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Great Funeral 3 - Northern Transmission No. 7

Thich Nhat Hanh · November 28, 1991 · Plum Village, France
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The five skandhas are inherently non-self, without any real substance inside; only when we penetrate the Prajñā emptiness can we truly recognize suffering. Self and non-self are two sides of one reality: form is emptiness, emptiness is form, true emptiness is wondrous existence. Nirvana is not in the future but is present in every dharma, because all dharmas are “neither arising nor ceasing,” already dwelling in their own nature of nirvana—a Mahayana view different from the Hinayana, which holds that dharmas and nirvana are still subject to arising and ceasing.

  1. Anuruddha possessed the divine eye and “could see the three thousand great thousand worlds as a mango in his palm,” but that is only a conditioned dharma; only the Buddha has the unconditioned divine eye, because he abides constantly in samadhi.
  2. Venerable Upali explained about offenses and repentance, causing two monks to become confused, because offenses are not inside, outside, or in-between, and whether the mind is impure or pure depends on mindfulness and non-attachment to self.
  3. Venerable Rahula praised the benefits of monastic life, but Vimalakirti advised letting go of all calculations of merit; true monasticism is to “give rise to the unsurpassed bodhi mind” right in daily life.
  4. When Ananda went to beg for milk for the Buddha, Vimalakirti explained that the Buddha was not truly ill, but was manifesting illness to teach sentient beings, affirming that the Buddha’s body is diamond-like and indestructible, free from sickness.
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