1 00:00:00,333 --> 00:00:02,866 Dragon Tree < Middle Theory >: Immortal 2 00:00:02,866 --> 00:00:04,066 It's not what you think. 3 00:00:04,866 --> 00:00:08,900 Those who think every morning that color is emptiness and emptiness is color 4 00:00:08,933 --> 00:00:12,466 How many people actually know what this empty word is talking about? 5 00:00:12,600 --> 00:00:13,500 I'm not talking about you 6 00:00:14,366 --> 00:00:15,166 tell the truth 7 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,500 It's been misunderstood for 2,000 years. 8 00:00:18,333 --> 00:00:20,766 When most people hear it, it's completely empty. 9 00:00:20,766 --> 00:00:22,766 Or you call it nihilism. 10 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:24,333 It doesn't make sense anyway 11 00:00:24,333 --> 00:00:25,033 Just lie down 12 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,266 Or it's some kind of mystical experience 13 00:00:28,266 --> 00:00:29,666 Everything is one 14 00:00:29,666 --> 00:00:30,900 out of body 15 00:00:30,933 --> 00:00:32,233 Into some kind of white light 16 00:00:33,333 --> 00:00:34,900 But Nagasu wrote < Middle Theory > 17 00:00:34,900 --> 00:00:36,200 I'm not talking about these two kinds of emptiness. 18 00:00:37,233 --> 00:00:40,366 He made a very precise philosophical statement. 19 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,933 And he proved it by pure logic. 20 00:00:42,933 --> 00:00:44,166 There is no mysticism. 21 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,700 He uses a set of argumentation tools called imputation 22 00:00:47,700 --> 00:00:50,266 Take every philosophical position you can think of 23 00:00:50,300 --> 00:00:53,433 Existence, non-existence, existence and non-existence 24 00:00:53,933 --> 00:00:56,200 Neither exists nor does not exist 25 00:00:56,233 --> 00:00:57,600 One by one 26 00:00:57,633 --> 00:00:59,566 All proofs make no logical sense 27 00:01:00,500 --> 00:01:03,900 What is the level of difficulty in achieving this? 28 00:01:04,066 --> 00:01:06,600 It's like being alone. 29 00:01:06,633 --> 00:01:09,900 Mathematical proof of all human thought systems 30 00:01:09,966 --> 00:01:12,166 Are fundamentally flawed 31 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:14,100 And then offered a way out 32 00:01:14,133 --> 00:01:14,266 Hello 33 00:01:14,300 --> 00:01:14,966 Hello. 34 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:15,666 I am Wang Lijie 35 00:01:16,633 --> 00:01:20,066 This series brings together the core Buddhist scriptures one by one 36 00:01:20,100 --> 00:01:21,666 Take it apart in modern language 37 00:01:22,500 --> 00:01:25,200 Before we started from the Ahan Sutra and the Diamond Sutra 38 00:01:25,200 --> 00:01:26,600 All the way to the Heart Sutra 39 00:01:26,633 --> 00:01:30,033 Established the basic framework of dependent origin, prajna and emptiness 40 00:01:30,766 --> 00:01:32,966 Today we will look at Nagasu's < Middle Theory > 41 00:01:33,733 --> 00:01:35,300 About the life of Nagarjuna 42 00:01:35,300 --> 00:01:38,433 And why he appeared at that moment in history 43 00:01:38,466 --> 00:01:41,266 I talked about it specifically in the historical context series 44 00:01:41,300 --> 00:01:45,866 And it just goes by in one sentence: somewhere between the second and third centuries A.D. 45 00:01:45,866 --> 00:01:49,266 Mahayana Buddhism encountered a serious philosophical crisis 46 00:01:49,266 --> 00:01:50,333 Dragon tree appears 47 00:01:50,333 --> 00:01:51,866 Solved the crisis 48 00:01:51,866 --> 00:01:55,966 By the way, the philosophical foundation of the entire Mahayana Buddhism was rebuilt 49 00:01:56,733 --> 00:01:59,233 Today we only focus on one thing 50 00:01:59,266 --> 00:02:01,233 What exactly does this < Zhonglun > say? 51 00:02:02,133 --> 00:02:03,400 Let me give you a context. 