Observe and stop, observe and then arise wisdom

▌An important topic of Buddhism▌

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Liberation is an extremely important subject of Buddhism, and it is also the fundamental subject of Buddhism. David Burton pointed out that religions generally provide what they believe to be a rationale for the salvation of human spiritual plight, and Buddhism provides a theory of liberation. Liberation is translated in English as liberation, a word derived from liberty (freedom), which is: "to set something or someone free", or "for some socially considered special group, wrong people "Removal of bad stereotypes in projection", mainly emphasizing the liberation of social norms, such as women's liberation, homosexual liberation. So, the concept of "liberation" is to leave a limited situation. Greatness is the opposite of being trapped, shackled, and bound, and it is because of being stuck that there is a demand for deliverance and liberation.

The concept of "liberation" in Indian philosophy roughly falls into the following four categories, namely: (1) liberation is the ultimate purpose or meaning of life; (2) one must engage in physical or mental exercise to remove the "constitutive conditions" that will lead to reincarnation and "motivating factors" to achieve this goal; (3) the content of these practices includes: awareness of the meaning of life wisdom, generosity, non-attachment, kindness, compassion and other purposes. In the traditional view, those who achieve their goals and escape from samsara can become one with the ultimate source of reality and remain in a state of joy and happiness; (4) "liberation" must be logically and practically possible Otherwise, life would have no meaning and purpose, and we would have no reason to do anything.

The concept of "liberation" in Buddhism is different from that in traditional India: (1) There are differences in the ontological elements that constitute reincarnation. Buddhism proposes "impermanence", "non-self", "emptiness", "dependent origin", etc. To answer the questions on ontology; (2) Regarding the project of how to achieve liberation, Buddhism puts forward the viewpoints of the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, and meditation at the practical level. The "liberation" that Buddhism is talking about is at a deeper level. It is not only liberation from social discrimination, or escape from the oppressive environment that makes oneself unfree in real life, but to cut to the bottom. The part of the body, especially the part of being, is to be completely freed from all the conditions and factors that cause bondage and hardship.

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▌What is "suffering"? ▌

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Buddhism believes that the greatest bondage in the world is the ever-changing painful process of birth, aging, illness and death. The reincarnation of life and death, the alternation of life and death from life to life, and in it, there are all kinds of separations of life and death piled up with blood and tears; the Buddhist theory of liberation is based on the reality of "suffering" in this way, In addition, living in the world is constrained by the family background of birth, the framework of social and cultural values, and the influence of the natural environment. All these related conditions make all living beings living in it not free. The same society should also be concerned about the feelings of other people. In addition to this, the feelings of body and mind also affect each other, for example: emotional agitation and worry can affect the health of the body, which is mind-to-body suffering; physical pain and discomfort can also lead to restlessness It can be seen that the feelings of "suffering" are complex and diverse.

Suffering is listed as the first of the Four Noble Truths, indicating that suffering is a universal truth or truth. The suffering discussed in Buddhism is not only about the "suffering" of feeling, but mainly brings out the unavoidable and helpless life process of constantly running through birth, aging, sickness, death, gathering, separation and reunion, and the deep inner discomfort, worry, torment.

The meaning of "suffering" is based on the reality of impermanence and change. "impermanence causes suffering", impermanence is the condition for suffering to be established; impermanence is the reason why suffering is suffering. All this cognitive orientation has to do is to find out, explore, and see clearly the cause of "suffering."

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▌Conditional Origination (pratītyasamutpāda / conditionco-arising) ▌

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Buddhism focuses on the analysis and realization of dependent arising phenomena, and this analysis and realization is the focus of "contemplation". This way of seeing is called Dependent Origination.

Two questions arise here, what is the view of dependent origination? What exactly to observe/watch?

The knowledge base of Buddhism, roughly speaking, is mainly divided into two categories: (1) Direct sensory perception: perception experience based on the six senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and consciousness). (2) Perception beyond the senses: Through the exercise of the mind, perception beyond the senses can be produced, for example: various states of meditation. Knowing (understanding) and practicing (practice) can be said to be the two major centers of Buddhist study, and at the same time, they are also the whole of Buddhist study. knowledge or wisdom.

The Buddha taught to use one's own feelings as the entry point, and the intention is to look deeply (observe) from one's own feelings. According to the Miscellaneous Agama Sutra, the perspective of observation and contemplation is placed on our body and mind. Body and mind, this whole group, as the place where our daily experience is generated, such a combination has become the field of Buddhist practice. No matter what is experienced or spoken, open and break through from these various aspects of cognition, point out and examine the habitual identification and clinging of words, meanings, or thinking of ordinary people in the world.

