Comparison of the understanding of the universe between the Yi Jing and the Heart Sutra - Lin Qingquan
1. Choosing the Yin and Yang theory to interpret the Heart Sutra I have pointed out in "Meditations on the Universe (1)": The Book of Changes is a heavenly book that deciphers the mysteries of the universe, including exploring the mysteries of theology, Taoism and Buddhism. Yi Xue is profound and profound. The Yi Li (cosmic philosophy) that will be applied in this book is introduced as follows:
There are two kinds of matter, they are the Yin Yi and Yang Yi pointed out in the Tai Chi Diagram. They are divided into yin and yang, virtual and real, hidden and visible, wave state and particle state. This will be the theoretical basis for unknown things to be virtual and real, invisible, mysterious, and endlessly changing.
The Second Tai Chi Bagua chart implies that the combination of yin and yang can form life, and the quality of life has high and low levels. Different time and space correspond to different levels of life. Life forms are divided into yin and yang, virtual and real, life forms at different levels are very different, and advanced life can turn from visible to invisible. These are the theories why Buddhism and its masters, Buddha and Bodhisattvas, can sense the top laws of the universe and write them into scriptures. according to.
The yin and yang theory of the Three Yili can be composed of the three laws of yin and yang, which are basic laws that are universally applicable to time and space.
The first law is the law of difficulty. That is to say, things are in a relatively stable state in the early stage when they are divided into two. After the conflicting parties remain in opposition, they become relatively stable and balanced. A new star, a seedling, a child... until all new things are in this "relatively stable" state. This season can be called the "color realm". The second law is the law of change. That is to say, the internal opposing sides of things can never be stable and balanced for a long time. They become unstable and undergo quantitative changes in the constant struggle between yin and yang. At this time, yin and yang wax and wane, one after another, you are strong and I am weak, and the contradiction develops. A lot of things are in this stage. At this time, we are also in the midst of the contradictory changes of color and emptiness.
The third law is the law of transaction. That is, the alternating moment from quantitative change to qualitative change. The alternation of yin and yang means that "the extremes of things change." The internal contradictions of old things end, and a new beginning appears from scratch, so that new things enter a new stable period. This law is expressed in the "Heart Sutra" as "form is not different from emptiness, and emptiness is not different from color." In the alternation of yin and yang, "color is emptiness, and emptiness is color."
Buddhism and the Heart Sutra just summarize the "Three Laws" to deal with the relationship between humans and nature and the relationship between humans. We are also waiting to use these philosophies to explore psychology and mental skills.
The Yin-Yang theory is known as the philosophical principle that is “universally applicable to the universe”. Its key words are "there is yang in yin, there is yin in yang, the unity of opposites, yang is strong and yin is deficient, yang is deficient and yin is strong, yang grows and yin grows, the extremes of things change, Tai Chi opens and closes, and starts again and again, the transformation of yin and yang is endless. ".
If we change the two characters of yin and yang into the two characters of emptiness and color, the reading will be very smooth and in place:
“There is color in the sky, there is emptiness in the color, emptiness and color confront each other, the opposites are unified, and color is strong. Emptiness, color and emptiness flourish, color arises and grows in space, the extremes of matter change, heaven and earth open and close, cycle over and over, color and emptiness transform, there is no end.”
Here, the I Ching and the Heart Sutra speak almost in unison, both expressing the top laws of the universe.
The Yin and Yang theory of the Book of Changes has been generally recognized and applied in the academic and scientific circles, especially in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. Why is the Heart Sutra's theory of form and emptiness not so obviously and openly accepted and applied?
I think it may be because it is too close to religion, the mystery of Buddhism is too strong, and its language "color" can easily be misunderstood as color, and "empty" can easily be misinterpreted as "nothing". "No", not to mention that the "Heart Sutra" itself emphasizes "internal cultivation" and is not easy to publicize. "The real person does not show his face" and "the truth is not transmitted". Whoever has the fate will cultivate it. Therefore, for thousands of years, it has not appeared on the stage much, but has been hidden deep in the Sutra Pavilion.
What’s more important may be that because civilized people attach great importance to science and technology and can obtain quick success and instant benefits, only a handful of stupid scholars and foolish monks have come to understand it - and of course they have not been able to fully understand its high-end taste for a while. Therefore, I have been practicing self-study and enlightenment for a long time without publicizing it.
The most important thing is that "the flowers will not bloom before the time comes, and the geese will not come before the time comes." The time is not yet ripe to promote Buddhism and Zen on a large scale around the world!
In any case, the evaluation of the "Heart Sutra" cannot be too high - human understanding is still too low.
