THE TWO FLOWING STREAMS
When we talk about a flowing stream, we immediately think of water. Water has the nature of constant flow—from high mountain peaks, it cascades down as waterfalls, then flows over rocks and through forests as streams. Reaching the lowlands, many streams converge to form rivers. The rivers continue flowing toward even lower lands and eventually empty into the sea.
These various names are human constructs, but in essence, they are all just water. However, the water at each stage differs. In the remote mountain forests, the water is pure and clear. But by the time it reaches the plains, crowded cities, dusty streets, and littered markets, the river water is no longer pristine. And when it reaches the sea, it becomes salty, no longer the sweet water of streams and rivers.
The sea is vast and boundless. There are no more babbling sounds of streams, no more reflections of forest trees in its depths. Rivers are gentle and serene, with small boats drifting along the countryside. The sea, however, requires large ships to withstand fierce waves and long voyages across the ocean.
A person’s life is also like a constantly flowing stream, never stopping. Everything, health, youth, happiness, loved ones, all flows forward in a one-way direction: birth-aging-sickness-death, or in another way: arising-existing-decaying-disappearing. This one-way path means that once something has passed, it never returns exactly as it was. Even though there is rebirth, even though there is reincarnation, the person of a future life is not exactly the same as the person in a past life. Especially with emotions, once they’ve changed, can they ever return to how they once were?
Looking at humanity as a whole, from a broader perspective that encompasses infinite space and time, life resembles these ever-flowing streams that never stand still. They flow, just like water, always downward,
eventually arriving at the sea. But what sea? The sea of suffering, the sea of tears, the endless sea of samsara.
Why is it that the ultimate destination of the human flow is the sea of suffering?
Because throughout the journey of life, what dominates are the storms of insatiable greed and waves like tsunamis that crush everything in their path: parents, siblings, spouses, friends, even strangers. This applies to individuals. In the case of a leader, the destructive power of greed is even more devastating, like an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, a wildfire, or a hurricane, destroying and obliterating everything in its path.
Each person, if not yet awakened, still lives a life of attachment. What is there besides these five things: wealth, sensuality, fame, food, and sleep? We each must honestly reflect on ourselves, how much desire do we still harbor in life? What do we still long for and dream about in this world? Even if we claim to want nothing, if we still feel attached to life, thinking that life is real, that we truly have parents, siblings, responsibilities, a country, then it means we still believe we truly exist. And when we see ourselves as real, everything around us also appears real. But everything real is bound to become an ocean of discontent, an ocean of suffering.
That’s why life has long been called "torrential flow", a whirlpool, a violent current. It’s not something distant or unfamiliar. It is our own mind-stream. Whose stream? Ours. It is the irresistible current of defilements, of craving, of anger, of ignorance, rising sky-high and drowning us, leaving us submerged, unable to see the Buddha, the Dharma, or the Sangha, even though they are always present in the world.
Our mind-stream is no different from everyone else’s. Anyone who still feels sadness, complaints, anger, fear, or desire is still swimming along with the current of torrential flow. This whirlpool has been drowning people for untold ages.
Dear friends, we truly don’t know how long humans have existed. If we look back at the history of Buddha Vipassī (Tỳ-bà-thi), from 99 great eons ago. That’s an unimaginable amount of time. There were already humans, kings, queens and societies. And to this day, humans remain trapped in the same sea of suffering. What about ourselves? Sometimes awake, sometimes lost. When lost, we feel sadness and anger. When awake, we want to practice and escape the sea of suffering. But being lost happens more often than being awake, so we continue to drift.
Reflecting on this, can we understand why the vow of a Bodhisattva is to “practice the Bodhisattva path for countless lifetimes”? Why “countless lifetimes”? Don’t we feel compassion for ourselves? For countless lifetimes, we remain ignorant, so the Bodhisattvas tirelessly reincarnate over and over to save us.
Only when we truly awaken will we see that there is another stream flowing in the opposite direction, leading to peace and true happiness. But only those with immense blessings and towering wisdom possess the resolve to go against the torrential current. The beginning of this path is full of challenges. It's like everyone is swimming downstream, lured by wealth, materials, fame, food, and sleep, while we must swim upstream. We renounce all of it. It’s like turning our back on the world. We no longer strive to earn more money, no longer crave fame, no longer drawn to physical beauty, no longer indulge in food, sleep, or entertainment.
This second stream, we can call the spiritual stream.
Let’s imagine we now must climb a steep mountain slope, searching for the source.
The path downhill is easy, crowded with cheerful people and companions, bustling streets dazzling with colorful lights, day and night alike, filled with music and song.
The spiritual path is rugged, sparse with jungles and steep mountains. Few people choose such a difficult and winding road. Even though the Dharma has been clearly laid out by the Buddha, and Patriarchs have painstakingly preserved, documented and passed down the map to each person’s inner treasure. Why do people still prefer to throw themselves into the abyss and then cry out in pain?
The spiritual path is like someone climbing a mountain. My teacher used to say, “Climbing up a mountain but clinging over moss.” Think about it. Absolutely true. Try climbing a mountain with a heavy backpack, how can we possibly move upward? Our minds are filled with family, parents, siblings, spouses, children, jobs, houses... each alone is exhausting. Even those who’ve already renounced the world, supposedly leaving attachments behind, if they still carry the burden of scriptures, words, theories, right and wrong... they’re still weighed down.
In the past, the Patriarchs practiced the Bodhisattva path using the "bottomless boat," named the Prajñā Boat (Boat of Wisdom). They ferried beings across the ocean of birth and death with transcendent wisdom. Transcendent wisdom cannot contain anything worldly. A "bottomless boat" means it holds nothing but completely open and unobstructed, empty, transparent, merging with everything.
Likewise, those climbing the mountain must be light in both body and mind, carrying nothing, attaching to nothing, holding nothing. Empty of all, they soar straight toward their “home,” following the footsteps of Bodhidharma, just as he once stepped lightly over the peaks of Mount Thông Lĩnh to “return home.”
So how can we rediscover our own inner treasure?
If we want to sail, we must find the bottomless boat.
If we want to climb, we must do so clinging to moss.
If we want to walk on foot? Then the road is lined with flowers, grass, and temptations, called wealth, beauty, fame, food, and sleep, that will devour us if we gaze at them too long. Not only harming us in this life, but possibly for many lives to come. Keep following the worldly stream, and you’ll end up in the sea of suffering.
To escape the temptations of the world, we must be courageous, return everything that belongs to the world, back to the world. We must begin with empty hands and a pure, innocent heart, a confident, radiant smile, unburdened by anything along the way. And then what? The world disappears, and the path vanishes too. Ah, here is our true home!
Gate Gate Pāragate! Pārasamgate! Bodhi, Svāhā! Reached! Reached the other shore! We’ve all reached the other shore! Awakened, Greatest Virtue!
Bhikkhuni Thích Nữ Triệt Như
Sunyata Monastery, Sept 09, 2021
English version by Ngọc Huyền
Link to Vietnamese article: https://tanhkhong.org/a2757/triet-nhu-snhp027-hai-dong-tuon-chay
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