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Treatise on the Middle Way
If there are two goings, there must be two goers, because without a goer, the going cannot take place. The word going here means the reality of going, or passing out of existence. If the goer is still there, it cannot yet be called going, and if they have already gone, the goer is no longer present. Therefore, the notions of the goer and the action of going need to be looked into deeply to see that the goer cannot exist independently of the action of going. If we hold the notion that the goer goes, it will lead to the absurdity of having two goings:
- The going of the goer.
- The going of the going.
The arising of going cannot be found in the three times:
- In what has already gone.
- In what has not yet gone.
- In what is currently going.
All phenomena manifest through four signs:
- The sign of birth (manifestation).
- The sign of staying (remaining).
- The sign of change (changing).
- The sign of cessation (passing out of existence).
The nature of these signs is unborn; there is no real beginning or ending, but only the coming together of sufficient causes and conditions. When looking deeply into the Question “What happens when I die?”, we are examining three elements:
- I (the subject of going, or the goer).
- Die (the action of going, or the going).
- When (the time of going).
Reality is by nature neither the same nor different, it is neither one nor different. Just like a sheet of paper, if we look with the eyes of meditation, we will see the non-paper signs present in it:
- The sign of the forest.
- The sign of the cloud.
- The sign of the sunshine.
- The sign of the earth.
When we see the nature of impermanence and no-self in every ksana, we are freed from the entanglement of the notions of coming, going, remaining, and disappearing, and we touch the reality of nirvana.
Part of the following collection
Making Meditation a Joyful Daily Practice