Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Exploring Theravāda's connections to other paths - what can we learn from other traditions, religions and philosophies?
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by christopher::: »

Hi Venerable. Do you have an idea of which sutra he is refering to as "Great Emptiness" within the Samyukta Agama, links at the bottom of this page?

Samyutta Nikaya Links

And what might the corresponding Pali sutta be?
"As Buddhists, we should aim to develop relationships that are not predominated by grasping and clinging. Our relationships should be characterised by the brahmaviharas of metta (loving kindness), mudita (sympathetic joy), karuna (compassion), and upekkha (equanimity)."
~post by Ben, Jul 02, 2009
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by Paññāsikhara »

christopher::: wrote:
Paññāsikhara wrote: Just highlighted a couple of interesting points above. Why? Because the sutra named "The Sutra on Great Emptiness" which appears in the Sarvastivada Agamas, does not at all appear in the Pali Theravada suttas at all. One may wish to keep this in mind in the face of the claims made above.
This is one of the things i was interested in, finding the corresponding Pali sources. He mentions "The Sutra on Co-Arising" No. 296, that's here...

7. 因緣法及緣生法 The dharma of arising by causal condition and the dharmas arisen by causal condition. T 2, p. 84b, sūtra No. 296. (Saṃyutta-nikāya 12. 20 Paccayo (vol. ii, p. 25). Tripāṭhī, sūtra 14. CSA vol. 2, pp. 34-35; FSA vol. 1, pp. 568-570.)

I quoted from No. 262 earlier because it seemed to relate very much to TNH's ideas, but also couldn't find the corresponding Pali text.
As it says, the corresponding Pali text for this is SN 12.20, Paccayo. Paccayo c/o Ven Thanissaro @ Access to Insight; or Bhikkhu Bodhi, SN, pg. 550-552.

However, although this sutra has a Pali parallel, the Discourse on Great Emptiness (*Mahasunyata-paryaya) does not. This text is SA 297, which has no Pali.
Many of the Samyukta Agama sutras have "emptiness" in their title. Its not clear to me which he's referring to as "The Sutra on Great Emptiness"...
No, there are only a couple of Samyuktagama sutras with "emptiness" in their title. This one is SA 297:

《雜阿含經》卷12:「(二九七) [SA 297]
如是我聞:
一時,佛住拘留搜調牛聚落。
爾時,世尊告諸比丘:「我當為汝等說法,初、中、後善,善義善味,純一清淨,梵行清白,所謂大空法經。諦聽,善思,當為汝說。云何為大空法經? [= What is the Discourse on Great Emptiness?] 所謂此有故彼有,此起故彼起,謂緣無明行,緣行識,乃至純大苦聚集。
「緣生老死者,若有問言:『彼誰老死?老死屬誰?』彼則答言:『我即老死,今老死屬我,老死是我。』所言:『命即是身。』或言:『命異身異。』此則一義,而說有種種。若見言:『命即是身。』彼梵行者所無有。若復見言:『命異身異。』梵行者所無有。於此二邊,心所不隨,正向中道。賢聖出世,如實不顛倒正見,謂緣生老死。如是生、有、取、愛受、觸、六入處、名色、識、行,緣無明故有行。
「若復問言:『誰是行?行屬誰?』彼則答言:『行則是我,行是我所。』彼如是:『命即是身。』或言:『命異身異。』彼見命即是身者,梵行者無有;或言命異身異者,梵行者亦無有。離此二邊,正向中道。賢聖出世,如實不顛倒正見[1]所知,所謂緣無明行。
「諸比丘!若無明離欲而生明,彼誰老死?老死屬誰者?老死則斷,則知斷其根本,如截多羅樹頭,於未來世成不生法。若比丘無明離欲而生明,彼誰生?生屬誰?乃至誰[2]是行?行屬誰者?行則斷,則知斷其根本,如截多羅樹頭,於未來世成不生法,若比丘無明離欲而生明,彼無明滅則行滅,乃至純大苦聚滅,是名大空法經 [= This is said to be the Discourse on Great Emptiness]。」
佛說此經已,諸比丘聞佛所說,歡喜奉行。」(CBETA, T02, no. 99, p. 84, c11-p. 85, a10)
[1]〔所知〕-【宋】【元】【明】。[2]〔是〕-【宋】【元】【明】。

