COMING AND G O I N G 15 This is not an examination dealing with things on a coarse level; it is an examination that is looking at things from the perspective of the most subtle moments of time For example, when we look at a finger snap, that moment can be divided into sixty-four individual units or instants, and those are said to be the most subtle moments of time in terms of what can actually be measured But we can even go further than that We can examine even these most subtle moments and see that they too are composed of millions of billions of tinier instants, and each of those instants is composed of an infi nite number of subinstants, until finally we realize that there is no truly existent moment of time at all-there simply is no such thing as a "present moment." Thus, since there is no time in which mo tion could occur, in genuine reality it does not occur There is no coming, no going Since it is the case that in genuine reality phenomena neither come nor go, that their true nature is beyond coming and going, it is also the case that our suffering neither comes from anywhere nor goes anywhere The same is true of our mental afflictions-our attachment, aversion, pride, jealousy, and stupidity-they neither come from anywhere nor go anywhere Finally, all of our thoughts no matter how profound or noble, no matter how vile or base-do not come from anywhere or go anywhere It is important for us to apply our understanding that things neither come nor go to these three things: our suffering, our mental afflictions, and our thoughts Just as appearances in dreams, experi ences in dreams, and thoughts in dreams neither come from any where nor go anywhere, so it is with all phenomena, and it is in this way that we have to analyze For example, if it were the case with our suffering and our mental afflictions that some evil spirits were sending them into us, then they would in fact come from to us somewhere else If there were some creator who was sending all of these bad experiences into us, then again they would come from somewhere else to where we are Neither of these is the case, how ever, and therefore suffering, mental afflictions, and thoughts COMING AND GOING 16 not come to us from somewhere else, and they d o not go anywhere when they are finished with us Nevertheless, it is still the case that there are superficial appearances, mere appearances of these things, which arise due to the coming together of causes and conditions This is why in his Song of the Profound Definitive Meaning Sung on the Snowy Range, the lord of yogis Milarepa sang: When you're sure that conduct's work is luminous light, And you're sure that interdependence is emptiness, A doer and deed refined until they are goneThis way of working with conduct, it works quite well! In this verse, Milarepa sang of his certainty that appearances arise in dependence upon the coming together of causes and conditions, and at the same time they appear, they have no inherent nature their nature is emptiness We have to apply ourselves to gaining the same certainty that Milarepa did Therefore, we have to take this analysis of things that shows they neither come nor go and apply it to our suffering, our mental afflic tions, and our thoughts and see that these three things not come or go To put this into verse: While we look with our eyes and it seems that things come and go, When we analyze with intelligence, we cannot find any coming or going at all Therefore, know that coming and going are like dreams and water-moons A water-moon is a very good example to refer to in this analysis of coming and going If a water-moon is shining on a lake and you COMING AND GOING 17 walk around the lake to the right, due to the coming together of certain causes and conditions, the moon appears to follow you to the right For your friends who are walking around the lake to the left, however, due to other causes and conditions, the moon appears to be following them to the left! And for your friends who are just standing still, the moon appears to be motionless All the while, though, there is no moon that is moving at all In this way, at the same time that things appear to come and go due to the coming together of causes and conditions, in reality there is no coming or going at all To put this into verse: When we analyze with intelligence, we cannot find any suffering; Nevertheless, suffering is something we directly experience Therefore, know that suffering is appearance-emptiness, just like suffering in a dream When you gain certainty that the suffering that appears is empty of coming and going, the suffering will dissolve all by itself, and you will experience its true nature, which is open, spacious, and relaxed 3 An Examination of the Sources of Consciousness In the Sutra of the Great Mother Prajniipiiramitii, the Buddha taught: The eye is empty of the eye THERE ARE THREE VERSIONS of the Great Mother Prajniipiiramitii Sutras: the extensive, middle, and concise editions The extensive, or great, sutra has one hundred thousand verses and encompasses twelve volumes The meaning of the passage quoted here from the longest version is that the eye with which we see is empty of inherent nature It is empty of its own essence Just as the eye is empty of its own essence, so the ear is empty of its own essence, and the nose, tongue, body, and mind are all the same-all six inner sources of consciousness (ayatanas) are empty of their own essence; they are all empty of what they appear to be 20 T H E SOURCES O F CONSCIOUSNESS In Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's Mahamudra Aspiration Prayer, the second line of the ninth verse reads: As for mind, there is no mind! Mind is empty of essence This expresses a very similar meaning: Mind has no inherent nature; it is empty of true existence It is the same with the six outer sources of consciousness: Form is empty of form, sound is empty of sound, smell is empty of smell, taste is empty of taste, tactile sensation is empty of tactile sensation, and phenomena that appear to the mental consciousness are empty of themselves as well The example that helps us to understand this more clearly is when these twelve sources of consciousness appear in a dream When the twelve sources of consciousness appear in dreams, they are dependently arisen mere appearances that are empty of themselves, empty of being anything, empty of any inher ent nature This is what we have to think about The Heart of Wisdom Sutra teaches that there is "no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no tactile sensation, no phenomenon"-going through all of the twelve sources of consciousness It does not use the exact same language as the passage from the Sutra of the Great Mother quoted here, but its meaning is the same Therefore, the meaning of the statement "There is no eye," for example, is not that there is no appearance of the eye, but rather that the eye that ap pears is empty of essence You may be familiar with the life story of the great Tibetan siddha Machig Labdron.5 She was the fastest reader in the history of Tibet In Tibet there is a tradition of reading all the volumes of the Bud dha's teachings on special occasions in monasteries, nunneries, or the homes of sponsors A good reader can read one volume in a Siddha means "one who has gained accomplishment." It refers to the great Buddhist prac titioners who have gained direct realization of the true nature of reality ... Milarepa sang of his certainty that appearances arise in dependence upon the coming together of causes and conditions, and at the same time they appear, they have no inherent nature their nature... we cannot find any coming or going at all Therefore, know that coming and going are like dreams and water-moons A water-moon is a very good example to refer to in this analysis of coming and... essence; they are all empty of what they appear to be 20 T H E SOURCES O F CONSCIOUSNESS In Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's Mahamudra Aspiration Prayer, the second line of the ninth verse reads: As for mind,