..续本文上一页n I identify what is a dream and what is real

　　 Various different things in this world, although none of them can be established as real, we can see with our eyes. Therefore, it is completely possible that there is a demon deceiving us so that we cannot tell when things are real and when they are unreal.” The conclusion that they drew took a major step forward toward understanding emptiness, as compared to classical physics; they are even closer to the truth.

　　In the past, in the philosophy of classical physics, people believed that the smallest unit of matter was a molecule. From that point, the atom, nucleus, proton, neutron, and other concepts emerged. Then the scientist Gell-Man discovered the quark, and on account of this won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1969. Only then did people become aware that a smaller unit of particle actually existed. Many people feel he discovered a fascinating truth, but they remain unaware that Buddha already illustrated this in many sutras long ago.

　　When I meet and discuss with physicists, mathematicians, and other intellectuals at home or from abroad, I often deeply feel that no matter which fields of knowledge are being discussed, they all can be found in Buddhism; they are not too new to me. In the same way, when I see some bestselling books in a bookshop, such as The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment and The Secret, once I start to read them, I find that what they express never strays from the doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism. Of course, this could be due to my being out of touch with the secular world. However, whatever knowledge I have been exposed to so far I can categorize it as the philosophy of Buddhism.

　　Some scientists make astounding discoveries, and everyone feels they are amazing. For example, a few years ago, Dr. Stephen Hawking from the University of Cambridge wrote a bestseller, A Brief History of Time, which stunned the world for a while. It became a bestselling book on quantum physics and relativity. Dr. Stephen Hawking also tells us in The Universe in a Nutshell that our naked eyes can only perceive the three-dimensional material world; however, in actuality, there exist many more multidimensional spaces, possibly even eleven dimensions. This shows that there are many things our naked eye cannot see at all; what we can perceive today is extremely limited. This truth coincides with what the Flower Adornment Sutra says: “A mustard seed could hold the whole of Mount Sumeru, and a single thought pervades the three thousand universes,” and, “In each atom of the realms of the universe, there exist vast oceans of world systems. In each of the universes, there exists the inconceivable Buddha.”

　　In addition, when the microscope was invented in the 16th century, many people were amazed to find that the water was crowded with so many bacteria. They felt that it was quite remarkable. However, nobody was aware that long ago in the Agama Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha had already told his disciples: “In a bowl of water, there are 84,000 sentient beings. As these sentient beings are not visible to the naked eye, if we drink the water, it is not considered as killing sentient beings intentionally.”

　　I hope that everyone can put some effort into exploring carefully many of these Buddhist truths. I believe that during your investigation you will come to appreciate the profundity and vastness of Buddhism.

　　Many works about these two dharmas are available in Buddhist sutras and treatises, if you want to read about them. Regarding the profundity of Buddhism, it was articulated by Bodhisattva Nagarjuna, Bodhisattva Chandrakirti, and later, Shantideva and others composed works which meticulously elucidated it, too. As for the vastness of Buddhism, the great epistemologist Vasubandhu and Bo…

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