雜阿含經第一義空1The Ultimate Truth of Śūnyatā in the Saṃyukta Āgama1

雜阿含經第一義空

 

大家好！

 

雜阿含經335經的「有業報而無作者，此陰滅已，異陰相續。」

 

經文明確說出一般人的輪迴狀態是：

「此陰滅已，異陰相續」。

 

中觀的思維指出，

此陰滅已（指肉體的死亡及肉體的意識）

異陰相續（下一世的肉體與意識），這裡邊必須先釐清幾個觀點：

 

1.已滅如何相續？

 

2.如若此世在肉體死亡時，意識夾帶自己的善、惡業再投胎，請問這一世的全部帶過去嗎？

怎麼帶？（太重了走不動，開玩笑🙃）

 

中觀的思想認爲，都「存在」的,包括人的意識是動不了的，

要解決輪迴中夾帶的善、惡能量（意識），

可以試想；假如意識（記憶）是固定的，人們將走向何方？

 

如意識必須承載今世的能量至下一世，

也必須是空性，不然輪迴中的生命在固定的記憶裏，如何變化？

 

業力的使然也是要因，

但中觀的思想認爲能使這一切起變動遷移的必是「空性」。

 

3.這裡邊要起變動的「無常」，也已包括對時間的認識問題，

 

在「無我」的架構中延續下一世，對修行者而言；

空是意識深處的解脫，

也是「不一不異」。

貫徹了「有業報而無作者」的佛法。

 

這是後代學佛的修行者進一步去思考深入的問題。

 

半寄

 

（照片為《解讀龍樹菩薩中論27道題》第20頁

 

The Ultimate Truth of Śūnyatā in the Saṃyukta Āgama

 

Greetings, friends of NanZen!

 

In Saṃyukta Āgama Sūtra 335, we find the following teaching:

 

“The results of karma exist, but not the doer thereof. When this Skandhas ceases, a different Skandhas arises.”

 

 

It emphasizes the ordinary pattern of rebirth:

 

“When this Skandhas ceases, a different Skandhas arises. ”

 

From the standpoint of Madhyamaka thought,
“the cessation of these aggregates” refers to the death of the current physical and mental form,
while “the arising of others” refers to the emergence of a new body and consciousness in a subsequent existence.

 

This raises several critical philosophical inquiries:

1. How can something that has already ceased continue?

2. If, at the moment of death, consciousness carries karmic impressions to a future rebirth,
does it transmit the entire content of this life?
And if so, how exactly does this transmission happen? (A light joke: Wouldn't it be too heavy to carry? 🙃)

 

From the Madhyamaka view, anything that truly exists — including consciousness — is static and unchanging.
Thus, the transmission of karmic energy requires a non-fixed, transformable foundation.
If memory or consciousness were fixed, how could transformation or evolution occur in rebirth?

Therefore, for consciousness to carry karmic energy into future lives,
its nature must be śūnyatā,
for without śūnyatā, life would remain trapped in rigid continuity.

Although karmic forces operate based on causes and conditions,
Madhyamaka asserts that it is śūnyatā that makes transformation and continuity possible.

3. This idea of change and impermanence also involves our understanding of time —this will be discussed separately in a future essay.

 

From the standpoint of non-self, rebirth is a continuation without a fixed identity.
For the practitioner, śūnyatā offers inner liberation at the level of consciousness,
and aligns with the concept of “neither identical nor different.”

This embodies the Dharma principle: 

“The results of karma exist, but not the doer thereof.”

 

This is a deep exploration of the Buddha’s teachings by later generations of Buddhist practitioners, and it also embodies the wisdom that has emerged from their reflections over time.

 

Master Banji

 

(Photo from Nagarjuna’s Middle Way: Mulamadhyamakakarika, p. 20)