old-path-white-clouds-thich-nhat-hanh

Ananda, “Ananda, would you say this bowl is full or empty?”
“Lord, the bowl is full of water.”
“Ananda, take this bowl outside and empty all the water out of it.”
Venerable Ananda did as the Buddha instructed. When he returned, he placed the empty bowl back on the table. The Buddha lifted the
bowl and turned it upside down. He asked, “Ananda, is this bowl now full or empty.”
“Lord, it is no longer full. It is empty.”
“Ananda, are you sure the bowl is empty?”
“Yes, Lord, I am sure the bowl is empty.”
“Ananda, this bowl is no longer full of water, but it is full of air. You have forgotten already! Empty means empty of something and full
means full of something. In this case, the bowl is empty of water but full of air.”
“I understand now.”
“Good. Ananda, this bowl can be either empty or full. Of course, whether there is emptiness or fullness depends on the presence of the
bowl. Without a bowl, there would be no emptiness or fullness. It is just like the Dharma hall. In order for it to be full or empty, it must first
be there.”
“Ah!” the bhikkhus suddenly exclaimed with one voice.
Venerable Ananda joined his palms. “Lord, then the dharmas do exist. The dharmas are real.”
The Buddha smiled. “Ananda, don’t be caught by words. If the dharmas are phenomena empty of self, their existence is not the
existence of ordinary perception. Their existence has the same meaning as ‘emptiness.’”
Ananda joined his palms. “Please, Lord, can you explain that further.”
“Ananda, we have spoken about an empty and a full bowl. We have also spoken about an empty and a full Dharma hall. I have briefly
spoken about emptiness. Let me speak more about fullness.
“Although we have agreed that the bowl on the table is empty of water, if we look deeply, we will see that is not entirely true.”
The Buddha lifted the bowl and then looked at Ananda. “Ananda, among the interwoven elements that have given rise to the bowl, do
you see water?”
“Yes, Lord. Without water, the potter would not have been able to mix the clay he used to fashion the bowl.”
“Just so, Ananda. Looking deeply, we can see the presence of water in the bowl, even though we earlier stated that it is empty of water.
The presence of the bowl depends on the presence of water. Ananda, can you see the fire element in this bowl?”
“Yes, Lord. Fire was necessary to complete the bowl. Looking deeply, I can see the presence of heat and fire in the bowl.”
“What else can you see?”
“I see the air. Without air, the fire could not have burned and the potter could not have lived. I see the potter and his skillful hands. I see
his consciousness. I see the kiln and the wood stacked in the kiln. I see the trees the wood came from. I see the rain, sun, and earth which
enabled the trees to grow. Lord, I can see thousands of interpenetrating elements which gave rise to this bowl.”
“Excellent, Ananda! Contemplating the bowl, it is possible to see the interdependent elements which gave rise to the bowl. Ananda,
these elements are present within and without the bowl. Your own awareness is one of the elements. If you took away heat and returned it
to the sun, if you returned the clay to the earth and the water to the river, if you returned the potter to his parents and the wood to the forest
trees, could the bowl still exist?”
“Lord, the bowl could no longer exist. If you returned the interdependent elements which gave rise to the bowl to their sources, the bowl
could no longer be present.”
“Ananda, contemplating the law of dependent co-arising, we see that the bowl cannot exist independently. It can only exist in
interdependent relation with all other dharmas. All dharmas depend on each other for birth, existence, and death. The presence of one
dharma implies the presence of all other dharmas. The presence of all dharmas is implied by the presence of just one dharma. Ananda, this
is the principle of interpenetration and interbeing.
“Ananda, interpenetration means that within this, that is, and within that, this is. For example, when we look at this bowl we can see the
potter, and when we look at the potter we can see the bowl. Interbeing means that ‘this is that’ and ‘that is this.’ For example, waves are
water, and water is waves. Ananda, at present there are no markets, buffaloes, or villages in the Dharma hall. But that is only from one
viewpoint. In reality, without the presence of markets, buffaloes, and villages, this Dharma hall could not exist. Thus, Ananda, when you