cross the river (thought aloofly) in the 'Sutta for Snake' (Alaggadupamasutttam) No. 22, “The Sutta Trung Bộ ”episode 1. The story says that two monks who stood in front of the river felt that one side of the river was unsafe, the other side was safe and happy, so one of them took the tree himself. the leaves form a raft, use it to swim to the other side, when you reach him because of the grace of the raft, so he does not give up the raft to enjoy a free and happy life, but he hold the raft again, or carry it over your shoulder. This is the first person attitude towards a raft. The second bhikkhu did the same thing to cross the river, but he didn't because of the grace of the raft, but one way or another to hold the raft,

For a novice, the basic doctrine that a novice must understand must know that he or she willfully or unknowingly refuse to learn, one way or the other to avoid it; on the contrary, he wants to be a nesting teacher, say sublime sentences, display strange acts, and deliberately show disrespectful attitude, freedom and liberty, in order to satisfy his lust.

Therefore, in this Sutta the Buddha said, "Dharma must be abandoned, situation is illegal." It is this verse repeated in the "Diamond Sutra". Through this story, it suggests to us, the first Bhikkhu is for example for those who come to the Dharma to become monastic, feeling too happy and happy in accomplishment, thinking that this is enough, thus leading to the case of a persistent attitude, not accepting the advice of others, so he ignored the meaning of enlightenment and liberation in Buddha Dharma.

This is precisely why the Buddha declared: "The Dharma also has to leave the situation is illegal." This verse is meant to criticize those who are obstinate. In these two monks, the Buddha praised the second one and disagreed with the stubborn attitude of the first one. The meaning that in the Mahayana Buddhist scriptures when it comes to evil is an extreme, good is also an extreme; delusion is an extreme, enlightenment is also an extreme .... it is also mentioned in the same case. Leaving this case saying good is extreme, Nirvana, enlightenment ... is extreme, then it will watch out and stray into the wrong path.

Here, for the sake of studying Buddhism, I would like to present a few personal ideas. When referring to the Dharma, it is also illegal to leave the case, in case he has attained a high position, such as someone crossing the river on the other side of the river before talking about abandoning the boat or not abandoning the boat, the person across the river cannot discuss this issue, but need to discuss how to build a boat, find a boat, grab a boat, cannot discuss abandoning a boat, because where does the boat leave? If he has not yet reached the other side and talks about abandoning the boat, he cannot permanently go to the other side.

The Middle Way is a very important ideology in Buddhism. We have known this thought through Mahayana Buddhism, which was promoted by Nagarjuna in "The Abhidharma."

Also, for a novice, the basic doctrine that a novice must understand must know that he or she willfully or unknowingly refuse to learn, one way or the other to avoid it; on the contrary, he wants to be a nesting teacher, say sublime sentences, display strange acts, and deliberately show disrespectful attitude, freedom and liberty, in order to satisfy his lust. When being questioned by skeptical people, they respond in a way like an eel, deliberately avoiding the problem, concealing by saying statements that transcend the Buddha, so that the listener does not know what is right and where What is wrong, what is good, what is evil. No matter how the person is, such a way of verbal or physical education is not in the spirit of Buddha's teaching, it is not only not good for the speaker, the listener but also harmful, the more dangerous, it becomes a bad image, obstructing the way of propagating Buddhism, especially the people and society today. On your own check yourself, the first result of the 4 Sravakas has not yet said that the discharge of the Buddha dropped Saint?

This is the problem we Buddhists need to pay attention to and understand. If each of us understand and properly carry out the spirit of the Buddha's education, every Buddhist is a solid brick for building the Dharma, the Dharma does not need any exhortations or slogans to call for the righteous protection. Dharma, but the dharma is still shining in the world, and the world becomes Dharma monks promoting Buddhism, each of us Buddhists is an eminent monk who is praising the Dharma. On the contrary, we are destroying Buddha Dharma together rather than promoting Buddha Dharma.

In short, if the Theravada Buddhism refers to two extremes that are both bad and unfavorable areas, such as the reclamation of enjoying lust and asceticism, then in Mahayana Buddhism two extremes are intrinsic and introspective. It is a bigotry, then in the form of using it is right or wrong, whether good or unwholesome also comes from the obstinate mind, so it belongs to ignorance and not wisdom. As Zen master Suzuki said: It is a shackle, whether it is made of iron or gold, it is a shackle, it cannot be said that it is better than iron shackle. Therefore, the wise see the nature and function of the handcuffs, so it is not because of greed that takes handcuffs. He is not hindered by good or evil forms, so he is liberated, one who is liberated is one who knows to give up the two extremes and lives in the Middle Way spirit.

If you think that drinking alcohol is not good for you, it is necessary to abandon it, but when you need alcohol to treat illnesses, or when you have to lie to save sentient beings, you cannot. keep the world drinking alcohol or not lying, but need to drink alcohol to treat illnesses and need to lie to save sentient beings, such behavior is still consistent with the spirit of discipline.

6. Conclusion

The Middle Way is a very important ideology in Buddhism. We have known this thought through Mahayana Buddhism, which was promoted by Nagarjuna in "The Abhidharma." However, the idea of ​​the Middle Way teaching did not have to wait for Long Tho to appear, it was appeared quite early through the practice of Buddha himself. In the development of Buddhism this doctrine was also developed in that direction. It means that through different historical periods, different issues, human requirements are also different, so the meaning of the Middle Way also has a difference.

If Theravada Buddhism refers to the Middle Way doctrine, it is to mention the detachment of the two ritual lifestyles of sensual enjoyment, and the practice of forcing asceticism, or avoiding the two extremes that the world is often extinct or extinction, Mahayana Buddhism refers to an persistent perspective on the cognitive, psychological viewpoint. If you think that drinking alcohol is not good for you, it is necessary to abandon it, but when you need alcohol to treat illnesses, or when you have to lie to save sentient beings, you cannot. keep the world drinking alcohol or not lying, but need to drink alcohol to treat illnesses and need to lie to save sentient beings, such behavior is still consistent with the spirit of discipline.

In this case, not drinking alcohol, not telling lies is obstinate. Because to break the bigotry of ignorant people, Buddha said: Unwholesome is an extreme but good is also an extreme, leaving these two extremes is the Middle Way. This is the Middle Way meaning of Mahayana Buddhism.

If Theravada Buddhism refers to the Middle Way doctrine, it is to mention the detachment of the two ritual lifestyles of sensual enjoyment, and the practice of forcing asceticism, or avoiding the two extremes that the world is often extinct or extinction, Mahayana Buddhism refers to the persistent perspective on the cognitive, psychological viewpoint.

In addition, there is the meaning of Interdependent Being Middle Way or First meaning not Middle Way. Actually, this meaning is no different from the two Middle Way meanings in Theravada and Mahayana Buddhism, but these two concepts emphasize on the awareness side of the nature of the two extremes. For example, when we do not know the nature of the dhammas that are due to the harmonious conditions, so we can be obstinate whether or not, or often or in part, so there is suffering when they change, not in accordance with their opinion. Conversely, if we have seen the nature of things as dependent origination, so they have no true nature, are there or are not, so he does not accept there nor accept. This disobedience is called the Middle Way, it is also called the First Meaning.END=NAM MO SHAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=THICH CHAN TANH.AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.2/6/2020.