Meditation & Enlightenment

Listen deeply to the following Thay's Dharma talk about "Meditation".

https://tnhaudio.org/2017/05/18/happiness-found-present-moment/

If you are asked, "Why do you meditate?", Can you answer, "Because I like it."? If you can, your meditation is in the right track. That's because meditation is an enjoyment. We don’t force it, but we enjoy it. It is an act of love.

We can get enlightenment just by eating because we can get in touch with the nature of reality, no self. When we eat, we know that we are made of non-we elements, or the whole cosmos (water, air, earth, sunshine). We are not separate existence, we are empty of separate self (no self). 'No self' is the nature of 'emptiness' in terms of space, while 'impermanence' is the nature of 'emptiness' in terms of time. This insight enables us to transcend the duality and attain the wholeness. We can throw away all notions such as birth and death because we are convinced that all notions are wrong. When we attain the extinction of all notions, we won't think anymore, we won't separate anymore. We will dwell in nirvana (ultimate dimension), touching the wonders of life, touching the true nature of reality inside and around us.

For enlightenment, we don't need to be ordained, we don't need to get the lamp transmission. It is possible right here and right now.

(cf.) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04

Thich Nhat Hanh & his disciples

16 exercises on mindful breathing (key point 5)

The key point of "16 exercises on mindful breathing" is as follows. Please refer to the URL below for the original text and my commentaries: 
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/10/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html

Exercise 13-16: Perceptions
(13-14): Impermanence & Craving
Exercise 13-16 are the exercises for attaining full enlightenment and require very deep observation. What we must understand before these exercises is that this world is our mind itself because this world is the object of our mind, or the projection of our mind. In other words, the projection of our mind is this world. The object of mind is the object of perception, the object of perception is the perception (series of notions in the head), so the perception is this world. In other words, the perceived is the perceiver. David Bohm, Quantum physicist, said, "The way we see depends on the way we think." And his statement is consistent with the Buddha's above findings.

In Exercise 13, you deeply observe the impermanent nature (nature of 'emptiness' in terms of time) of all dharmas (object of mind). Because everything is changing, you can observe the impermanent nature of all objects of your mind. And you observe the impermanent nature of all perceptions because all objects of your mind are the projection of your mind (perceptions). Therefore, this world which is the object of your mind is your perception itself, and it has the impermanent nature. In Exercise 14, you deeply observe the disappearance of craving (negative desire). And you deeply observe the disappearance of idea (thought). Therefore, your craving is just an idea and will disappear after a certain time.

(15-16): No-self & Nirvana
In Exercise 15, you deeply observe the no-birth, no-death nature of all phenomena. No-birth and no-death means that nothing can be born and nothing can die. Everything (all human beings, animals, plants, minerals) just continues (keeps living) by changing its forms. So, they can not be born because they have never died, and they can not die because they have never been born. And you deeply observe that everything is made of everything else. In other words, everything else is in everything. Therefore, everything is everything else. You are observing the nature of no-self (nature of 'emptiness' in terms of space) which means that everything is empty of separate existence (separate self). This is  the ultimate truth.

In Exercise 16, you deeply observe letting go of all notions (everything). The extinction of all notions is Nirvana. Because you are convinced that all notions are made up by human ego (separate self, fake self) and all notions are wrong, it is easy for you to throw away all notions. If all notions are extinct, there is no object to think about. So, you will be non-thinking completely and  be able to attain insight  24 hours a day as awareness (non-separate self, true self). Attaining insight means that without making any efforts (without thinking), your calm mind reflects the outside reality like still water (mirror), and your clear mind sees through the inside reality. This is the full enlightenment, so you are fully awake.

(end)

(Cf.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSuUDzwAWs
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04

Thay's calligraphy

16 exercises on mindful breathing (key point 4)

The key point of "16 exercises on mindful breathing" is as follows. Please refer to the URL below for the original text and my commentaries: 
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/10/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html

Exercise 9-12: Mental formations & Consciousness
(11-12): Concentration and Liberation
Exercise 11-12 are the Exercise to look deeply the mental formation, attain insight and understand the root cause, generate compassion and transform the mental formation by the energy of compassion. We generate the energy of concentration by looking deeply, we attain the insight (understanding) of the root cause by the energy of concentration, we generate compassion by the energy of insight, and we transform the mental formation such as fear and anxiety by the energy of compassion. Transforming our mental formations is liberating our mind. In other words, the insight (understanding) of the root cause which we attain in Exercise 11 corresponds to the second truth (cause of suffering) of the Four Noble Truths. And the transformation of mental formations which we attain in Exercise 12 corresponds to the third truth (secession of suffering) of the Four Noble Truths.

