METAPHYSICAL WORLD DOES NOT EXIST

On 17 June 2000 we received a document about metaphysical world. After reading it, we were of the view that if this document was widely spread out, superstition in people’s mind would considerably increase, because they would strongly believe human souls were real and metaphysical world would no longer be a world of illusion. If human beings have such belief, this world will never be able to establish the moral foundation which is based on the causality law and focuses on human development, because when people believe there are gods and deities supporting, protecting and saving them, they keep inconsiderately performing cruel activities without any fear of anyone. As a result, they kill cows, water buffaloes, pigs, goats, chicken, dugs, fishes, shrimps, crabs, clams, and mussels etc. to worship Gods, Deities, ghost, and demons. They think such cruel killing of living beings for worshipping will make metaphysical world bestow favours and blessings, protecting and saving them. Due to such belief they perform more cruel activities with more killing and eating living beings. With such way of living, how can human beings establish the moral foundation which is based on the causality law and for human development? If metaphysical world existed to protect and save people, then morality for mankind were no longer important. Human beings do not know that: as they sow so shall they reap, if human beings kill and eat other living beings then other living beings also kill and eat human beings, when human beings have to reap their fruit in the form/body of other living beings, mutual killing and eating will happen without any difficulty. Is this right?

Buddhism has clearly confirmed: karma takes rebirth. So what is karma? Where does karma come from?

0 Karma is due to the action of human body, mouth and mind, when human beings act, these three places create karma. If it is a good karma they will enjoy good fortune, otherwise with a cruel karma they will have to receive suffering consequences/fruits. As such human beings are living in the arms of causality law without knowing it, due to not knowing they create lots of cruel karmas, when living with lots of cruel karmas they have to suffer great misery. Therefore, people should heighten vigilance and avoid performing evil deeds, as with cruel deeds we cannot escape disasters and diseases. Even if there are gods, deities or a supreme power or a Creator, they also cannot save us, because we have to bear the gloomy and sorrowful consequences of what we have sowed.

If human beings want to escape all sufferings of this life, they have to accept to live a life in accordance with the moral foundation based on the law of cause and effect, not creating sufferings to themselves, to others and to all living beings. Therefore from now we need to build the moral foundation which is based on the causality law and for human development, if we cannot build this moral foundation human beings will create sufferings to themselves, to others and to all living beings. As such, at present we see that sufferings in the world have never ended due to conflicts and wars.

Do not believe that there is metaphysical world with saviours and souls of the dead, it is a blind faith that people have hitherto believed. In this life, there is no one who can save us like ourselves, there is no one who can bestow blessings to us like ourselves. If we perform evil deeds, who dares to save us? And if we perform goodness, we need no one to bestow good fortune to us while good fortune still comes to us.

As thoroughly understanding the Right method of the Buddha, we would like to clarify this matter to help people realize the dead do not have souls remaining, as there is no soul existence, metaphysical world also does not exist. So for what purpose and benefit do people perform worshipping?

In order to uproot the ruling of metaphysical world in people’s mind, the only way is to make people understand that SOUL DOES NOT EXIST. When everyone understands SOUL DOES NOT EXIST, metaphysical world will be shattered. We have already made such confirmation, but if people do not want to understand our words, people have to suffer from their own ignorance, blind faith, and superstition. It results in their waste of money and efforts in nonsensical manner.

A daily life evidence we have witnessed is that people not only in Vietnam but also on this planet believe that SOULS exist. Based on the belief in SOUL existence some people have written canons to fabricate many metaphysical worlds to deceive people into worshipping, requiem, wishing for peace etc. to take their money.

Based on the belief in the existence of metaphysical world, some people whose khandha of imagination works often live in IMAGINATION and thus create phenomena of metaphysical world to make others fanatically believe in the existence of gods, deities, demons, ghosts etc.

Due to the belief in gods and deities, human beings have lost their self-reliant will, they only live with weak and coward mind with constant fear and keep begging, bowing and asking for protection and support of gods and deities for peaceful and happy life.

It has now become their habit and custom to rely on the power of Gods and Deities. When relying on gods and deities they have to perform worshipping with bowing and praying. It is such worshipping that has made people become blind, superstitious, and backward. If human beings only rely on the power of Gods, Deities and keep doing evil things, peace and happiness from such worshipping will never become true.

