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The Middle Way Verses, Chapter 13
Nirvana is not the reconciliation of being and non-being, because these two categories are conditioned, subject to birth and death; Nirvana is the unconditioned dharma, neither arising nor ceasing, and transcends all dualities.
The gatha teaches that when “combining being and non-being,” one cannot call that Nirvana, just as “light and darkness cannot coexist,” or “matter and antimatter cannot be present together.” Nirvana is “neither being nor non-being,” neither existent nor nonexistent, and cannot be grasped by ordinary notions, but is simply a state of freedom and ease that goes beyond all dualities.
Ordination is the beginning of the path to end afflictions and to begin true love.
- A novice (Śrāmaṇera, Tức Từ) is one who decisively ends afflictions, keeps a boundless loving mind to help all beings.
- “Stepping Into Freedom” (Pháp Túc Siêu Phương) means using your feet to step into a transcendent space, with a mind and form different from the world, free from all bonds.
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“Continuing the Noble Sangha” (Thiệu Long Thánh Chúng) is to continue the lineage of awakening, transmitting the seal of mind to mind through the energy that gives birth to spiritual life.
In the Sangha, the relationship between brothers and between teacher and student is sacred: a younger brother is both a brother and a child, an elder brother is both a brother and a father, together nurturing the seed of spirituality to continue the “great cause” of the Buddha.
