18  The One and Same Notion for Everything

In this chapter, the Buddha continued to pose questions to Subhuti. As previously mentioned, Sakyamuni Buddha loves using the sands of the Ganges River as a metaphor. 

“Subhuti, what do you think? Does the Buddha say that all the sand in the Ganges River is sand?” “Yes, World-Honored One! The Tathagata says that it is sand.”

“Subhuti! What do you think? Should there be as many Ganges rivers as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, and as many buddha worlds as sand grains in all these Ganges rivers, would the number of those worlds be many?”

Subhuti replied, “Very many, indeed, World-Honored One.”

Many people cannot explain the above sentence. First, consider the countless sand grains in the Ganges River. Now imagine that within each grain of sand is another Ganges River—wouldn’t the total number of grains of sand be infinite? This analogy states how innumerable the buddha worlds²In this context, we use “buddha worlds” to translate 佛土 because the focus of the Buddha’s discussion is on the “worlds.” are! 

The Buddha told Subhuti, “The Tathagata knows the myriad minds of sentient beings in all these worlds. Why?”

Logically speaking, the Buddha cannot know the mind of every sentient being since there are countless such beings. But the Buddha knows, and I know too. How come? 

“The Tathagata says, ‘Any mind is not a mind; it is merely called a mind.’”

All minds are not minds; all thoughts are not thoughts. They are merely called minds. Only non-mind is a mind. 

“Therefore, Subhuti, the mind of the past is unattainable, the mind of the present is unattainable, and the mind of the future is also unattainable.”

Of course I know too! Just imagine how many sentient beings there are! The number of sentient beings in one world alone is countless, much less in all worlds. And the number of worlds is likened by the Buddha to be as many as the grains of sand in all the Ganges Rivers. Moreover, within every single one of these sand grains exists another Ganges River, each filled with its own sand grains. They are infinite! Yet the Tathagata knows the minds of all these beings. How?

The Buddha gives his answer: it is because the mind of the past is unattainable, the mind of the present is unattainable, and the mind of the future is also unattainable. That is the reason. This is also the most important statement in the Heart Sutra—unattainability, nothing to gain.

Take, for example, the saha world. How many people are there on Earth? Seven billion. So the Buddha knows what these seven billion people are thinking. How can he know what they are thinking? What does the Buddha know? The answer lies here: the mind of the past is unattainable, the mind of the present is unattainable, and the mind of the future is also unattainable. 

In other words, any thoughts and desires in the minds of sentient beings cannot be held or retained. The Tathagata knows that none of these minds can be obtained, which means inherently, no one can gain anything. Thus there is not a single mind that can be gained, retained, or held onto. 

You can think all you want; it doesn’t matter since none of your thoughts can be yours forever. You may think, “I want money! I want to win the lottery! The Power Lottery [in Taiwan]!” But let me tell you; no one can truly gain anything. For instance, if you win the lottery, can you or anyone else own it forever? No! You might buy a beautiful house, or even several houses, and earn more by renting them out. I wonder if the Seattle Leizang Temple could make money by renting out some of their dormitories. Since those houses are not fully occupied, arrangements could be made for people to live together in a few houses while the rest could be rented. You could even hire some people to manage the maintenance, reservations, and accounting. If you are resourceful, you can easily make money. Having a whole house occupied by just one person is quite wasteful. Don’t you know how lucky you are?! 

But let me tell you, it doesn’t matter how smart you are or how much money you earn. In the end, there is nothing to gain. Nothing! No matter how big or luxurious your house is, the result remains the same: nothing can truly be gained. For example, the cars driven by Grandmaster are first-class cars: a Rolls Royce and a Maserati, an Italian semi-sports car. But can you possibly own these cars forever? Impossible. Nothing is truly gained. Eventually, you’ll have to abandon your cars and houses. If you can’t hold onto your cars or houses, what about money? Is it not the same? 

The Buddha knows the minds of all sentient beings. Their minds are incessantly tossing and turning, writhing like the grubs in an old-fashioned cesspool. Have you ever used one? You squat over it and can see lots of maggots squirming below. Nowadays we have the modern toilet, which we can flush with a simple push of a lever. Once it is flushed, your poop is gone, which means even your poop is not yours! The stuff that was once sitting in your colon disappears just like that. In a cesspool or septic tank, you might think that the stuff stays there, but it is also emptied from time to time.

Did you know that the thoughts of human beings are just like those maggots—rolling, tossing, turning, and churning endlessly? When poop drops into the cesspool, they scatter and scramble, fighting over it. Similarly, people think incessantly, day in and day out.

Remember, no one can gain anything! Just now, we recited the supplication for the Guru-Buddha to remain in samsara. They want [me] to live an infinite life. But frankly speaking, all that can be gained is a few short years, perhaps living a few more years. [applause] Actually, there is nothing to applaud. In the end, it is still “ding ding.” [Grandmaster creates a hook with his index finger to represent death.] Master Thubten Dargye liked to use this gesture and say “ding ding” to represent death. Before his passing, he gave part of his inheritance to Thubten Qigong—his closest attendant—but she did not get anything. She too passed away. 

