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The Middle Way Discourse 07
Two verses about burning and being burned emphasize two different ways of looking at the relationship between fire and fuel:
- If burning and being burned are two separate entities, then fire can “come to” the fuel, like one person coming to another, and vice versa.
- Only when we see fire and fuel as separate can we speak of “coming” and “separation.”
But in reality, fire (the burning agent) and wood (the burnable) cannot exist independently; they are only one continuous reality. Distinguishing between phenomena helps us perceive their interaction, but at the same time gives rise to separation. From there, we can see clearly the nature of interdependent co-arising, non-self, and live in peace and harmony.
At present, many Buddhist academies in Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and China only teach eloquence without daily practice, creating a great gap between study and practice. Mahayana Buddhism, with the Madhyamaka and Prajnaparamita Sutras, has a profound insight into society, encouraging us to connect the teachings with eating, anger, and despair. The presentation of Buddhist psychology affirms that name-and-form (nāmarūpa), the five skandhas (form, feeling, perception, mental formations, consciousness) always manifest together, without a separate self. When we contemplate body and mind as fuel and flame, we realize we are only manifestations, transcending birth and death, living fully in each moment to cultivate insight right in our daily life.