My own draft translation is as follows:

(二九七) [Sūtra] 297 [Mahā-śunyatā-dharma-paryāya ]

Thus it was heard by me.
One time, the Buddha was dwelling amongst the Kurus, at the village of Kalamāṣadamya.
At that time, the Bhagavan told the bhikṣus: “I shall teach you the Dharma, [which is] good in the beginning, [good] in the middle, and [good] in the end; of good meaning, of good expression; singularly pure; white and pure of the Holy Life (brahma-carya); that is to say, the Greater Discourse on the Dharma of Śūnyatā.”
“Listen well! Consider well! I shall teach [this] for you. What is the Greater Sūtra on the Dharma of Śūnyatā? It is – ‘when this exists, that exists; when this arises, that arises’. Which is – ‘saṃskāras are conditioned by ignorance; cognitions are conditioned by saṃskāras; and so forth, up to; the amassing of this sheer mass of duḥkha’.”
“[As for] ‘old age and death are conditioned by birth’, if one were to ask – ‘Whose is this old age and death? To whom does this old age and death belong?’ One would then answer, saying: ‘[It is] I who ages and dies. This old and death is mine. Aging and death is I.’”
“It is said – ‘The life is the physical body’, or it is said – ‘The life and physical body are different [from one another]’, this is then of one meaning, but of various verbal expressions.”
“[If one takes] the view that says – ‘The life is the physical body’, then for that one, there is no Holy Life. [If one takes] the view that says – ‘The life and physical body are different’, [for that one], there is no Holy Life.”
“[Mind and] mental factors not according towards these two extremes, one correctly moves towards the middle way. The holy ones [who] transcend the world, [have this] non-erroneous and correct view [of phenomena] as they truly are, that is – ‘Ageing and death is conditioned by birth; and thus so are birth, becoming, grasping, craving, sensation, contact, the six [sense] bases, name and materiality, cognition, saṃskāras; due to ignorance as a condition, there are saṃskāras.”
“If one were to further ask – “Whose are these saṃskāras? To whom do saṃskāras belong?’ Then one should answer them, saying – ‘Saṃskāras are I. Saṃskāras are mine.’ They [would then ask] thus – ‘Is the life the physical body?’ Or say – ‘Are life and physical body different [from one another].’”
“[For] that one [with the] view that – ‘The life is the physical body’, there is no Holy Life. Or for that one [with the] view that – ‘The life and physical body are different [to one another]’, there is also no Holy Life.”
“Avoiding these two extremes, [one should] correctly move towards the middle way. As is known by the holy ones [who] transcend the world, [who have this] non-erroneous and correct view [of phenomena] as they truly are, that is – ‘Saṃskāras are conditioned by ignorance.’”
“O bhikṣus! As ignorance that is detached from desire gives rise to knowledge, this person’s [question] – ‘Who ages and dies? To whom does old age and death belong?’, this old age and death are then forsaken, and one knows the severing of their root.”
“It is just as one hacks down the top of a plantain tree, which becomes of such a nature (dharma) that it will not live in the future.”
“If, O bhikṣus! Ignorance, having detached from desire, knowledge arises. This person’s [question] – ‘Who is born? To whom does birth belong?’ up to – ‘Who [has] saṃskāras? To whom do saṃskāras belong?’ , these saṃskāras are then forsaken, and one knows the severing of their root.”
“It is just as one hacks down the top of a plantain tree, which becomes of such a nature (dharma) that it will not live in the future.”
“If, O bhikṣus! Ignorance, having detached from desire, knowledge arises. On the cessation of [their] ignorance, there is the cessation of saṃskāras; up to – the cessation of the sheer, great mass of duḥkha.”
“This is named the Greater Discourse on the Dharma of Śūnyatā.”
On the Buddha having taught this sūtra, all the bhikṣus heard that taught by the Buddha, and joyously put it into practice.


You may find a translation of this, from Tripathi's Sanskrit, in Choong, Mun-Keat (1999), The Notion of Emptiness in Early Buddhism, pp. 91ff. Yinshun discusses this, and related (see below), in some detail, in his Investigations into Emptiness (1984).

