Morning Talk: The Heart Sutra, Emptiness, and the Mudra

KOBUN: Morning. Do you have any question this morning? That is good. No question.

Q: Did you comment on the Heart Sutra?

KOBUN: Everyone familiar with Hridaya Sutra — hridaya, or Heart Sutra. Holy words. This Heart Sutra, we have a few different text. Condensed Mahayana teaching, in which the observation of relativity in the phenomena, or the rule of relativity, was observed.

The setup of the sutra is kind of dramatic. You don't know what's going on. Is it Avalokiteshvara's teaching, or Buddha's teaching? Or according to Shariputra's mind state, teaching came revealed. We don't know what's going on. No eyes, no ears — you count those strange phrases. What does that mean? Where we are in the actual living suffering, you say no suffering, no origin of suffering.

It come from many hundred volumes of prajñāpāramitā teaching. Prajñā is excellent wisdom, which go beyond suffering of materialism we are caught up with. Sutra speak of Buddha's samadhi. In that samadhi, Shariputra and Avalokiteshvara, and all images of bodhisattvas, shravakas — shravaka is people who listen Buddha's teaching, the people who actually had the opportunity to hear the Buddha's voice and teaching in their heart. Pratyekabuddha is another kind of sage who accomplish their practice in this life basically alone, without ongoing relationship with teacher — like free thinker, free practicer. And many of bodhisattvas, mahasattvas. Bodhisattva, awakening being; mahasattva is awakened being, maha is a limitless being.

Usually you say bodhisattva-mahasattva has a pair of concepts. One is striving for absolute perfection. One is, mahasattva is one who didn't die, didn't finish their life even after mahabodhi, a great awakening. They stay among people, come back to people and live with people. Mahasattva.

This movement of Mahayana practices, teachings, appear around Christ time. India was very much in chaos — many foreign tribes invading, from far west, from east. Many big changes were happening at that time, and within Buddhist practice, within Hindu practice, there were great confusion. Ordinary people couldn't relate with Buddhist teaching unless you are officially ordained, initiated as a Buddhist society.

So basically out of necessity of the society, which was very chaotic state, many wars, invading and protecting going on, in the midst of danger people start to perceive the possibility of survival — instead of just get crazy about situation, or being influenced by circumstance and become part of destructive energy — like seeing truth of relativity, which we say interdependent existence. It is not set forth against the religious doctrine, but simply what you have gotten was realized.

But what kind of mind is observing the truth of relativity? It's one thing we have to pay attention, which appears as a state of samadhi of Shakyamuni Buddha. In the samadhi of Shakyamuni, profound view of codependent origination — how things are existing — is observed.

So Avalokiteshvara is one of representative image of a Mahayana Buddhist, full of compassion, all-sided knowledge, no-sided knowledge. What is that? Compassion — it's a boundless energy to share with people, with situation. Doesn't need to be a man or a woman, it's according to the action to manifest.

You look sutra again and see what's going on. In the end Buddha confirm, as if he said, Avalokiteshvara thought properly.

Main subject is emptiness. Emptiness, big subject. The closest English word — śūnyatā is the word in Sanskrit. Śūnya is a mathematical word. It is something remind you zero, in terms of foundation of all numbers, possible to be measured from or measured toward. Zero, original point, which doesn't have a point, but it is a active place, so to speak. Things are able to exist. It has time and place contained in it. It's not like a vacuum, when things appear things destroyed immediately. It's not void, or ākāśa, space where nothing can exist.

You may imagine that all the existing world as it is, captured by a mind which can see its nature, and nature of the things. Very strange situation we are in. But here, as a kind of small theatre, like set up — Buddha is there and into meditation, and in the meditation this teaching appear. So we have problems, where we are at in relationship with contents of sutra.

Every Buddhist theory developed over five hundred years before the sutra are all drawn into this course of sutra. Four noble truths. Twelve cause of pratītyasamutpāda, codependent origination, and cessation process of twelve causation. And eighteen realms of experiential field — eighteen is three times six. Five aggregate and mano-vijñāna consciousness, that six, and object of five indriya, six consciousness, it's again counted, and then seeing, tasting, so forth. The function of this five aggregate and six of consciousness makes eight things. Those are all from Abhidharma teaching.

In Chinese tradition we say mu.¹ You have heard everyone read this word. Mu is another word of śūnyatā. Translation of śūnya into Chinese is kū — same characters, sky, blue sky, and nothing in it, empty space. But our daily use of word mu was more closer to our understanding. Mu literally mean nothing, no existence, no thing is seen there. Nothing.

But this is a strange word. We have this kind of ability to see, understand there is such thing, nothing — even you don't quite able to experience it as existing dynamic. It's absurd to experience nothing. So what are we always looking for? Or even end up seeing it, final knowledge is this nothing. We want to have something, something tasty or eatable, or something make you blissful, peaceful, exciting, something useful, so to speak, for your being. But nothing doesn't make sense. This shows the truth of existing entity as relative condition.

But here we have to look at ourselves — not look at somebody else and make theory out of your observation, but you look into your own self, since nobody except you are available to do this business. Dark inside. The mind state is stuck in its blindness. Physically, only when sun, moon shine on your body, skin appear as a little white or black or yellowish. Inside of it is really dark, bloody. It seems nothing else in it, but something, this fresh bloody — don't know which direction this energy is directed.

Over many thousand years we have established some knowledge as a member of human condition, but it is simply relative knowledge. We don't have quite final knowledge what we are, what this human being is. Always open to question into the future. Human could be this way, human next century could be this way. Instead of killing monsters, we come together every morning and sit. Unusual activity. Even as a school activity, it is very unusual, exceptional activity.

