Thirty-Six Eight-Diagram Arrays: The Array of Heart
Xuefeng
The heart and the physical heart are two entirely distinct concepts.
The physical heart is a part of the body’s organs, existing in the physical realm. But what about the heart as a concept? What exactly is it and where does it reside?
Let's first look at four sets of descriptions about the heart:
Deeply grieved, heart-rending, tormented, utterly heartbroken, deeply distressed, mind in turmoil, heart shattered.
Restless, agitated, harboring ulterior motives, disheartened, mentally distracted, restless mind, lingering fear.
With a light heart, heart surging like waves, heart longing for far-off places, willing and content, heart blooming like flowers, clear-minded, intuitively understanding.
At peace with oneself, calm and composed, heart filled with satisfaction, open-hearted, change of heart, hearts in harmony, wholeheartedly convinced.
There are also phrases like "hearts are in tune," "the size of the universe is determined by the breadth of one’s heart," "you gallop across the sea of my heart."
From the above descriptions of the heart, it appears that people are the heart, and the heart is the person. When the "heart is like dead ashes," the person also loses vitality and is no different from death. "Nothing is more lamentable than a dead heart." When the heart dies, so does the person.
What exactly is the heart? Where does it reside? What role does the heart play in human life?
In essence, the heart does not exist; humans fundamentally do not possess a heart. The heart is merely an Eight-Diagram array. People are entangled in the Eight-diagram of the heart, and thought that they have a heart, unaware that they are being bound by this heart array.
Buddha Shakyamuni, who possessed supreme Authentic Wisdom, told us: "The past mind cannot be grasped, the present mind cannot be grasped, and the future mind cannot be grasped.” The mind is fundamentally non-existent, where can it be obtained?
People are often beguiled by their hearts, oscillating between states of "heartbreak" and "heart blossoming," between "heart in turmoil" and "calm heart," between "bewildered heart" and "clear-minded heart," between "heart like dead ashes" and "refreshed heart." They find themselves completely played by the whims of their hearts.
In spiritual practice, there is the saying of "the mind is influenced by circumstances" for ordinary people and "the mind influences circumstances" for enlightened beings. In reality, "the mind influencing circumstances" is passive, futile, and inconclusive. "Circumstances" are endlessly changing, rising and falling in succession. Relying on the "mind" is never reliable. The heart is inherently empty, inherently nonexistent, so how can it be relied upon?
Once trapped in the heart's Eight-diagram array, a person's life becomes bewildered, guided by the heart in search of "sincerity," "loyalty," "honesty," and "dedication," while guarding against "deception," "treachery," "greed," and "fickleness." The result is "confusion," "suffering," "heart turmoil," and "physical and mental exhaustion."
In romantic relationships, the biggest fear is "fickleness," and the pursuit is "a complete heart." Once one discovers the other's "fickleness," neither food nor sleep brings comfort. From this, jealousy, resentment, anger, and competition swarm in, stirring life into a whirlwind of chaos and conflict, causing unbearable heartache.
The heart belongs to the person. If a person is without a heart, they become a celestial being or a Buddha. The heart is an Eight-diagram array. By escaping from the Eight-diagram array of the heart, one can escape from all the joys and sorrows, the comings and goings of human life, and enter into a beautiful and boundless paradise.
How can one escape the heart array?
The Buddha Shakyamuni taught us: “One should produce a mind that abides nowhere and does not abide in forms to produce a mind, does not abide in sounds, smells, tastes, touch, or dharmas to produce a mind, and should produce a mind that abides nowhere.” In other words, discard the heart and become a person without a heart.
The saint Laozi told us: "Favor and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honor and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same kind). What makes me liable to great calamity is my having the body (which I call myself); if I had not the body, what great calamity could come to me?" This can also be extended to the heart. Heartbreak and heartache occur because we have a heart. If we have no heart, where does the heartbreak and heartache come from?
Can one still live without a heart?
Yes, it depends on the power of our thinking. If our thinking power is high, we live; if our thinking power is low, we die. Prime Minister Bi Gan in the "Investiture of the Gods" was originally living well but was suddenly controlled by the words "Cabbages have no heart but can live; people without a heart must die" from Su Daji and immediately died from shock.
Without a heart, how does one live?
By living out one’s nature!
The Buddha is the nature, and the nature is the Buddha. Living out one’s nature is living as a Buddha, living as celestial, being completely free!
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