There is the interesting question of whether it reads "Great Discourse on Emptiness", or "Discourse on Greater Emptiness". Esp. considering that there are already two other "emptiness sutras" in the canon, the "greater" and "lesser"; as well as the Sarvastivadin interpretation of "great emptiness" as referring to both the "absence of self and what pertains to self" together. The Skt term, a compound, can be broken either way.
PeterB wrote:
There is therefore no Theravada hook on which to hang concepts like Sunyata. Clearly they have their origin in the concept of Anatta, but developed beyond what is deductible from the Canon. There are therefore widely seen in the Theravada as proliferation of ideas.
You could be right, Peter. Thats one of the reasons i was interested in looking at the suttas TNH was refering to.
The Theravada has a fair bit to say about sunnata. You may wish to check out the entire chapter devoted to this teaching in the Patisambhidamagga, a very important early Theravadin para-canonical (depending on who you ask) text, which forms an important basis for even Buddhaghosa's Vissudhimagga. In this light, I think that it is going quite too far to claim that they were "widely seen in the Theravada as proliferation of ideas", quite the contrary.

But the Sarvastivada can simply say, "well we have these sutras, and they discuss emptiness in this way. If the Theravada does not have these texts, then that is because they have lost them at some point". Whether or not this is true, is a matter of debate. However, it is a debate that is extremely difficult to prove on either side. The Sautrantikas (and related groups) used these sutras, including the Greater Discourse on Emptiness, and another important one not even mentioned by Ven here, the Discourse on Ultimate Emptiness, quite heavily. This is all basic Sthavira teachings.
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by Paññāsikhara »

christopher::: wrote:Hi Venerable. Do you have an idea of which sutra he is refering to as "Great Emptiness" within the Samyukta Agama, links at the bottom of this page?

Samyutta Nikaya Links

And what might the corresponding Pali sutta be?
As above, we posted at the same time - SA 297.
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by Paññāsikhara »

The other one, SA 335

《雜阿含經》卷13:「(三三五)
如是我聞:
一時,佛住拘留搜調牛聚落。
爾時,世尊告諸比丘:「我今當為汝等說法,初、中、後善,善義善味,純一滿淨,梵行清白,所謂第一義空經。諦聽,善思,當為汝說。
「云何為第一義空經?諸比丘!眼生時無有來處,滅時無有去處。如是眼不實而生,生已盡滅,有業報而無作者,此陰滅已,異陰相續,除俗數法。耳、鼻、舌、身、意亦如是說,除俗數法。俗數法者,謂此有故彼有,此起故彼起,如無明緣行,行緣識……」廣說乃至「純大苦聚集起。又復,此無故彼無,此滅故彼滅,無明滅故行滅,行滅故識滅……」如是廣說,乃至「純大苦聚滅。比丘!是名第一義空法經。」
佛說此經已,諸比丘聞佛所說,歡喜奉行。」(CBETA, T02, no. 99, p. 92, c12-26)

Huifeng's translation:

(三三五) [Sūtra] 335 [Paramārtha-śunyatā-sūtra ]

Thus it was heard by me.
One time, the Buddha was dwelling amongst the Kurus, at the village of Kalamāṣadamya.
At that time, the Bhagavan told the bhikṣus: “I shall teach you the Dharma, [which is] good in the beginning, [good] in the middle, and [good] in the end; of good meaning, of good expression; singularly and completely pure; white and pure of the Holy Life (brahma-carya); that is to say, the Sūtra on Ultimate Śūnyatā.”
“Listen well! Consider well! I shall teach [this] for you.”
“What is the Sūtra on Ultimate Śūnyatā? O bhikṣus!, when the eye arises, [it does] not come from any location; when [the eye] ceases, [it does] not go to any location. In this way, the eye is unreal, yet arises; and on having arisen, it ends and ceases. There is action (karma) and result (vipāka), and yet no actor agent (kāraka). On the cessation of these skandhas, another [set of] skandhas continues elsewhere (anyatra). There are merely dharmas classified as conventional, [ie.] the ear, nose, tongue, physical body and mind, are also declared as such.
“‘Merely dharmas classified as conventional’, ‘Merely dharmas classified as conventional’, that is to say –‘when this exists, that exists; when this arises, that arises’. Just as ignorance conditions saṃskāras; saṃskāras condition cognition; in detailed explanation, up to; the arising of this sheer great mass of duḥkha.”
“Moreover – ‘when this does not exist, that does not exist; when this ceases, that ceases’. Due to the cessation of ignorance, saṃskāras cease; due to the cessation of saṃskāras, cognitions cease; in detailed explanation, up to; the cessation of this sheer great mass of duḥkha.”
“O bhikṣus! this is named the Sūtra on the Dharma of Ultimate Śūnyatā.”
On the Buddha having taught this sūtra, all the bhikṣus heard that taught by the Buddha, and joyously put it into practice.


