21min chapter

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The Eight Realizations of Great Beings – Part One (Episode #82)

The Way Out Is In

CHAPTER

Understanding the Eight Realizations

This chapter explores the Sutra on the Eight Realizations of Great Beings, highlighting insights from Thich Nhat Hanh. It emphasizes the teachings' significance in guiding individuals toward understanding love and overcoming suffering in daily life. The conversation also delves into concepts like impermanence and 'no self,' illustrating how these principles can be applied to foster mindfulness and peace in a complex world.

00:00
Speaker 3
So we all know where to go when we're sort of hung over and we need something to bring us into life. So today, as I mentioned, we're going to be talking about the Sutra on the Eight Realisations of Great Beings. And this was translated by Thich Nhat Hanh. And I'm just going to start off by reading the end bit, because I think this just gives a sense of what might be on offer. And then we're going to sort of our sister true dedication just to give us a sort of context for where all this came from. And then we will, as usual, dive in and get into trouble. So let me just read what Thay said. And Thay means teach in Vietnamese and is how Thich Nhat Hanh is referred to. These eight realizations are the discoveries of great beings, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, who have practiced diligently the way of understanding and love. They have sailed the Dharmakaya boat to the shore of Nirvana and have then returned to the ordinary world, free of the five sensual desires, their minds and hearts directed towards the noble way. Using these eight realizations, they help all beings recognize the suffering in the world. If disciples of the Buddha recite and meditate on these eight realizations, they will put an end to countless misunderstandings and difficulties, progress towards enlightenment, leaving behind the world of birth and death, dwelling forever in peace. So, Brother Fapu, that's quite some offer there. Truly is. So,
Speaker 2
sister,
Speaker 3
see, Fapu is a few words today. Today, today, I'm here to listen and learn. Yeah, both of us. When we thought we're doing this as a topic, we thought, sister, true dedication. We've got to get her in. So, sister, we're relying on you today to make us look good. So, I hope you're on top form. I hope you had a lot of coffee today. So, sister, to start off with, let's just look at what is the context? I mean, because it's the sutra of eight realizations of great beings. Where did this appear from? Was it written by, was it talked about by the Buddha directly, or is it the result of many teachings? Very
Speaker 1
excellent question. So what I think is so important when we're kind of studying things, we want to have a sense of where this emerged from. this particular text emerged in the Pali canon, so the oldest canon, and then was translated into Chinese in about the year 140, 160 in the Common Era. So this is a text that is, I mean, almost 2000 years old when we're working from these Chinese translations. And this text is interesting because it is one of the first texts to be translated as Buddhism was making its way east. So the text itself is kind of telling a story like the movement of many texts does. It's telling the story of the emergence of Buddhism along the Silk Road. And we can speak here of the Silk Road across land that went sort of northwest out of India through Central Asia and then north through the north land route into China. So along the Silk Road. But also, many of these texts were moving along the maritime Silk Road, so going through the boats across the seas and up and around to Vietnam, to China, through the oceans. So this particular text, it's extraordinary, because the person who was in sort of early China in the year, whether it's somewhere around the year 140, translating this into Chinese from the Pani, that monk was not a Chinese monk. That monk was a monk from what is sort of called the Parthian kingdom, which is modern day Iran and Iraq. The monk that was translating this was born about 30 miles outside of what's today Baghdad and had himself traveled along the Silk Road to be part of this effort of bringing the wisdom, the insights, the practices and teachings of Buddhism into China. And what's the sort of incredible kingdoms and sort of merchant networks all involved in this great transmission of Buddhism along the Silk Road. And as I was preparing for this this morning, it was just extraordinary to discover that at the sort of turn of the common era, so like the year 00, in Kabul, there was like 40 temples and monasteries, Buddhist temples and monasteries. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and of course, Afghanistan and Pakistan, there was a flourishing of Buddhism there in Central Asia. And that is what is traveling along the Silk Road to arrive in China. Like sometimes you might think of Buddhism as a Chinese spiritual tradition, but it had its journey out of India and along both the land and maritime silk roads to kind of reach it. And this was one of the very first sutras to be translated into Chinese. And so from that, we know it's a super important sutra.
Speaker 3
Wow. Brother, someone's done their homework.
Speaker 2
Yes. We have selected the right companion for this podcast i'm having a huge smile because like this is amazing just listening to the history of it yeah
Speaker 3
thank you thank you sister we we're very appreciative actually and
Speaker 1