52 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,700 Let you understand why Nagarjuna wrote this book 53 00:02:06,733 --> 00:02:09,000 In previous issues, we talked about the Prajna system 54 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,233 Talked about emptiness in 260 words 55 00:02:12,233 --> 00:02:16,733 He talked about the Diamond Sutra, which should be born without dwelling, and pointed out the direction of non-attachment 56 00:02:17,533 --> 00:02:19,300 The prajna system is very powerful 57 00:02:19,300 --> 00:02:20,633 But it has a side effect. 58 00:02:20,633 --> 00:02:22,033 It's just that someone started to go astray 59 00:02:22,866 --> 00:02:24,000 Which way do you go? 60 00:02:24,133 --> 00:02:25,866 After someone listens to emptiness 61 00:02:25,866 --> 00:02:26,766 Start to think 62 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:28,233 Since everything is empty 63 00:02:28,233 --> 00:02:30,400 Then all morality is meaningless 64 00:02:30,433 --> 00:02:32,800 Karma is dead. 65 00:02:32,833 --> 00:02:35,466 What's the difference between doing good and doing bad? 66 00:02:35,466 --> 00:02:36,333 It's empty anyway 67 00:02:37,333 --> 00:02:39,166 Some people go to the other extreme 68 00:02:39,166 --> 00:02:41,700 Transforming emptiness into an experience 69 00:02:41,733 --> 00:02:45,000 Pursuit of a certain sense of nothingness, ethereal feeling 70 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:46,566 I mistakenly thought that was liberation 71 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:49,100 Nagasu writes < Zhonglun > 72 00:02:49,100 --> 00:02:51,066 It is necessary to completely correct these two deviations 73 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:52,866 What he wants to prove is 74 00:02:52,866 --> 00:02:55,600 Emptiness is not anything you can describe 75 00:02:55,633 --> 00:02:58,000 Including nothingness, including nothing 76 00:02:58,000 --> 00:02:58,433 Neither 77 00:02:59,166 --> 00:03:01,300 Emptiness is an exact logical proposition 78 00:03:01,333 --> 00:03:02,666 Not a realm 79 00:03:02,666 --> 00:03:03,933 It's not a feeling. 80 00:03:03,933 --> 00:03:07,366 Is a very specific analysis of the way things exist 81 00:03:08,166 --> 00:03:08,666 OK 82 00:03:08,700 --> 00:03:10,133 Now look at the opening chapter of < Zhongluo > 83 00:03:11,066 --> 00:03:13,933 Nagarjuna has a verse before the text begins 84 00:03:13,933 --> 00:03:15,366 Just these twenty-four words 85 00:03:15,366 --> 00:03:19,100 It came to be known as the path of the eight noes: neither birth nor destruction 86 00:03:19,133 --> 00:03:20,700 Unoften and constantly 87 00:03:20,700 --> 00:03:22,100 different or different 88 00:03:22,133 --> 00:03:22,966 No come no go 89 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:25,466 Can be said to be karma 90 00:03:25,466 --> 00:03:27,033 On the good destruction of all plays 91 00:03:27,066 --> 00:03:28,633 I preach to Buddha 92 00:03:28,633 --> 00:03:29,566 The first of all 93 00:03:30,866 --> 00:03:32,866 The second half is the cliché of the Buddha 94 00:03:32,900 --> 00:03:33,500 We skip 95 00:03:34,233 --> 00:03:36,066 The first four sentences are the core 96 00:03:36,100 --> 00:03:37,233 immortal 97 00:03:37,266 --> 00:03:38,666 Not often, constantly 98 00:03:38,666 --> 00:03:39,633 different 99 00:03:39,733 --> 00:03:40,366 no come no go 100 00:03:41,533 --> 00:03:42,866 The first time you read this 101 00:03:42,900 --> 00:03:44,933 There is a high probability that this is a poem 102 00:03:44,933 --> 00:03:46,466 Is some kind of artistic expression 103 00:03:47,233 --> 00:03:47,966 But it's not poetry. 104 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:51,866 It's an exact philosophical proposition. 105 00:03:51,900 --> 00:03:53,066 Four pairs of concepts 106 00:03:53,100 --> 00:03:53,700 Eight negatives 107 00:03:54,466 --> 00:03:56,100 Nagarjuna is in the entire < Middle Lecture > 108 00:03:56,133 --> 00:03:59,200 Are making concrete logical arguments for these eight negatives 109 00:03:59,933 --> 00:04:02,600 To understand what these eight negatives say 110 00:04:02,633 --> 00:04:04,533 We must first understand a core concept 111 00:04:04,533 --> 00:04:05,133 It's called the Self. 112 00:04:06,100 --> 00:04:06,866 Self 113 00:04:06,866 --> 00:04:09,000 It refers to the nature of things themselves 114 00:04:09,033 --> 00:04:10,733 It's inherently prescriptive. 