A strong connection between dependent origination, nominal designation and emptiness. All tied in with the basic truths of dissatisfaction and the cessation of dissatisfaction (expand a little to the four aryan truths).
Last edited by Paññāsikhara on Sat Aug 28, 2010 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by Paññāsikhara »

There are a couple of tricky bits in the text, but thanks to some pointers from Bhikkhu Santi, who pointed out parts of the Mula-sarvastivadin Samghabheda-vast, and the Skt / Chinese versions of the Bimbisara Sutra, they are easily resolved. Lamotte has back translated this, also in Choong's book (as above). The core passage is cited in the Abhidharmakosa, for which we have de la Vallee Poussin's translation from Xuanzang's Chinese, but nowadays, also the Sanskrit too. I've taken all these into account in the rendering of the passage. It is also cited in the *Satyasiddhi-sastra, and Skilling's has some comments in his Mahasutras series. Both of these two texts - Greater Discourse on Emptiness, and Discourse on Ultimate Emptiness - are within the Mahasutra range of texts (depending on which list one cites).
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by tiltbillings »

Paññāsikhara wrote:Huifeng's translation:

(三三五) [Sūtra] 335 [Paramārtha-śunyatā-sūtra ]

Thus it was heard by me.
. . . .
This reads like a later work than what is found in the suttas, and it seems to presuppose the Abhidharma.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

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tiltbillings wrote:
Paññāsikhara wrote:Huifeng's translation:

(三三五) [Sūtra] 335 [Paramārtha-śunyatā-sūtra ]

Thus it was heard by me.
. . . .
This reads like a later work than what is found in the suttas, and it seems to presuppose the Abhidharma.


Possibly so. But these things are hard to *prove*. And the same claims can be made for a fair amount of Pali sutta, too.
A key point to keep in mind would be, that in the end, the tail end of the sutta period and the start of the abhidharma period, both obviously overlap.
Still, it was considered canonical by a very large portion of the Buddhist community, and that is worth noting in itself.
I think that is a little more constructive, otherwise, Tilt, it sounds like your comments are kind of designed to stop any discussion in it's tracks, before it has begun.
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

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Paññāsikhara wrote:Tilt, it sounds like your comments are kind of designed to stop any discussion in it's tracks, before it has begun.
No stopping in tracks. Just putting it into a probable context. It is that nothing that I have read in the Pali suttas quite reads like that text. On the other hand maybe Ñāṇa will post his stuff on emptiness from the Patisambhidamagga again, in this thread, giving a closer match.
>> Do you see a man wise [enlightened/ariya] in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.<< -- Proverbs 26:12

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond. -- SN I, 38.

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?” HPatDH p.723
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by Paññāsikhara »

Still, getting back to the topic, the term used by Ven "inter-being" has not always run so smoothly for me. One may ask from whence does this term come? Does that system of thought actually concur with the sutras that are cited in the beginning of this thread? I'll throw this question out there, hoping that maybe Christopher can do the search and post the answers. I could do it myself, but that is not going to be my role today, and I don't like to spoon feed.
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by Vepacitta »

Thank you for your insights Venerable.

And thanks for your note that sunnata is discussed in the Pali Canon. Chapt 122 Mahasunnata Sutta is one - page 971 VenNanamoli/VenBodhi. I think there's another in the connected discourses - Samyutta Nikaya - but would have to look it up to be sure.