As I said, we as each individual human being — except fully enlightened ones among you — most of us are utterly blind. Don't know other people almost at all. We don't know about ourselves almost at all. Very strange existence.

And when rush of knowledge comes to you and everything seems crystal clear, now you say, I am knowledged. Start to teach people about it. A few years later you discover it wasn't quite final knowledge.

We don't know where we come from in the first place. And where we are going. Sometimes I think that way — maybe we shouldn't know those things. Just feel hungry sometime, and go to field and pick food, or catch fish and some animals in the mountain and eat them, without preparing ourselves to even expect awakening of a bodhisattva.

It's almost absurd to get into that state where you are not ready, but awakening take place, and most of us freak out, don't know what to do with it. End up going to mental hospital or something, and given doses of tranquilizers. I have a very big problem in this area. There is no person to really speak about your experience. You're even embarrassed to speak about it. Most of you have diary, sacred diary in which your sacred achievement is all written down. Nobody can see it. Only very close person can share a little part of it.

Your achievement of your understanding up to today has a long, long history. Many lives before you. It's just like your heart beat. You think heartbeat started from time ago, like ten years, fifty years, seventy years ago — no, it must be continuing way before you have arrived here. This beat of heart didn't come from so-called-it nothing. Nothing creates anything. Something was going on, so that you as beings appeared. So we say endless beginningless.

In the first meditation instruction we were told posture, physical posture, and breath, and mind. All these sits — mind sits as body sits as breathing sits. We don't know which comes first. Any of those can come first.

We tend to start with visible part first, and invisible later on. Body goes first, breath go next, and finally something called mind. You scream that my mind cannot sit, what shall I do — it's none of my business, but you feel that it has to be controlled and sit. Mind has to sit as body sits. Is it truly so? We don't know.

Think about when you were literally existence in your mother's womb. That shows ancient history of you, of our human existence, way before human took human shape. But background of that phenomena, setup of that existence, as a unity of being and non-being. Non-being means a place, time, place where matter can be existing.

The reason why such being has caused to exist — cause and reasons and purpose of that existence — appearing about two years old, two and a half years old. This individual existence among all existence start to say, what is this, who am I. Amazing to discover there is a way to move around. You can go close to whatever you wish to be, or you wish to have. Mind reach to it first, and then body follow, and finally confirm it was what you have been searching.

We might discuss about what does it mean by being enlightened. It is something to do with going back to what you actually are. And sitting in meditation, sitting being as who you are, is something to do with facing to your own true figure — not made up, or thought, or wish to be.

Q: How does compassion come out of emptiness?

KOBUN: Compassion sounds very fancy. By just the sound of word of compassion you do this. If you say that, no one can say it's no good. Very fancy stuff. I don't know.

It relate with this deep painful knowledge of selflessness. Now you are out of job, so to speak. If there is a speck of beneficial mind attached to energy, it cannot be compassionate — it become some kind of negotiation, promise or something.

Compassionate mind, it's a very foolish mind in one way. It just drain your energy, years of work, and you feel you are stupid doing that. And yet you cannot help it, you have to do it. It's inner demand. Even it's not beneficial at all, you do it.

Sitting is a best example. It's a compassionate deed in the first place, because you don't know you're going to make thousands, two million dollars by this sitting. It may be, but you don't care about it. Very bad.

It is not answer. I don't know about it. We discuss, think about it.

Q: I have a practical question about the walking meditation.

KOBUN: Positions of the hand. This is called vajra mudra — kongō, vajra mudra. Your thumb, this is the human being. And asura. And last one is hungry being, so to speak, thirsty being. And animals, asura, human. And this one is heaven. And shravaka, and arhat, and bodhisattva, and last one is Buddha.²

When you sit in lotus position, four fingers touch, and put a hand support in the palm like this, and the second knuckles touch together, and then it close to your body, and put the finger and human finger touch their tips, and electric impulses go between this, like a spark of energy. If you completely touch, even you press them, you feel mudra disappear, whole thing become a part of your body. When tip of your thumb start to separate, you start to feel the electric pulses before you touch it.

This is when you sit — your mudra go in front of your belly, and center of your hara, which is about four fingers below your navel. That is where center of this mudra take place. So your mind is around your stomach. Instead of mind go moment after moment, or trouble somewhere else, you keep your mind here. Or if you keep your hand on your legs by your knees, there is a different sensation go with it. Again, your mind stay around your body.

When you do kinhin walking, or standing meditation — about one knuckle wide between your heels, and about two fists wide between your toe, and feel like you are grabbing the ground, and go back and forth, sideway. This is much easier position to breathe deeper. First few breaths you go with mouth, empty yourself.

And position of last thing is at your solar plexus. There are two ways in this position. After you cover this vajra mudra with right hand, you keep this arms, joint arms across body, and from both elbow you give a slight strength toward your mudra. You push from both sides, not too hard, and relax your shoulder.

So in each breath you go half step forward, which means you are not walking actually, you are still meditating. Another breath you go forward. Inhalation, and touch the sole, and breathe out. And then end of exhalation, your other heel start to go up, and then gently stride on the exhale.

So at this point you don't close your eyes. That tension of alertness is same as sitting time. Sitting should be relaxed, and mind should be rather activated when you are sitting. But why you stood up? Why you walking? Sometime you think about it. When you go back and sit.

It is time to finish. What time I say? Twelve. Thank you.

Notes

1. 1 無, mu. He then distinguishes it from 空, kū — the character that also means sky — which is the usual Chinese rendering of śūnya.
2. 2 He is mapping the six realms and then the four holy states onto the fingers of the mudra. The engine garbled most of the terms; the sequence he gives — hungry ghost, animal, asura, human, heaven, then shravaka, arhat, bodhisattva, buddha — is the standard set, and is restored on that basis rather than heard clearly.