Gathering the Mind and Abiding in the Realm of Emptiness

The Tiantai school divides all dharmas into two realms. One is what is called the "provisional" (假)—provisional names, provisional characteristics, and provisional functions. The affairs of this world, the dharmas produced by causes and conditions—wealth and poverty, health and illness—these states all belong to the provisional. Whether rich or poor, both arise provisionally through causes and conditions; they are provisional dharmas. You might say they don't exist, yet they do have their provisional names, characteristics, and functions. Indeed, wealth brings happiness and poverty brings suffering; this too has its causes and conditions. This is called the provisional, and it refers to the differentiated characteristics of all dharmas. Our past karmic forces include both wholesome and unwholesome karma, and the retributions they produce come in every variety. All of this belongs to the provisional—the differentiated characteristics of all dharmas.

The other realm is "emptiness" (空). This emptiness is the equal nature of all dharmas. Whether you are wealthy or poor, from the standpoint of essential nature, the nature of wealth is ultimately empty, and the nature of poverty is ultimately empty. This emptiness is not easy for us to understand. Perhaps we shouldn't speak of "dharmas produced by causes and conditions, I say they are empty"—we needn't reach for such lofty principles. Let's speak of impermanence instead; isn't that better? Rather than approaching emptiness through the "contemplation of emptiness of essence" (体空观), we approach it through the "contemplation of emptiness by analysis" (析空观)—the xi meaning to analyze.

Take someone who is wealthy. The state of wealth is subject to change. The money he earns today may be lost overnight through failure and bankruptcy. We can see, then, that wealth is inherently changeable. Through this change, we come to know that all dharmas lack a real, unchanging self-nature; all dharmas undergo arising, abiding, decay, and emptiness. When he was wealthy he had plenty of money, but in an instant he lost everything. He was born into life, and in the end he dies. The whole course of life is in flux.

In the affairs of the world, not a single thing is permanent and unchanging—there is simply no such thing. After birth, one grows up; after growing up, one dies. In this life one is human; in the next life one may fall into the three evil realms. After one's time in the three evil realms is spent, one's wholesome karma ripens, and one is reborn in the heavens. The whole round of life within the six realms goes on changing from moment to moment, ceaselessly. We call this impermanence, and therefore it is empty, without self-nature.

Thus "emptiness" is a general characteristic of all dharmas. The nature of every dharma is established upon emptiness; out of emptiness, through different causes and conditions, dharmas come into being. Though they arise, their nature remains empty. Emptiness, then, is the common characteristic of all dharmas.

In the Tiantai school's teaching, a beginner bodhisattva enters emptiness from the provisional. At first, you don't try to discriminate among those provisional states or cling to them. Instead, you gather back the mind that's been running after them. Gather it back and place it where? In emptiness—you abide in the realm of ultimate emptiness.

So at the start you simply dwell without discrimination. That is why, when someone has just begun to practice, sometimes when you look at them it seems the more they practice, the more...in worldly terms, their discriminating mind appears to grow quiet and detached. Yes, at first it is like this. Slowly, as the mind becomes at ease, they later emerge from emptiness back out into the provisional. So at the start one must gather the mind back from its entanglement with provisional names and characteristics and let it rest in the realm of "emptiness." This is called entering emptiness from the provisional. Do you understand?

Because if you begin by discriminating, your mind will never settle down—this simply won't do! Our old habitual fault is the love of chasing after conditions. In an instant you're sorting through provisional names, characteristics, and functions, and rushing off to save sentient beings. With that grasping mind, you'll never be able to stop. So this is a matter of sequence.