2. Comparison of the understanding of the universe between the Yi Jing and the Heart Sutra. The so-called matter currently understood by humans refers to starting from photons, including electrons, mesons, neutrinos... neutrons, protons, and atoms. and the elements and molecular substances composed of them.
The unique characteristic of these substances is that the maximum speed of their movement is the speed of light. So, is there another substance outside of them that can exceed the speed of light?
Let’s take a look at how the Yin-Yang theory understands the matter in the universe.
The Yin and Yang theory in the "Book of Changes" believes that everything in the universe has two contradictory aspects of Yin and Yang. From natural objects to living creatures, there is no place where the phenomenon of the unity of Yin and Yang does not exist.
According to this philosophy, if the substance we are familiar with is called a positive substance, then there must be another negative substance that is opposite to it. In this way, the two types of matter, yin and yang, just constitute the overall material body of the universe.
In the era when the Buddha was teaching, there was no Yijing philosophy, and no terms from the Yijing could be used. It only uses Buddhist terms that were unique to it at that time and can only be understood by the mind.
The "color" mentioned in the "Heart Sutra" is the positive substance. "Empty" is the negative substance. They are a pair of yin and yang: the feminine time energy world and the masculine space material world.
Therefore, it can be understood that the yin and yang substances in the universe mentioned in the Book of Changes exactly correspond to the two types of cosmic things "color and space" in the "Heart Sutra". Photons have a dual nature, a neutral spiritual thing that is half yin and half yang. "Color" penetrates into "empty" through light, and the virtual particles of "empty" aggregate through light criticality to form particle matter, which is transformed into "color" (particle world).
This "theory of form and emptiness" was first proposed by Buddhism. To this day, people still find it very unfamiliar and difficult to understand, including the scientific and technological circles.
However, for Yi Xue, it is not only easy to understand, but the understanding of the key laws is similar. Their predicates are different, but their connotations are the same. We can compare their lists of cosmic philosophy outlines and see them clearly at a glance.
Comparison of the textual expressions of the Yi Jing and the Heart Sutra in cosmic philosophy
The Sutra
The Five
Yun
Color
The World
Moment
Illusion
Ordinary
Dream
All things are born from the heart
Color is not different from emptiness;
Color is emptiness
Emptiness
Bright and pure world
Eternity
Reality
Heart-likeness
Reality
Nothing outside the heart
Emptiness is the same Color;
Emptiness is color
Yi
Ching
Qian
Kun< /p>
Yang
Yang world
Transient
Orderly
Tai Chi
Alternating
Everything is empty in reality
Being is born from nothing;
Being is born from nothing
Yin
The negative world
Origin
Chaos
Promise
Eternal motion
There is reality in the void< /p>
Is there any alternation;
Yin and Yang are integrated into one
3. Material transformation and color-space alternation follow the evolution of the concept of matter-energy universe. To expand, the concept of speed must also be expanded. According to the philosophy of yin and yang theory, yin and yang substances must have yin and yang speeds. The limit of positive particle speed is the speed of light, which Einstein's theory of relativity has made an affirmative conclusion. What about negative substances? Its movement speed should be faster than the speed of light, and the speed of light becomes its minimum value. Once the speed of negative matter drops below the speed of light, its information waves will aggregate into particles and transform into positive matter. The transformation of matter and energy here is consistent and equivalent to the transformation of color and space in the Heart Meridian.
Now let’s rank the speed ladder in order to explore the spiritual point of transformation.
Guang
Meaning
Speed
Degree
Positive speed
Less than Speed ??of light
Visible universe, belonging to space
Particle motion
Real state, appearance, "color"
Neutral speed
Equal to the speed of light
The speed of light remains unchanged
Electromagnetic wave spiritual world
Between color and space
Negative speed
Beyond the speed of light
Invisible universe, only time
Information wave motion
Virtual state, invisibility, "emptiness"
The transformation of Yin and Yang substances is determined by the speed of light at the light critical point. When the movement speed of particles exceeds the speed of light, they become virtual information wave matter (should be called negative energy).
The transformation of color and space corresponding to the Heart Sutra is as follows:
"Color" is also "empty". As long as color (visible matter) moves beyond the speed of light, "color" is transformed into "empty". On the contrary, as long as the "empty" (wave-like energy) aggregates and decelerates, reaching the speed of light, it will be transformed into "color" (the visible material phenomenon in the red dust of the positive material world).
It seems that most of the things in the "Three Realms" belong to "color" matter. It is possible to return to the "empty" world - the world of clarity. If you can cultivate your mind, cultivate your mind, and see your true nature, you can finally jump out of the Three Realms, then it can be said to be "rainbow", "empty", "light" and enter the empty world (the clear and pure world of negative energy), thereby achieving complete transcendence. The "sea of ??suffering". Of course, it’s not easy.
