The idea of dependent origination and empty nature, in essence, is simply this: all dharmas, because they are without self-nature, are thereby able to illusorily manifest according to conditions; all illusorily manifest dharmas, although clear before the eyes, are yet like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew and also like lightning. When we truly have faith in and understand this principle, then mental fabrications will be extinguished, there will be no disputes with people, and at the same time, the mind will be completely without attachment. Following this, all that remains in life is to do what should be done and experience what should be experienced—and in reality, there is no merit.

Buddhist cosmology tends more towards phenomenalism rather than metaphysical ontology; that is, it analyzes the essential nature of empirically accessible phenomena. Furthermore, Buddhism is not purely a cosmology of phenomena; it is, moreover, a method for freeing oneself from suffering. Its emphasis is on liberating humans from all suffering. In order to liberate humans from all suffering, the Buddha discovered that suffering originates from people's distorted understanding of phenomena. Because the Buddha discovered that this distorted and twisted cognition of phenomena by sentient beings would bring boundless affliction to themselves and others, he proposed the thought (method) of dependent origination and empty nature, and dependent origination and no-self, as an antidote. Therefore, dependent origination and no-self is not only the Buddhist explanation of objective phenomena but also the Buddhist method for achieving the cessation of suffering.

Everything is merely the change of functions and phenomena; within this, there is no life, nor is there body or consciousness—the Buddhadharma as I understand it is just this.

The ‘doctrine of dependent origination and no-self’ or the ‘meaning of dependent origination (ultimate) emptiness’ is the fundamental thought of Buddhism. Any group or individual whose concepts deviate from the meaning of dependent origination and emptiness will not be recognized as a member of Buddhism, even though it might still be a great religion, a rigorous philosophy, or an individual whose moral integrity is worthy of respect.

There is not much to the Buddhadharma; the words that can truly enable one to transcend birth and death and cross the ocean of suffering are few. Scholarship lies in breadth; there is much to learn and read, but in spiritual practice, the less, the better. There is so much in Madhyamaka Prajñā, but when it comes down to it, it is merely the two words ‘dependent origination.’ If someone can deeply understand the profound meaning of dependent origination, then, in that very moment, they can be free from mental fabrications! Someone said, ‘The weak water is three thousand leagues wide, I only take one ladleful to drink.’ One ladleful can quench thirst, but if one stands by the river, meticulously counting the three thousand currents without taking a drink, then one can only die of thirst by the riverside.

The meaning of dependent origination and no-self is a very profound Buddhist doctrine. The Buddha once said: ‘Dependent origination is profound, extremely profound!’ Although we often hear Buddhists say ‘dependent origination, dependent origination,’ the proportion of those who truly understand the meaning of dependent origination and no-self, compared to those who merely speak of dependent origination, is probably very small.

What is called ‘dependent origination’? Dependent origination means that many conditions come together to present and complete an event. What is called ‘empty nature’? It means that since all things are combinations of conditions, they do not have their own fundamental nature, their own individuality; they lack unchangeability, permanence, and autonomy. It is just like this.

The general meaning of dependent origination and no-self is: First, the existence of sentient beings is not without cause; the reason they appear in the world, with their varied experiences and retributions, is due to the power of ignorant consciousness and karma. Second, sentient beings undergo rebirth in the three realms for long kalpas, displaying various states of life and creating different psychophysical activities, but these states and activities are merely illusory appearances arising from the conjunction of sense faculties, sense objects, and consciousnesses; they have no real entity, no core, and are constantly changing, ceaselessly flowing. The essential meaning of no-self, concisely stated, is just these two points, but for the vast multitude of living beings who cling to sensory experiences, believe in materialistic thought, and are habitually distracted, how difficult it is to understand! Especially for those who wish to grasp the essential core of dependent origination and no-self, and to integrate this essential core into their lives to purify the three karmas, so as to sever craving, extinguish mental fabrications, and reach a state of tranquility without dispute, effortlessly according with conditions—for sentient beings with a strong inclination towards judging right and wrong and a strong desire to win arguments, it is even more difficult.

Phenomena have two parts: the surface appearance of phenomena and the essence of phenomena. The surface appearance of phenomena refers to all people, things, principles, and events (including rebirth in the three times and karmic cause and effect) that arise and cease due to causes and conditions; the essence of phenomena is impermanence, no-self, and emptiness. One who does not see emptiness is not a Buddhist; one who discusses emptiness apart from¹ the surface appearance of phenomena is not a person who correctly understands the meaning of emptiness. Because rebirth in the three times and karmic cause and effect are difficult to directly perceive without possessing the four dhyānas and eight samādhis (one can only have faith and understanding), and because surface appearances are limitless and boundless, practitioners cannot investigate each one. Therefore, Modern Chan suggests that practitioners should place special emphasis on access concentration, live in the present moment at all times and in all places, and focus their efforts on contemplating that the five aggregates are all empty. This is because one whose access concentration is firm can engage in deep contemplation, and one who can truly see that the five aggregates are all empty can stop greed and aversion and attain liberation.