Afflictions such as fear and anxiety are the cause of suffering. Therefore, as long as you have fear or anxiety, you can not accept yourself unconditionally. Sometimes you may have self-hatred. If you always think too much and if your mind wanders in the past, you suffer from regrets and sorrow, and if your mind wanders in the future, you suffer from fear and anxiety. This vicious circle can not be cut off unless you understand the root cause of suffering through insight. If it can not be cut off, even if you can temporarily stop thinking and become mindful by conscious breathing, you will resume thinking by some chance and return to the state of forgetfulness.

Therefore, in order to stop thinking stably and keep the mindful state for a long time, it is absolutely essential to understand the root cause of suffering through insight. Of course, because the extinction of all notions is not attained yet, thoughts will revive once in a while. That's why real practitioners meditate everyday (Thich Nhat Hanh says that he is meditating 24 hours a day) and never neglect the practice to maintain the mindful state. In order to completely stop thinking 24 hours a day (to be always mindful), attaining full enlightenment through the extinction of all notions is the only way.

(to be continued)

(Cf.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSuUDzwAWs
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LA87R7A

Thay's calligraphy

16 exercises on mindful breathing (key point 3)

The key point of "16 exercises on mindful breathing" is as follows. Please refer to the URL below for the original text and my commentaries: 
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/10/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html

Exercise 9-12: Mental formations & Consciousness
(9-10): Selective watering
The objects of Exercise 9-12 are mental formations and consciousness. It may not be easy to understand the difference from the object of Exercise 5-8 (Feelings). In fact, feelings and perceptions (series of notions in the head) belong to 51 mental formations but they are spun off from mental formations because their impact is outstanding. So, there are 49 kinds of mental formations in Exercise 9-12. Meanwhile, there are 8 kinds of consciousness in Buddhism and they are the source of the body, feelings, perceptions and mental formations. 8 kinds of consciousness are the Sense consciousness (five senses), Mind consciousness (conscious mind), Manas (ego) and Store consciousness (Alaya consciousness, subconscious mind).

Feelings in Exercise 5-8 are limited to feelings manifested in Mind consciousness (conscious mind), but mental formations and consciousness in Exercise 9-12 include the seeds of mental formations which are stored in Store consciousness (Alaya consciousness, subconscious mind). So, the realm of Exercise 9-12 is much deeper than the realm of Exercise 5-8. And we take care of both of them (mental formations and the seeds). Briefly, if we water the wholesome seed, the wholesome mental formation will manifest, and if we water the unwholesome seed, the unwholesome mental formation will manifest.

Therefore, the selective watering will be as follows:
1) Water the wholesome seeds.
2) Do not water the unwholesome seeds.
3) Maintain the wholesome mental formation if it is manifesting.
4) Transform the unwholesome mental formation (to the wholesome mental formation) if it is manifesting.
5) Water the unwholesome seed intentionally to let the unwholesome mental formation manifest and to transform it to the wholesome mental formation and return it to Store consciousness as the wholesome seed.
(Note) 5) has a high risk unless you are an advanced practitioner, so is not recommendable for beginners.

If you are mindful, you can recognize what is going on inside and around yourself. So, if you practice the selective watering as soon as you recognize what's going on, you can control your mind as you wish. And it will be wise also that you request people around you to practice the selective watering to you as well as you do it by yourself. This selective watering means the "Right Diligence" of the Noble Eightfold Path.

(to be continued)

(Cf.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSuUDzwAWs
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04

Thay's calligraphy

16 exercises on mindful breathing (key point 2)

The key point of "16 exercises on mindful breathing" is as follows. Please refer to the URL below for the original text and my commentaries: 
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/10/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html

Exercise 5-8: Feelings
(5-6): Joy and Happiness
Exercise 5-6 (generating joy and happiness) occurs automatically at the same time when we establish ourselves in mindfulness in Exercise 1-2. So, in time series, Exercise 5-6 should be placed as Exercise 3-4 rather than Exercise 5-6. However, joy and happiness belongs to the category of feelings, so I guess that these exercises was placed as Exercise 5-6. Anyway, if mindful breathing is attained in Exercise 1-2, that is a proof that we have returned to awareness (non-separate self, true self). So, we can touch the wonders of life, and joy and happiness can be automatically generated. The expressions of our realization of joy and happiness may be "just blooming like a flower without thinking". If a flower is replaced with a human being, it may be "just smiling without thinking".