As in my earlier post - 'inter being' doesn't 'feel' right to me. It doesn't seem to jive with the teachings in the Pali canon - from what I have read so far - the Tathagata taught in the negative mode - careful not to say 'what was' - but what was not - to help the student gain insight without fabricating concepts which lead to self or I making. The positive statement "things inter-are" - the melting pot of one-ness as I like to call it - seems to speak of a 'big self'. Even if that is not Ven. Hanh's intent - it could easily be construed that way - which seems in contradiction to the Buddhist teachings from the Pali canon.

I can't throw out sutta references like most of the folks here - so apologies - just going with what I've learnt so far, pondered upon so far and intuition.

'Doesn't smell right'

Respectfully,

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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

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Thank you so much Venerable, for all this information, and especially for your time and effort. I'm pretty sure that i found something once that i had posted at e-sangha on the origins of the term "inter-being"... it may be an English translation of a Vietnamese term.

i'll look for it.
"As Buddhists, we should aim to develop relationships that are not predominated by grasping and clinging. Our relationships should be characterised by the brahmaviharas of metta (loving kindness), mudita (sympathetic joy), karuna (compassion), and upekkha (equanimity)."
~post by Ben, Jul 02, 2009
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

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Okay, here's what i could find, the term inter-being's origins are indeed Vietnamese, Tiếp Hiện (Tiep Hien)...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Interbeing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Order of Interbeing, or Tiếp Hiện in Vietnamese, was founded between 1964 and 1966 by Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Tiếp means "being in touch with" and "continuing." Hiện means "realizing" and "making it here and now." "Interbeing" is a word coined by Thich Nhat Hanh to represent the Buddhist principles of impermanence and the nonself characteristic which reveal the inter-connected-ness of all things.
The Vietnamese translation for Order of Interbeing is "Dòng tu Tiếp Hiện" so "Dong tu" probably means "Order of."

In reading various articles on this topic writers often describe inter-being as a synonym TNH uses for dependent origination. My understanding is that Ven. Hanh has not made that assertion. As we've been discussing interbeing is a term he uses to explain emptiness and describe the interdependence of factors that give rise to compounded forms. When speaking of Dependent Origination he uses the phrase "Interdependent Co-Arising" as a translation for pratitya samutpada.

TNH talks about the 12 links extensively in that initial article i linked as well as in his book "The Heart of the Buddha's Teachings." But i haven't seen him present interbeing as a synonym for any one specific pali term or dhamma concept.
"As Buddhists, we should aim to develop relationships that are not predominated by grasping and clinging. Our relationships should be characterised by the brahmaviharas of metta (loving kindness), mudita (sympathetic joy), karuna (compassion), and upekkha (equanimity)."
~post by Ben, Jul 02, 2009
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by Paññāsikhara »

christopher::: wrote:Okay, here's what i could find, the term inter-being's origins are indeed Vietnamese, Tiếp Hiện (Tiep Hien)...
Well, that is the Vietnamese, but that's not where it comes from. Where does Vietnam get it's Dharma from?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Interbeing" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Order of Interbeing, or Tiếp Hiện in Vietnamese, was founded between 1964 and 1966 by Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Tiếp means "being in touch with" and "continuing." Hiện means "realizing" and "making it here and now." "Interbeing" is a word coined by Thich Nhat Hanh to represent the Buddhist principles of impermanence and the nonself characteristic which reveal the inter-connected-ness of all things.
The Vietnamese translation for Order of Interbeing is "Dòng tu Tiếp Hiện" so "Dong tu" probably means "Order of."
If you follow the first external link on that Wiki page, you'll see it, in big bold letters!

Track down where that term comes from. Very interesting.
...
But i haven't seen him present interbeing as a synonym for any one specific pali concept.
Could that be because he simply isn't taking this from Pali Buddhism, or even any form of early Buddhism, or maybe any sort of Indian Buddhism at all?

