The Seven Elements are All-Pervasive

VOLUME 3, Chapter 6

 

O3 The element water.
P1 He reveals the nature and searches for it.

Sutra:

"Ananda, water is by nature unstable. It may keep on flowing or come to a stop. Kapila, Chakra, Padma, and Hasta, and other great magicians of Shravasti often hold up instruments to the light of the full moon at midnight to extract from the moon the essence of water to mix with their drugs.

Commentary:

Ananda, water is by nature unstable. Earth and fire have been discussed; now water will be explained. Each of these is an element, for which the Chinese character is (da), which literally means “great.” These elements are said to be “great” because they pervade all places, inexhaustibly.

The nature of water is unstable. It is said,

When the opening is to the east,
the water flows east;
When the opening is to the west,
the water flows west.

If you gouge out the bank of a pool, river, stream, lake, or sea, the water will flow out in whatever direction you make the cut. A body of water has no fixed boundaries, so the text says that water is by nature unstable. It may keep on flowing or come to a stop. It stops and goes; it is not constant or uniform. Kapila, Chakra, Padma, and Hasta, and other great magicians of Shravasti - the immortal, Kapila, of the City of Abundance and Virtue, was an adherent of the “religion of the yellow haired.” It was explained earlier that Matangi was a follower of a magician of the religion of the yellow haired and that she had learned the “former Brahma Heaven mantra” from him.

Besides these four great magicians, there were many others - too many to be mentioned by name - so the text says, “and other great magicians.” Magicians deal with illusion, with what is false and empty. They often hold up instruments to the light of the full moon at midnight to extract from the moon the essence of water to mix with their drugs. They wanted to use the moon essence in their illusory medicines which confused people.

These medicines were like the present day LSD, which, although not mixed with essence of the moon, is nonetheless close to the kind of drug being discussed. They caused people to see everything as strange and to think of themselves as having already become enlightened. They caused nervous disorders and caused people to be upside-down and unreliable.

On the night of the full moon, the fifteenth day of the month in the lunar calendar, they made use of instruments - a square pan and a crystal ball - to extract the essence of water. When the crystal ball is held in the moonlight on the night of the fifteenth, water will come forth and gather in the pan. The water is then used to mix with the drugs. There probably isn’t much water that comes forth.

P2 He explains the search in detail.

Sutra:

“Does the water come out of the crystal ball? Does it exist of itself in space? Or, does it come from the moon?

Commentary:

The water comes forth on the night of the full moon and collects in the pan. Does the water come out of the crystal ball? Does it exist of itself in space? Does the water come from space? Or, does it come from the moon? Does it come out of the moonlight?

Sutra:

“Ananda, suppose the water came from the distant moon. Water then should also flow from all the grass and trees when the moonlight passes over them on its way to the crystal ball. If it does flow from them, why wait for it to come out of the crystal ball? If it does not flow from the trees, then it is clear that the water does not descend from the moon.

Commentary:

Ananda, now you should think about it; where does that water come from? Suppose the water came from the distant moon. If you say the water comes from the moonlight, that it is the water of the essence of the moon, water then should also flow from all the grass and trees when the moonlight passes over them on its way to the crystal ball. The moonlight must come from a long way off to cause the instruments to flow forth water.

Above it was stated that when the fire passed over the groves and trees they should burn up. Now the groves and trees should all flow forth. That means water should come out of all of them. Whatever place the moonlight passes over, water should flow forth there. If it does flow from them, why wait for it to come out of the crystal ball? If the groves and trees all emit water, there is no reason to wait for there to be a crystal ball in order to get water. If it does not flow from the trees, if the groves and trees do not flow forth water, then it is clear that the water does not descend from the moon. Then you should understand that the water does not come down from the moon.

Sutra:

“If it came from the crystal balls, then it should flow from the crystal all the time. Why would they have to wait for midnight and the light of the full moon to receive it?

Commentary:

If it came from the crystal balls - if you say the water flows forth from the crystal ball - then it should flow from the crystal all the time. Why would they have to wait for midnight and the light of the full moon to receive it? Why wait for the arrival of the fifteenth of the month to seek the water? If it were the crystal ball that emits the water, it should come forth at any time at all. So now it has been proven that the water does not come from the moon, and it does not come from the instruments.

Sutra:

“If it came from space, which is by nature boundless, it would flow everywhere, until everything between earth and sky was submerged. How, then, could there still be travel by water, land, and space?

Commentary:

If it came from space, which is by nature boundless - can you tell where the bounds of space are? Can you find them? Since space has no bounds, the water would flow everywhere. If, in fact, the water came from space, the water would have no bounds, either. The nature of space is boundless, and you say that water flows forth from within space, and so water should not have any bounds, either.

Until everything between earth and sky was submerged. Everything would turn into a great sea, and everyone, from the realm of people up through the heavens, would drown. How, then, could there still be travel by water, land, and space? Several thousand years ago the Buddha was already talking about air travel, though there were no airplanes at that time. He knew long ago that there would be air travel and space travel. He says that if everything from the realm of people up to the realm of the gods turned into a great sea, there would only be travel by water; there wouldn’t be any dry land or any space. But this is not the case.

