Emptiness

by Thanissaro Bhikkhu

Emptiness is a mode of perception, a way of looking at experience. It adds nothing to and takes nothing away from the raw data of physical and mental events. You look at events in the mind and the senses with no thought of whether there's anything lying behind them.

This mode is called emptiness because it's empty of the presuppositions we usually add to experience to make sense of it: the stories and world-views we fashion to explain who we are and the world we live in. Although these stories and views have their uses, the Buddha found that some of the more abstract questions they raise — of our true identity and the reality of the world outside — pull attention away from a direct experience of how events influence one another in the immediate present. Thus they get in the way when we try to understand and solve the problem of suffering.

Say for instance, that you're meditating, and a feeling of anger toward your mother appears. Immediately, the mind's reaction is to identify the anger as "my" anger, or to say that "I'm" angry. It then elaborates on the feeling, either working it into the story of your relationship to your mother, or to your general views about when and where anger toward one's mother can be justified. The problem with all this, from the Buddha's perspective, is that these stories and views entail a lot of suffering. The more you get involved in them, the more you get distracted from seeing the actual cause of the suffering: the labels of "I" and "mine" that set the whole process in motion. As a result, you can't find the way to unravel that cause and bring the suffering to an end.

If, however, you can adopt the emptiness mode — by not acting on or reacting to the anger, but simply watching it as a series of events, in and of themselves — you can see that the anger is empty of anything worth identifying with or possessing. As you master the emptiness mode more consistently, you see that this truth holds not only for such gross emotions as anger, but also for even the most subtle events in the realm of experience. This is the sense in which all things are empty. When you see this, you realize that labels of "I" and "mine" are inappropriate, unnecessary, and cause nothing but stress and pain. You can then drop them. When you drop them totally, you discover a mode of experience that lies deeper still, one that's totally free.

To master the emptiness mode of perception requires training in firm virtue, concentration, and discernment. Without this training, the mind tends to stay in the mode that keeps creating stories and world views. And from the perspective of that mode, the teaching of emptiness sounds simply like another story or world view with new ground rules. In terms of the story of your relationship with your mother, it seems to be saying that there's really no mother, no you. In terms of your views about the world, it seems to be saying either that the world doesn't really exist, or else that emptiness is the great undifferentiated ground of being from which we all came to which someday we'll all return.

These interpretations not only miss the meaning of emptiness but also keep the mind from getting into the proper mode. If the world and the people in the story of your life don't really exist, then all the actions and reactions in that story seem like a mathematics of zeros, and you wonder why there's any point in practicing virtue at all. If, on the other hand, you see emptiness as the ground of being to which we're all going to return, then what need is there to train the mind in concentration and discernment, since we're all going to get there anyway? And even if we need training to get back to our ground of being, what's to keep us from coming out of it and suffering all over again? So in all these scenarios, the whole idea of training the mind seems futile and pointless. By focusing on the question of whether or not there really is something behind experience, they entangle the mind in issues that keep it from getting into the present mode.

Now, stories and world views do serve a purpose. The Buddha employed them when teaching people, but he never used the word emptiness when speaking in these modes. He recounted the stories of people's lives to show how suffering comes from the unskillful perceptions behind their actions, and how freedom from suffering can come from being more perceptive. And he described the basic principles that underlie the round of rebirth to show how bad intentional actions lead to pain within that round, good ones lead to pleasure, while really skillful actions can take you beyond the round altogether. In all these cases, these teachings were aimed at getting people to focus on the quality of the perceptions and intentions in their minds in the present — in other words, to get them into the emptiness mode. Once there, they can use the teachings on emptiness for their intended purpose: to loosen all attachments to views, stories, and assumptions, leaving the mind empty of all greed, anger, and delusion, and thus empty of suffering and stress. And when you come right down to it, that's the emptiness that really counts.