It is not an easy task to bring benefit to people, particularly in uprooting the ideology of soul. If they accept to listen it would not be difficult, otherwise it would not be easy, as the ideology of SOUL has been deeply imbedded in the mind and brain of human beings. Therefore demolishing SOUL ideology is a thousand-fold difficult task, but giving up in the face of difficulty means a person who is not perseverant, not stout, not courageous, pusillanimous, weak.

SOUL truly does not exist, but in order to clarify this matter only people who have practiced and attained the mind of ANASRAVA5, having entered the Four Noble Concentrations and attained the Three Insights can have sufficient ability to explain and confirm “SOUL DOES NOT EXIST”, but even such people still encounter difficulty in convincing people.

We know our confirmation that SOUL does not exist is the truth, but people may not listen to us, as SOUL ideology has been deeply embedded in their mind, especially according to metaphysical legends of SOUL from the ancestors of human beings.

As such, when repudiating metaphysical world and SOUL existence, we should be aware that we may not be able to convince people but instead be rejected and opposed by them.

Up to now people have believed: though human beings died, their SOULS remain forever. Such understanding has been rooted since the appearance of human beings on the earth up to today. Therefore it is very difficult to eliminate the theory of SOUL, though nowadays people are equipped with scientific knowledge and they also know that their understanding of soul is not correct, they still have not yet been able to get rid of it.

5 [translator] Anasrava (Sanskrit) means the state without any suffering i.e. the state without craving, anger and ignorance. It is also the state of Nibbana. 

In order to ascertain SOUL exist or not, it’s important that we have to determine where religions come from. Are religions created by human beings or have religions already existed before human beings?

How to determine whether religions have come into existence before or since human beings, it is a very important question in determining whether metaphysical exists or not.

For this question, we would like to strongly confirm that religions are established by human beings. Therefore it is that people give birth to religions, not religions give birth to people.

It is very clear, the birth of religions also has been based on the theory of SOUL of human beings, with which each religion builds its own metaphysical world, and hence the creation of King of Heaven, Creator, God, Buddhas, Deities, the Immortals, Guardian Spirits, God of the soil, demons, ghosts etc. All these are created by human beings out of their imagination.

For what purpose have human beings created these characters?

Human beings often feel intimidated, so in front of universal phenomena such as lightening, thunder, thunderbolts, imposing and immense forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, they are just tiny beings. As such, human beings always feels frightened, shaken in the face of destructive activities of the universe, storms, floods, tsunamis etc.

Due to being frightened and shaken in front of natural phenomena, human beings have created these great characters to rely on and console themselves, in the circumstances of torrents of rain, thunderstorms, hurricanes, lightening or in misfortunes of accident or sickness and the likes, the only thing they know is to bow down, worship and beg for these powerful characters to support, protect and save them from the mishaps and diseases. Also when relatives died, their love is placed on requiem for souls to be free from sufferings and go to Heaven realm, Buddha realm.

 That is their wish to convey their love for the passed away relatives. That love has made them live in the illusion of the existence of SOULS. Due to living in the illusion of the existence of SOULS, they have become people of blind faith, superstition and backwardness.

Some cunning and crafty people taking advantage of the belief in SOUL existence have built up religions and religious sects, particularly written superstitious texts and canons to teach people practicing methods. The majority of these practicing methods are to suppress people’s consciousness of mind in order to awake the consciousness of imagination and make it become active to create metaphysical world. These are practicing methods to develop imagination of Chinese monks, such practicing methods are against the teachings of Buddhism. For the teachings of Buddhism teach people to master their life and death with their consciousness of mind: “Mind is the forerunner of all states, mind is the chief, mind creates states”, i.e. to use the consciousness of mind to abandon desire and evilness and thus make the mind unshakeable, peaceful, blissful and carefree. However, these expanded canons teach people to beseech other power and hence they often recite, chant, repeat Buddha’s name, pray to Gods and Deities, perform requiem, wish for peace, call up spirits etc. They have propagated these texts and canons everywhere, leading people to live in illusion, once people have believed in such texts and canons they become pious devotees living in metaphysical illusion. That is the way of applying the policy to keep people in ignorance, make them live in passiveness, destroy the self-reliant spirit for fighting of Vietnamese people.