When Buddhism states ‘all dharmas are like illusions,’ this is spoken of in conjunction with ‘karmic retribution is not lost’; they can be said to be two sides of one essence. To say that mountains, rivers, and the great earth are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow presupposes the acknowledgement that there are mountains, rivers, and the great earth in the world. To say that wealth and fame are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow is, of course, to affirm the existence of wealth and fame, and then to say that they are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow. To say that the six paths of rebirth are like a dream, like an illusion, is similarly to affirm the phenomenon of the six paths of rebirth and that karmic retribution is not lost. The meaning of emptiness as being like a dream or an illusion does not negate the fact that things are like a dream or an illusion—if Chan practitioners do not clearly recognize this point, they will easily fall into annihilatory emptiness.

The Buddha said, ‘Dependent origination is profound, extremely profound’; thorough understanding of the meaning of emptiness is not easy. People of dull faculties must observe from many aspects to slowly understand emptiness. They must first reflect on and feel from perspectives such as ‘the world is transient and painful,’ ‘human nature is base, heartless, and fickle,’ ‘life is like staying in a guest house, and in the end, one leaves empty-handed,’ ‘society is filled with pretense, showmanship, packaging, and propaganda,’ ‘worldly affairs are all the results of intention and action, combinations of various conditions,’ and so on, before they can gradually have faith in and understand the meaning of emptiness. People of sharp faculties, however, can enter the gate of nirvāṇa directly by contemplating and observing this fundamental essential meaning of Prajñā Madhyamaka—that ‘all dharmas are presented through the conjunction of sense faculties, sense objects, and consciousnesses.’ That is to say, people of sharp faculties do not necessarily follow the sequence of learning suffering, impermanence, and no-self; merely by observing that what is dependently arisen is illusorily arisen, and what is illusorily arisen is non-arisen, they can dissolve craving and attachment and enter nirvāṇa.

The Buddha said: ‘Dependent origination is profound, extremely profound; the quiescent nature (nirvāṇa) of dependent origination is even more profound, extremely profound.’ ‘Dependent origination’ refers to all existing and continuing people, things, principles, and events, including time, space, mind, matter, and motion (‘rebirth in the three times’ is also a phenomenon of motion), as well as the principles and laws of things (‘karmic cause and effect’ is also a law); all of these are formed based on definite causes and sequences. The ‘quiescent nature of dependent origination’ points to the fundamental nature of all these existing and continuing dharmas—coarsely and evidently, it is arising and ceasing, impermanent, ceaselessly flowing, filled with suffering, defects, and unease; more profoundly, it is illusory and unreal, just like dreamscapes, flowers in the sky, the moon in the water, a mirage, a city in the sky; and most extremely subtle and hidden, it is quiescent and unarisen—nirvāṇa.

‘Whatever things exist in reliance on causes and conditions are themselves unreal like a dream or an illusion.’ This fundamental profound meaning of Prajñā Madhyamaka is, for the average Buddhist practitioner, a truth that is easily understood and explained, yet difficult to believe, accept, and put into practice.

From the Buddhist viewpoint, the human body and mind—that is, the ‘five aggregates’—are all ‘arisen from causes and conditions’; they lack subjectivity and autonomy, and are not single, self-contained entities with a core. What people commonly refer to as ‘you,’ ‘I,’ ‘he/she/it,’ ‘society,’ ‘nation,’ ‘world,’ as well as ‘emotion,’ ‘reason,’ ‘justice,’ ‘happiness,’ and so on—all of these are actually relative, expedient, provisionally established composite concepts. The more a person recognizes this phenomenal fact, the further they will move away from arrogance and self-conceit. Therefore, it is said that a humble and gentle personality is not merely a matter of cultivation, but is actually an expression of correspondence with truth.

The phenomenon of life is an illusory appearance temporarily presented by the conjunction of causes and conditions. For the sake of convenience, we provisionally establish illusory names, saying this is ‘you,’ ‘I,’ or ‘he/she/it.’ But in fact, in the momentary arising and ceasing, there is no fixed characteristic that can be called a ‘dharma,’ and in the composite aggregation, there is no independent characteristic that can be called an ‘I.’ It is like how the empty sky and the great ocean originally have no distinctions of national borders or the four great oceans; names were previously established according to worldly customs, and eventually, an accumulation of errors became accepted as right, leading one to ask: ‘Where is the soul of the Pacific Ocean?’