115 00:04:10,733 --> 00:04:15,033 The core that it exists independently of any relationship or condition 116 00:04:15,066 --> 00:04:18,633 The root cause that makes it what it is and nothing else is. 117 00:04:19,466 --> 00:04:20,866 Our daily thinking 118 00:04:20,900 --> 00:04:23,300 They assume things have a nature of their own. 119 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:25,300 You said this flower 120 00:04:25,300 --> 00:04:27,700 It presupposes that flowers have their own floral properties 121 00:04:27,733 --> 00:04:30,866 The essential requirement to make it a flower and nothing else 122 00:04:31,666 --> 00:04:32,900 You say this, I 123 00:04:32,933 --> 00:04:34,833 It presupposes that I have my own nature 124 00:04:34,833 --> 00:04:36,866 An eternity runs through all states 125 00:04:37,533 --> 00:04:40,800 The self-core independent of changes in the body and changes in the mind 126 00:04:41,933 --> 00:04:42,800 Nagarjuna said 127 00:04:42,833 --> 00:04:43,966 This self 128 00:04:43,966 --> 00:04:45,600 You can't find it anywhere in the universe. 129 00:04:46,733 --> 00:04:48,733 Notice that he's not saying that flowers don't exist 130 00:04:48,733 --> 00:04:49,766 It's not that you don't exist 131 00:04:50,466 --> 00:04:51,266 What does he mean? 132 00:04:51,300 --> 00:04:54,033 Your understanding of flowers and your way of being 133 00:04:54,033 --> 00:04:56,166 The understanding that postulates the Self 134 00:04:56,166 --> 00:04:56,600 Is wrong 135 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,033 Now look at the pair who are neither born nor die 136 00:04:59,866 --> 00:05:02,400 We say a tree grows from a seed 137 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:04,000 What does that presuppose? 138 00:05:04,133 --> 00:05:07,766 It presupposes that at some point the tree goes from nothing to something 139 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:09,133 That is, produced 140 00:05:09,133 --> 00:05:09,400 gave birth 141 00:05:10,633 --> 00:05:14,433 But Nagarjuna began to analyze this life in the first product of < Zhongluo > 142 00:05:14,433 --> 00:05:15,166 So he says. 143 00:05:15,166 --> 00:05:16,433 Anything needs to be born 144 00:05:16,466 --> 00:05:18,833 There are only four possibilities: born from oneself 145 00:05:19,533 --> 00:05:23,366 Born of other things, born of self and other things 146 00:05:23,366 --> 00:05:24,400 Or born for no reason 147 00:05:25,533 --> 00:05:26,766 These four situations 148 00:05:26,766 --> 00:05:28,066 He proved it doesn't make sense one by one 149 00:05:29,266 --> 00:05:31,433 What does it mean to be born from oneself? 150 00:05:31,566 --> 00:05:33,566 The tree is born from the tree itself 151 00:05:34,166 --> 00:05:35,966 But if the tree is already there 152 00:05:35,966 --> 00:05:37,500 Does it still need to be born? 153 00:05:37,666 --> 00:05:38,900 It already exists. 154 00:05:38,933 --> 00:05:40,466 One more time 155 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:42,066 And what's even more ridiculous is 156 00:05:42,066 --> 00:05:45,066 If a thing can give birth to itself from itself 157 00:05:45,100 --> 00:05:48,100 Then it should be able to live forever 158 00:05:48,100 --> 00:05:50,633 Because the living conditions have always been there 159 00:05:50,633 --> 00:05:52,200 Trees become countless trees 160 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:53,500 Finally fill the universe 161 00:05:54,233 --> 00:05:55,233 Obviously not established 162 00:05:56,166 --> 00:05:57,433 From other things 163 00:05:57,466 --> 00:05:59,166 For example, a tree grows from a seed 164 00:05:59,566 --> 00:06:02,966 Is this seed another existence with its own nature? 