Since the introduction of such texts and canons, people have been instructed to recite, chant, worship, perform requiem, wish for peace, burn joss paper. Such texts and canons have made people who have already been superstitious become even more superstitious, who have already believed in SOUL now have stronger belief in SOUL.

As above mentioned, we know very clearly that religions are created by people, as they are influenced by the legends of SOUL of human beings. The influence of legends of SOUL of human beings has run deep in people’s mind. Religioners know this very well and thus have established illusive realms of Heaven, Hell where SOULS reside. Creating religions is for the purpose of having a support so that the belief in SOUL would be stronger.

During the time of the Buddha, the six heretical masters had established thirty three Heaven realms and people kept following such legend to believe and consider them as truth, therefore superstition continued to develop. Only when the Buddha was born, He followed his own practice to attain full enlightenment and thus was not affected by the teaching methods of heresy. So after having accomplished his practice, He used the Three Insights to observe the universe and saw no metaphysical world, he thus stated: “Thirty three heaven realms are the knowledge of imagination instead of the thorough/true knowledge”. His announcement convulsed the religions in the world as there was no religion without establishment of metaphysical world.

Nowadays though people still believe in SOUL existence, no one dares to deny the teaching of the Buddha or considers it as wrong. Though the teaching of the Buddha is gentle, it has upset the knowledge of human beings.

Below is an account of the search for the remains of a guerrilla woman during the resistance against the French colonialists. The account described the evidence that the scientists themselves had witnessed during the course of searching for the remains of patriotic martyrs which was inexplainable through the performance of the psychics.

When we have not been able to confirm if SOUL exists or not, we need to raise the question: “Is it true that human beings have afterlife?”

With this question, if any of you understand, please provide us the answer so that together we establish a better moral culture of Vietnam, which is no longer influenced by the superstitious and backward culture of the Chinese transmitted to our Vietnam country long ago.

If there were afterlife, then metaphysical world did exist. But if it were true there must have been obvious and specific proof instead of the way of our forefathers who believed in whatever they were told. Our times do not allow us to take belief inconsiderately, or believe regardless if it is factual or not, or regardless of right or wrong foundation, our belief must be with specific proof.

If we hastily affirm that statements of the psychics regarding the existence of SOUL are correct, such statements are insufficient for scientific practicality. As scientific proof is specific, obvious, unambiguous, and not abstract, it therefore is able to convince people.

As a result at present though people believe in SOUL existence, their belief is not complete, their knowledge remains doubtful with the question: “does SOUL exist or not?”

Phenomena of telepaths/psychics are now numerous. So what is functioning inside them to make them become telepaths/psychics? We are similar to them, why can’t we be telepathic like them?

Or must there be some accidents happen such as: to be bitten by rabid dogs, transportation accidents, serious diseases, electric shock similar to the telepaths/psychics have experienced? Due to such events their bodies have changed and are no longer in normal state like others. As the bodies have had change and so they become telepaths/psychics.

Recently many people have become telepaths/psychics, please read the stories in “SPIRITUAL WORLD” collected and compiled by Tran Ngoc Lam for further details.

Such telepathic/ psychic phenomena must be clearly evidenced, otherwise we should not rashly believe that SOULS of the dead enter others’ bodies. If one hastily assumes that SOULS exist while unable to evidence, such assumption is the type of superstition and blind faith that people have hitherto adopted.

The era of civilization and science does not allow us to adopt thoughtless, inaccurate, vague, and unclear belief. If we are ill-considered in our belief like that, it means we have not been sufficiently equipped with scientific knowledge and hence follow the path of our forefathers.

In order to provide clarification to this matter, let us read the summary of “SEARCHING FOR THE REMAINS OF PATRIOTIC MARTYRS, A MYSTERIOUS JOURNEY”6 of Professor Tran Phuong.

This article is about the metaphysical phenomena happening via the performance of the psychics and the Government has also approved to establish a research centre for human Special Potentials which have not been explained by anyone up to now.

When reason is unable to comprehend, it cannot stand firm. When it cannot stand firm, both psychology and physiology will be tilted towards metaphysical world. When psychology and physiology are tilted towards metaphysical world, it means the mind will be directed towards imagination. Telepaths/psychics are people whose reason no longer stands firm on psychology and so their consciousness of imagination functions, as a result they are no longer in control of their body and mind when their consciousness of imagination operates. As such they are no longer normal people.

