Why Ask Why: Teacher Huang's Enlightenment

Author: Huang Shengchang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-12-01
Features: To gain a deep understanding of the truth, one must ask "why." It is said that great doubt leads to great enlightenment, small doubt to small enlightenment, and no doubt to no enlightenment. Constantly asking "why," while sincerely seeking answers in the Dharma, is the only way to unlock great wisdom. If one were to summarize the key points of this book in a single sentence, it would be "to rest the mind in Prajna and act on vows (fulfilling one's responsibilities)." This sentence can be said to be a concise, practical, powerful, and highly beneficial summary of practice for those who study Buddhism.
The first half is the mind, and the second half is the form; the first half is wisdom, and the second half is the realm; the first half is the three-dimensional, and the second half is the manifest application; the first half is to rest the mind, and the second half is to take action; the first half is to seek the path, and the second half is to practice the path; the first half is inward, and the second half is outward; the first half is based on reason, and the second half is based on action; the first half is the meaning of emptiness, and the second half is the meaning of practice; the first half is the ultimate truth, and the second half is the conventional truth; the first half is to open wisdom, and the second half is to cultivate merits. And the beauty of this summary lies particularly in the "while" () in the middle. With this "while," the mind and form become one, reason and affair are without obstruction, emptiness and existence are not two, the ultimate and conventional truths are intertwined, and merits and wisdom are cultivated together. This prevents one from falling into extremes or splitting into two parts.
If matched with the Three Perspectives of Tiantai, resting the mind in Prajna is the perspective of emptiness, and acting on vows is the perspective of illusion, while the "while" in the middle is the perspective of the middle way. If matched with the Three Sections of True Word, resting the mind in Prajna is the Vajra Section, and acting on vows is the Womb Section, while the "while" in the middle is the Sutra of Completion. In short, the first half is Prajna, and the second half is karma, while the "while" in the middle is the interplay between Prajna and karma.