Sutra:

“Furthermore, upon closer examination you will find that the moon moves through the sky, the crystal ball is held in the hand, and the pan for receiving the water is put there by someone; but, where does the water that flows into the pan come from?

Commentary:

Furthermore, upon closer examination - you should look into it in detail - you will find that the moon moves through the sky. Now, it is not necessarily the case that the moon travels through the sky, but that is the way the text describes it. In the final analysis, when the moon travels in the sky, how far does it go in a single step? And how far does it have to travel to get where it is going? Pay no attention to this point. T

he crystal ball is held in the hand, and the pan for receiving the water is put there by someone. The pan was placed there by a person. The moon and the crystal ball and the pan all have a definite place. But, where does the water that flows into the pan come from? The Buddha has just asked whether the water comes from the crystal ball, from the moon, or from space. Where, then, does it come from? How does the water get to the pan?

Sutra:

“The moon and the crystal balls cannot mix or unite, since they are far apart. Nor can it be that the essence of water exists spontaneously without an origin.

Commentary:

The moon and the crystal balls cannot mix or unite, since they are far apart. You may say that the moon and the crystal ball mix and unite to bring about the water; however, being so far apart, how can they unite? It’s not possible. Nor can it be that the essence of water exists spontaneously without an origin. The same principle holds for water as was stated for the element of fire. It cannot be that the water comes from nowhere but suddenly appears of itself in the pan. There is no such principle.

P3 He concludes by showing the substance and function.

Sutra:

“You still do not know that in the treasury of the Thus Come One the nature of water is true emptiness, and the nature of emptiness is true water. Pure in its origin, it pervades the dharma-realm. It accords with living beings’ minds, in response to their capacity to know.

Commentary:

Ananda, you still do not know that in the treasury of the Thus Come One the nature of water is true emptiness. The nature, replete with water, is actually true emptiness. And the nature of emptiness is true water. The nature, replete with emptiness, has truth within it. “Where do you say it comes from, then? It comes from the treasury of the Thus Come One.” It is found in the true minds of all of us living beings. We are replete not only with water, but also with fire, wind, and earth. They are all complete in our minds. Earth, water, fire, wind, emptiness, perception, and consciousness, the seven elements, are all complete in our minds. But, though they all exist there, they are not mixed together, messed up, or murky.

Pure in its origin, it pervades the dharma-realm. The nature of water is pure at its origin and pervades the dharma-realm. You should know that within it there is wonderful existence. Within true emptiness there is wonderful existence. If you contemplate these principles, you can come to understand them. In other words, when you yourself have gong fu - spiritual skill - when you sit in meditation and gain samadhi power and give rise to genuine wisdom, then you can understand that the principles explained in the sutra are true and not false. But, this principle will not be easy to understand now if you are trying to fathom it with your conscious mind.

It accords with living beings’ minds, in response to their capacity to know. Whatever the minds of living beings in the nine dharma-realms seek can be given them in accord with their intent. Whatever anyone wants they can have, in whatever amount they need. If you need to drink a glass of water, you are given a glass of water; if you need two glasses of water, you have two to drink. Living beings’ wishes are fulfilled in accord with their needs.

Sutra:

“A crystal ball is held up at a certain place, and there water comes forth. If crystal balls were held up throughout the dharma-realm, then throughout the dharma-realm water would come forth. Since water can come forth throughout the entire world, can there be any fixed place to which it is confined?

Commentary:

Where would you say water comes from? The text tells you here. How is it said to be in the treasury of the Thus Come One? A crystal ball is held up at a certain place - one person decides he wants some water and holds up the crystal ball - and there water comes forth. If crystal balls were held up throughout the dharma-realm - if to the ends of the earth, everyone held up a crystal ball to seek water - then throughout the dharma-realm water would come forth. Water would flow from all the billion worlds. All that is needed is someone seeking water.

Since water can come forth throughout the entire world - if it is possible for it to be produced everywhere in the world - can there be any fixed place to which it is confined? If it is everywhere in the entire world, what place can you say it originally comes from? If it comes from a certain place, it can come to me but can’t go to you. If it goes to you, it can’t come to me. But, if everyone holds up the crystal ball, water will come forth for everyone. That is precisely the nature of water in the treasury of the Thus Come One - not dwelling anywhere, and yet dwelling everywhere. It is absolutely everywhere, but it can also be said that it is absent from every place, because if you don’t have the crystal ball, if you don’t employ the method, then it’s not there. The same is true of the nature of fire.

P4 He rejects the two theories for being mere calculations.

Sutra:

“It is experienced to whatever extent is dictated by the law of karma. Ignorant of this fact, people in the world are so deluded as to assign their origin to causes and conditions or to spontaneity. These mistakes, which arise from the discriminations and reasoning processes of the conscious mind, are nothing but the play of empty words which have no real meaning.

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