Even if you try to concentrate on your breathing, if you have fear and anxiety and can't stop thinking (if you are wandering in the past or the future and can't return to the present moment), unfortunately you are still ego (separate self, fake self) and can't generate joy and happiness. Therefore, those who can't generate joy and happiness by Exercise 1-2, will have no chance to recognize, embrace, relieve the pain and suffering even if they go ahead, because they have no energy of mindfulness. So, Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us that we should keep conscious breathing or walking without going ahead until we return to awareness (non-separate self, true self), or until we can practice mindful breathing and walking. In this sense, we can say that Exercise 5-6 is a mean to check whether or not we are practicing Right Mindfulness by ourselves.

(7-8): Painful feelings
Exercise 5-6 are exercises to recognize and keep positive feelings, while Exercise 7-8 are exercises to recognize and calm negative feelings (painful feelings). If the whole body in Exercise 3-4 is replaced with painful feelings, what we are supposed to do in Exercise 5-6 is exactly the same as Exercise 3-4.  By the energy of mindfulness, we recognize our painful feeling, embrace it and calm it by releasing the tension in the feelings.

When we recognize our feelings, we are witnessing or observing our feelings. Therefore, we are not the feelings. Our true self is awareness (awakened consciousness) who is witnessing our feelings. So, we don't have to be overwhelmed even by our strong emotions like despair. If we just keep observing it, it will disappear in time. Feelings are impermanent (always changing) and are like a temporary storm, so should not panic and react right away.

(to be continued)

(Cf.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSuUDzwAWs
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04

Thay's calligraphy

16 exercises on mindful breathing (key point 1)

The key point of "16 exercises on mindful breathing" is as follows. Please refer to the URL below for the original text and my commentaries: 
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2015/10/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing.html
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html

Exercise 1-4: Body
(1-2): Breathing
These first two exercises (conscious breathing) are very important. That's because we are supposed to stop thinking, or perception, and establish ourselves in mindfulness through this initial conscious breathing. In other words, we are supposed to transform ourselves from ego (separate self, fake self) to awareness (non-separate self, true self, Dharma body) through this initial conscious breathing. If we can stop thinking, this transformation automatically occurs in a moment. However, if a person has strong fear or anxiety, that person can not stop thinking because s/he keeps thinking even though s/he tries to concentrate on breathing.

We need to keep in mind that if we do not establish ourselves in mindfulness at this initial stage, we will not be able to expect the effects of the third exercise and after. Thich Nhat Hanh says that one in-breath (a few seconds) is enough to return to our true self. And I understand that what he means by this statement is this initial conscious breathing.

(3-4): The whole body
When we have established ourselves in mindfulness through the first two exercises (conscious breathing), awareness (awakened  consciousness) will be able to automatically recognize what is going on inside and around us by the energy of mindfulness. In fact, we will be able to recognize everything at once (we attain various insights at the same time), but in the 16 exercises on mindful breathing we will be aware of them step by step in order. The objects we recognize are 5 aggregates (the five Skandhas) which constitute a human being, namely body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations and consciousness. Concretely speaking, we will recognize and calm them in the following order; Exercise 3-4: body, 7-8: feelings, 9-12: mental formations and consciousness, 13-16: perceptions. 

First of all, in Exercise 3-4 we will recognize the pain in the whole body and release the tension of the painful part. Since the body and the mind are closely interacting with each other, we can not concentrate and establish ourselves in mindfulness if the physical pain is intense. Therefore, first of all, we start with checking the health of the whole body with a ray of mindfulness like X-ray, and caring the unhealthy part well by embracing them. As mentioned above, the energy of mindfulness has the function to recognize, to embrace, to ease and relieve the pain and suffering. In addition, as soon as we establish ourselves in mindfulness, there will be the effect of stopping, resting, calming and healing at once.

(to be continued)

(Cf.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSuUDzwAWs
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04

Thay's calligraphy

Difference between joy and pleasure

Watch deeply the following Q&A session video on the difference between joy and pleasure.

A monk's answer to the question was based on two kinds of joy, joy from inside and joy from outside. But I feel that more detailed explanation is necessary. My answer would be followings.

