From the viewpoint of emptiness
nature, enlightenment must be attained by each individual. Tuệ Trung challenged praying and relying on Buddha or on meditation. He said,
Thanh
Văn sit in meditation, I myself do not.
Boddhisattvas
disseminate the Dharma, but I tell the truth.
In
Buddhist terminology, Thanh Văn are those who get enlightened by chanting
sutras, and listening to Dharma talks.
From their level, they need to practice Buddhism further in order to
attain Boddhisattva-hood. Tuệ Trung said
that Buddha is in our Mind, inside us, not from without. Both the unwiseand the wise have Buddha
Nature. The individual’s ignorance or
enlightenment decides whether s/he is actually u wise or wise. Tuệ Trung was different from a Thanh Văn in
that he became a wise man who had attained certain levels of
enlightenment. That was why he said he
no longer needed sitting meditation, while Thanh Văn still needed that
practice. Therefore, he wrote,“Thanh Văn sit in
meditation, I myself do not.”
On the other hand, although he got
enlightened, Tuệ Trung was different from Bodhisattvas in that he told the
truth while Bodhisattvas disseminated the Dharma. By “the truths” he meant the true nature of all phenomena, and
also the current issues of his times, for he actually contributed actively to
national thought at the time. According
to the author of History of Vietnam Buddhism , it is Tuệ Trung’s
relativism that helped him from getting bogged down in nihilism. It also helped him get rid of all fetters in
daily life as well as in his way of thinking.
Tuệ Trung was not only a layperson who mastered Budhhist Dharma, but also
a great general in the Trần Dynasty. He
practiced Buddhism for his own enlightenment, and also for the sake of others
(to help others get enlightened). He
never became a nihilist. His thoughts
pointed out to successive Buddhist followers that if they continued to chant sutras with the bell and the wooden
fish, but did not realize their True Mind, then they could never reach
enlightenment.
This is the same as “talking about Emptiness,” but never realizing it; hence it is useless. Enlightenment requires practice
on mind training, not mere chanting.
Because chanting without mind training is only an illusion, a flash of
lightening that comes and goes away temporarily.
(To be continued)
Source:
Nguyen Duc Dien. Quan diem pha chap trong thien hoc cua Tue Trung Thuong Si. 04/14/2012
http://www.daophatngaynay.com/vn/phap-mon/thien-dinh/to-su/10699-Quan-diem-Pha-chap-trong-thien-hoc-cua-Tue-Trung-Thuong-Si.html
