Four Notions to Remove | Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh

No self doesn't mean that you are not there. No self means you are made only of non-you elements. There is a very well-known sutra, holy scripture, that is studied in Zen monasteries. It's called the diamond sutra. In the diamond sutra, we are urged to remove four notions. In fact there are many notions to be removed, but the diamond sutra only focuses on four notions. The first notion is the notion of self. We believe that we can be by ourselves alone. The flower can be by herself alone, but that is not true. Looking deeply, we see that a flower is made only of non-flower elements. That is why the flower should remove the notion that she can exist all by herself. She inter-is with the cosmos. I inter-am with all of you. I inter-am with the whole cosmos. I think inter-being is a very important word, and that should be put into the dictionary very soon. It's closer to the truth than the word to be. So if we can remove the notion of self as an independent entity, we are free from many, many afflictions. If we believe there is a separate self, we have the tendency to compare that self with other selves. And from there is born the complex of superiority that makes you suffer. From there is born the complex of inferiority that makes you suffer. And even the complex of equality makes you suffer, because that is the outcome of comparison. If you don't see a separate self, there is no comparison anymore, and you are free. Not only from the inferiority complex, the superiority complex, but the equality complex, because many of us try to be equal. But you are in him, and he is in you. The second notion is a notion of man, Purusha. Human beings. According to the teaching, man is made only of non-man elements, namely mineral, vegetable, and animals. Man is a very young species on earth, and yet we think that we are the boss. We have done a lot of damage to the kingdom of God, because we do not know who we are. We have human ancestors, but we have also animal ancestors. We have also vegetable ancestors, and we have also mineral ancestors. They are still in us, and with every step we carry within us all our ancestors. Mineral, vegetable, animal, and human ancestors. No matter where we go, we bring our ancestors along. And if we are happy, our ancestors in us are happy. If we suffer, our ancestors in us to suffer. So the Diamond Sutra teaches that man is only made of non-man elements. In order to protect man, you have to protect the environment. You have to protect the mineral, the animal, and the vegetable. And that is why the Diamond Sutra seems to be the oldest text on the teaching of deep ecology. And the third notion to be removed is living beings. And this word living beings here means it means a non-Buddha being. A Buddha is an enlightened person, called Bodhi. Bodhi means enlightenment, Sattva. Sattva means a being. A Buddha is an enlightened being, a Bodhisattva. The Buddha is a great being, Mahasattva. Boddha, Yakkhuta, Mahatha, Daihuta. And as a human, we may have some complex that we are not a Buddha, we are not a great being. And so the notion of a living being as different from a enlightened being, a great being, that notion, that feeling of inferiority should be removed. In fact, if you want to find a Bodhisattva, if you want to see Mahasattva, you have to look into yourself. That is the safest way to find a Buddha. Not in the sky, not in the direction of the west, not in the Buddha hall. The Buddha is in your heart, because you have the seed of enlightenment in you. You have the seed of understanding and compassion in you, and that is Buddhahood, Buddha nature. So the safest place, the surest place to find the Buddha is in the human being, and not in a god outside, above. So there is a teaching in the Rinzai school, Lamte school, It means human beings and Buddhas, they are not two different things. When you look into the Buddha, you see a human being. And if you have not seen the Buddha, the living being in the Buddha, you have not seen the Buddha. A living being is someone who has suffered, who has lived in delusion. And the Buddha is someone that has suffered, that has had afflictions, that has practiced to transform. So when you look at the Buddha, you have to see non-Buddha elements, like suffering, the practice and so on. And if you do not see the suffering in the Buddha that has been transformed, you have not seen the Buddha. You think that the Buddha is made of only non-suffering elements. When you look into the flower of a lotus, you have to see the mud in it, because you need the mud in order to make a lotus flower. You cannot plant a lotus on marble. So if you, when you look at the lotus flower and you if you don't see the mud in it, you have not seen the lotus. When you look at the Buddha, if you don't see the suffering as one element that has made a Buddha, you have not seen the Buddha. So don't discriminate against the Buddha, between Buddha and non-Buddhas. And when you look at the human being who suffers, you have to see the Buddhahood in him or her. You should see the capacity to become awake, to become enlightened, to become compassionate and understanding in him or her. That is called Buddha nature in every one of us. And if you look into a human being, no matter how much he or she suffers, you have to see the Buddha in him. Otherwise you have not seen him or her. When I was ordained as a novice monk at the age of 16, my teacher gave me a verse to memorize before I bow to the Buddha. Before bowing to the Buddha, you have to prepare yourself. Otherwise bowing to the Buddha will have no effect. And that is a kind of meditation. It begins like this. The one who bows and the one who is bowed to, the nature of both is equally empty. A Buddha is made only of non-Buddha elements. And I am made only of non-me elements. So it is equal to say, Dear Buddha, I am going to bow to you. But I know that you are empty of a self. You are made of only non-Buddha elements. And I can see me in you. By that time you have already seen the Buddha. And I, who is bowing to you, I know that I am made of non-me elements. And the element of enlightenment is in me too. You are in me. So you get the insight that you are in the Buddha and the Buddha is in you. And that's when you can bow. And a bow like that connects the two and creates true communion. Otherwise, if you think of a Buddha as a separate entity, there's no connection possible. Communication is possible. Communion is impossible. I think the same thing must be true when you bow to Jesus, to bow to God. You have to see you in God and God in you in order for true communion to be possible. We learn that Jesus is the son of God. But we also learn that he is the son of man. It's very significant. He is both the son of God and the son of man. It means God is in man and man is in God. And that is why connection is possible. Communion is possible. And to me, Jesus is made of non-Jesus elements also. Suppose you remove God the Father from him, he can no longer be Jesus. Suppose you remove the Holy Spirit from him, he is no longer Jesus. So the teaching of the Trinity applies into this. There is the same wisdom, the same insight in both traditions. And if you imagine that God and Jesus are an entity that is wholly outside, there will be no real communication, no real connection, no real communion. That is why the insight of inter-being is very crucial. The insight of no-self is very crucial. The insight of Buddha and living beings are not two separate entities is very important. I think many Christians, mystics have realized this. And that is why bowing to the Buddha is not really worshipping. It's a meditation. Because before you bow, you have to visualize, you have to get the insight that the Buddha is empty, you are empty, you are in the Buddha, and the Buddha is in you before you bow. And your bow will have an effect of transformation and healing. We have among us a monk, an American monk who had been a Catholic priest before he became a Buddhist monk. He was a theologian. He still loved Jesus and Christianity, but he found that in Buddhism he has the tools, the instruments, in order to practice the teaching of Christianity. So learning about Buddhism can help you to be a better Christian, and vice versa. So the notion of a living being as completely separated from Buddha, from Bodhisattva, from Jesus, from God, that notion should be removed because it can create division, discrimination, and suffering. And the fourth notion that the Diamond Sutra advises us to remove is the notion of lifespan. Remember the line representing time? We believe that we begin with point B and we'll end at point D. And BD represents the realm of being, and D represents the realm of non-being. So the notion that we only exist from point B and we'll stop to exist from point D, that notion of lifespan should be removed. You are free from time. You are liberated from the notion of time. Your true nature is the nature of no birth, no death, no being, no non-being. And to be caught in the idea that I will die someday, I will become nothing someday, that should be removed. If a cloud cannot die, how can it die? We continue always in different forms, more or less beautiful, according to our practice.