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普賢菩薩警眾偈

是日已過，命亦隨減，
如少水魚，斯有何樂，
大眾當勤精進，如救頭燃，
但念無常，慎勿放逸。

普賢菩薩警眾偈

是日已過。命亦隨減。如少水魚。斯有何樂。
上二句直示。下二句設喻。此頌出出曜經。
時南海卒涌驚濤浸灌。有三大魚。流入淺涇。共相謂言。
我等厄此。及漫水未減。宜可逆上。還歸大海。
復礙小舟。不得越過。第一魚。盡力跳舟得渡。次魚。
復憑草獲過。第三魚。氣力消竭。水亦漸涸。不知死至。
尚自優游。佛因說頌。以警世人。是日。即今日分限既定。
寧容希增。今過一日。即是減少後之壽命一日。
故云隨減。日既如是。年月可知。奚可待老。
坐喪天年哉。魚既水少。加以風吹日暴。癡魚無知。游洋自若。
老死將至。地水火風。四大侵陵。日夜交逼。
甚於少水之魚。故云斯有何樂。若能發勇猛心。不著二邊。
依於中道。事理無礙。圓修圓證。頓契無生。
超二死涇。復本真源。如魚盡力。跳舟得過。如或根器不能。
即當依教修行。證真空理。歷諸階位。出生死流。
如魚憑舟頭尾草邊得過。設若懈怠。不求昇進。
苟貪人天之少欲樂。不覺無常將至。誠如少水癡魚也。

《半月誦菩薩戒儀式註》

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般若波羅蜜多心經

般若波羅蜜多心經

釋經文

【觀自在菩薩。】

此經鳩摩羅什大師及玄奘大師譯本，均簡集綱要，唯取正宗分，略其序分流通分。餘家所譯，皆有序流二分。

觀自在菩薩，亦曰聖觀自在菩薩。舊時羅什大師譯為觀世音，玄奘大師譯為觀自在。菩薩具稱為菩提薩埵，菩提譯為覺，薩埵譯為有情。覺有情者，謂菩薩乃自覺覺他之聖者。若得覺行圓滿，便號曰佛，故菩薩是佛因地。

此菩薩內證人空法空，外觀眾生三業，雖觀三業，無所留礙，故曰觀自在。

自舍利子以下，係顯說般若；自即說咒曰以下，係密說般若。

【行深般若波羅蜜多時。】

深般若波羅蜜多，即實相般若。然實相無相，云何可行？當知以無住心契無相法，便是行深般若波羅蜜多。故此時於心無往，於法無相，故無有行。然心法冥契，復無不行。是知行深般若波羅蜜多之行，無行無不行也。

【照見五蘊皆空。】

五蘊者，色受想行識，皆有為法，此言法空也。五者皆因緣積聚之法，故稱五蘊，蘊者蘊聚也。是以羅什大師，譯五蘊為五眾，即取眾因緣和合義。

色者質礙為相，根塵識因緣和合而有質礙相。受者領納相，根塵識因緣和合而有領納相。想者取相相，根塵識因緣和合而有取相相。行者造作相，根塵識因緣和合而有造作相。識者了別相，根塵識因緣和合而有了別相。五者既然皆因緣和合而有相，故自性皆空，故曰五蘊皆空。

然則人空而內無能照之心，法空而外無所照之境，今云何言照見五蘊皆空？當知以無住心契無相法，是名為照也。心無住則內空人我，法無相則外空法我。既得人法二空，則不見有不見空。不見有則空，不見空則有。空則寂，有則照，寂而常照，照而常寂，故曰照見五蘊皆空。

