Thorough analysis of the material world ultimately reveals it to be nothing but emptiness

When Wuxiu heard the Bodhisattva speak these words, he knew that seeking to foretell the length of his own lifespan was meaningless, so he requested guidance on what to do. The Bodhisattva then imparted this teaching: "You should understand that practicing the Buddhist path without realizing the mind in the present moment is like building a house without laying a foundation, or trying to cross a flowing river without a raft."

Both the Chan meditation lineages and the doctrinal scriptural schools of Buddhism place special emphasis on this question: What is the single thought of mind that arises in us in the present moment? The Chan school refers to this practice as "investigating and probing into this single thought of mind"; the doctrinal schools engage in "threefold contemplation within a single mind"; the Pure Land school teaches "restraining the six sense roots and maintaining one-pointed, undistracted mindfulness." All of these paths aim to enable us to clearly realize the present-moment single thought of mind. To achieve this realization, we must engage in careful "contemplation and investigation" — observing and probing deeply into the mind.

Most ordinary people are constantly rushing outward, preoccupied with the five desires and six sense objects day in and day out. They fixate on how large their business is growing, and obsess over interpersonal friction and gossip. Rarely do they turn their attention to the present-moment thought of mind to contemplate it: "My body, formed from the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and air, and my mind and consciousness — where do they arise from?" When we reflect that the four great elements are all conditionally arisen phenomena, we can see that our bodies are not inherently real. If you break the body down into its individual constituent elements, none of them alone constitutes the body. We cannot exist without these elements, yet no single element is identical to the body itself.

Our mind and consciousness — these illusory phenomena arise and vanish in an instant, rushing by like a torrent. What is their basis for existence? This is why we investigate and come to see that both body and mind are illusory, unreal, and products of deeply fixed delusional views. This kind of contemplation and investigation is precisely what breaks down attachment to the self. Why do all sentient beings cling so tenaciously to their bodies? Because they take them to be real, but in truth, they are not real at all. When we understand that our bodies and minds are both illusory, we also see that the surrounding world manifested by this mind — the entire world, even down to the tiniest particle of dust — is also illusory. Recognizing this requires the penetrating power of profound prajna wisdom.

All sentient beings assume the material world is real, but is the material world actually real? Take this table, for instance: what is it made of? It is composed of molecules. Molecules are made of atoms. Atoms are made of protons — which are made of quarks. If you keep analyzing down to the level of neutrinos and fundamental particles, all you find is vibration, an empty, insubstantial phenomenon. The material world is not ultimately real, and has no inherent independent existence.

This table was not inherently existent from the outset. It is composed of all its contributing factors: wood, design blueprints, and the carpentry work that assembled these parts into a functional object. In essence, it is a phenomenon that arises dependent on causes and conditions. All phenomena that arise dependent on causes and conditions are empty of inherent self-nature by their very nature. This is the essential truth that practitioners of the Buddhist path must realize: both our body and mind, and the external material world, are all illusory and unreal.

Since all these things are unreal, where do the material world, as well as our own body and mind, come from? And where do they go when they dissolve? Ultimately, you cannot locate a point of origin for them, nor can you find a place where they cease to exist. All we can say is: they come from nowhere, they go nowhere; they arise and cease right in the place where they manifest. In essence, this means they are neither born nor destroyed — this is their fundamental, true nature. When we realize they are neither born nor destroyed, we return to the state of emptiness itself.

Since all things are neither born nor destroyed, the duality of subject and object — the perceiving subject and the perceived object — has no ground to stand on. If body and mind have no inherent basis, what inherent reality do the experiences of seeing, hearing, sensing, and knowing that we have possess? As the adage goes, "If the skin is gone, where can the hair stand?" Once we understand this, we see that both material phenomena (form) and mental phenomena are illusory. In the very instant of their illusory manifestation, they are free from all dualistic distinctions. At that very moment, amid the birth and dissolution of illusory appearances, we can directly realize the unchanging, fundamental essence of true thusness (tathata).

This unchanging, fundamental essence of true thusness has been the direct, true cause of our attaining the fruit of Buddhahood since beginningless time.

The Surangama Sutra first asks us to differentiate between two kinds of mind: one is the grasping, ever-changing mind that clings to external objects; the other is the wondrous, unborn and undying mind of nirvana and bodhi that we have inherently possessed since beginningless time. We must ground our practice in this unborn, undying true thusness mind if we wish to attain the unborn, undying fruit of Buddhahood. If we practice based on the grasping, conditioned mind, attaining the unborn, undying fruit of Buddhahood is utterly impossible, as the cause and effect are not in alignment. It is just like trying to cook rice from sand — this is simply impossible.

This is a discussion of the ultimate truth (paramārtha satya). If you can deeply realize this ultimate truth, then when you recite the Buddha's name and seek rebirth in the Pure Land, you will be reborn in the highest grade of the Pure Land — for you possess profound prajna wisdom.