Two Types of Uccheda-Śūnyatā in the World

There are two types of annihilationist emptiness, or pernicious views of emptiness, in the world, which are extremely harmful and directly cause sentient beings to fall into the three wretched destinies, revolving within the six paths of rebirth. One is the nihilistic emptiness of non-Buddhist paths, which holds that there is no previous or future life, that everything ends with death, that there is no cause and effect, no retribution for good or evil karma, and that one can do whatever one pleases as long as one is free and unrestrained, indulging to the fullest.

The other pernicious view of emptiness is held by those who study the Tathagatagarbha doctrine of the Mahayana. Although they acknowledge the existence of karmic cause and effect, recognize past and future lives, and accept the indestructible Tathagatagarbha within the body, they crave sensual pleasures and are unwilling to undertake arduous, genuine practice or uphold precepts and cultivate meditative concentration. Thus, they deny all the illusory functions and operations of the five aggregates and the eighteen realms, attributing everything to the Tathagatagarbha. They use the Tathagatagarbha to replace all functions of the five aggregates, rendering the five aggregates inactive. They claim there is no need to study the Buddha’s teachings or attain Buddhahood, asserting that the Tathagatagarbha is inherently the Buddha. Alternatively, they allow the five aggregates to act recklessly, claiming that whatever the five aggregates do is done by the Tathagatagarbha, and that the body composed of the five aggregates, being the work of the Tathagatagarbha, is beyond cause and effect and karmic retribution. Therefore, they advocate following circumstances freely, without upholding precepts or cultivating concentration, asserting that the Tathagatagarbha is inherently free from breaking precepts and inherently possesses concentration.

These two types of annihilationist emptiness and pernicious views, though differing in nature, yield similar results: they negate cause and effect, lead to unrestrained indulgence, and prevent the cessation of evil and cultivation of good.

Because they grasp the Tathagatagarbha as the self, they also grasp a formless state, rejecting all that has form as if they have already transcended form to attain formlessness. In reality, it is the Tathagatagarbha that is formless, while the body composed of the five aggregates remains entirely within the realm of form and cannot fundamentally transcend it at present. Due to the lack of precept observance and meditative concentration, along with a severe deficiency in prajna wisdom, their thoughts and intentions are entirely bound within form. If they insist on concealing these forms, they can only resort to the pernicious view of emptiness. When the karmic retribution arrives, they must face it directly, and the form of the evil retribution can no longer be avoided.

Yet, those who have already transcended form and attained formlessness—why do they still choose to eat meat, claiming non-attachment to the form of eating meat, rather than choosing vegetarianism or consuming leftovers according to circumstances? Since they are without form, shouldn’t everything be simplified and lived according to circumstances, merely sustaining life for practice? Why then are they so particular and fastidious about protecting their health and nurturing their bodies? They do not uphold the precepts pertaining to form but specialize in upholding formless precepts. Is not the selection of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation itself a form? Why choose the form of enjoyment over the form of hardship? Clearly, formlessness is false; form is real. Studying the Mahayana is excellent, but if not done properly, the Mahayana Dharma can also become poison. To cling to it without letting go is inevitably fatal. When good medicine turns to poison, whose fault is it?