若必謂有無住，則此無住便是住。若必謂有無相，則此無相便是相。故無住心契無相法謂之照者，雖照而常寂，雖寂而常照。

例如人對鏡則現影，鏡中之影，不得言有，不得言空。若言其空，卻眼見鏡中

現影，若言其有，雖現影卻不留痕。此即所謂「雁過長空，影落寒潭」是照義也。

【度一切苦厄。】

苦即是受，無受則無苦。若證人空，則無能受，若證法空，則無所受，無能受所受，故度一切苦厄。

眾生不知二空，則起惑造業，乃受苦報。苦報者，受後有五受陰身也。故照見五陰皆空，便度一切苦厄。

苦有三苦八苦，皆由五受陰生。三苦者，苦苦、壞苦、行苦。八苦者，生苦、老苦、病苦、死苦、怨憎會苦、愛別離苦、求不得苦、五盛陰苦。

五受陰是敗壞法，性即逼迫，是為苦苦。五受陰是敗壞法，終須滅壞，是為壞苦。五受陰是敗壞法，念念遷流，是為行苦。

五受陰酬因而生，是為生苦。五受陰不調，是為病苦。五受陰即老死相，是為老苦死苦。五受陰怨結纏縛，是為怨憎會苦。五受陰必有生離死別，是為愛別離苦。五受陰欲無止境，是為求不得苦。五受陰即五盛陰苦。

厄者，即一切厄難。如車之軛，困軛一切有情。略說有四種，即欲軛、有軛、見軛、無明軛。皆由五受陰生，故照見五陰皆空，度一切苦厄。

【舍利子。色不異空。空不異色。色即是空。空即是色。受想行識亦復如是。】

舍利子，即舍利弗，為佛弟子，智慧第一。舍利是鳥名，此翻鶖鷺鳥。有云其母聰慧，眼似鶖鷺鳥。有云其母聰慧，辨察迅疾，如鶖鷺鳥之眼。子從母名，故名舍利子。

自此以下，係觀自在菩薩所說諸法實義。諸法以無性為性，無性乃空。空無自性，乃能隨緣成事而現有。猶水無定形，方能隨器而方圓。故隨緣無性有徹空，無性隨緣空徹有。

空徹有則空而非空，畢竟空中建立一切法。有徹空則有而非有，一切法皆歸畢竟空。故曰色不異空，空不異色，色即是空，空即是色。

此是二諦融通，色表俗諦，空表真諦。色不異空，色即是空者，全俗即真。空不異色，空即是色者，全真即俗。譬如虛空無邊，本無分別，猶真諦也。隨眾生心，應方向緣，而現東南西北四維上下，猶俗諦也。虛空無邊，隨緣假現東南西北四維上下，十方假現，無實體性，還是一體虛空。故知真透俗表，俗達真源。一即無量，無量即一。

凡夫眾生，見有不知空，二乘小聖，達空不知有。皆落二邊，不契中道。唯大乘菩薩，離一切即一切，即一切離一切，不落二邊，深契中道。故曰色不異空，空不異色，色即是空，空即是色。

實應言色受想行識即空，空即色受想行識。今謂色即空空即色者，略說耳。前文云照見五蘊皆空，即已啟其義矣。

五蘊是生滅法，故色受想行識表生死也。空則不生不滅，稱為涅槃。此即示生死即涅槃，實是一法，不二不別。涅槃隨緣假現生死，生死無性本來涅槃。如是方為一真法界義也。

【舍利子。是諸法空相。不生不滅。不垢不淨不增不減。】

諸法即前文所說五蘊也，前文言五蘊皆空，今解釋五蘊法之空相。空相即諸法實相也，實相無相，故曰諸法空相。

一切法緣生無性，無性即空，是謂諸法空相。空相則不變。般若即是一心，故曰般若心。一心出二門，一曰心真如門，二曰心生滅門。真如隨緣現生滅，生滅無性是真如。菩薩體之，是以行空不證，入世不染。行空不證，故能不變隨緣，入世不染，故能隨緣不變，此即般若心之妙用也。

金剛經云「一切有為法，如夢幻泡影，如露亦如電，應作如是觀。」即令眾生體諸法空相也。

水起波而波全是水，眾生少智，見波而不見水。有智之人，知千波唯是一水。

波有起伏，而水性不動。是以僧肇大師云，江河競注而不流。以空相不動無有分別，故不生不滅，不垢不淨，不增不減。因為生滅垢淨增減，皆有為法，如夢幻泡影，體即空相也。

【是故空中。無色。無受想行識。無眼耳鼻舌身意。無色聲香味觸法。無眼界。乃至無意識界。】

五蘊空是總說，根塵識空，是分別說。因為根塵識，皆係五蘊所生。以根塵識，乃有十二入十八界。此蘊界入三科，皆世間法，上來言世間法皆空。

緣起法無有自性，故其性本空，五蘊及根塵識皆緣起法，故無自性，其性本空。經云非色滅空，色性空故。一切法皆是如此。

我們已經知道，人空法空。人空當然六根空，故曰無眼耳鼻舌身意。法空當然六塵空，故曰無色聲香味觸法。根緣塵生於識，既無六根六塵，當然亦無六識，六根六塵六識稱十八界，故曰無眼界，乃至無耳鼻舌身意識界。 1

