(A Hsin Hsin Ming Journey – Part 3)
“What is the meaning of life?” “What is the purpose?” I’m asked these questions, and questions like them, quite often. As I continue my journey through the Zen poem, Hsin Hsin Ming (translation by Richard Clarke), I’ll consider these questions and offer a response from on my own path of self-realization. (Click here to read Part 1 and here to read Part 2.)
The poem continues:
To return to the root is to find meaning,
but to pursue appearances is to miss the source.
At the moment of inner enlightenment
there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness.
The changes that appear to occur in the empty world
we call real only because of our ignorance.Do not search for the truth;
only cease to cherish opinions.
Do not remain in the dualistic state.
Avoid such pursuits carefully.
If there is even a trace of this and that,
of right and wrong,
the mind-essence will be lost in confusion.
The Search for Meaning
Have you ever considered why we ask the question, “What is the meaning of life?”? It seems that everyone at some point in their lives is somewhat conscious of this search for meaning. But why this search? Is meaning something that we have to find? Is meaning something we have to discover out there somewhere, like a precious shell on the beach, or a treasure buried in a field? Is there some sort of destiny that gives our life meaning? Is it living up to some potential, or living in accordance with the rules or laws of some god or deity?
What is meaning afterall? I suppose it could be interchanged with the question, “Why do I exist? What am I here for?” Most people intend by “meaning” some end, goal, purpose, or significance to their lives. So, what is that purpose, that significance?
When I was a Christian in seminary, we “learned” that according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism “man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Or is it as Viktor Frankl concludes that true and lasting satisfaction comes from discovering and fulfilling one’s own unique meaning and purpose in life? Does meaning come from out there somewhere (this god or that), or is it entirely subjective according to each individual’s perspective?
The Hsin Hsin Ming has something to say about both of these ideas.
“Finding” Meaning
Translations differ in conveying the idea expressed in the first lines of today’s passage, but when one reads the Hsin Hsin Ming from the perspective of one’s true identity as existence itself, as the nondual reality of all that is, the idea becomes clear.
“To return to the root is to find meaning, but to pursue appearances is to miss the source. At the moment of inner enlightenment there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness. The changes that appear to occur in the empty world we call real only because of our ignorance.”
The Westminster Shorter Catechism would lead us to look out there at an external god to find our meaning. Frankl would have us look at our individual egoic self to find our meaning. The zen poem says that if there is meaning at all, we in our true self, our true nature, we ourselves ARE the meaning.
Some god out there where meaning is found is simply an appearance. Many believe in god/s and call them real “only because of ignorance”. The individual ego is simply an appearance. Many believe in themselves as a soul or separate entity “only because of ignorance.” Both of these ideas imply the reality of separation. If you’ve been reading anything I’ve written prior to this post, you’ll know by now that separation is an illusion. In reality there is no separate god or entity out there from which meaning comes. In reality there is no egoic self that is separate from anyone or anything else. All that exists is one inseparable process. One cosmic energy taking on myriad forms that gives the appearance of separation. One ocean of being waving in the appearance of separate waves. All separation is an illusion.
To search for meaning implies that meaning is out there somewhere to be discovered apart from the self. To create your own individual meaning implies a reality to a separate ego or soul. In realizing who you really are behind the illusion of separation, you find existence as meaning itself. Or as the Hsin Hsin Ming puts it, “At the moment of inner enlightenment there is a going beyond appearance and emptiness.”
To put it even more specific, at the moment of inner enlightenment, the very idea of “meaning” dissolves altogether.
Meaning Becomes Irrelevant
This means that the whole idea of “meaning” becomes absolutely irrelevant for the awakened one. Meaning is relative and only makes sense in a world of duality. Meaning is an egoic concept. Why do we ask what the meaning is? The question of meaning is religiously and philosophically motivated. Religion and philosophy are merely human concepts. Humans, along with all thinking and imagination (religion and philosophy), are simply the waves of the entire ocean of being. It’s all illusory! This doesn’t mean that humans, thoughts, or imagination do not exist. It means that the ocean of being exists, and the waving ocean creates the “appearance” or the illusion of these separate “things”.
Without any reality to the illusion of separation, who is it that has meaning? Without the reality of a separate “who”, this question becomes absurd and without any relevance whatsoever.
Who is Searching?
“Do not search for truth” as this implies something other than your true nature, which is truth itself. “Do not remain in the dualistic state” which results in being “lost in confusion”. It is this confusion out of which the very question arises! Taking the illusion of separation for reality, we are lost in a state of confusion. Like finding ourselves in a strange dream, not sure how we got there or what we’re even doing. It is in this confused state that we ask questions like, “What is my purpose? What is my meaning? How did we get here? Who created us? What is right? What is wrong? Etc.” Endless, irrelevant questions out of confusion.
These questions do not arise from the clear state of awareness. In fact, for the awakened one there are no questions at all.
When one awakens from the dream, one realizes there really is no one who is even searching. Furthermore, there is no search. There is only existence which we in our dream state have believed to be “this and that”. The Hsin Hsin Ming says, “If there is even a trace of this and that, of right and wrong, the mind-essence will be lost in confusion.”
Share With Me
I’d love to hear your reaction to this journey through the beautiful Zen poem, or let me know what you understand to be the meaning of life. Comment below or reach out through the contact form at the bottom of the Welcome Home page.
I am also now offering private one on one sessions for those who are interested in waking up from the illusion of separation and understanding their true nature. You can book your session by clicking here.