Happy hunting!
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by Vepacitta »

I guess my posts are so much chopped liver - that's pronounced "livah"
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Re: Thich Nhat Hanh: Dependant Co-arising & Inter-Being

Post by christopher::: »

Vepacitta wrote:
As in my earlier post - 'inter being' doesn't 'feel' right to me. It doesn't seem to jive with the teachings in the Pali canon - from what I have read so far - the Tathagata taught in the negative mode - careful not to say 'what was' - but what was not - to help the student gain insight without fabricating concepts which lead to self or I making. The positive statement "things inter-are" - the melting pot of one-ness as I like to call it - seems to speak of a 'big self'. Even if that is not Ven. Hanh's intent - it could easily be construed that way - which seems in contradiction to the Buddhist teachings from the Pali canon.

I can't throw out sutta references like most of the folks here - so apologies - just going with what I've learnt so far, pondered upon so far and intuition.

'Doesn't smell right'

Respectfully,

V,.
Hi V,

Most definitely TNH sometimes puts a positive spin on things that dilutes his message. In the passage i quoted about emptiness and the flower, he said "you are as wonderful as the Universe."
A flower cannot be by herself alone. A flower has to "inter-be" with everything else that is called non-flower. That is what we call inter-being. You cannot be, you can only inter-be. The word inter-be can reveal more of the reality than the word "to be". You cannot be by yourself alone, you have to inter-be with everything else. So the true nature of the flower is the nature of inter-being, the nature of no self. The flower is there, beautiful, fragrant, yes, but the flower is empty of a separate self. To be empty is not a negative note. Nagarjuna, of the second century, said that because of emptiness, everything becomes possible.

So a flower is described as empty. But I like to say it differently. A flower is empty only of a separate self, but a flower is full of everything else. The whole cosmos can be seen, can be identified, can be touched, in one flower. So to say that the flower is empty of a separate self also means that the flower is full of the cosmos. It's the same thing. So you are of the same nature as a flower: you are empty of a separate self, but you are full of the cosmos. You are as wonderful as the cosmos, you are a manifestation of the cosmos. So non-self is another guide that Buddha offers us in order for us to successfully practice looking deeply. What does it mean to look deeply? Looking deeply means to look in such a way that the true nature of impermanence and non-self can reveal themselves to you. Looking into yourself, looking into the flower, you can touch the nature of impermanence and the nature of non-self, and if you can touch the nature of impermanence and non-self deeply, you can also touch the nature of nirvana, which is the Third Dharma Seal."
That kind of statement goes in the opposite direction of the key point he was making (about there being no selves) and is not helpful. If we take that statement out, it's a stronger presentation, imo.
Paññāsikhara wrote:
christopher::: wrote:
The Vietnamese translation for Order of Interbeing is "Dòng tu Tiếp Hiện" so "Dong tu" probably means "Order of."
If you follow the first external link on that Wiki page, you'll see it, in big bold letters!
Yes, thank you Venerable, that's where i found it as well.
Paññāsikhara wrote:
christopher::: wrote:Okay, here's what i could find, the term inter-being's origins are indeed Vietnamese, Tiếp Hiện (Tiep Hien)...
Well, that is the Vietnamese, but that's not where it comes from. Where does Vietnam get it's Dharma from?
Where Vietnam gets its Dharma from and where that one word has its origins are different questions. We'd need someone with knowledge of Vietnamese Buddhism to go further with these technical issues, i think.
Paññāsikhara wrote:
...
But i haven't seen him present interbeing as a synonym for any one specific pali concept.
Could that be because he simply isn't taking this from Pali Buddhism, or even any form of early Buddhism, or maybe any sort of Indian Buddhism at all?
Right, exactly. Not familiar with Vietnamese, i just don't know.

But it looks like he's created this new English term to draw our attention to truths that Buddha did teach, about the nature of compounded things, how every thing arises dependently, how every thing is impermanent and empty of a singular self nature. The term is a conceptual tool, nothing more. It can be helpful or unhelpful, depending on how we think about this.

We can say that for all words and concepts.
"As Buddhists, we should aim to develop relationships that are not predominated by grasping and clinging. Our relationships should be characterised by the brahmaviharas of metta (loving kindness), mudita (sympathetic joy), karuna (compassion), and upekkha (equanimity)."
~post by Ben, Jul 02, 2009
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