Because sentient beings have not broken through ‘self-view,’ for them, there exists an unchanging time and space, there are heavens and hells, there are Buddhas and demons, there are Arhats and Bodhisattvas, there are first fruit, second fruit, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth... and so on. All these exist only because of the ‘view of self-nature’—‘deluded thoughts and mental states.’ If one day the view of self-nature is broken through, all mental fabrications will completely cease. Because all the aforementioned distinctions are premised on the view of self-nature; the view of self-nature is like a coordinate system in motion—only with coordinates can motion be spoken of. And when this solid coordinate—the view of self-nature—is shattered, the world becomes a world of immeasurable light, immeasurable life, an inconceivable world.

An unawakened person, when discussing ancient Chan masters or Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, always harbors the view of self-nature in their chest—they see the Sixth Patriarch, Yongjia, Huangbo, Linji, Nanquan, and others as individual ‘units,’ and also regard Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva as ‘one’ Bodhisattva—this too is proof of not yet being awakened. But a truly awakened person, looking out from their mind's eye, sees only causes and conditions, not a self or others. They will not regard Bodhisattvas, patriarchs, or even sentient beings as individual ‘units.’ Among sentient beings, they do not give rise to the view of a person, which in Buddhist terminology is called ‘pudgaladṛṣṭi’; nor will they give rise to the view of self in themselves—‘self-view.’ They see only dependent origination and play within dependent origination.

People are originally capable of being free and unobstructed, but because they mistakenly identify ‘body and mind as I,’ and this forms a deeply ingrained habit, even becoming ‘effortless,’ afflictions are unceasing, and suffering and delusion proliferate. Due to delusively grasping the body as I, and thinking and feeling as I, they naturally become concerned only with their own body and consciousness (including sensations, feelings, impressions, thoughts, ideas, memories, imprints, experiences). And in order to protect these two things, they fall into blind prejudice, contradiction, and emptiness. Like a fly, just swatted away, it quickly flies back to the original place—all concerns and attachments are only about one's own body and mind, unable to jump out of the five elements and become a free person.

I often say to fellow practitioners: ‘Life is like a pile of rotten mud, do not roar in its midst!’ What is roaring? Roaring is becoming emotionally agitated, yelling and shouting; here, it also refers to being high-spirited and vigorous, arrogant and self-conceited, full of attachment and craving, nervous and uneasy, and so on. For many years, I have deeply felt that there is truly nothing to life! Life passes by very quickly! The present body before me—eyes, ears, nose, tongue, mind, liver, spleen, lungs, hands, feet, sinews, bones, blood, flesh, fat, as well as memories, experiences, perceptions, thinking... I feel they are all just a heap of composite things. They belong to unknowable causes and conditions, they do not belong to me.

The reason ordinary people cannot be at ease, cannot accord with conditions, is because they neither believe nor understand the Buddha's teaching that ‘life is like a dream.’ They are obscured by their own eyes, their own consciousness, and by the eyes and consciousness of the multitude; they mistakenly recognize time, space, objects, motion... as well as mental phenomena, psychological activities, philosophical principles... and so on, as truly existent. Since their mental attitude is to ‘take seriously’ and ‘treat as real’ all these existing things, how can they not be stubborn? How can they move towards liberation?

Because people mistakenly recognize all things and events as true, they cling ‘very seriously’ and also let go ‘very seriously.’ Therefore, whether clinging or letting go, both are characteristic of people who do not understand Madhyamaka.

If one cannot rightly view and rightly contemplate that all conditioned things are impermanent and all dharmas are without self, and if the mind is not free from all sense of reality and the view of self-nature, then no matter how happy and carefree one is, or how arduously one practices, one will forever have no connection with the liberation of the Buddhist path.

‘All dharmas are unobtainable/unfindable/ungraspable’ not because the practitioner possesses a mind of unobtainability that makes dharmas unobtainable, but because dharmas are fundamentally without core, without essence, without reality, and unobtainable/unfindable/ungraspable!

