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The Non-Dualistic View
Tue Trung Thuong Si’s real name was Tran Quoc Tung, the elder brother of General Tran Quoc Tuan, not Tran Quoc Tang as has been mistakenly believed for nearly 500 years due to the records in Hoang Viet Thi Tuyen (Le dynasty). In 1971, while in Paris, I discovered this error when researching the Thuong Tue Trung Thuong Si Ngu Luc, Tam To Thuc Luc, and Dai Nam Thien Uyen Truyen Dang Tap Luc in the temple, and then announced it at the Sorbonne in 1972 and in Saigon in 1973. The Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu, compiled by Ngo Si Lien, was influenced by Confucian bias and omitted many Buddhist details, so it is necessary to compare with temple records to accurately restore historical facts.
The core teaching of Tue Trung Thuong Si is to dissolve all dualistic views—dividing ordinary and sage, delusion and enlightenment, birth and death and nirvana—by contemplating the nature of non-signs, sunyata (emptiness), and non-craving. The three doors of liberation (the three gates of liberation) are presented as follows:
- Signlessness: to touch the signless nature of the body and all things, to look without being caught by appearances.
- Emptiness (sunyata): to realize there is no separate self-nature, all dharmas manifest together in interbeing in the present moment.
- Aimlessness (apranihita): not grasping, not rejecting, dwelling peacefully in the present moment, happiness arises naturally.
Applying this method, just by letting go of dualistic eyes, the pure and inclusive dharma realm will reveal itself, bringing immediate peace and liberation.
