no death, no fear

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When you look at the surface of the ocean, you can see waves coming up and going down. You can describe these waves in terms of high or low, big or small, more vigorous or less vigorous, more beautiful or less beautiful. You can describe a wave in terms of beginning and end, birth and death. That can be compared to the historical dimension. In the historical dimension, we are concerned with birth and death, more powerful, less powerful, more beautiful, less beautiful, beginning and end and so on. 

Looking deeply, we can also see that the waves are at the same time water. A wave may like to seek its own true nature. The wave might suffer from fear, from complexes. A wave may say, “ I am not as big as the other waves,” “I am not as beautiful as the other waves," "I have been born and I have to die.” The wave may suffer from these things, these ideas. But if the wave bends down and touches her true nature she will realize that she is water. Then her fear and complexes will disappear.

Water is free from the birth and death of a wave. Water is free from high and low, more beautiful and less beautiful. You can talk in terms of more beautiful and less beautiful, high or low, only in terms of waves. As far as water is concerned, all these concepts are invalid. 

Our true nature is the nature of non-discrimination, of no birth, of no death, of no being and no non-being. We do not have to go anywhere to touch our true nature. We are what we are looking for. 

We can ask a flame: “Flame, where do you come from and where will you go?” Listen to the reply closely. The flame is replying by its presence. The flame is saying: “I do not come from anywhere. I do not go anywhere."

When we look deeply, we see that when all the conditions are sufficient something will manifest. What manifests does not come from anywhere. And when a manifestation ceases, it does not go anywhere.

Manifestation is not the opposite of destruction. It is simply a changing of forms.

We think of our body as our self or belonging to our self. We think of our body as me or mine. But if you look deeply, you see that your body is also the body of your ancestors, of your parents, of your children and of their children. So it is not a “me,” it is not a “mine.” Your body is full of everything else—limitless non-body elements—except one thing; a separate existence.  

Nothing can exist by itself alone. It has to depend on every other thing. That is called inter-being. To be means to inter-be. There is no being; there is only inter-being.

Everything is without a separate self.

Impermanence and no-self are not rules to follow given to us by the Buddha. They are keys to open the door of reality. The Buddha said “My teachings are a finger pointing to the moon. Do not get caught thinking that the finger is the moon. It is because of the finger that you can see the moon.”


—Thich Nhat Hanh
no death, no fear, (treasure)
excerpts

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