can i say one more thing about just to say like there's always a context to why a particular teaching is given and this sutra emerged from well legend has it tradition has it a question put to the buddha which is we know the monastics they need to live in harmony with one another follow the six harmonies practice non discrimination and absolute generosity but what about householders what about normal people how should they practice? And that is the sort of framing before this sutra then begins. And then this sutra is the response to that question. How do we as normal people in the world face suffering, oppression, discrimination, and sort of all the worldliness of the world, everything that's kind of going wrong and is struggling and difficult. And this sutra is the response to that, drawing on the monastic tradition, drawing on the idea of awakened beings or bodhisattvas. How can we draw from that and learn to see how we can respond to the struggles and trials of the reality of life in the world.
Speaker 3
Great. And that is very much in the tradition of Plum Village, which is actually, we're not trying to help people to go and live in a monastery up in the mountains, but we're saying actually, how can people live their life in this generation in a way that can help people deal with their suffering and find greater joy? So actually, we should be looking through this sutras with that in mind. What does it mean for everyday life? So anything else, Papu? Is there anything you want to just chime in with before we sort of dive in? No. Great. You see, Papu's being the most-like I've ever known him. So this is wonderful. Let's see if he says a bit more later. We've got a guest today, Joe. Oh, that's true. Sorry. Okay. So I'm going to start by reading out the first realization, which is the awareness that the world is impermanent. So I'm going to read it. And interestingly, the first line is, Political regimes are subject to fall. Things composed of the four elements are empty, containing within them the seeds of suffering. Human beings are composed of five aggregates and are without a separate self. They are always the process of change, constantly being born and constantly dying. They are empty of self and without a separate existence. The mind is the source of all confusion and the body the forest of all unwholesome actions. Meditating on this, you can be released from the round of birth and death. So, Brother Fapu, to come to you first, should we, because you said, let's get a bit nerdy. So, how do we approach this, and how do we help some of our listeners may not have heard of some of these terms? So what's the best way to approach this one, do you think?
Speaker 2
Well, I think, first of all, we can help break down, as we discuss together, each realization. And I think what would be important whenever we read the sutra or we listen to the sutra, we always have to ask, and how can we put it into our daily life? So I think a sutra is not to just be studied one time, but we recite it again and again, because as we progress into the practice, with the practice, our understanding of the Dharma also develops and grows. For example, we heard the word impermanence. That is a truth that is one of the doors of liberation in Buddhism. So here we can explain and expand and look into how do we understand impermanence? Do we go through in the day understanding that life is impermanence? And when we look at impermanence, there's so many teachings towards impermanence. There's the five remembrance, which we have also reflected a lot and shared a lot in other episodes. But for me, whenever I hear the word impermanence, instead of going towards fear, it is to invite us to see how precious life is and to not take for granted. and it can bring immense pain and suffering, that we also have to know that everything has the thread, has the foundation of impermanence. So here, political regimes are subject to fall. Everything that is present, whether it offers happiness, joy, or it offers suffering, we know that it is of the nature of impermanence. And how do we take care of, let's say, a happy feeling that is also subject to fall, that is subject to cease. And we are taught that it is organic. We have to know how to take care it. We have to know how to feed it. We have to know how to be with it. And if it ceased to exist and we suffer, but then we have the insight that suffering is also impermanent. So as we are going through the teachings of the eight realizations, we always want to reflect and see, try not, for me at least, I try not to grasp everything at once because a sutra that we are reciting has so much wisdom in it. And I also want to check in with myself, now what is becoming alive for me in this moment when I listen to the words of the Buddha? Beautiful.
Speaker 3
Thank you. Sister, just coming back to that first line, because I think for a lot of people that would be quite meaningful at the moment, because I think a lot of people are concerned about sort of certain political regimes rising, that we're getting a sort of breakdown in cohesion in society. And there's some people who are very worried about the state of the world and are sort of feeling despair or panic or worry. So to start off by saying political regimes are subject to fall. That's interesting, isn't it? And I remember when all the suffering and pain and war broke out in the Middle East on October the 7th, I went to see Sister Gina, who is one of the more elderly members of the community. And I asked, I said, I'm in deep pain about this. And she said, even this will pass. In other words, at the moment, this is causing immense suffering in the world, but this too shall pass. So do you want to just start off with that? Because I think that's particularly relevant today. Yeah,
