Brief Description
In this sequel to The Miracle of Mindfulness, Thich Nhat Hanh draws on psychology, philosophy, and contemporary physics, as well as a host of anecdotes, to explore teachings on meditation and interdependence. Rooted in Buddhist philosophy, The Sun My Heart is at once an intellectual adventure and an inspiration to practice.
"The book offers great dharma--as sweet and simple and powerful as it gets."--Inquiring Mind Journal
Sample Chapter
There is another meditation which can be used in place of the one on true emptiness. It is called the meditation on the miraculousness of existence. "Existence" means being in the present. "The miraculousness of existence" means to be aware that the universe is contained in each thing, and that the universe could not exist if it did not contain each thing. This awareness of interconnectedness, interpenetration, and interbeing makes it impossible for us to say something "is" or "is not," so we call it "miraculous existence."
Even though Oppenheimer replied "No" four times to the questions about the nature of electrons, he did not mean that electrons are nonexistent. Even though the Buddha said, "You cannot find the Tathagata even in this life," he did not mean that the Tathagata is nonexistent. The Great Prajna Paramita Sutra uses the word "not-empty" (asunya) to describe this state. "Not-empty" is the same as "the miraculousness of existence." "True emptiness" and "the miraculousness of existence" can keep us from falling into the trap of discriminating between being and non-being.
Both electrons and Tathagata are beyond the concepts of being and non-being. The nature of true emptiness and the miraculousness of existence of the electrons and the Tathagata save us from the traps of being and non-being and lead us directly into the world of non-conceptualization. How can we practice the meditation on the miraculousness of existence? Anyone who understands the theory of relativity knows that space is intimately connected with both time and matter. For such persons, space has a larger meaning than for persons who still believe that space exists independently of time and matter. When we look at a bee, we may like to see it first through the eyes of a physicist who understands relativity, and then go even beyond that to see true emptiness and the miraculousness of existence in it. If you attempt to do this regularly, with your whole being, I am sure that it will free you from entanglement in the net of birth and death. In Zen circles, the problem of birth and death has always been regarded as the most urgent. Zen Master Hakuin calligraphed the character for Death quite large and then added in smaller strokes: "Anyone who sees to the depths of this word is a true hero."
I used to think that liberation from birth and death was a remote goal. While I was teaching at the Van Hanh Buddhist University in Saigon, I looked at the statues of emaciated Arahats, and I thought it must be necessary to deplete our strength that much, to reduce our desires until total exhaustion overtakes us, to realize this liberation. But later, while I was practicing at Phuong Boi, in central Vietnam, I realized that liberation from birth and death is not an abstract or long-term project. Birth and death are only concepts. To be free from these concepts is to be free from birth and death. It is attainable.
But liberation from birth and death cannot come from intellectual comprehension alone. When you see the interdependent nature of everything in the universe, when you understand the meaning of true emptiness and the miraculousness of existence, you have sown the seeds of liberation in the field of your consciousness. For these seeds to grow we need to practice meditation. Through the practice of meditation, we may become strong enough to break through the concept of birth and death, which is really just one of the many, many concepts we create.
A physicist who is able to see the interpenetration and interbeing of elementary particles without going beyond his or her intellect has, from the viewpoint of Buddhist liberation, attained just a decorative facade. Someone who studies Buddhism without practicing meditation has also accumulated knowledge only as decoration. We hold our own fates in our own hands. We have the capacity to practice until all concepts about birth and death, and being and non-being, are uprooted.
The images which I have offered--the sun, an orange, a chair, a caterpillar, a bicycle, electrons, and so forth--can be objects which bring us to a direct experience of reality. Meditate on the sun as your second heart, the heart of your "outer-self." Meditate on the sun in every cell of your body. Meditate to see the sun in plants, in each nourishing morsel of the vegetables you eat. Gradually you will see "the body of ultimate reality" (Dharmakaya) and recognize your own "true nature." Then birth and death can no longer touch you, and you will have attained success. Tue Trung, a 14th century Vietnamese Zen master, wrote:
Birth and death, You have been crushing me. Now you can no longer touch me.
Please meditate deeply on these two sentences until you can see Tue Trung in each cell of your body.