Everyone will die one day. [At such a time,] your money will no longer be yours, nor will your house, car, spouse, children, or grandchildren. This is referred to as the mind of the past being unattainable, the mind of the present being unattainable, and the mind of the future being unattainable. The Tathagata knows that the minds of sentient beings are essentially unattainable. “Nothing to gain” applies to all the minds of sentient beings.

When you read the Vajra Sutra, you must remember the meaning of the mind of the past is unattainable, the mind of the present is unattainable, and the mind of the future is also unattainable. As I mentioned last night, the past has passed, the present will soon become the past, and the future is yet to be. So let me ask you, what can you truly gain? Think about it—is there anything that belongs to you until the very end?

Some people think they are beautiful and become proud and arrogant. But beauty cannot last forever. Nothing is forever! Good looks and youthfulness fade very quickly—you can’t hold onto them. Twilight is the most beautiful time of day, but it’s fleeting. Even if you want to hold tightly onto your youth, it will still slip away. Perhaps you can extend it a little longer, but it must eventually pass. Nothing to gain! 

The other day at the cafeteria of the Seattle temple, we watched a woman [on TV] who had been a singer from her youth to her later years. Now she has turned into a skeleton. This is a good example of unattainability. Beauty is unattainable. Even when you obsessively try to hold onto the tail of youth, it will still slip away. We don’t need the Tathagata to tell us this. I know! I know that it’s impossible to hold onto it. 

Occasionally, I take out a picture of myself in my twenties. Didn’t I look like a movie star? I did! Does anyone have this photo with them? [The audience replies, “On the internet.”] I don’t use the internet, so I don’t know if it’s online. Look at the monitor; in that photo I was wearing a military uniform from military school. And this one—some people say I looked like a movie star. Does it look like me now? Come on, don’t lie to me. If I still looked like that right now, many people would whistle at me on the streets. [laughs] That’s right, you can’t retain youth, as nothing is attainable.

Even your body is not truly yours. Humans age, and impermanence can manifest at any time. Today one might be fine, but suddenly one is gone. Beauty and looks don’t stay. My only shortfall in this life is that I’m too short. People like to say, “So and so is tall and handsome.” Handsome I was, but regrettably, I can’t say that I’m tall. But that’s just how it is. There is nothing to gain. How can anyone be perfect? No human being is perfect. 

Wealth cannot be attained. Looks cannot be attained. Status cannot be attained. Is there anyone who can remain president forever? There is none. Power rises and falls, taking turns, as the dynasties did. The First Emperor of China wanted to be an eternal emperor. So did Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He sent the Taoist Master Xu Fu abroad with three thousand boys and three thousand girls in search of the immortality elixir. But they never returned and are said to have become the ancestors of the Japanese people. Many emperors desired eternal life, but in the end, they all died. 

So contemplate on nothing to gain! Keep it in mind, and you will no longer have any afflictions. It can cut off your afflictions, as well as your habitual tendencies and attachments. If there is nothing to gain, why are you attached to anything? It won’t be yours anyway. Why worry? There is no need to get angry because nothing is gained. Eventually, everyone will end up the same way—residing in the Twin Lotus Realm Columbarium. So eliminate these habitual tendencies, attachments, and afflictions!

In the end, what have you got? Nothing. Wealth, sensual pleasures, fame, food, sleep—nobody ever gains any of these. The Tathagata, of course, understands the minds of all people—this mind is not the mind as we know it, because the mind as we know it cannot be attained. Because it cannot be attained, the mind is not a mind; it is merely called a mind. Now I have explained it!

The Tathagata understands that whatever thoughts you have, they are all unattainable. Fundamentally, everything is unattainable. No one can truly gain anything. Of course, the Buddha knows that there is nothing to gain. Only deluded people in this materialistic world don’t know that everything is unattainable. That’s why they cannot eliminate their afflictions, attachments, and habitual tendencies. If you understand this principle, you can let everything go. Only in this way can you attain anuttara samyaksambodhi. 

The quintessence of the Vajra Sutra is to stop and to destroy everything [including all concepts]. The Vajra Sutra itself is irrefutable–don’t you agree that everything will eventually be destroyed? Nothing remains forever because it’s all unattainable. Nobody can truly gain anything. 

When someone bought me a Rolls Royce or a Maserati, I thought, “How nice!” Yet these two cars are not mine, either; they’re only for my temporary use. I haven’t really gained anything. Do you now understand? It doesn’t matter whether you are strong or weak, good or bad, tall or short—fundamentally, we all end up the same way. The Buddha knows that the multitudes of sentient beings in the saha world—these seven billion people—have nothing to gain. In the eyes of the Buddha, they are nothing but maggots in a cesspool, endlessly tossing and turning. Sometimes up, sometimes down, but in the end, there is nothing. 

Om mani padme hum.