六根六塵稱十二入，亦稱十二處，以六根六塵是生六識之處。既然人法二空，是故空中無五蘊，無十二入，無十八界。

是故空中無一切世間法者，換句話說，空相即是實相也。於實相中，無五蘊無十二入無十八界。因為實相無相，無相即是空相也。

【無無明。亦無無明盡。乃至無老死。亦無老死盡。】

前言世間法空，以下言出世間三乘法亦空。十二因緣是緣覺乘法，苦集滅道四諦是聲聞乘法，無智亦無得是菩薩乘法。

十二因緣亦稱十二緣起，即無明、行、識、名色、六入、觸、受、愛、取、有、生、老死。此十二支，既是緣起法，故皆無自性，無自性故空。空故是無十二因緣，故曰無無明，乃至無老死。空則無十二因緣，是以不可滅，故曰亦無無明盡，乃至亦無老死盡。

云何無明？於理於事不如實知名無明。云何行？過去世業因，致有今世福非福不動等報名行。云何識？即八識。云何名色？即五蘊身心，色蘊即色，餘受想行識四蘊即名。眾生受胎後，眼耳鼻舌四根尚未具足，僅有身心二根曰名色。云何六入？眼耳鼻舌身意六根具足，名為六入。云何觸？根塵識三事和合名觸。云何受？領納苦樂捨三受名受。云何愛？貪染於境名愛。云何取？於境取著追求名取。云何有？由愛取故，乃受三界後有。云何生？一期果報初起。云何老死？即一期果報五蘊身心衰滅。

因無明而生行，行即是業，故曰發業無明。由無明行，而有識名色六入觸受等果報。愛即無明，由愛染而取，由愛取而受後有生，故愛名潤生無明。

若無愛潤後有生，則無明行識名色六入觸受一期果報後，應無相續。例如二乘無學，斷愛則不受後有生，菩薩為度眾生故，留愛潤生，再入生死。

二乘無學，以斷愛故，自知我生已盡，梵行已立，所作皆辦，不受後有。以自知不受後有了分段生死故，名入有餘涅槃。以一期果報未盡，故名有餘。一旦一期果報終盡，灰身滅智，名入無餘涅槃。

【無苦集滅道。】

先說緣覺法空，此說聲聞法空。苦集二諦，是世間因果，集為世間因，苦為世間果。滅道二諦，出世間因果，道是出世間因，滅是出世間果。修道須了達四諦，

若不了達四諦，則輪迴六道生死，無有出期。

四諦者，苦諦，苦集諦，苦滅諦，苦滅道諦。苦是逼惱相，五蘊身心是。集是招感相，即煩惱業。滅是寂滅相，五受蘊苦滅。道是出到相，令眾生出生死至涅槃。

五受蘊苦是病，煩惱業是病因，修道是服藥，證滅是病愈。所以了達四諦，則解脫六道生死。

然苦集滅道，皆因緣生法，無性皆空，故於大乘中知無苦集滅道。何以故？以苦集滅道四者，中心在一苦字，而苦者五蘊身心。我們已經知道五蘊皆空，故無苦。既然無苦，故無有集。既然無苦，自無苦滅。無苦無苦滅，當然無苦滅道。若有苦者，應不由集生，若由集生，當是集不生時，根本無苦。集由煩惱業而成，若無煩惱業，當然無集。煩惱業乃因緣生法，無性本空，空焉能成集？無苦無集，當然無滅無道，其理甚明。故曰無苦集滅道。

