18 April 2022, drafts and marks2

 The River Map and the Lo Shu Square, or He Tu (河图) and Luo Shu (洛书), are two mysterious diagrams from ancient China, though extremely simple, it is widely believed that the two diagrams indicate particular mathematical sequences and changes of the universe. The river which is in the name of the river map sometimes is explained as the yellow river, and the other times are explained as the Milky Way ( for its Chinese name is the silver river). It is widely accepted that the two shapes reflect the sequence of change of the great universe.  Based on the two diagrams, Fu Xi, the one who is said to have invented the ancient Chinese Characters made the diagram of Bagua. 

Left: River Map                            Right: Lo Shu Square

 

It is impressive how such simple diagrams record and predict the moving tracks of important constellations. The Yin and Yang, in the diagrams, black and white, entail uncountable varieties.

In Taoism, especially in Dao De Jing, a statement of emptiness was made: 

The thirty spokes unite in the one nave; but it is on the empty space (for the axle), that the use of the wheel depends. Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness, that their use depends.

In my understanding, emptiness is not a contradiction to materiality. If there is no emptiness, there is no room for materiality. On the other hand, if there is no materiality, there is no emptiness felt by the mind. The two contradictions make room for the other, while making changes. The contradictions are based on the mind.

In his brief explanation of the Diamond Sutra, Master Hsuan Hua stated:

 

The Brahma God replied, “Even if they were allowed to depart for as many kalpas as there are grains of sand in the Ganges River, they could not escape this truth. They are like a fool who, fearing emptiness, tries to walk away from emptiness. No matter where he goes, he does not leave emptiness behind. Those bhikṣus are just like that. Although they may go a long way, they cannot leave the mark of emptiness.

“They are also like a man who seeks emptiness. Racing east and west he says, ‘I want emptiness! I want emptiness!’ That man merely says the name of emptiness; he does not perceive emptiness. Those bhikṣus are also like that. Desiring to attain nirvāṇa, they practice in the midst of nirvāṇa and do not attain it. For what reason? Nirvāṇa is merely a name, and just like emptiness which is merely a name, it cannot be obtained.” (Shi, 2003, pp. 6-7)

In general, emptiness is deemed the nature of materiality,  or from my perspective, the above cases view the world, ontologically and empirically, based on the emptiness side rather than the material side. The temporal structure is to be further studied based on these concepts.

References

Shi, H. H. (2003). The Vajra Prajñā Pāramitā Sūtra: a general explanation (2nd. ed. ed.). Buddhist Text Translation Society. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=xmaDBAAAQBAJ&pg=GBS.PT2&hl=en_GB (1974)