THE MIND OF NO BIRTH AND NO DEATH

Thich nu Tinh Quang 

In the Heart Sutra, the negative sentence is "No birth, no death", which is also the meaning of the entire Mahayana philosophical system. As regards the Mind, everyone is aware that it is the motive force behind all existence; everything exists through the perception of the Mind, and the presence of the mind cannot be separated from things.

Try to argue for the view that the existence of mind is as follows:

(1) Mind has existence. It is a wonderful structure in nature and the universe that the relationship between sentient beings is complex. Life is based on consciousness, and awareness exists.

(2) Mind exists if there is a truth-producing relationship between it and what makes it exist (conditions).

(3) Therefore, Mind exists only because there is a truth-making relationship between it and the things that make it exist.

Therefore,

(4) Things that make the mind exist (conditions) must exist (four elements+emptiness+consciousness)

Realism and Idealism, from a factual perspective, are they primarily material or are they entirely idealistic? In a purely physical world, our thoughts and perceptions would not be spiritual entities at all, but rather complex mechanical systems of a subtle nature. And if we are purely spiritual, then the physical parts don't really exist, but simply a form of misconception that the undifferentiated mind has about its existence. Either the mind is completely alone in its misconceptions or it is fragmented in its perception (collective consciousness).

Sentient beings are not merely Mind or Matter. We cannot be the 'mechanical' matter that constitutes the 'soul' of man. We are neither pure minds nor thoughts in the physical world. Thus, separating Mind from things, we cannot find Mind. If there are concrete minds, how can we know them? For a practical, scientific person, if you think that the Mind is something that is not abstract, it must be proven as mathematical truth; and if it cannot be concrete, existing, visible to the eye, touchable by the hand, it cannot be said to be. On the other hand, we can't say that Mind is 'empty', for if 'empty' in the sense of nothingness then all order and perception (from mind) cannot exist. Mind and mathematics are abstract entities, and as such, are different from natural facts. Literally, one cannot display Mind events like one can display a party; one cannot observe mental and mathematical facts in the same way as one can observe, with the aid of a microscope, the chlorophyll in a leaf. Mind as a physical entity has limited empirical evidence. It is impossible. It is imperative to understand that the mind is dependent upon things, and is fragile. The more thoughtful the mind is, the easier it is for people to fall into confusion and fear. 

According to Buddhist scriptures: "All appearances are illusions." (金剛經: “凡所有相,皆是虛妄) What is illusion? Dharma is always changing, but change is unreal. All mind and matter arise and pass away every moment. This is impermanent, unreal, variable birth and death, deceptive and without a master. (" 佛說八大人覺經: "生 滅 變 異, 虛 僞 無 主.") Sentient beings are subject to birth, old age, illness, and death; plant species inadvertently living beings are born, stay, change, and die; types of minerals until the planet is subject to birth, stay, decay, and become nothing.

The Buddha differs from sentient beings in seeing. The view of the Buddha is that seeing the generals is false, while the view of living beings seeing the generals is the real state. Both false and true appearances originate in our minds. The Buddha taught the Dharma in the Second Truth: one is the True Truth, the other is the customary truth. In attaining the pure realm of unborn and undying purity, his words are called "Truth Speech". When he said 'all dharmas are unborn and undying', this is the Truth; when he said 'all dharmas arise and pass away', this is the customary truth, because according to the common perception of sentient beings, so he said about impermanent dharmas.

As the practitioner turns to the self-mind of "no birth or death", the self is no longer born or dies (not based on untrue thoughts), then every thought becomes a Buddha. According to the fluctuating phenomenon of the ten Dharma realms of dignified mind and scene, no matter truly exists. The origin of the universe, the origin of life is "Ignorance - the arising of three phenomena" (karma of form, movement of form, and appearance of form (大乘起信論云:”一念不覺生三細,境界為緣長六粗). Ignorance is the starting point. Buddha said that the unmoving enlightenment mind is the true mind, so the awakening mind is the true mind. Delusions are mental illusions, untrue ideas, feelings of insecurity. When delusions do not arise, the real self appears. Deceptions are illusions of mind, which are continuums of coming into and moving out of existence. When you let be of the false mind of birth and death, the true mind remains unmoved. When true mind starts working, it is wisdom, whereas false mind begins working as afflictive attachments, which cause confusion, is the world of external appearances which are entirely naive. Once we let go of all our judgments and attachments, we see all the external scenes clearly and are no longer distracted by them.

Why does the Buddha sometimes say that dharmas are 'arising and passing away', at other times he says 'no birth and no death'? Is there any logic? As for reality, there is birth and death, birth and death at the same time. Within birth and death there is no limit, so he shows us what is unborn and immortal. This is the truth. There is an example given in the sutras where the Buddha uses the concept of "snapping fingers" to illustrate how birth and death are difficult to verify without careful reflection: in a snap of a finger, there are sixty Khanikas of time, and one Khanika has nine hundred times the mind arising and passing away; if you do not use effort, it is not possible to detect your mind of birth and death because it rushes infinitely faster than a blink of an eye. So, to identify this mind of birth and death, how much work is required of us?

In the Perfect Teaching Theory (圆教思想), Bodhisattva's Eight Stages of 'immovable ground' allow participants to achieve profound concentration and to understand birth and death, as well as the true nature of truth, or contemplative wisdom, underlying the existence of dharmas 'like dew and lightning' (Vajra Sutra). Buddha said in his Heart Sutra: "When observing the five aggregates 'empty', the practitioner is free from Being in the 'empty' sign (the causes and conditions that give rise to perception, thoughts) Is there no birth, no cessation? So what is 'no' form? As the sign of the mind, the primordial state of mind, as the state of space, which is nothing. In our world, thoughts arise (and the disappearance of false thoughts) due to the normal causes and conditions of thought, which are the variables that happen as the mind identifies with the body, and suffering and pleasure, having and losing are related to that.