4. Comparison of the philosophical language of the I Ching and the Heart Sutra. The comparison of the philosophical language of the I Ching and the Heart Sutra is interesting and enlightening.
A. Wuji - everything is empty
Yi Xue believes that the origin of the universe is an infinite chaotic world, called "Wuji" - it is empty and has real "energy" in the air. ocean".
In the negative physics of "Light of Tai Chi", I named the negative energy - the "ocean" of Kyon information waves.
Wuyi realizes that "all is empty" in the "Heart Sutra", and its meaning is generally the same as the artistic conception of "Wuji".
Due to the philosophy of "emptiness is not different", we can understand that "everything is empty" is not empty either. It can and may give rise to the material world of "form". It is equivalent to existence arising from nothingness - form arising from emptiness.
How interesting that the concepts of "wuji" and "emptiness" are so similar.
B. Tai Chi - Color and Space
Tai Chi is composed of two instruments. The two instruments are yin and yang, so the correspondence can be as follows: the yin instrument is "empty" and the yang instrument is "color".
The column correspondence table is as follows: Yang Yi
Color
Substance
Low light speed
Visible
Particles
Appearance
Illusion
Color can be turned into nothing
Yang can be turned into Yin
Yin Yi
Emptiness
Energy
Super-light speed
Invisible
Kyoshi
Invisible
True as it is
Empty can change color
Yin can generate Yang
Five and four images generate Bagua, and Bagua depicts all living beings
p>Yi Xue teaches that Tai Chi produces Bagua. It can use eight directions to understand and control the activity curve (luck) of the survival journey of life (referring to people on earth) in a Tai Chi cycle from birth to death.
Therefore, life can be understood and measured using the Bagua concept. (This belongs to the prediction mathematics technology of Zhouyi.)
Buddhism has a beautiful name for people on earth called "all living beings". Therefore, the description of people in the I Ching should be consistent with the description of sentient beings in Buddhism. It is a pity that the Heart Sutra does not give such a specific description of life. On the other hand, King Wen of Zhou and other sages started from the Yili and explored a set of magic numbers (hexagrams) that specifically faced the life activity curves of all living beings on the earth, made special predictions, and described the development laws of the Tai Chi cycle of life.
As the saying goes, Taoism cultivates this life, and Buddha cultivates the next life. Buddhism, especially the Heart Sutra, seems to be interested in "great principles and great laws". In the short 260-word "Heart Sutra", there is no mention of scriptures corresponding to the secret code of life.
Perhaps after the Buddha "seeed that all five aggregates are empty", he focused his attention on enlightening all sentient beings to "enlighten" the bright and pure world without clinging to the sea of ??suffering (the world of "form") or pursuing any material things. The opposite of life prediction is to use the great wisdom of Prajna to educate all living beings and get out of the world of mortals (cultivating the afterlife).
Perhaps the "life prediction" of all sentient beings is not the task of the Heart Sutra. What it pursues may be the general purpose of "surviving all hardships". It should be noted that "forecasting" cannot save all sentient beings from suffering.
The heart method of the "Heart Sutra" is more effective in curing the "heart disease" of all living beings, which is the source of all suffering. Once you "rely on the Prajna Paramita and have no worries", you will be able to "stay away from upside-down dreams" ", achieve "ultimate nirvana", and escape from the sea of ??suffering - then what else is there to predict?
Of course, this is easy to say. How many sentient beings have been able to achieve this level and enter the Buddha's kingdom in the past!
It is normal that the higher the level of true Buddha, the harder it is to reach it.
The philosophical level of the "Heart Sutra" cannot be reduced because of the ignorance of all living beings. The same is true in the "Book of Changes", "Those who truly understand the Book of Changes are unpredictable." How many people can understand the philosophy of the I Ching? Even most Orientals mistakenly believe that the I Ching is equal to prediction and fortune-telling. They don’t know that the Book of Changes is first of all about cosmic philosophy and a “heavenly book” that describes the laws of time and space, just like the Heart Sutra is a book that describes the top laws of the universe and the great wisdom of Prajna.
If you are not a demon, you cannot become a Buddha. It doesn’t matter if sentient beings can’t read it. Take your time. "You can't become a Buddha without being a demon." Buddha is already in the heart. Let’s look for the “Buddha Kingdom” in the Heart Sutra. This is how we want to interpret and enlighten the Heart Sutra.
Can we realize that understanding the Heart Sutra through the philosophy of the I Ching will always lead to a better approach to the world of meditation in the Heart Sutra.
If it is said that "the four images give rise to the Eight Diagrams, and the Eight Diagrams describe all living beings", can we add the sentence "The Heart Sutra leads to the opening of the heart, and the opening of the heart opens to save all living beings".