165 00:06:03,066 --> 00:06:04,100 If so 166 00:06:04,100 --> 00:06:06,800 Where did the seed itself come from? 167 00:06:06,933 --> 00:06:09,400 Going back is an endless chain 168 00:06:09,566 --> 00:06:10,200 Can't find the starting point 169 00:06:11,033 --> 00:06:13,000 If the seed has no self 170 00:06:13,033 --> 00:06:17,266 How can something that has no nature give rise to the nature of another? 171 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:18,333 This logic doesn't hold either 172 00:06:19,133 --> 00:06:21,600 It's more complicated. 173 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:23,800 But it brings in the first two questions 174 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:24,666 Equals problem stacking 175 00:06:25,466 --> 00:06:28,833 To be born without a cause means to appear without any reason 176 00:06:28,833 --> 00:06:32,066 So anything can come out of thin air under any conditions. 177 00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:33,633 The world is completely messed up 178 00:06:33,666 --> 00:06:34,633 That's clearly not true. 179 00:06:35,166 --> 00:06:37,100 All four possibilities are blocked. 180 00:06:37,133 --> 00:06:38,400 And what does that mean? 181 00:06:38,533 --> 00:06:40,200 It's not that trees don't exist. 182 00:06:40,200 --> 00:06:41,000 I think we should be talking about this. 183 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:42,366 What you think 184 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,466 The process of going from what to what 185 00:06:44,466 --> 00:06:46,566 The event you named life 186 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:48,933 When you really pursue it 187 00:06:48,966 --> 00:06:50,766 Can't find a consistent way to describe it 188 00:06:51,500 --> 00:06:53,366 The same logic applies to annihilation 189 00:06:53,366 --> 00:06:53,600 same 190 00:06:54,500 --> 00:06:56,300 Therefore, it is called neither birth nor death 191 00:06:56,900 --> 00:06:59,766 Which brings me to the conservation of energy in modern physics. 192 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:02,100 Energy is immortal 193 00:07:02,100 --> 00:07:04,100 They're just going from one form to another. 194 00:07:04,833 --> 00:07:06,233 A log burned 195 00:07:06,266 --> 00:07:07,900 We say it's gone. 196 00:07:07,900 --> 00:07:12,033 But it becomes heat, light, carbon dioxide, water vapor 197 00:07:12,033 --> 00:07:13,433 Those things are still there 198 00:07:13,466 --> 00:07:14,400 Just changed the form 199 00:07:15,166 --> 00:07:15,966 So... 200 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:17,133 Disappear 201 00:07:17,166 --> 00:07:18,766 Did that really happen? 202 00:07:19,500 --> 00:07:20,333 Or say 203 00:07:20,333 --> 00:07:24,333 What we do is we label transformation as vanishing. 204 00:07:25,066 --> 00:07:26,900 I don't see this pair often and constantly 205 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:29,800 Chang means eternal 206 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,366 Broken means to disappear completely, and then nothing is left. 207 00:07:34,066 --> 00:07:36,033 This is for continuity issues 208 00:07:36,033 --> 00:07:39,000 And it's one of the most common questions that we face when we think about ourselves. 209 00:07:39,733 --> 00:07:41,900 The you of today and the you of yesterday 210 00:07:41,900 --> 00:07:43,333 Is it the same you? 211 00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:45,166 If it is exactly the same 212 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:46,933 Then you are immutable 213 00:07:46,966 --> 00:07:47,566 That is, often 214 00:07:48,500 --> 00:07:50,000 But that's clearly not right. 215 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:51,866 Your cells are constantly being replaced 216 00:07:51,900 --> 00:07:53,733 Your mind is changing 217 00:07:53,733 --> 00:07:56,533 The self in your memory and the self in this moment 218 00:07:56,533 --> 00:07:58,566 And every day is subtly different. 