even without comprehending each meaning and relationship, I get the feeling that I
am enveloped in light. I am immersed in the feeling. Sometimes you see amazing
words, but if you are absent-minded, you will just pass on, continuing to read as if
they are nothing special. For example: ‘Every act is empty; no reality; ordinary people
think it is real; all things, no self-nature, all, completely equal to nothingness.’
As I explained above, ‘no self-nature’ is important among the teachings in the
Garland Sutra. Until now I have been persistent in asking, ‘What is I?’ According to
the Garland Sutra, my essence, my unique nature, is nothing, non-existent. So this
question makes no sense. This is quite a radical idea. As I continued reading the sutra,
I felt, ‘This is really something! What am I going to do?’ It was so vague and impossible
to grasp. Although I could not think that ‘my unique nature’ does not exist, it started
to give me the feeling that my nature is but a drop of water in the ocean. Luckily, I
found an essay in English on the Garland Sutra by the Japanese philosopher Toshihiko
Izutsu (1980:384–5). Thanks to him, I shall explain briefly the principal idea of this
sutra.
This sutra calls the world of ordinary life ‘the Dharmic World of Phenomena.’ Its
condition is such as we ordinarily experience two separate things, A and B. A has its
own particular characteristics, as does B; A and B thus are clearly distinguished from
one another, and there is no question of confusing the two. If the boundaries between
phenomena are removed, however, we see the world differently. This dissolution of
boundaries is characteristic not only of Hua-yen, but also of Buddhism in general
and other Eastern philosophies. ‘The minute and infinite differences of actual
existence instantly disappear in a vast space of nondiscrimination’ (Izutsu 1989:18).
This world of Hua-yen is called ‘the Dharmic World of Principle.’
Here, the differences between objects disappear, and so self-nature is negated. This
state Zen Buddhism calls ‘nothingness’ or ‘emptiness’; the Garland Sutra uses the
term ‘absolute emptiness.’ Everything lacks or is without a distinct self. Such terms
as ‘nothingness’ and ‘emptiness’ do not signify an empty world of no things, but
rather a world that contains infinite possibilities for ‘being.’ Emptiness in the Dharmic
World of Principle is pregnant with the dual meaning of nothingness and being.
According to Izutsu, in order to have such ‘emptying’ of existence, the same process
of emptying existence has to happen on the side of the consciousness of the subject
which is viewing it. In short, it is necessary to empty our ordinary consciousness, our
‘discriminating mind,’ always wanting to see the differences. ‘It is the prerequisite.
Emptying consciousness is the precondition for emptying existence’ (Izutsu 1989:26).
The world of the Principle, which is itself absolutely emptied and hence infinitely
potential, self-divides into innumerable phenomenal forms, the world we call ‘reality.’
The Principle manifests itself into phenomena. This kind of manifestation of the
Emptiness Principle is predicated in Hua-yen philosophy as ‘the Arising of True
nature.’ The most important point of the arising is complete manifestation. That is,
the Principle, as Emptiness, always manifests itself completely in its appearance as
form. Each and every thing which can be said to belong to our world of experience
manifests this principle wholly and without exception. Even a small flower—a flower
in a field, a single speck of dust floating in the air—manifest this creative energy
140 HAYAO KAWAI