The Difference in Emptiness Realized by Mahayana and Hinayana

The emptiness of the five aggregates realized by the Hinayana and that realized by the Mahayana are fundamentally distinct. Precisely because of this distinction, the mental capacities, vows, and spiritual attainments of Hinayana and Mahayana practitioners differ. After attaining liberation, Hinayana practitioners enter nirvana without residue, whereas Mahayana practitioners, upon liberation, eternally refrain from entering nirvana without residue. The emptiness of the five aggregates realized by Hinayana practitioners is attained through external phenomena, observed through the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the five aggregates. This emptiness is not ultimate, not thorough, and remains partial; hence, their wisdom is shallow, and their vows and practices are also shallow. The emptiness of the five aggregates realized by Mahayana practitioners is attained through the essential nature of the five aggregates. They perceive that the essence of the five aggregates is born from the Tathagatagarbha; thus, they no longer cling to the five aggregates, nor do they seek ways to extinguish them. Consequently, their vows and practices are vast.

For example, some people, upon seeing a person born and then dying, will recognize that humans are impermanent, subject to cessation, and cannot be grasped; therefore, they are empty. Others, however, go beyond this: they perceive that this person is actually conjured by an illusionist, with birth and death controlled by the illusionist. Even after death, the illusionist can conjure them again; birth and death are both illusory appearances. These individuals do not cling to this illusory person, yet they do not deliberately avoid or reject them either.

In truth, the emptiness perceived by Hinayana practitioners is an emptiness opposed to existence, which is itself another form of existence. Precisely because the Hinayana understanding of emptiness remains at the level of superficial phenomena and is not substantive emptiness, they strive to extinguish and avoid, fearing the world of the five aggregates. This is precisely another form of existence. When true emptiness is realized, what is there to avoid? What is there to fear? One would not then seek ways to extinguish it. For instance, when a heavenly maiden scatters flowers, Hinayana practitioners fear the flowers touching their bodies, so they avoid the flowers and shake them off, considering it improper for flowers to adhere to them. Mahayana practitioners, however, pay no heed to these flowers; being covered in flowers is of no concern to them, and thus the flowers do not adhere to them.

Why do Mahayana bodhisattvas possess such a mindset? Because bodhisattvas know that flowers are illusory appearances, devoid of any substantive effect. The physical body is likewise an illusion. Between an illusory body and illusory flowers, what obstruction could there be? What impropriety could exist? These principles must be personally realized and experienced; without realization, even with deep understanding, one cannot fully embody them. Hinayana practitioners believe there truly exists an emptiness, while Mahayana practitioners perceive that even emptiness is empty, and the emptiness of emptiness is also empty. Only when emptiness is utterly exhausted is the ultimate state attained.