219 00:07:59,633 --> 00:08:01,066 If not the same 220 00:08:01,100 --> 00:08:04,933 Every moment, an old you dies and a new you appears 221 00:08:04,966 --> 00:08:05,600 That is, broken 222 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:08,700 But who is saving the memory? 223 00:08:08,900 --> 00:08:11,466 Who's to say I did this yesterday? 224 00:08:11,666 --> 00:08:14,400 Who is recognizing this body as mine? 225 00:08:14,533 --> 00:08:15,633 Nagarjuna said 226 00:08:15,666 --> 00:08:17,966 Constant and broken are two extremes 227 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,133 Presupposes some kind of fixed self 228 00:08:20,300 --> 00:08:21,300 say often 229 00:08:21,300 --> 00:08:23,300 An invariant kernel is preset 230 00:08:23,333 --> 00:08:24,133 break 231 00:08:24,166 --> 00:08:26,100 Preset something that really disappears 232 00:08:26,866 --> 00:08:27,833 But these two 233 00:08:27,833 --> 00:08:29,733 It's all the concepts we posted 234 00:08:29,766 --> 00:08:31,900 Can't find a real foothold 235 00:08:32,000 --> 00:08:34,233 Have you looked at the photos from five years ago? 236 00:08:34,233 --> 00:08:35,366 Look at that person 237 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:37,700 I felt like he was almost a stranger 238 00:08:37,700 --> 00:08:39,933 But you also know that you are the same person 239 00:08:40,100 --> 00:08:41,666 Where is the continuity? 240 00:08:41,900 --> 00:08:42,966 In memory 241 00:08:42,966 --> 00:08:44,400 In identity 242 00:08:44,433 --> 00:08:46,033 In that story you tell yourself 243 00:08:46,866 --> 00:08:48,600 These things are very real 244 00:08:48,666 --> 00:08:49,933 Also very useful 245 00:08:49,933 --> 00:08:51,933 But they're narrative entities. 246 00:08:51,933 --> 00:08:53,566 Not the existence of some fixed kernel 247 00:08:54,266 --> 00:08:56,200 Different or different, this pair 248 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:57,233 It's about identity. 249 00:08:58,033 --> 00:09:00,466 Yesterday's glass of water and today's glass of water 250 00:09:00,500 --> 00:09:02,033 Is it the same glass of water? 251 00:09:02,233 --> 00:09:03,800 After you drink half of it 252 00:09:03,833 --> 00:09:06,566 Is the remaining half glass still the same glass of water? 253 00:09:06,700 --> 00:09:08,433 If you pour water into another cup 254 00:09:08,833 --> 00:09:10,666 Is it still the same glass of water? 255 00:09:10,833 --> 00:09:12,966 These questions sound like tongue twisters 256 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:14,700 But what Nagarjuna wants to point out is that 257 00:09:14,700 --> 00:09:17,866 The judgment system that we use to define the boundaries of difference 258 00:09:17,900 --> 00:09:19,600 There is no stable foothold in itself 259 00:09:20,500 --> 00:09:21,933 The world is continuous. 260 00:09:21,933 --> 00:09:24,433 We put a grid on it with concepts. 261 00:09:24,433 --> 00:09:27,000 The things in the grid don't exist because of the grid. 262 00:09:27,033 --> 00:09:28,933 It becomes a self-sustaining entity 263 00:09:30,500 --> 00:09:32,366 Neither come nor go, this pair 264 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:33,300 To analyze motion 265 00:09:33,966 --> 00:09:35,400 A moving object 266 00:09:35,433 --> 00:09:37,833 You say it goes from point A to point B 267 00:09:37,833 --> 00:09:39,333 Where was it during this time? 268 00:09:39,433 --> 00:09:39,866 On the way. 269 00:09:40,500 --> 00:09:42,033 Where is it on the road? 270 00:09:42,166 --> 00:09:43,500 You name any point 271 00:09:43,500 --> 00:09:46,133 It's just a momentary stop at that moment 272 00:09:46,166 --> 00:09:47,866 It's actually moving. 273 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:49,800 The movement itself 274 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:51,033 Where to start? 275 00:09:51,033 --> 00:09:52,966 Where is the moment of movement? 