(My answer)
I understand that the followings are the formula of joy and the formula of pleasure.

< Formula of joy >
joy: mindfulness ⇒ stop thinking ⇒ revive awareness ⇒ touch the wonders of life ⇒ generate joy and happiness

Mindfulness brings about joy. If we live in mindfulness, we stop thinking and revive awareness (non-separate self, true self). And awareness can touch the wonders of life. That's why we can generate joy and happiness.

< Formula of pleasure >
pleasure (sensual pleasure): forgetfulness ⇒ keep thinking ⇒ ego ⇒ cause separations ⇒ afflictions arise ⇒ suffer a lot

Forgetfulness brings about pleasure. If we live in forgetfulness, we keep thinking and we are ego (separate self, fake self). And ego separates oneself from others by thinking. That's why afflictions arise and we suffer a lot.

* The source of pleasure is attachment, clinging, obsession, or addiction. And attachment is not long-lasting because it easily changes to anger.

That's why we practice mindfulness through conscious breathing, sitting, walking...etc. 

(Cf.) http://www.slideshare.net/compassion5151/3-versions-of-oneself
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04

Thay's calligraphy

Happy Teachers Will Change the World

Watch the following video on mindfulness training for school teachers.

The followings are excerpts and my commentaries.

(from 00:51)
Mindfulness is a mental formation. Everyone has a seed of mindfulness. And if we practice diligently, and then the grain, and then the seed of mindfulness in us will grow bigger and bigger. And anytime we need that energy of mindfulness, we just touch it and we have plenty of it in order to make use. And we know that mindfulness has the power, has the capacity to allow us to know what is going on, going on in our body, going on in our feelings, going on in our mind, and going on in the world. 

(My commentary)
Mindfulness is one of 51 mental formations and is categorized as 5 Particulars. And we can touch the seed of mindfulness through conscious breathing or walking. The capacity of mindfulness is to recognize, embrace, look deeply, understand and transform the body and mind.

(from 09:00)
So, effortlessness is the nature of the practice. You don't strive, you don't fight, you do not impose the practice on yourself, you do not suffer because of the practice. You just enjoy breathing in, you just enjoy making a step. And when your breathing is peaceful, deep, harmonious, and then your body will profit from it, your body will become lighter, more peaceful, and also your feelings will be more peaceful. In our daily life, very often, our body is there but our mind is elsewhere. And in these moments we are not truly alive. According to this practice, you need only to breathe in mindfully and you ride on your in-breath and go home in just one, two, three seconds. And when your mind is with your body, you are well established in the here and the now, and you can touch the wonders of life inside and around for your nourishment and healing.  

(My commentary)
Effortlessness, or Aimlessness means that we are already what we are looking for, namely awareness (non-separate self). All we need is to revive awareness through conscious breathing or walking. If we just enjoy breathing or walking without thinking, awareness will revive. The first one in-breath is enough to awaken from forgetfulness.

(from 21:45)
Usually people don't like to go home to themselves and get in touch with the suffering inside. They are afraid of being overwhelmed by the suffering inside. So, their usual way is to try to run away from their own suffering. They try to cover up the suffering inside, their loneliness, their fear, their anger and their despair. So, for a teacher, for a school teacher, the first thing to do is to go home to himself or herself. The way out is in. Go back to oneself and take care of oneself. Learning how to generate a feeling of joy, learning how to generate a feeling of happiness, learning how to handle a painful feeling, a painful emotion. Listening to the suffering, allow understanding and compassion to be born and suffer less. This is the first step. And he or she has to do that. That is the first step. 

(My commentary)
To go home to oneself, or to go back to oneself means to revive awareness (non-separate self, true self). If awareness revives, everything will be alright automatically. "The way out is in." means that if we really want to be freed from sufferings, we need to understand the root cause.

(from 26:10)
We can speak about the goodness of the suffering. If we know how to embrace suffering, to hold it tenderly, to look deeply into it, and then we will be able to generate the energy of compassion and understanding which are the foundation of true happiness. It's like when you grow lotus flowers, you need the mud. Lotus flowers can not grow on marble. Without the mud, you can not grow a lotus. The same thing is true with happiness and suffering. A good practitioner knows how to make good use of suffering in order to grow happiness.

(My commentary)
This is called the art of suffering. We should not run away from suffering. Suffering is precious because it can be transformed into happiness. Happiness is made of suffering. Without suffering, happiness is not possible. Happiness and suffering are two sides of the same coin. So, suffering is no other than happiness.

