VI. Interpretation of Misleading Doctrines
of Non-self': Transmigration of 'Non-self' Disturbs
the Foundation of Buddhism
1. Transmigration of 'Non-self' Is the Violation
of the Law of Causality
2. It also loses the basis of the doctrine of transmigration in
the six realms of karmic existence and enlightenment
3. It Also Denies the Subsistences of Buddha and Bodhisattva
4. It Also Loses the Basis of the Buddhist Ceremony
for the Spirits of the Deceased
5. If There Is No Substance of Soul, There Is No Way
to Be Reborn with the Physical Body
6. If There Is No World of Self in the Realm
of Ultimate Reality, There Is No Way
to Claim the Greatness of Buddhism
7. The Great Sage Has an Insight to See the Substance
of Soul
VI. Interpretation of Misleading Doctrine of 'Non-self':
Transmigration of 'Non-self' Disturbs
the Foundation of Buddhism
If transmigration is possible without the main constituent of transmigration, and deny the substance of soul which is also our substance and the nucleus of transmigration, there is no way for Buddhism to stand. The substance of soul is the nucleus of the Buddhist view of life and death, and the transmigration in the six realms of karmic existence and the theory of enlightenment support the ground of the subsistence of Buddhism.
However, if you say that there is no substance of soul which is the subject of transmigration and enlightenment, it will be a kind of great catastrophe that will rend the foundation of Buddhism. There will be no way to mend it. I will show you a few examples how great the catastrophe will be like. I will let you all to judge.
1. Transmigration of 'Non-self' Is the Violation
of the Law of Causality
The theory of transmigration of 'non-self' is the violation of the cosmic law of causation. How Buddhism, which is the religion of truth, could claim the doctrine that violates the cosmic law?
The law of causality is the cosmic law, and the transmigration of the sentient beings in the six realms of karmic existence is also the truth of life. If anyone performs manifold good deeds, he will go to the domain of bliss such as pleasant heavenly realm, but if anyone commits multifarious evil deeds, he will fall into the evil path such as hell and the realm of animals. Then there also must be a doer and the receiver of recompence or retribution, and the two must be the same person.
This is the most fundamental and the gist of requirement. This is also the cosmic law. We cannot accept in no way the idea that there need not be a main constituent of transmigration, or transmigration is possible with inheritance or flow of some kind of mind and perception. It is either a degradation of the cosmic law, or the idea that came out from the naive or expedient way of executing the matter. The cosmic law is marvelous and greatly profound, but paradoxically, it is also very simple, common sensical, and explicit.
The cosmic law is the natural law that must be applied explicitly without any dubiosity like a sharp edge of knife. Therefore, there could not be any ambiguous theory of nucleus of transmigration.
2. It also Loses the Basis of the Doctrine of Transmigration in
the Six Realms of Karmic Existence and Enlightenment.
If you deny the substance of soul which is the nucleus of transmigration because there is no 'self', no transmigration in the six realms of karmic existence and the theory of enlightenment could be established. If enlightenment and nirvana are non-existent, what is then the meaning of the subsistence of Buddhism?
The objective of the Buddhist practice is to be free from the afflictions of transmigration and then attain nirvana where it is free of affliction. The purpose of Buddha's renunciation of the lay life to become a bhikku was to solve the problems of affliction of the sentient beings.
If there is neither the substance of soul which is the nucleus of transmigration nor the substance of soul which is the nucleus of the way to the realm of enlightenment, that means, in fact, neither the transmigration in the six realms of karmic existence nor the theory of enlightenment could be established. If so, for whom and for what purpose do we practice and try to attain enlightenment when there is no nucleus of the objectives?
There must be the substance of soul, which is actually the main constituent of myself, to attain enlightenment and then enjoy the pleasure of nirvana free from transmigration. If enlightenment and nirvana mean a total extinction, kaput, not only Buddhism loses the meaning of its subsistence but Buddha's noble idea of deliberation of sentient beings also loses its meaning.
Sakyamuni Buddha practiced beyond imagination for six years to save the sentient beings and attained ultimate enlightenment, and all these also lose their meaning. That is the reason, I tell you again, that if we deny the substance of soul, there is no reason for the Buddhism to subsist.
3. It also Denies the Subsistence of Buddha and Bodhisattvas
If you deny the substance of soul, which is the nucleus of transmigration, it means that you are also denying the subsistence of Buddha and Bodhisattvas. If so, why do we have to believe Buddhism? Are all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the sutras fictitious phantoms?
If we deny the substance of soul, that means we are denying the substance that abides in the realm of ultimate reality (本體界). It also means denying the subsistence of all the saints who went to the realm of enlightenment leaving all the afflictions of life and death behind.
How could you believe Buddhism denying the countless Buddha and Bodhisattvas who appear in the sutras. Do you mean to regard all the awesome and majestic supernatural powers of Buddha that appear in the Lotus Sutra and the Flower Garland Sutra, the sutras of sutras, as novels and metaphors?
I wonder how we could explain the Buddha who attained enlightenment in the remote past explained in the Flower Garland Sutra. Especially, the Body of Bliss, or Sambhogakaya, is the original true Buddha we must believe and take refuge, who is an ever living personality of light into whom entered the four levels of substance of soul.