276 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,233 Can never seem to be pinpointed 277 00:09:55,266 --> 00:09:56,466 Because once located 278 00:09:56,466 --> 00:09:57,200 It stops exercising 279 00:09:58,233 --> 00:10:01,633 Which brings me to the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics. 280 00:10:01,633 --> 00:10:05,566 The position and momentum of a particle cannot be precisely measured simultaneously 281 00:10:05,566 --> 00:10:07,200 The moment you measure the location 282 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,000 Momentum is uncertain 283 00:10:09,033 --> 00:10:10,566 The moment you measure momentum 284 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:11,800 The location is uncertain. 285 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:16,133 Nagarjuna predates quantum mechanics by nearly two thousand years 286 00:10:16,133 --> 00:10:19,166 He used conceptual analysis to reach a conclusion in a similar direction 287 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:22,133 A conceptual framework for describing motion 288 00:10:22,133 --> 00:10:23,866 It's got inherent tension. 289 00:10:24,933 --> 00:10:25,533 OK 290 00:10:25,533 --> 00:10:26,533 Saying so much 291 00:10:26,533 --> 00:10:27,833 I want to stop here. 292 00:10:27,866 --> 00:10:28,600 Let me ask you a question. 293 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:31,366 Nagarjuna uses these eight negatives 294 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:33,933 Proving that birth and death are concept constructs 295 00:10:33,933 --> 00:10:35,533 Constancy is concept building. 296 00:10:35,566 --> 00:10:37,266 One difference is concept construction 297 00:10:37,266 --> 00:10:38,566 It comes and goes as concept building. 298 00:10:39,300 --> 00:10:40,400 And? 299 00:10:40,500 --> 00:10:42,933 What does this actually mean for us? 300 00:10:43,066 --> 00:10:45,400 The answer is what Nagarjuna calls emptiness. 301 00:10:46,033 --> 00:10:47,333 But what is emptiness? 302 00:10:47,500 --> 00:10:49,333 Emptiness is not that everything does not exist 303 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:51,200 Emptiness means 304 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:55,066 All the things you can describe with words and concepts. 305 00:10:55,100 --> 00:10:56,933 They're not self-sufficient. 306 00:10:57,533 --> 00:11:01,066 Leave all relationships and conditions still in place 307 00:11:01,666 --> 00:11:04,766 Everything exists in relationships 308 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:05,900 Exists in conditions 309 00:11:06,533 --> 00:11:07,600 Water is wet 310 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,900 But wetness is relative to our sensory system. 311 00:11:10,933 --> 00:11:14,000 For particles in the universe that don't have nervous systems 312 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:16,033 Wet doesn't exist at all 313 00:11:16,833 --> 00:11:18,033 Water is liquid 314 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:20,633 But it depends on temperature and air pressure 315 00:11:20,666 --> 00:11:23,666 Water turns to ice or steam. 316 00:11:24,700 --> 00:11:26,000 Flowers are red 317 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:29,100 But what if your visual system only senses ultraviolet light? 318 00:11:29,100 --> 00:11:32,000 This flower may be a completely different color to you 319 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:33,800 These existences 320 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:36,966 It's a web of relationships and conditions. 321 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:39,000 Left this net 322 00:11:39,033 --> 00:11:40,000 What is water? 323 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:40,933 What are flowers? 