(Cf.) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04

Thích Nhất Hạnh

How to take care of ourselves

Listen deeply to the following Thay's Dharma talk on "Selective Watering and Total Relaxation".
http://tnhaudio.org/2016/07/16/selective-watering-total-relaxation/

(My commentary)
Everything starts from stopping. And stopping brings about resting, calming and healing. So, the first mindful in-breath is very important because it helps us stop thinking and revive awareness. If we keep thinking during meditation, it is the waste of time and energy because nothing starts.

When we think, we live in forgetfulness. And when we stop thinking, we live in mindfulness. Mindful people can touch the wonders of life, recognize what is going on inside and around them and touch the true nature of reality. To the contrary, those who think can't do the same. In fact, they are just dreaming and seeing illusions, or projection of their mind without touching the reality as it is. That's why we need to stop first.

(Cf.) http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html

Thích Nhất Hạnh

How to create your clouds and your sunshine

Enjoy watching the following video deeply. Sister Chân Không shared how to create your clouds and your sunshine, and sang for us.

The followings are excerpts.

Quote:
A Vietnamese poet said, "This morning, tens of thounsands of flowers are opening to the world. Why your heart is still locked, or closed? Please open like a flower.".

Another poet in Vietnam, Mai Tau?, wrote a poem, saying that "Don't wait until you suffer. You have to open your heart. You have to create a sunshine. You have to create a cloud and make rain. But make sunshine for you. Don't wait for tomorrow from the universe. Everyone can do it."

(from 26:10 "perception")
Amongst the many state of mind, a Buddhist psychology, the Buddha taught us that there is one state of mind called "perception". Perception is the notion of that person in your head. So, when you fell in love with somebody, because in your notion, in your head, there is a series of notions of beauty, of gratefulness, ...
:Unquote

(Cf.) http://www.slideshare.net/compassion5151/walking-meditation-62204227

Sister Chân Không

(8) The Contemplation of the Objects of Mind in the Objects of Mind

Watch the following Thay's video on "The Contemplation of the Objects of Mind in the Objects of Mind" from 2:19:18 to 2:24:03.

The followings are excerpts.

Quote:
And that is why it's very important to see that A is not A (A≠A), is made of non-A elements, everything, not just a flower, a sheet of paper but your atom, your electron and so on. And unless we see that A is just a formation made of elements that can give it a sign, you have not really seen it. And that is why it's very important to follow this kind of dialectics, dialectics in Buddhism we call the Middle Way dialectics. It helps us to transcend the notion of this and that, the notion of subject and object, the notion of being and non-being and so on. 

So, the kind of concentration that we practice in Buddhism is the concentration that help us remove all notions and all discrimination. All discrimination. And when discrimination is removed, separation is no longer there and there is no more suffering. If we suffer, it's because of discrimination. And first of all, discrimination between being and non-being, and birth and death. Someone who tries to kill himself, that person doesn't like being. He doesn't like to be anymore. And being becomes a burden. And he aspires to be non-being. Because he believes that belonging to the realm of non-being is much easier. So, the mind of someone who is contemplating suicide is to aspire for non-being. Because being has become too heavy for him or for her and for those who are looking for non-being. And those who are looking for being, we are very afraid of non-being.

And that kind of longing, that kind of suffering is based on the notion of being and non-being. And reality according to the Buddhist insight is free from both notions. Reality can not be described as being or non-being. So, when we ask the question, "Why is there something broader than nothing?", that is a philosophical question. But that is also a scientific question. Because in both cases, the philosophers and scientists are caught in a notion of being and not-being. And using the mind of discrimination, we go around. We find things are absurd unless we have another instrument. The mind of non-discrimination, that can help us to transcend all kinds of notions. And then, it will be possible for us to touch nirvana, to touch the realm of no-birth and no-death and to have true freedom.