Speaker 1
thank you, Joe and Brother Phu. I think it's so important for me and so powerful in this sutra. So 2,000 years ago, someone said this, right? And it's so important to be able to identify what are the characteristics of human life and civilization. And those political regimes will come and they will go. And there are those regimes that bring justice and prosperity and other regimes that can bring greater discrimination and polarization and injustice and harm. There are wars, there are civil wars, there's so much that is sort of part of the tapestry of life. And I find this such a powerful kind of first bold statement of the sutra, which is saying, as a practitioner, we position ourselves like with the broad scope of human history. And we see this on a much, much bigger scale. So it's sort of opening up our mind to not get caught in the and symbols. They are real. And as we go on to see, the suffering is real. But we use the contemplation of impermanence to help us emerge from the panic, to help us dig deep into that pain and suffering and despair and fear that may be grounded in real rational observation. There are people whose lives can be endangered by certain political regimes, whose livelihood can be endangered. And in this case, we sit there, and for us, we read this in the meditation hall. We're all sitting there cross-legged. It's a contemplation. We know this to be the case. And so right away, as we hear this line, can we apply it to the political regimes in the world today to give ourselves some space, to not feel this is the end of the world? For many of us, we can have that feeling, this is the end of the world and I need to do something. But maybe the something we need to do is a little bit unexpected in the light of the practice. It's not just to rage against the machine and go directly onto the streets. I mean, direct action has its role. But maybe there are other ways that we can position ourself in relation to impermanence and injustice. And this is such a powerful opening to this sutra. And as Brother Fapu was sharing, so this is one of the three Dharma seals. And actually what we have in this first realization, we have all three of them. So the first is the truth of impermanence. The second is the truth of no self. So humans, we are made of kind of composite. We're composite. We're made of form, feelings, mental formations, perceptions, consciousness. They are all rivers. We are ever changing. So impermanence across time leads naturally to an understanding that our self is also impermanent. And then the third dharma seal is that the peace is possible. that is this final line that we come to here where we say that when we can meditate on the sort of impermanence of our context the political regimes we meditate on our no self nature it is possible to touch nirvana and to be released from the round of birth and death and so we have in this first realization, the historical dimension and the ultimate dimension in the final line. So that's what's sort of going on here. We're really, we're taking impermanence as the door for us to touch our true nature.
Speaker 3
So, brother, help us with, and I think I struggle with this still after many years, and I'm sure many people, this idea of no self and to be freed from birth and death. And, of course, we've said this in other, we've brought this into other podcasts, but I think it's something we keep on having to come back to, especially lay practitioners who maybe don't dwell for great periods of time in these teachings. Can you just bring us back to the basics? When it says no self. It means you don't exist, Joe. In your dreams, brother.
Speaker 2
Yeah, I think this is a deep insight in Buddhism. And in the podcast or in the Plum Village language, you may have heard of the insight of interbeing. And that is to help us touch the nature of no self. So what it means is as a human being, we all have a self in the historical dimension. I am Brother Fapu, Sister True Dedication is here, Joe, you are here, and many other friends are also here. But when we contemplate and we meditate and we shine the insight, we shine the light of mindfulness towards ourself, we actually start to identify that we cannot be here alone. We have to interbe with all the conditions for us to manifest, for us to be breathing this air, for us to have words to speak, for us to have energy, to have action. So looking deeply inside of us, we can be in touch with our parents, our ancestors, the spiritual ancestors, thanks to the wisdoms that have been handed down from generations to generations, to be in touch with the sun, the earth, etc, etc. So the no-self element is to help us know that we are not a separate self. So this ideal that we are separate, men or humans are separate, this is an ignorant view in Buddhism. And because of this ignorant view, we have allowed our greed and our desires to overtake us. And therefore, a lot of suffering arises. So this particular self in Buddhism is at the root of the round of birth and death. So for me, whenever I hear and we hear this in sutra, it means samsara. It means the repeating of suffering, the repeating of the chasing, the greed and the desire. So when we talk about non-self in Buddhism, it is to understand that we cannot exist by ourself. That is non-self in a nutshell.

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