324 00:11:40,966 --> 00:11:42,200 What is red? 325 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:43,900 Can't stand alone at all 326 00:11:44,100 --> 00:11:47,200 Nagarjuna calls this dependent emptiness 327 00:11:47,233 --> 00:11:49,900 Dependent origin is the emergence of dependence on conditions 328 00:11:49,900 --> 00:11:51,233 Emptiness is the absence of self-nature 329 00:11:52,100 --> 00:11:53,800 The two are not contradictory 330 00:11:53,800 --> 00:11:55,366 It's two sides of the same coin. 331 00:11:56,300 --> 00:11:57,700 It is because there is no self 332 00:11:57,700 --> 00:11:59,533 So you can live by it. 333 00:11:59,566 --> 00:12:00,933 It is because of dependence 334 00:12:00,933 --> 00:12:01,933 So there is no self 335 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:06,600 Here's a very important argument from Nagarjuna: if things have a nature 336 00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:08,300 The Self is unchanging. 337 00:12:08,300 --> 00:12:11,433 What is constant cannot be influenced by any conditions. 338 00:12:11,466 --> 00:12:13,766 Then this thing can't do anything 339 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:14,833 Cannot be changed 340 00:12:14,833 --> 00:12:15,733 It can't grow. 341 00:12:15,733 --> 00:12:16,766 Can't practice 342 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:17,466 Can't realize 343 00:12:18,100 --> 00:12:19,033 And the other way around. 344 00:12:19,066 --> 00:12:20,600 It is because there is no self 345 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:22,400 Everything can change 346 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:23,933 Practice is meaningful 347 00:12:23,966 --> 00:12:25,066 Enlightenment is possible 348 00:12:26,166 --> 00:12:27,900 Empty is not devaluation 349 00:12:27,933 --> 00:12:28,433 Is value added 350 00:12:29,300 --> 00:12:31,633 It means the world is open 351 00:12:31,633 --> 00:12:34,100 Not locked in by some immutable self 352 00:12:34,833 --> 00:12:36,666 Now I want to change the angle. 353 00:12:36,700 --> 00:12:38,600 Let you feel this more directly 354 00:12:39,266 --> 00:12:41,233 Have you ever had a moment like this? 355 00:12:41,233 --> 00:12:44,500 You have a very fixed judgment about somebody or something. 356 00:12:44,533 --> 00:12:45,966 That's how it is 357 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:47,033 And then one day... 358 00:12:47,033 --> 00:12:49,766 That person did something that completely surprised you. 359 00:12:49,766 --> 00:12:53,066 Or maybe it went completely beyond your expectations. 360 00:12:53,066 --> 00:12:54,666 And you get confused. 361 00:12:55,333 --> 00:12:56,266 Not anger 362 00:12:56,300 --> 00:12:57,433 Not sadness 363 00:12:57,466 --> 00:13:00,600 It's the dizziness of the frame being broken. 364 00:13:00,733 --> 00:13:03,400 You stop in that dizziness and feel it carefully 365 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,200 You will find that there is a sense of panic 366 00:13:05,866 --> 00:13:07,933 It's not about panic. 367 00:13:07,966 --> 00:13:10,766 It's panic at the sudden failure of one's own way of understanding 368 00:13:11,966 --> 00:13:12,766 This Moment 369 00:13:12,766 --> 00:13:14,766 You find yourself preset with a self. 370 00:13:15,666 --> 00:13:18,366 You think this person is like that in the first place 371 00:13:18,366 --> 00:13:20,833 How do you think this is supposed to be? 372 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:22,600 That would have been 373 00:13:22,633 --> 00:13:24,466 It's the kernel you added yourself. 374 00:13:25,500 --> 00:13:28,633 What Nagarjuna wants to do is not to make you stop feeling this way 375 00:13:28,633 --> 00:13:31,366 It allows you to see clearly from an earlier time 376 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:33,600 That one was originally added by you. 377 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:35,233 It doesn't exist in the real world 378 00:13:35,966 --> 00:13:37,900 What happens when you see it clearly? 379 00:13:37,966 --> 00:13:39,700 It's not that you've become apathetic 380 00:13:39,700 --> 00:13:40,200 I don't care. 381 00:13:40,833 --> 00:13:42,900 It's the framework that supports you. 382 00:13:42,933 --> 00:13:47,100 That fixed concept of this person, this thing, this self 383 00:13:47,200 --> 00:13:48,700 There will be a strange loosening. 