A practitioner who attains enlightenment looks at the mind as if the wind is blowing, the water is flowing. Without thinking about the object of the mind or becoming attached to the idea, that is the time when deluded thoughts do not arise and do not disappear. In contrast, if we cling to the notion of 'non-arising and dying' then we become stuck in another concept: 'I have a mind that is not arising and dying', which means already 'no', then what is it? Mine'? The eternal awareness? Attaching to the 'permanent awareness' (never seen) deepens the base of 'mine'. Struggling with all kinds of obstacles, squirming, making a living, sensual pleasures... until our heads are gray, on the hospital bed, the mind of birth and death of suffering still kicks in. Due to our lack of understanding of the One True Dharma Realm, we cling to the external appearance of things, and get sick of distinguishing attachments. If we don't get stuck here, we will get entangled elsewhere, so we continue to sink in the wheel forever (云林禅语: “众生由其不达一真法界，只认识一切法之相，故有分别执著之病)." We are but one reality among the infinite realities of the Dharma Realm. There is no single or separate 'self' from all other 'selfs'. The five aggregates are just one reality among many sentient realities. Existence is both everything and nothing. All are just variations of the self, clinging to existence, or clinging to nothing, clinging to birth and then clinging to death, not knowing how to escape; this leads to confusion and fear. Fear of nothing and fear of having. Non-existence and being are two doubts about the existence or disappearance of Mind (self). Existing in suffering and disappearing in suffering, because happiness is inherently unstable. However, when practicing deeply into the wisdom of Prajna, the meditator will be free from the traps of Being and Non-being, and will be able to see the emptiness of emptiness, peace, and absence of suffering, where all attachments have disappeared. , all existence is in the world as one, or one true that the scriptures often say: "use the mind without attachment and establish all dharmas, then you will be able to thoroughly understand all things such as."(佛果克勤禪師心要: “依無住本，立一切法無住之本本乎無住，若能徹住則萬法一如.”)

A practitioner who attains enlightenment looks at the mind as if the wind is blowing, the water is flowing. Without thinking about the object of the mind or becoming attached to the idea, that is the time when deluded thoughts do not arise and do not disappear. In contrast, if we cling to the notion of 'non-arising and dying' then we become stuck in another concept: 'I have a mind that is not arising and dying', which means already 'no', then what is it? Mine'? The eternal awareness? Attaching to the 'permanent awareness' (never seen) deepens the base of 'mine'. Struggling with all kinds of obstacles, squirming, making a living, sensual pleasures... until our heads are gray, on the hospital bed, the mind of birth and death of suffering still kicks in. Due to our lack of understanding of the One True Dharma Realm, we cling to the external appearance of things, and get sick of distinguishing attachments. If we don't get stuck here, we will get entangled elsewhere, so we continue to sink in the wheel forever (云林禅语: “众生由其不达一真法界，只认识一切法之相，故有分别执著之病)." We are but one reality among the infinite realities of the Dharma Realm. There is no single or separate 'self' from all other 'selfs'. The five aggregates are just one reality among many sentient realities. Existence is both everything and nothing. All are just variations of the self, clinging to existence, or clinging to nothing, clinging to birth and then clinging to death, not knowing how to escape; this leads to confusion and fear. Fear of nothing and fear of having. Non-existence and being are two doubts about the existence or disappearance of Mind (self). Existing in suffering and disappearing in suffering, because happiness is inherently unstable. However, when practicing deeply into the wisdom of Prajna, the meditator will be free from the traps of Being and Non-being, and will be able to see the emptiness of emptiness, peace, and absence of suffering, where all attachments have disappeared. , all existence is in the world as one, or one true that the scriptures often say: "use the mind without attachment and establish all dharmas, then you will be able to thoroughly understand all things such as."(佛果克勤禪師心要: “依無住本，立一切法無住之本本乎無住，若能徹住則萬法一如.”)

True perception of reality is the quiet view, the view of phenomena, the view of objects without the desire to control or distinguish them. Being aware as seeing, hearing as hearing, no conception (birth) based on thought (moving on). According to the sequential sequence of causes and conditions, things come into being, remain, and pass away according to their causes and conditions. We cling to ideas about things because they have no concrete basis for existing. Therefore, as soon as they rise again and simultaneously disappear, that is just the idea of continuity. The cultivator recognizes the illusory nature of mind arising and does not rush after thoughts, not letting thoughts bind the mind: "And bhikkhus, guard the doors of the senses. Seeing form with your eyes, don't cling to it..." 18“ehi tvaṃ bhikkhu, indriyesu guttadvāro hohi, cakkhunā rūpaṃ disvā mā nimittaggāhī ..." (MN 107 ) , "Monks, All saṅkhārā are ever-changing, appearing and dying constantly. Be diligent! "Handadāni bhikkhave āmantayāmi vo vayadhammā saṅkhārā appamādena sampādetha.” (Mahāparinibbānasutta).

The Buddha often reminds us to keep walking, to cross, not to wander, and not to get stuck in mental formations, time of birth, and deathMental formations form faster than the blink of an eye, and if we do not recognize the rapidity of that unceasing birth and death of delusion, we will never be able to experience Nirvana or the glory of our True Self in that continuum of birth and death.

“Oh blessed Nirvana

Taught by the Self-Awakened One

A place without worries, a safe place

Where suffering has completely ceased.” (Vasijjā Sutta)

That is when there is a problem that does not give rise to delusions. This is like water bubbles that no longer appear or disappear on a calm, clear lake. They are merely the appearance of phenomena under water, without any undulations or silence.

ENTERING THE GATES OF MEDITATION