6 [translator] The full publication of this article of Professor Tran Phuong can be found in the book “Way Back to the Buddha’s Place” volume 3, item of “Metaphysical world does not exist”, by the Venerable Elder Thich Thong Lac.

  

 While they are talking to us as usual, but only with a tremble of limbs or an oscillation of the body, their consciousness of imagination immediately works, or when the hosts [i.e. those inviting the psychics] would like them to call the souls of the dead, as soon as their mouths move to pray the name of the dead, their consciousness of imagination instantly works. At that moment, whatever they say or do is according to their consciousness of imagination, other people do not understand this and regard it as the entering of the dead’s SOULS. These phenomena are due to the consciousness of imagination which telepathizes the magnetic fields7 of images and sounds of the dead remaining in space, people do not comprehend this and mistakenly believe in the existence of metaphysical world.

The consciousness of imagination works in many forms:

7 [translator] Vietnamese “từ trường” literally means “magnetic field”. However the Venerable Elder Thich Thong Lac has made clear in his book “Way Back To The Buddha’s Place” – Volume 1 that “the words of magnetic field are a physics term which is temporarily used to make it easier for people to understand, but the meaning of “magnetic field” does not exactly reflect the nature of the phenomenon”.

1. Dreaming during sleep

2. Convulsive eyelids

3. Palpitation of heart

4. Going into trance

5. The state as if a spirit entered one’s body

6. Sight of imagination

7. Sound of imagination

8. Smell of imagination

9. Taste of imagination

10. Telepathy of imagination

The imagination of psychics works in two forms i.e. the state as if a spirit entered one’s body and telepathy. But people who don’t understand consider this as spirituality, as SOULS of the dead enter.

In brief, the story of “SEARCHING FOR THE REMAINS OF PATRIOTIC MARTYRS, A MYSTERIOUS JOURNEY” has made people waver between science and spirituality, as science cannot ascertain if SOULS exist or not. Now the stories of psychics searching for the remains of patriotic martyrs have made people as well as some scientists have no choice but to accept the existence of SOULS.

Why aren’t people judicious to use their reason to verify doubtful things instead of hastily believing in what is told, blindly believing without pondering how many types of consciousness does a human body have?

What duty does each type of consciousness do?

People with high-level of education and knowledge do not know how many types of consciousness are working in a human body, this means your knowledge is still limited and you should learn more, should further study and refer to canons.

Why don’t you judiciously raise question by yourselves? Why do people dream when they sleep?

So what type of CONSCIOUSNESS in a human body is the knowing in the dreams? Why is it that when people are awake they don’t dream and only when they sleep they have dream? So which CONSCIOUSNESS is in the dream and which CONSCIOUSNESS does not dream?

Every day we live with the consciousness of mind. So does the consciousness of mind dream?

The consciousness of mind never has dream, because when it works we never sleep. Let us follow the questions below to find out how many types of CONSCIOUSNESS there are in a human body.

Why sometimes do we dream in our sleep? But why sometimes do we not dream in our sleep?

So what consciousness works in the dream and what consciousness works without dreaming?

During the day people work and do different things for life, that is the consciousness of mind, this type of consciousness never has dream, but during the night in sleep there is dream. So is the dream our SOULS which move out to act?

With such questions raised, we see clearly that in our body there are many types of consciousness, not just one type. The majority of us mistakenly think that the dream is because when we sleep our SOULS move out to meet others’ SOULS.

