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The root idea behind the entire Mahāyāna is the emptiness of all Dharmas, including most centrally the beings devoted to awakening (Bodhisattvas), the path they practice, and the Perfect Wisdom (Prajñāpāramitā) they realize. Nobody realizes anything, because nothing “exists” [in itself as a separate, defined entity].

The earliest of the Prajñāpāramitā texts, The Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines, starts with this beautiful scene where the Buddha instructs the Bodhisattva Subhuti to teach the Perfection of Wisdom to the assembled Bodhisattvas, and Subhuti basically says “How can I teach a non-existent Dharma to non-existent students?”

This seemingly hairsplitting philosophical gesture—that nothing truly exists—paradoxically becomes the foundation for Buddhist social action because it undercuts the idea that renunciation and engagement are substantive distinguishing features on the path. The Mahāyāna literature creates a straw man figure of an Early Buddhist monk who still believes in the dualistic tenets of the path: renunciation, purification, suffering, liberation. Threatening the validity of all these ideas with the ruthless sword of emptiness, these texts create a new category of virtuous practitioner: the Bodhisattva who is not afraid when encountering the teaching of emptiness. So Bodhisattvas do not take their stand anywhere—and that’s what makes them Bodhisattvas!

Not seeing renunciation and engagement as opposites allows dedicated practitioners to see all activities as path and therefore act for the well-being of others in ways that are not bound by the discipline of renunciation in the same way that the Early tradition emphasized. This is the heart of Engaged Buddhist praxis. But it comes with a cost. We can’t enjoy the benefit of seeing renunciation and awakening as empty without also being forced to see identity, caste, social progress, and justice itself as also empty of intrinsic reality.

If we seek to use Mahāyāna Buddhist ideas as justification for social justice work, we must not be afraid of the central implications of this Dharma. “Only the Bodhisattva who is unafraid when hearing this teaching,” says Subhuti, “can truly be called a Bodhisattva.” That Bodhisattva knows that there is thus no such Dharma as a Bodhisattva, and no such Dharma as beings to be saved. Realizing this, the Bodhisattva becomes capable of saving all beings.

We continue tonight our conversation about the origins of Engaged Buddhist thought in the Perfection of Wisdom and early Mahāyāna literature.

Text referenced: Conze, The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines (1973), Revised Version by Babcock (2018): https://rywiki.tsadra.org/index.php/The_Perfection_of_Wisdom_in_8,000_Lines_(RiBa).

SEAN OAKES
Sean Feit Oakes, PhD (he/they, queer, Puerto Rican & English, living on Pomo ancestral land in Northern California), teaches Buddhism and somatic practice focusing on the integration of meditation, trauma resolution, and social justice. He received Insight Meditation teaching authorization from Jack Kornfield, and wrote his dissertation on extraordinary states in Buddhist meditation and experimental dance. Sean holds certifications in Somatic Experiencing (SEP, assistant), and Yoga (E-RYT 500, YACEP), and teaches at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, East Bay Meditation Center, Insight Timer, and elsewhere.

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Blessings on your path.