We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track. If this problem persists help us by reporting it so we can investigate it.
Watch this talk
Login or create a free account to watch this talk and discover other teachings from Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
Log in or create an account
The Middle Way Treatise – Chapter 10
The eighteenth verse in the chapter “Examining Going and Coming” of the Middle Way Treatise teaches the principle of “neither one nor different” (neither identical nor separate) between the one who goes and the act of going. The one who goes is not identical with the action, but is also not separate from it, just as wind and blowing, or person and eating. The four verses in the “one and different” group affirm that whether we call the act of going “the person who goes” or try to separate the two elements, it is unreasonable, and from there we can deeply understand dependent co-arising and non-self.
The twenty-second verse, “By going, the one who goes is known,” emphasizes that it is through the action that we can recognize the subject, but the subject cannot use that very action to know itself. Before the action occurs, “the one who goes” has not arisen; the name “the eater” only appears in the moment of eating. Therefore, the one who goes and the act of going are always connected, but never identical.
Finally, the verse affirms that going, the one who goes, and the destination all do not have separate, independent natures; all three are illusions created by the mind. The contemplation of signlessness—shooting down the three illusory flags of
- the one who goes
- the act of going
-
the destination
helps us transcend duality, and live freely, lightly, and peacefully.
