Zen: Emptiness & Dependent Co-Arising

DIscussion and definitions of sunyata (emptiness) and pratityasamutpada (dependent co-arising) from the Mahayana standpoint in support of Soto Zen study and realizational practice as well as clarifying some of the most common misunderstandings.

Transcript

I'd like to talk about two core Buddhist concepts,

And I'll begin with this Japanese rendition of the Heart Sutra.

Shiki-fu-i-ku,

Kufu-i-shiki,

Shiki-soku-ze-ku,

Kusoku-ze-shiki.

Translated it means,

Form is emptiness,

Emptiness is form.

Form is no other than emptiness,

Emptiness is no other than form.

These lines from the Heart Sutra are recited almost daily by Zen Buddhists.

But what do these words mean?

This is a basic teaching of Zen Buddhism that when properly understood will energize and deepen your understanding and your practice.

So I'd like to review these basic Buddhist principles.

Zen is a form of Mahayana Buddhism,

Which is rooted in emptiness,

The school's foundational teaching.

That is,

All phenomena lack any essence.

That which is asserted as empty and negated is a self that exists separately and independently of causes and conditions.

Insight through meditative experience into the truth of emptiness functions to clarify dependent co-arising,

The complementary concept.

Dependent co-arising clarifies emptiness.

No separate independent self means the realization of the fundamental interconnection,

Oneness and identity of all being.

Hence the Zen paradox of the identity of the one and the many.

We are unique beings and uniquely separate beings and simultaneously we are all connected as one reality.

This is the nature of reality.

With these points in mind,

Here's a brief description of these terms.

The Sanskrit term for emptiness is Shunyata,

Which is translated in Japanese as Ku,

Which also means sky or space.

Other translations of Shunyata include nothingness,

Non-existence,

Non-reality,

Voidness,

Nonlessness and delusion.

However,

The Zen teacher Gudo Yesijima notes,

But the real philosophical meaning of Shunyata is emptiness,

The bare,

Bald,

Naked,

Raw or transparent state,

That is,

The state in which reality is seen as it is.

When filtered through our preconceptions Shunyata has been often completely misunderstood.

For instance,

A nihilist orientation engenders a view of emptiness as a lack interpreted as nothingness or non-existence.

Emptiness has also been described as a void,

As if emptiness were a place or an object or a psychic location that contains contents that become emptied out from or as a location that one may courageously dive into.

In both views,

The fundamental teaching as expressed as I quoted at the beginning of this talk,

Shiki Sokuzei Ku,

Ku Sokuzei Shiki,

Emptiness is form,

Form is emptiness,

Becomes overlooked.

Further,

The principle of no-self becomes taken literally rather than as a shorthand for the notion that as Zen teaches,

There is no inherently existing,

Permanent self,

Essence or soul that exists separately from causes and conditions.

The 13th century founder of the Sōdō Zen school in Japan,

Eihei Dogan,

For example,

Is highly critical of this misunderstanding.

In the Busho,

Buddha nature chapter of Shobu Genzō,

The True Darmarai,

Written in 1241,

He addresses this point.

And the key point here is his use of the term being without,

Or mū,

Which refers to the negation that something exists.

In this context,

Mū refers to the non-existence of a permanent and eternal self or essence.

Commenting on the fifth patriarch of Zen in China,

Zen master Daimin,

Dogan writes,

The fifth patriarch says,

The Buddha nature is emptiness.

So,

We call it being without.

This clearly expresses that emptiness is not non-existence.

We use the words being without.

We do not call it emptiness because it is a void.

And we do not call it being without because it does not exist.

Because the Buddha nature is emptiness,

We call it being without.

So,

Being without in this quote,

Refers to being,

But being that is without eternal essence.

Thus Dogan denies the interpretation that Shunyata,

Emptiness,

Describes nothingness,

Non-existence,

Or something unreal.

Rather,

According to Dogan,

It describes an absolutely real existence and is not a negation of real existence.

With Dogan's critique and clarification in mind,

Here is a concise and clear definition of emptiness provided by the Tibetan Buddhist scholar Jeffrey Hopkins.

And he writes,

Phenomena are empty of a certain mode of being called inherent existence,

Objective existence,

Or natural existence.

This inherent existence is not a concept superimposed by philosophical systems,

But refers to our ordinary sense of the way that things exist,

As if they concretely exist in and of themselves,

Covering their parts.

Phenomena are the things which are empty of inherent existence,

And inherent existence is that which phenomena are empty.

This inherent existence that Hopkins describes,

Which all phenomena are empty of,

Refers to the illusion of a permanent and separate essence or self that exists separately from causes and conditions,

Such as an immortal soul that exists before and beyond our physical and mental being,

Posited by many religious systems.

In contrast to this view,

All existence,

Without exception,

Arises in a context that is subject to causes and conditions.