True spiritual practice is not for the sake of escaping future rebirth, but because all humans have an ardent need to ‘be free from suffering.’ In daily life, one can see everywhere that people, due to a lack of wisdom, experience physical and mental suffering and infinite torment; this is an unmistakably obvious fact before our eyes. At the same time, although the five aggregates are without self, karmic causes and effects, and retribution still exist. If one really swallows iron nails, one’s stomach will burst and intestines will flow out; if one really jumps from a rooftop, one will be bloody and mangled—this is not negated by the fact that the five aggregates being without self is a truth of the phenomenal world. Perhaps it can be said this way: humans rarely act for the sake of ‘I,’ because ‘I’ is just a concept. What humans truly yearn for day and night, and roar and bellow about, are countless desires and greed—and it is also because of these desires and greed that their bodies and minds suffer. What we emphasize in our practice is faith in, understanding of, practice of, and realization of the meaning of dependent origination, no-self, and emptiness. This meaning of emptiness can heal the present suffering caused by our desires and greed. As for liberation from the suffering of future rebirth, it is merely a natural result that occurs when conditions are ripe, as dharma is fundamentally and originally so.

Because all dharmas arise from causes and conditions, and what arises from causes and conditions is without self-nature, all dharmas in the world, being without self-nature, although their essence and appearance are clear before the eyes, when their truth is investigated, are ultimately non-arising, unarisen, and have fundamentally never existed! For all worldly dharmas that have fundamentally never existed, there is, of course, not the slightest problem of how they are to be extinguished or eliminated! Since there are no problems at all, how could a Buddhist disciple have any true regret in their heart?

People intuitively feel that death is substantial and true, and this feeling leads to our fear of death. If one can see through the falsity of suffering, joy, birth, and death as being like a dream or an illusion, then one can be free from the fear of death.

The stream of life is without beginning or end. Although the conjunction of causes and conditions presents the phenomenon of "death"—it is not annihilation, merely a difference in form. A person with insight into dependent origination understands the principle of rebirth; they maintain clear mindfulness at all times and in all places, allowing themselves to constantly abide in a simple, pure world.

Perhaps people might say that at least the present can be grasped; but what does "the present" mean? In reality, it is merely an image produced in the brain when the optic nerve makes contact with external objects!

A practitioner proficient in śamatha-vipaśyanā, with just a blink of an eye, can confirm that the world is truly like a dream, because they know that the images of the world are illusorily manifest in relativity to their own eye faculty.

The path to the goal is not equal to the goal itself; the principle of dependent origination—emptiness, although it can indeed enable people to be free from inverted views and deluded thoughts, is not true reality or nirvāṇa itself. Therefore, expounding the saying that "all dharmas possess only illusory names" will not cause sentient beings to lose the path to liberation, and Chan, which advocates that "all that is spoken is merely skillful means," does not contradict the thought of Prajñā Madhyamaka.

In fact, "The Great Sage taught the dharma of emptiness so that one may be free from all views"; emptiness—dependent origination cannot serve as the highest philosophical presupposition. To consider the "theory of dependent origination" as the highest truth, an unchanging principle, actually contravenes the Buddha's original intention in proposing dependent origination—emptiness. The sūtras say: "For the sake of liberating sentient beings who can be liberated, ultimate emptiness is taught." Indeed, "emptiness is also empty," "emptiness too has only an illusory name"... these are points we should pay attention to.

When Buddhism says "all is empty," it does not mean that everything is without meaning, or that everything is non-existent; rather, it tells us that nothing is absolute, unchanging, or true, hoping that people will not cling. Such a meaning of emptiness does not lead to pessimism; it only makes people tolerant, unobstructed, and refreshed.

Dharmas have no fixed characteristics; everything is in a process of change. Therefore, any assertion of something being unchanging, absolute, or eternal is a foolish doctrine.

Because we live in a relative world, we must observe the general rules of the world. When worldly wise people say there is, we too should say there is; when worldly wise people say there is not, we too should say there is not. However, from the highest standpoint, we must affirm that good and evil arise from causes and conditions, and that there is no "definite," "unchanging," "absolute," or "substantial" meaning existing. Secondly, for a person who directly perceives the quiescent nature of dependent origination, their actions are solely for the benefit of others; they do whatever is beneficial to sentient beings. Since "evil" is not beneficial to sentient beings, and "good" is more beneficial, they naturally exhort the public to do no evil and cultivate all good! Although they speak of "Do no evil, cultivate all good," they do not have a sense of reality regarding good and evil, because they understand that these are all dependently arisen, all arisen from mind.

Whether things in the world are good or bad is composed of causes and conditions. For example, a knife: is a knife bad? Is a knife good? Not necessarily; with certain causes and conditions, a knife is good, and with other causes and conditions, a knife is bad. Under certain circumstances, it can be said to be bad, and under other circumstances, it can be said to be good; good and bad are not definite. What is "bad" may become "good" after certain causes and conditions change, and what is "good" may become "bad" after causes and conditions change. Not holding preconceived notions about people, events, and principles is the attitude of a practitioner.