Sixth, 8 × 8 = 64 hexagrams, viewing the world
The world generally refers to the living group society of people on earth. From a Buddhist perspective, it seems that it can generally refer to the "three realms", namely the form realm, the color realm and the colorless realm. It is probably like the time and space within the scope of the "Five Elements World" mentioned in Yi Xue. They all belong to the world.
There is a saying that "jumps out of the three realms and is not in the five elements".
Perhaps the Heart Sutra has this level of guidance for "jumping out of the three realms" - I understand it as a heavenly book of enlightenment for "super cultivation of the mind and nature".
The Heart Sutra, which is only 260 words long, has such profound and extraordinary power?
In fact, the higher the level of truth, the simpler and more simple it is, with each word and layer of information, each sentence and each code of the universe. What's more, a large number of top-level cosmic philosophies cannot be expressed in words at all. If the original information is used to describe it, sentient beings will not be able to understand or read it at all.
If the I Ching is a heavenly book that deciphers the mysteries of the universe, then can the Heart Sutra be said to be a Buddhist book of great wisdom that reveals the laws of the universe? They express the original and eternal laws of the universe from different angles.
If this is the case, we should try to read them even if we can’t understand them today, and at least strive for a “first understanding”, which would be great.
To be specific, it is very interesting to use 64 hexagrams to view the world.
What if we use the philosophical view of the Heart Sutra to view the world? That would be more interesting and enlightening.
The middle part of this book is mostly about this kind of "appreciation". I hope that those who are destined to interpret the "Heart Sutra" will open their hearts and enjoy it. I suggest starting from "there is something outside the heart" to "see" the "empty" universe where "there is nothing outside the heart" - the truth of the clear and pure Buddhaland. Maybe then we will be in "bliss" on the ground.
7. Spiritual Function - The mantra of the "Heart Sutra" inevitably derives the concept of yin and yang function from the yin and yang of Yi Xue.
Any function produced by the movement of positive particles is called positive function. Work and energy in modern physics research, including nuclear energy, are positive functions. Modern positive physics fails to recognize negative substances (it always treats them as abstract, non-existent psychological concepts). Therefore, they must not know the existence of the negative function. The Taoism and Buddhism in Eastern mystical culture (such as spells) all belong to the feminine function, which is said in the Heart Sutra to "can eliminate all suffering and is true and not empty."
Any function produced by the movement of negative information wave virtual particles is called negative function.
Such as thought waves, thoughts, ambitions, love, wishes, passion, prayers, spells... all virtual material movements can produce negative functions. Of course, these functions have not yet been received by scientific instruments composed of particles, but they can be received by the human brain. As long as the potential inside the human brain is induced, such as cultivating the mind and cultivating the nature, and being able to conduct telepathy, it can be received. .
We insist on calling the negative function spiritual function because it can penetrate the light spiritual world and enter the negative material world. But we mortals cannot perceive all this with our five senses, and the instruments are even more powerless.
Only when "practicing the deep Prajna Paramita" and "seeing that all five aggregates are empty" can the sixth sense perception and negative function appear - this is the teaching of the "Heart Sutra" .
Therefore, the Heart Sutra points out that "Prajnaparamita is a great divine mantra, a great enlightenment mantra, a supreme mantra, a mantra of no equals, etc." and "can eliminate all suffering."
This means that the Heart Sutra is a sutra with a feminine function. It is a scripture that can inspire mortals to unleash their potential and gain spiritual functions. Reality is "real and true". No wonder those who practice and recite the Heart Sutra in the past and modern times have experienced a large number of miracles in the world. In fact, those are all manifestations of the feminine function in the human world - what the modern scientific community calls "unknown things".
8. Both the Yi Jing and the Heart Sutra have a yin and yang cosmology
Observe and analyze things in the yin and yang world from the yin and yang world
The yin world
Super five-sense perception
Spiritual thinking
Spiritual world
Yang world
Five-sense perception
Logical thinking
p>Yin Yi
Tai Chi
Yang Yi
Universe: Time
Universe
Universe : Space
Intangible, virtual state
Form
Tangible, real state
Kyoshi (wave)
Object Wave
Solid (particle)
Soul (Program)
Life
Body (carrier)
Feminine function
Energy
Positive function
Special functions of the human body
Instinct
Positive functions of the human body
p>Four-dimensional spiritual laws
Philosophy
Three-dimensional physical laws
Yi Neo-Confucianism
Knowledge
Physics
Zen
Taoism
Science
Observe as a whole
Knowledge
Learn by subject (experiment)
Inspiration and intuition
Perception
Five senses perception
Gong state (confusion)
< p> Ecology (rational)Normality (sober)
Idealism
Idealism
Materialism
< p>The realm of spaceThe realm of spirit
The realm of color