He is also the living Buddha who possesses the thirty-two auspicious signs (三十二相) and eighty distinctive bodily marks (八十種好) and works busily with the open eyes. There is no greater and unfaithful lye if anyone denies the subsistence of such auspicious Buddha.
That is the reason why the Yeongsan Buddhism upholds the subsistence of Buddha as its topmost ideology. If there is any Buddhism that denies such auspicious Buddha, that is not true Buddhism. There is no need of ceremonial offering or prayer chanting either.
4. It also Loses the Basis of the Buddhist Ceremony
for the Spirits of the Deceased
I am very curious about the people who perform the Buddhist ceremony for the spirits of the deceased (靈駕) without believing the substance of soul. Does the substance of soul of the spirits of the deceased subsist only when the Buddhist ceremony for the spirits of the deceased is performed?
Our Buddhist sectors refuse to acknowledge the substance of soul. A standard collection of the interpretation of the Diamond Sutra published by the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism also officially denies the substance of human soul. Yet most of the temples perform the Buddhist ceremony for the spirits of the deceased.
I am also very curious that if there is no substance of soul, there could not be a soul that falls into to hell, or the nucleus that becomes an animal. If so, what is the meaning of performing the ceremony for the spirits of the deceased? Whose ceremony is it? I want to believe that it is not the ceremony for consciousness that has neither face nor form, neither could think nor make a judgement, neither could verify whether it is my ancestor or not.
It is also not logical to say that the substance of soul subsists when the ceremony for the spirit of the deceased is being performed, and it does not when the ceremony is not performed. I could not also understand the reason why people pray for the blissful rebirth of their deceased ancestors in the Pure Land in the West.
How could you explain Buddha's performance of ceremony for the blissful rebirth of the deceased mother of Maudgalyayana and also for the deceased mothers of some other disciples at the time of the Vulture Peak congregation? Isn't it correct to say that there really exist the substance of soul?
Besides, our country has a virtuous tradition of worshipping the ancestors. One of the examples is the religious service for the deceased ancestors. Such religious rite for the deceased ancestors is offering the food and pay obeisance. The deceased soul who attends the rite is, to say in the Buddhist way, the soul that failed to enter the nether world. We call it the wandering lonely spirit of the deceased, and if you deny the substance of soul, there is no need of performing such religious rites.
5. If There Is No Substance of Soul, There Is No Way
to Be Reborn with the Physical Body.
If there is no substance of soul, there is no way to receive the physical body of man. At the time of impregnation in the womb of the mother, what is it that receives the physical body?
The substance of soul finds the parent and enter into the womb of the mother according to the cause and conditions at the time of impregnation. At this time, it is not the consciousness but the substance of soul that possesses the consciousness. As consciousness has no thinking and judging faculties, it cannot find the affinity of the parent.
Accordingly, it is the substance of soul that receives the physical body. Of the four substances of soul, the No. 1, 2, and 3 enter into the womb of the mother, and the No. 4, which stations at the outskirt of the No. 1, 2, and 3 substances of soul, is created in the womb of the mother. The object of the antenatal training is also the substance of soul not the consciousness. Therefore, you must not say that there is no substance of soul.
6. If There Is No World of Self in the Realm of
Ultimate Reality, There Is No Way to Claim
the Greatness of Buddhism.
If you deny the self or ego of the realm of ultimate reality (本體界), you cannot claim the greatness of Buddhism. I think it is not that you want for the Buddhism to be the same level of other religions, don't you?
If you deny even the self in the realm of ultimate reality because there is no self, Buddhism will be diminished and could not claim that Buddhism is greater than other religions.
Buddhism has a complete intellectual as well as practical system not only for the six realms of karmic existence but also for the realm of enlightenment which is also the realm of 'true-self'. It also has a system of practice to attain them all.
The level of seeing the self-nature, or attaining enlightenment about emptiness, which is also the true nature of the universe, could be argued and experienced by other religions. However, the realm of Pure Land, which is hundreds and thousands and millions of miles away, and the ultimate realm, which is even farther away from the Pure Land, are the highest level of realms of ultimate reality that only the greatness of Buddhism could claim.
In other words, the greatness of Buddhism is that it is the religion that is able to produce such levels of Buddha and Bodhisattvas. Buddhism has formulated the realm of true dharma with these venerable Buddha and Bodhisattvas as its center, and propagated its teaching to the realms more than half of the earth.
The creative power, which accords 100% with emptiness, comes only at the level of Buddha. Only Buddha has the cosmic power that could dissolve the karmic obstructions of the sentient beings and deliver them. Only Buddhism could produce such venerable Buddha and Bodhisattvas, and this is the reason why it could really be called the unsurpassed religion of deliverance.
7. The Great Sage Has an Insight to See
the Substance of Soul
The enlightened great saint could see the substance of soul. How could you deny the substance of soul which even a sorcerer and a man with the psychic medium could see?
The substance of soul of human being could not be seen by the eyes of ordinary people. However, the great saint who has attained enlightenment could see the substance of soul directly. If anyone who reaches the stage of Buddha could also see completely even in color.
Therefore, you must not say there is no substance of soul because you do not see it. We must believe the words of these saints and believe the existence of the substance of soul. You must not say that there is no substance of soul when even a sorcerer or a man with a psychic medium could see it, although it is at the lower level.
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