From a Buddhist perspective, suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self are a way of seeing and interpreting the world. The Buddhist perspective is a dismantling perspective, a dynamic perspective, so it does not talk about the entity, there is no self, no essence, and no ultimate individuality. Here, take a rough example: a wooden table, from a Buddhist perspective, a table is not a table, why? The wooden table is made of trees. The growth process of the tree is from seed germination, photosynthesis, water, soil and other conditions. After it grows into a tree, it is cut down to make a big tree head. After processing, send it to the factory and make it into a table. What we see is a "wooden table", but there is no table itself that can exist independently. "Table" is just a name. Dependent Origination is such a perspective, and because of this, the Dharma teaches that it is complete, living, deteriorating, and empty. The wooden table is formed until it lives (there is such a thing), until it is broken, and after it is broken, it dissipates or is destroyed (empty). This is the case with any substance. It needs various conditions to cooperate with each other to become its object. This is called Dependent Origination. It exists because of the combination of conditions. Without any one condition, something may not be generated. Therefore, according to the Buddhist perspective, there is no independent existence in the world. thing.

The Buddha taught to use the human body itself as an object of observation and as an entry point for meditation. Our body, like a table, is not an independent object. Our body is made up of the five aggregates (form, feeling, perception, action, and consciousness), together with the six faculties (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind), and the six objects (form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharma). ), six consciousnesses (eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, body-consciousness, and consciousness) (Eighteen Realms) (three sixes make up eighteen) are mutually conditional.

In medical terms, the six senses are the nerves, the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and the nervous system of consciousness, and these conditions are constantly changing or changing, every minute and every second. It may be the same smell that you thought was fragrant yesterday, but today your nose may be uncomfortable, or something is wrong with your body, or the weather is just too hot and you are in a bad mood. The same smell may be disgusting to you today. These eighteen conditions are indefinite in themselves, and they are not real and independent constitutive conditions in themselves.

Such a way of seeing, such a view of mind and body, mainly teaches us to see that the relationship between mind and body is interactive, that the functions of each world are clearly defined and the functions are interlinked, and that each condition cooperates with each other. So, there is no "I" that exists. Can you say the cranial nerve is you? cannot. The cranial nerves are also formed through the cooperation of various conditions. We cannot come up with a real thing called consciousness. Consciousness itself has to rely on the contact of the senses, and then there are different judgments, feelings, and emotions. Only then can consciousness be further formed. Therefore, there is no such thing as "consciousness" that exists independently.

Strictly speaking, there is nothing in this world that can withstand the erosion and change of time, and it is impossible for youth to stay or true love to stay forever. Among all the phenomena of change, the Buddha sees that life is impermanent, changes due to impermanence, impermanent because of change, and there is no eternal thing. This is a kind of "knowing as it is", which is based on the fact that all phenomena (form, mind) are dependent on the emptiness, and wisdom is generated. Here, it fully shows that Buddhism is dominated by wisdom, and the manifestation of wisdom is also driven by such "seeing as it is". caused by. What is involved is, first of all, how to observe, correct observation, thinking after observation, correct thinking, and correct wisdom.

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▌"impermanence causes suffering, suffering is the reason, seek liberation" ▌

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Going back to what I said in the previous section, "impermanence causes suffering." Impermanence is the condition for suffering to be established; impermanence is the reason why suffering is suffering. We must note that the establishment of "dukkha" also depends on the antecedent condition of "impermanence"; if the antecedent condition is not established, "dukkha" cannot be established. This involves a very important, core idea of Buddhism, which is Dependent Origination. Everything that can arise depends on conditions. "This is because that is, and this is because that is." ” and the role of “edge”. "Cause" is the primary motivating factor, while "condition" is the secondary condition, and "rising" means arising.

Conditional aggregation promotes the existence of things, whereas conditional dissolution causes things to disappear. Because of the constant aggregation and dissolution of associative conditions, nothing is eternal and cannot exist on its own. Since "causation" is the basis for the changes in the world, it is impossible to say that there is an independent existence. Therefore, "dependent origin" and "emptiness" are often combined into a set of concepts. From this, we can clearly understand that Buddhism talks about "emptiness", not emptiness or nothing. This "emptiness" (Sanskrit: śūnyatā / emptiness) means that everything has no substance, but it does not mean that there is no substance. Things exist, but to say that everything changes with the change of the associated conditions, and arises with the aggregation of conditions. "Empty" does not mean that it does not exist, nor does it mean to determine the "existence" or "non-existence" of things, but to show that all things are dependent origins and change with related conditions, emphasizing that everything under dependent origination is facilitated by related conditions , constantly changing in the relevant conditions, unable to be independent.

To study the Dharma is to use the wisdom of insight into the origin of all dharmas to solve the problems of life. As a special view of knowledge in Buddhism, "emptiness view" mainly comes from a thorough observation and comprehensive understanding of reality. Therefore, Buddhist epistemology does not arbitrarily judge things as "what is," "what is," or "what is not." , but to build knowledge on the interconnection of the constituent parts of things, the network of relationships and the process of change. It is precisely such a perspective that can fully understand this impermanent world in a transcendental and dynamic way of viewing based on dependent origination.

The Buddha Dharma says to observe and stop, to be able to observe, and then to stop. Observation: see things clearly, and know what is going on; then stop: further know what should be done and what should not be done. It is a kind of wisdom, a quality of life, and a kind of power.

Observe and then stop, observe and then arise wisdom.