Think about all of the causes and conditions in your life that resulted in you being here right now.

Now,

Understanding the Buddhist notion of ignorance will help to clarify this.

Simply stated,

Ignorance,

Or avidya in Sanskrit,

Is the active resistance to the realization of the empty nature of our existence.

Empty of what?

Empty of a substantial,

Permanent,

And separate essence or self that exists separately from causes and conditions.

However,

Through avidya,

We posit a separate and permanent sense of self,

And this,

According to Buddhism,

Is where our suffering begins.

Because as soon as we posit a separate sense of self,

We create a subject and object dichotomy,

And as soon as we create this dichotomy,

Attachment and aversion arise and become enacted in the form of fear,

Envy,

Hate,

Aggression.

We want to hold on to what we have,

And through greed and aggression,

We want and often attempt to accumulate what others have.

This process,

To varying degrees,

Is all-pervasive and occurs on an individual level as well as on a global level,

Which explains the underlying causes of theft,

Vandalism,

Holocaust,

And war.

So to summarize,

The act of not knowing described by Buddhists as ignorance is delusion because it blinds us and prevents us from realizing the essential truth of the reality of our existence,

Which is that all phenomena are empty and without essence.

Emptiness is extremely important in Zen thought and practice.

However,

Emptiness does not describe the full point of view of Mahayana thought.

The complementary notion of pratitya samutpada,

Which is the Sanskrit term for dependent co-arising,

Refers to the notion that all existence arises contextually subject to causes and conditions.

Thus all phenomena,

Hence all experience,

Exists in a relative way,

But not inherently,

Absolutely,

Eternally,

Or independently.

Nothing arises independently.

This relationship finds clear and poetic expression in the writings of Nārājuna,

The fourteenth patriarch of Zen and the founder of the Mahayana tradition.

And he writes,

Just as in a dream,

Happiness and suffering depend on dream objects,

And upon awakening these objects are known not to actually exist.

Likewise,

Any phenomenon which arises in dependence should be known not to exist in the manner of its appearance.

Notice that Nārājuna does not completely write off all existence.

Rather,

He questions the way phenomena appear to us through the lens of avijjā,

Or ignorance.

Through practice we acknowledge both aspects of reality and we cut through getting caught in one at the expense of awareness of the other through dualistic thinking or through negation that's attributed to avijjā.

Dependent co-arising conveys a sense of mutuality in terms of how phenomena arise.

What arises is co-created in a context.

This sense of mutuality functions in contrast to what can be described as empty,

Non-differentiated,

And non-existing.

Differentiation and separateness,

On the other hand,

Implies uniqueness,

Separateness,

Otherness,

Discrimination between self and other,

Distinction between subject and object.

All Zen teachings and practices derive from these two concepts,

Regardless of the sect and the diverse forms of expression,

That many schools of Mahayana Buddhism,

Such as,

For example,

Zen or Tibetan Buddhism,

Articulate.

It's important to keep in mind that the goal of practice and understanding is focused on only refuting inherent existence,

Not all existence.

To refute all existence would only lead to extreme nihilism.

On the other hand,

Asserting a permanent,

Solid,

Or separate existence reflects an absolutist view.

So,

In conclusion,

Regardless of whether either dependent co-arising or emptiness serve as relative entry points to realizational understanding,

Ultimately,

The two are identical.

Both define each other.

As I mentioned at the outset,

The Heart Sutra asserts,

Shiki Fu I Ku,

Ku Fu I Shiki,

Shiki Soku Zei Ku,

Ku Soku Zei Shiki.

Form is emptiness,

Emptiness is form,

Form is no other than emptiness,

Emptiness is no other than form.

Regardless of approaching realization through the notion that all phenomena arise dependently on causes and conditions,

Or through the realization that reality is empty,

The bottom line from the Mahayana standpoint is the lack of independent,

Permanent,

Inherently existing or eternal self-put on the one hand,

And the significance of causes and conditions on the other hand.

The question becomes,

Through practice,

Can we bring our realization into our everyday lives and respond to others,

Not through fear,

Hate,

Aggression,

Or judgment generated through ignorance,

But through wisdom and compassion engendered through realization.

Thank you.

Reviews

One of the clearest summaries I have heard to date … would love it if this were published somewhere!

Very clear, articulate summary of fundamental but difficult to understand principles of Buddhism. Worth listening to frequently. Thank you Seiso Roshi.

Thank you so much for teaching this very important concept 🙏
I will need to repeat a few more times to better understand. Quite thought provoking.

This is one I could listen to over and over again. Very deep exploration of oneness. Many thanks. 🙇‍♀️

Thank you for this talk. This is a talk that I need to ponder for a while, and perhaps listen to again. 🙏

A penetrating analysis of difficult and essential concepts. Thank you very much.

Thank you Seiso Roshi for your cogent explanation of these concepts.