【無智亦無得。以無所得故。】

上來明聲聞緣覺法空，今明菩薩乘法空，至此總明出世間三乘法空。

能證曰智，所證曰得。能證智者，般若心也。所證得者，波羅蜜也。般若心者無住心，波羅蜜者無相法。觀自在菩薩行深般若波羅蜜多，以無住心契無相法，無得於能證之智，何以故？心無住故。無得於所證之境，何以故？法無相故。

一切無所得，既不得於能所，亦不得於非能非所。是以非能非所，而所而能，方為無智無得也。

一切法無自性畢竟空，故一切法不可得。生不可得，滅不可得，有不可得，空不可得，不可得亦不可得，故曰以無所得故。

【菩提薩埵。依般若波羅蜜多故。心無罣礙。無罣礙故。無有恐怖。遠離顛倒夢想。究竟涅槃。】

菩提薩埵是先明因地，下文三世諸佛是明果位，皆以般若波羅蜜多得益也。

菩薩依般若波羅蜜多修行，則無所住生其心，於是空二我。空二我者，無人我執與法我執。既空二我，心便清淨，心清淨故無罣礙。

心之罣礙有二種，即煩惱障與所知障。煩惱障障究竟涅槃，所知障障無上菩提。空人我執則破煩惱障，空法我執則破所知障。故曰依般若波羅蜜多故，心無罣礙。

無罣礙故無有恐怖。恐怖者，生死也。生死有二種，即分段生死與變易生死。

無煩惱障則破分段生死，無所知障則破變易生死。故曰無罣礙故無有恐怖。

遠離顛倒夢想。顛倒有七種，一、想倒，二、見倒，三、心倒，四、於無常執常倒，五、於苦執樂倒，六、不淨執淨倒，七、無我執我倒。

於後四種倒妄想分別，名想倒。於後四種倒，欲樂、建立、執著，名見倒。於後四種倒，心生煩惱名心倒。

夢想者，於前七種顛倒，妄想取著追求，落入生死輪迴名夢想。菩薩依般若波羅蜜多，均已遠離。

究竟涅槃。於是菩薩究竟契證涅槃。

【三世諸佛。依般若波羅蜜多故。得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。】

過去未來現在曰三世，自覺覺他覺行圓滿曰佛。不但過去現在諸佛，依般若波羅蜜多故成佛，未來諸佛，亦必依般若波羅蜜多成佛。得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，即成佛也。

阿翻無，耨多羅翻上，三翻正，藐翻等，菩提翻覺。阿耨多羅三藐三菩提者，翻無上正等正覺。

依般若波羅蜜多，則空二我，除二障，了二死。空二我除二障了二死便究竟佛果，故三世諸佛，皆依般若波羅蜜多，得無上菩提。

【故知般若波羅蜜多。是大神咒。是大明咒是無上咒。是無等等咒。】

此下至真實不虛，乃總歎般若勝用。妙用無方，神力莫測，能令菩薩及佛得聖果，故曰大神咒。能破一切眾生無明癡暗，故曰大明咒。

永明大師曾言，豎無高蓋曰無上，橫無儔似曰無等等。豎無高蓋者，豎窮三際也。橫無儔似者，橫遍十方也。故豎窮三際曰無上咒，橫遍十方曰無等等咒。此極歎般若妙用無方神力莫測，能破無明無暗不照，橫遍豎窮，諸佛菩薩依之得果。

【能除一切苦。真實不虛】

能除一切苦，還應前文度一切苦厄。一切苦者，分段生死苦與變易生死苦。真實不虛，勸信起修也。

【故。說般若波羅蜜多咒。即說咒曰

揭帝揭帝　般羅揭帝　般羅僧揭帝　菩提僧莎訶】

此是密說般若，故曰般若波羅蜜多咒。

僧莎訶，亦作莎婆訶。

般若波羅蜜多心經句解終


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Technorati: Buddhism Buddha Buddhist Dharma Compassion Wisdom Religion Meditation Zen Philosophy 般若波羅蜜多心經句解 Inspiration Peace Insight

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