If in our dream we met others’ SOULS, at that moment they should have been sleeping like us and their SOULS also moved out to meet our SOULS. But when we woke up we came to ask other people, it turned out that they slept without dreaming and also did not meet our SOULS. As such, having dreams during sleep does not mean others’ SOULS meet us but it is our consciousness of imagination that creates their images. From this pondering, we confirm human beings do not have SOULS. SOUL is the imagination of people in the past handed down to us, the truth is Buddhism has ascertained that human beings DO NOT HAVE SOULS. As such in a human body there are many types of consciousness classified into two parts:

I/ The first part: Every day we live and communicate with people with the six types of consciousness:

1. The consciousness of the eye which is called EYE CONSCIOUSNESS.

2. The consciousness of the ear which is called EAR CONSCIOUSNESS.

3. The consciousness of the nose which is called NOSE CONSCIOUSNESS.

4. The consciousness of the mouth which is called MOUTH (TONGUE) CONSCIOUSNESS.

5. The consciousness of the body which is called BODY CONSCIOUSNESS.

6. The consciousness of the mind which is called the CONSCIOUSNESS OF MIND.

These six types of consciousness work in our daily life and create so many good things and also so many evil things. From the operation of our body, mouth and mind we create goodness and also create evilness, as a result every day we receive good and bad consequences/fruits and this continues from one life to another and forever.

II/ Thesecondpartistheconsciousnessthat works in the dream when people dream in their sleep, that consciousness is the consciousness of imagination therefore when we suddenly wake up we see what in the dream is only images of imagination.

 From this thinking we give ourselves a question: Is it possible that souls work in the dreams?

No, it is not! You are wrong if you think so, in our body there are three types of knowing:

1. The first knowing is the knowing of the six types of consciousness: eye, ear, nose, mouth, body and mind.

2. The second knowing is the knowing of consciousness of imagination when we dream.

3. The third knowing is the knowing of people who have accomplished their practice and attained full enlightenment, it is called the THREE INSIGHTS.

These three knowings are using the feelings and actions in our body and mind. As such, there are five parts which are combined together to function and people often refer this to as human BODY.

So a human BODY has five parts: 

1. Khandha (aggregate)8 of form.  

2. Khandha (aggregate) of feeling

3. Khandha (aggregate) of imagination

4. Khandha (aggregate) of operation

5. Khandha (aggregate) of consciousness (ultimate wisdom)

8 [translator] Skandhas (Sanskrit) or khandhas (Pāḷi) mean aggregates, collections, groupings.

With the five khandhas in a body, if only one khandha is stopped, the BODY will be immobile. As human BODY resembles a machine with five wheels functioning, if any wheel is stopped all other wheels are also stopped.

However when we sleep, it is not that our body stops functioning, it is functioning in its quietness and static rest.

We would like to repeat the five parts of the body including:

1. Khandha of form (the entire body).

2. Khandha of feeling (the feelings of six senses (body) and imagination).

3. Khandha of imagination (the consciousness in the dream, the knowing of telepaths/psychics which people do not understand and thus call it soul or spirituality).

4. Khandha of operation (the operations of six senses and consciousness of imagination)

5. Khandha of consciousness (ultimate wisdom) is the knowing of people who have accomplished their practice and attained full enlightenment.

A human body has all five khandhas. But according to Buddhism when a person dies, none of these five khandhas remains, up to now people keep mistakenly considering that the dead still have SOULS exist forever. So what kind of material is SOUL made of? There’s hardly anyone that can answer this question, and once there is no answer, people should not believe that SOUL is real, instead they should follow the teaching of the Buddha:

“HUMAN BEINGS DO NOT HAVE SOULS, WHEN THEY DIE, THE FOUR GREAT ELEMENTS RETURN TO THE FOUR GREAT ELEMENTS”. The body of FOUR GREAT ELEMENTS means the body that is made out of earth (soil), water, wind (air), fire (heat). When a person dies, soil returns to soil, water returns to water, air returns to air, heat returns to heat. So when a human being dies, all is finished. Is this true?

No, dear all, it is not! Death does not means everything is finished. When alive, a person had created innumerable karmas, each created karma immediately took rebirth in the form of either human being or other beings. A human being creates as many karmas, as many human beings and other beings will be born to either enjoy the good fortunes or to suffer from the sorrowful consequences.

As the law of cause and effect works in such a way, human beings living on this planet have created innumerous karmas. When a karma is created, it will instantly transmigrate and take rebirth instead of waiting until the person that created the karma dies. As such, a human being, while alive, creates the karma of killing and eating living beings, such karma at once takes rebirth as animals similar to the pigs, cows, chickens, ducks, fishes, shrimps etc. that were killed by the person.

Knowing clearly karma takes rebirth, Buddhism has ascertained human beings do not have SOULS reincarnating but it is KARMA TAKES REBIRTH.