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First of all, let me say aword about the Abhidharma, in other words the tradition of which Sariputra was the
reputed founder. Early Buddhism classified, as we've seen, the whole of existence under the headings of the
five skandhas. Whatever you could find, anywhere, it could either be classified as rupa (form), or feelings
or perceptions, and so on. But the Abhidharma tradition rejected this five skandha classification. It wasn't
quite scientific enough for the Abhidharma. And the Abhidharma replaced the original five skandha
classification with a four-fold classification into: FORM, THOUGHT, MENTAL CONCOMITANTS and
MISCELLANEOUS. And each of these was sub-divided, again and again. And these ultimate sub-divisions ofthese four categories, these coincide withor these are the dharmas; in other words the irreducible elements beyond which analysis cannot go. [JUNDO COMMENT]
Now according to the Sarvastivada, one of the most important if not the most important school of the
Hinayana, there are seventy-two of these dharmas, seventy-two. And these are known as the Seventy-two
conditioned dharmas, the seventy-two ultimate irreducible elements to which the whole of phenomenal
conditioned existence can be reduced. And there's also a much shorter list of three unconditioned dharmas,
consistingof space and the two kinds of nirvana. So altogether you've gotseventy-fivedharmas. So these are
the famous, not to say celebrated seventy-fivedharmas of the Sarvastivada school. And theywere classified
in various ways. And we may say that the early abhidharmikas had a great deal of fun classifying and
cataloguing their dharmas in all sorts of different ways. First of all, as we've seen, they classified them into
conditionedand unconditioned: there were seventy-two which wereconditioned, whicharosebywayofcause
andcondition; andthree which were not conditioned, which wereeternal, in that wayseventy-fivealtogether.
Then they classified them into dharmas which were produced and dharmas which were stopped; and then
dharmas which were defiled and dharmas which were not defiled; and then dharmas which were complete
and dharmas which were not complete. I've no time to go into details. I just want to give you a general idea
of the whole thing, the whole field, for reasons which you shall understand in a minute.
Now Avalokitesvara, in his second great statement, asserts that all these dharmas are empty. All these
dharmas, that is to say the seventy-five dharmas of the Sarvastivada, the whole apparatus as it were of
scholasticism is empty. Now what does this mean? It means not ultimately real. It means that the whole
elaboratestructureof the seventy-five dharmas(andbelieve me, it was an elaborate structure- I'm sure you've
no idea how elaborate it was - there's volume upon volume upon volume of analysis and co-ordination of
dharmas, and all sorts of things like that; you can understand perhaps how complicated it did all become
when they worked out in some schools the scores upon scores of different types of relationship between
dharmas, and that gave them tens of thousands of permutations) but according to Avalokitesvara all this, all
thissystemrepresents onlya provisional intellectual structure.All the dharmasare empty,not ultimatelyreal,
must go beyond. So withthis statement, that all dharmas are empty,Avalokitesvara destroys as it were with
onestroke the entire edifice of Abhidharma scholasticism. He says it's all right as far as it goes. Yes, it carries you quite a long distance, it helps dispel this gross illusion that things are things and persons are persons. It enables you to get a bit deeper than that but the dharmas themselves are not really ultimate. The dharmas
themselves,this wholecomplex, elaboratesystem of analysis and classification is only aproduct of the subtle
mental activity, the subtle activity of the mind. And it represents a subtle veil and a subtle delusion which
must ultimately be transcended. So all dharmas are empty. There's a more general application of this great
statement: we can say, generalising, that perfect wisdom destroys all philosophies. It destroys all attempts to give a systematic, intellectual account of reality, whether philosophical or, we may say, scientific, whether
that of the Abhidharma or any other. So with this second great statement, 'all dharmas are empty',
Avalokitesvara representing perfect wisdom destroys, smashes, pulverises if you like, all systematic
intellectual constructions about reality. But this is the only way you can get to reality, by getting rid of, by
destroying your ideas about reality, however subtle, however sophisticated, however convincing they may
seem to be. All dharmas are empty.
Third statement:
IN SUNYATA NO DHARMAS EXIST
This is the corollary of the previous statement. The more positive counterpart if you like of the previous
statement. It means, or rather it suggests that realityis quite bare as it were, quite pure as it were. It's devoid
of all our intellectual constructions, all our philosophies, all our concepts. Theyare ours. Theybelong to us.
They do not belong to reality. Reality knows nothing about them. Reality knows nothing about the
Abhidharma. It knows nothing about anyphilosophy of ours, nothing about any system, and soon. We might
evensay - anthropomorphizing a little - that realityrejects all our philosophies,rejectsall our systems, rejects
allour thoughts. In sunyatathere's no distinction whatsoever of conditioned and unconditioned dharmas, and
pure dharmas and defiled dharmas. In sunyata, in reality, all such dualisms are transcended. Soin this third
great statement, that in sunyata no dharmas exist, Avalokitesvara drives home, he reinforces his previous
statement and he makes it clear that reality, sunyata, voidness, is absolutely bare as it were, pure as it were,
of all these concepts, all these philosophies, all these systematic intellectual approaches. It's just like the sky
-this is a veryfavourite, a very famous image inMahayana Buddhism - it's just like the skywithout any cloud
whatsoever. The clouds may sometimes be very beautiful, especially at sunset; you may get beautiful red
clouds, golden clouds, but theyobscure the naked brilliance of the skyitself. The reality, sunyata, in its true
state, above and beyond all our thoughts about it, our systems, is just like the pure cloudless sky. So, in
sunyata no dharmas exist.
