By Victor M Fontane
Every being is born entangled in karma (कर्म), residing in a world of “saṃvṛti-satya” (संवृति सत्य) – conventional truth. This refers to the realm of phenomenal appearances, all things arising from dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda – प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद), subject to the laws of birth and death (utpāda-nirodha – उत्पादनिरोध). Confronted with lives interwoven with karmic threads, we are drawn by this very “karma” to seek understanding of “paramārtha-satya” (परमार्थ सत्य) – ultimate truth, the Dharma (धर्म) that transcends duality – a realm untouched by conditioned arising, free from birth and death. However, even these concepts are not ultimately real, for they too originate from beginningless “karma” (अनादिकर्म).
Shakyamuni Buddha (Siddhartha – सिद्धार्थ) navigated the complexities of “saṃvṛti-satya”, experiencing both extreme pleasure and extreme pain. He witnessed the bliss of celestial beings (devas – देव) and endured the austerities of self-mortification. These contrasting experiences revealed to him that clinging to either absolute pleasure or absolute pain only perpetuated suffering (duḥkha – दुःख). Upon abandoning extreme asceticism, through a fortuitous confluence of circumstances (pratītyasamutpāda), the Buddha observed a lute player, whose performance sparked a profound realization: the perfect tension of the strings lay in the middle way, between looseness and tightness. This, combined with his acceptance of sustenance from a young girl, which restored his strength and allowed for deeper reflection on his prior asceticism, paved the path to his understanding of the Middle Way (madhyamā-pratipad – मध्यम प्रतिपद्), itself arising from his own beginningless “karma”.
The Buddha realized “śūnyatā” (शून्यता) – emptiness, the wisdom that transcends the duality of self and other, of “is” and “is not,” a realization equated with paramārtha-satya. Within the Middle Way, there is no clinging (upādāna – उपादान), no aversion (dveṣa – द्वेष), for without dualistic judgments, the mind finds liberation (mokṣa – मोक्ष), ultimate “nirvāṇa” (निर्वाण). Yet, the Buddha cautioned against reifying “nirvāṇa”, against perceiving it as something inherently existent or non-existent. Even the concept of “nirvāṇa” within the mind is a form of judgment, a label, thus a manifestation of “karma”. To posit its existence or non-existence is equally so. The Middle Way allows for both “sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa” (सोपधिшеष निर्वाण) - “nirvāṇa” with remainder and “nirupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa” (निरुपधिषेश निर्वाण) - “nirvāṇa” without remainder. It neither affirms nor denies.
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