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Duy biểu 05A
The capacity for understanding, peace, and happiness is inherent in everyone; the role of a teacher or Sangha is not to give these qualities but to help rediscover them. Using the image of a cloud, the teaching illustrates that a cloud need not envy the snow or the ocean, for it already contains them. By looking deeply, one realizes that nothing is lost or obtained, leading to non-fear even in the face of sickness or death. This aligns with the notion of Aimlessness (Apranihita), which encourages stopping the search for external validation or future goals. Happiness is found by freeing oneself from rigid concepts of beauty and happiness, accepting oneself as is, and touching the peace available in the present moment.
The Three Dharma Seals are impermanence, nonself, and nirvana. Impermanence is not merely a philosophy but a practice of looking deeply and living in the samadhi of impermanence. It is a positive aspect of reality that makes growth, healing, and transformation possible. Nonself, viewed from the angle of space, reveals that nothing possesses an absolute self and everything is composed of non-self elements. Nirvana is the extinction of all concepts, including the notions of permanence, impermanence, self, and nonself. Like the taste of a kiwi or the silence after an argument, Nirvana is an experience of peace free from the “market of concepts.” Reality has two dimensions:
- The Historical Dimension: Characterized by birth, death, beginning, and end, illustrated by the wave.
- The Ultimate Dimension: Characterized by no birth and no death, illustrated by the water.
By touching the ultimate dimension in daily activities, such as walking or eating, one transcends fear and suffering. The talk introduces the Fifty Verses on Manifestation Only (Ngũ thập duy biểu tụng). The term Vijnapti (Manifestation) is preferred over Vijnana (Consciousness) to emphasize the aspect of manifestation. Consciousness manifests as Vijnaptirupa (manifested form) and Avijnaptirupa (non-manifested form), such as the energy of precepts or internal knots of suffering. Consciousness manifests into two parts: the subject of knowing and the object of knowing. The Fifty Verses are derived from several key texts and figures:
- Thirty Verses on Manifestation Only (Vijnaptimatra Karika) by Vasubandhu.
- Summary of the Great Vehicle (Mahayana Samgraha Sastra) by Asanga.
- Verses on the Structure of the Eight Consciousnesses (Bát Thức Quy Củ Tụng) and Demonstration of Consciousness Only (Cheng Weishi Lun) by Xuan Zang.
- Commentary by Sthiramati.
- The logic and epistemology of Dignaga.
- The Flower Garland teachings of Fazang.