Worldly matters often appear simple on the surface, but if one investigates them deeply, many very small things in daily life contain many profound principles.

The entire net of causes and conditions is a web-like system of cause and effect; it can be said that pulling one hair moves the whole body. Therefore, any single problem is, in fact, not just a simple problem. Once deeply investigated, almost every problem has hundreds of problems behind it; and the appearance of one problem often influences the successive arising of other problems.

I feel that "all dharmas arise from causes and conditions"; the arising of dependently arisen dharmas under the same causal conditions has a universal necessity and an unskippable sequentiality—this is correct. But the problem is, with the layers upon layers of endless worldly causes and effects, and the ceaselessly flowing five-aggregate body and mind, who can grasp completely identical causes and conditions?

Matters in the human world mostly have various aspects: surface and interior, coarse and fine, far and near, high and low. To put it directly, every matter is complex, containing both positive and negative sides, contents that are simultaneously contradictory and unified.

Whatever environment he is given, that is the kind of person he will become. Everyone has the possibility of change—because there is no person, everything is just causes and conditions. Therefore, one has no fixed views regarding people or matters and will not cling.

Causes and conditions are truly inconceivable; in the vast and boundless time and space, in the vast sea of people in the dusty world, people from different backgrounds of causes and conditions actually come together!

Each and every dharma arisen from causes and conditions—people, events, places, and things—are originally and fundamentally a seamlessly integrated whole. Even "a seamlessly integrated whole" cannot describe the intimate relationship between them. It is impossible to forcefully cut them apart, saying "this is you," "this is I," "that is he/she/it." You, I, he/she/it (it) are illusions arising because sentient beings are ignorant of the Three Dharma Seals. This kind of illusion is superfluous, unreal, a product of inverted views and deluded thoughts. In the moment of burning away all these illusions, there is only "seeing" but no "seer"; only "suffering" but no "sufferer"; only "acting" but no "actor"... The reason sentient beings have compassion is truly because "everyone" is arisen from causes and conditions! Not only that, the reason Mahāyāna sūtras repeatedly emphasize that "everyone can become a Buddha" is also because of arising from causes and conditions!

Regarding past events and future events, it is easier for us to have a dream-like feeling. But concerning everything before our eyes, everything in the present, we do not feel it is like a dream. In reality, the future and the past are both dreams; and the present, how can it have a true essence? The "present" is at most only one second; after one second passes, there is no way to retrieve it.

In the world of dependent origination, the high are not high, and the low are not low; everyone is tightly and closely connected together.

The causes and conditions of sentient beings are all different! According to my impression from reading Buddhist sūtras, there were sentient beings whom Venerable Ānanda could not liberate, but Venerable Śāriputra could; there were also those whom Venerable Kāśyapa could not liberate, but Venerable Aniruddha could. So, causes and conditions are not definite.

The world is much like a plantain tree, wrapped by layer upon layer of plantain leaves—formed by endless causes and conditions overlapping and covering it. But if one peels away these worldly causes and conditions, which are like the plantain leaves, one by one, one cannot find an I or a dharma. Impermanence is the surface appearance, the phenomenon of the world; its substance, its essential nature, is to be without self-nature.

Infinite causes and conditions only accomplish a certain phenomenon called an "event"; although in verbal expression we can say that infinite causes and conditions accomplish one event, in our minds, we must understand that infinite causes and conditions only accomplish the composite illusion called an event.

From the perspective of dependent origination, any person, event, or thing is limited. There is no perfectly flawless group or individual in the world. As long as the general direction is towards the path to Buddhahood, then no effort is wasted.

Although hot and cold are not absolute, if you are scalded by boiling water, you will still be injured. Therefore, being ignorant of objective relative truth will likewise cause us to produce suffering; similarly, although there is no absolute truth, understanding relative objective truth can still lead to the elimination of suffering.

In the dependently arisen world, one cannot find a pure, thorough, transcendent, absolute objectivity—what is generally called objective is actually also a stance, whether leaning left, right, or in the middle.

The Buddhist "theory of dependent origination" tells us that everything is presented by relying on causes and depending on conditions. Things that are presented by relying on causes and depending on conditions are themselves destined to be impermanent and ever-changing—possessing infinite possibilities. Perhaps in terms of known causes and conditions, visible causes and conditions, we might as well say "impossible." But if speaking from an absolutely rigorous standpoint, one should admit that existent phenomena all contain changeability and possibility.