384 00:13:49,500 --> 00:13:50,566 After loosening 385 00:13:50,566 --> 00:13:52,200 Your connection to the world 386 00:13:52,233 --> 00:13:53,633 Will have a different texture 387 00:13:54,433 --> 00:13:55,400 Not so hard 388 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:56,800 Don't get stuck as often 389 00:13:57,500 --> 00:13:59,633 Nagarjuna has a sentence in "Middle Lecture" 390 00:13:59,633 --> 00:14:02,300 I think it is the core expression of the whole book 391 00:14:02,300 --> 00:14:04,733 He said: The truth of all dharmas 392 00:14:04,766 --> 00:14:05,700 Heart line speech break 393 00:14:06,900 --> 00:14:07,633 law 394 00:14:07,666 --> 00:14:08,800 It's the way things really are. 395 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:10,133 Reality 396 00:14:10,166 --> 00:14:11,666 Is how it really exists 397 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,133 The mind is any activity you think about it 398 00:14:17,133 --> 00:14:19,266 Words are any expression you make of it 399 00:14:20,433 --> 00:14:21,533 Nagarjuna said 400 00:14:21,533 --> 00:14:23,533 The way things really exist 401 00:14:23,566 --> 00:14:26,300 Is beyond the reach of all thought and language 402 00:14:27,133 --> 00:14:28,733 It's not silencing you. 403 00:14:29,500 --> 00:14:30,500 This is saying 404 00:14:30,533 --> 00:14:32,633 Language and concepts are tools 405 00:14:32,666 --> 00:14:33,766 Very useful. 406 00:14:33,766 --> 00:14:35,433 It allows us to communicate. 407 00:14:35,466 --> 00:14:37,000 Capable of division of labor and cooperation 408 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:38,000 Can build civilization 409 00:14:38,666 --> 00:14:41,366 But these tools have a fundamental limitation. 410 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,166 It's the grid that they actually cut out. 411 00:14:44,166 --> 00:14:45,500 Is not equal to reality itself 412 00:14:46,566 --> 00:14:47,900 You can use tools. 413 00:14:47,900 --> 00:14:50,233 But don't get caught up in the grid of tools 414 00:14:50,233 --> 00:14:52,666 Think of the grid as the original boundary of things 415 00:14:53,166 --> 00:14:55,000 Before I made this video 416 00:14:55,033 --> 00:14:57,166 Try to find that boundary in your own meditation. 417 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:00,633 Find something that I think should be 418 00:15:00,666 --> 00:15:01,833 And ask yourself this question. 419 00:15:01,833 --> 00:15:03,333 Where did this come from? 420 00:15:03,866 --> 00:15:04,833 Tried a few times 421 00:15:05,100 --> 00:15:07,033 Can find that derivation chain 422 00:15:07,300 --> 00:15:08,233 catch up to the end 423 00:15:08,233 --> 00:15:11,166 Discovery is some presupposition formed a long time ago 424 00:15:11,200 --> 00:15:12,700 It's never been questioned. 425 00:15:12,700 --> 00:15:13,933 It became a matter of course 426 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,500 Nagarjuna's Argument Two Thousand Years Ago 427 00:15:16,533 --> 00:15:17,633 In this experience 428 00:15:17,633 --> 00:15:19,000 There is a strange landing sensation 429 00:15:19,466 --> 00:15:20,233 How about you? 430 00:15:20,466 --> 00:15:22,500 Is there something in your life? 431 00:15:22,533 --> 00:15:25,366 It's what you've long believed it should be 432 00:15:25,366 --> 00:15:27,466 But then you found out that it should be 433 00:15:27,500 --> 00:15:29,533 You actually added it yourself. 434 00:15:29,666 --> 00:15:30,900 What was that moment like? 435 00:15:31,066 --> 00:15:33,500 I especially want to see your story in the comment section. 436 00:15:34,366 --> 00:15:36,566 "The Middle Lecture" is an endless book 437 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,133 Every time you open it, you can find something new inside. 438 00:15:40,033 --> 00:15:41,333 This issue is just an entrance 439 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,566 Which angle do you most want us to dig deeper from next time? 440 00:15:46,300 --> 00:15:47,300 I am Wang Lijie 441 00:15:47,300 --> 00:15:48,100 See you next time.