(16. let go)
And the last exercise of mindful breathing is to let go. You let go of all notions. You let go of notion of being and non-being. You let go of notion as matter and mind as two distinctive things. You let go of your mind, your notion of subject as a separate element and so on. And the instruction is very clear.
:Unquote 

(My commentary)
All notions are for distinction, separation, discrimination, or the duality. Ego (separate self) separates oneself from others for self-protection. Ego thinks, "I am special and separate". That is the mind of discrimination, or the wrong view. And that kind of mind causes afflictions such as fear, anger, hatred and despair. That's why ego suffers from afflictions caused by notions. In order to throw away all notions, we need to understand that the true nature of all notions are wrong. That's why we meditate, or practice mindfulness and concentration for insights. Once we understand the true nature of all notions, it is very easy for us to let go of all notions and to attain perfect freedom. We have to use notions in the historical dimension but we will never be caught in notions. And we will be able to keep touching the wonders of life in the ultimate dimension at the same time as awareness (non-separate self).

(Cf.) http://www.slideshare.net/compassion5151/notion
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html

mother earth

(7) The Contemplation of the Objects of Mind in the Objects of Mind

Watch the following Thay's video on "The Contemplation of the Objects of Mind in the Objects of Mind" from 2:11:32 to 2:19:18.

The followings are excerpts.

Quote:
So, the mathematics we are having are still based on the mind of discrimination. The logic that we are still using is the logic based on the principle of identity. A can only be A and can not be B. (A=A≠B) That's our logic. That's our mathematics. Still based on the principle of identity. But the Buddha proposed another way. The way we do is to look deeply. When you look into this sheet of paper with a mind of a meditator, what do you see? You see the sheet of paper is made of non-paper elements. You can see a tree inside. You can see a forest inside. You can see the rain in the forest. You can see the sunshine on the forest. You can see the factory that produces the sheet of paper. And you see that the paper is made only of non-paper elements. And if you remove all these non-paper elements, there is no paper left. So, A is not exactly A. A is B. (A ≠ A = B) If you have not seen the tree, the sunshine, the factory, the worker, you have not seen the paper. 

So, the new logic proposed by the Buddha is a kind of dialectics. A is not A. (A≠A) You have to see that. Paper is not paper. That is why it can be a paper. See? If you have not seen the non-paper elements in the paper, you have not seen the sheet of paper. A sheet of paper is made only of non-paper elements. The sheet of paper is full of the cosmos but empty of separate existence. And this is called the conventional designation paper. The object of our meditation, we should look deeply into it and so, the true nature of it. It is a formation. It doesn't have a substantial core of existence. It is full of everything else but is empty of separate self. There is no separate existence. And that is why everything is the conventional designation without real substance in it.

So, A, you call A, is made only of non-A elements, including the Buddha. The Buddha is made of non-Buddha elements. And if you have not seen it, you have not seen the Buddha. And Buddhism is made of non-Buddhism elements. And when you see that, you are free from Buddhism, you are free from the Buddha. Because you know that the Buddha is also a conventional designation. And Buddhism is also a conventional designation. That is why the Middle Way dialectics is that A is not A (A≠A). That is why it can be A (A≠A=A). 

And the same thing should be applied to subatomic particles. Suppose we spoke about an electron. And according to this principle, electron is made only of non-electron elements. And if you have not seen that, you have not seen the electron. How does a scientist observe an electron? They try to find out the so-called nake-mass of an electron and try to find out what they call the self-energy, the self-energy of electron in terms of the relationship between the electron and its own electronic magnetic fields. Without that magnetic fields, electron is not an electron. So, the same thing is true with the proton and the neutron. They are not separate objects. You have to see them as the formations. The neutron is made of non-neutron elements. The proton is also made of non-proton elements. And it has relationship with everything else in the cosmos. 
:Unquote

(My commentary)
In the Heart Sutra, the Buddha mentioned the formula in Buddhism and quantum physics as followings.

色不異空: Form is no other than emptiness. 
<That's because form is made of non-form elements, namely emptiness.>
空不異色: Emptiness is no other than form. 
<That's because emptiness is made of non-emptiness elements, namely form.>
色即是空: Form is namely emptiness (empty of separate existence).
空即是色: Emptiness (empty of separate existence) is namely form.

In other words, A is made of non-A elements. So, A is no other than non-A. Namely, A is non-A.
Meanwhile, non-A is made of non-non-A elements. So, non-A is no other than non-non-A. Namely, non-A is A.

David Bohm explained more simply; "Everything is internally related to everything. Everything contains everything."  

(Cf.) http://www.slideshare.net/compassion5151/light-and-darkness
“The Heart Sutra”
(Ultimate Translation) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WBTLNEU
(Free Translation) http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WBTLPUM
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014NYEP04
http://compassion5151.blogspot.jp/2016/04/16-exercises-on-mindful-breathing-whole.html

eclipse