ALL THINGS ARE DEVOID OF SELF. The law that all things are devoid of self is the teaching that all things in this world, without exception, are related to one another. There is nothing that leads an isolated existence, that is wholly separated from other things. When we consider that even tiny insects, birds flying high in the sky, and pine trees growing on a distant hill were part of the same matter at the beginning of time on earth billions of years ago, we realize that these living beings are permeated by the same life-energy that gives us life. The same applies to earth, stone, clouds, and air.

When we turn our attention to the present and consider our own existence, we know that we are given life by earth and stone, and that we are obligated even to insects and birds. For example, if there were no clouds in the sky, we would have no rain; no plants would grow, and we would have no food. If there were no air, we could not live even a few minutes. Without exception, we have some invisible relationship even with those things that seem externally to have no connection with us.

To take a familiar example, even if our human bodies and minerals, such as iron, seem to be quite different, actually most of the body consists of water containing minerals; we live by the grace of such minerals as salt, calcium, iron, and copper. This fact demonstrates how things exist in connection with one another and are interdependent. It goes without saying that we have a much closer and stronger relationship to other human beings.

The late Dr. Albert Schweitzer, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who worked as a medical missionary among the Africans for over forty years at Lambarene, Gabon, was one of the greatest men of the twentieth century. It is said that Dr. Schweitzer firmly resolved to succor the African people when one day, listening to a Bach organ composition, he felt a sudden strong conviction. Reflecting on this story about Dr. Schweitzer, we cannot help being deeply impressed by the hidden linkings of cause and condition. Bach, who had died long before Dr. Schweitzer heard his music, could never have dreamed of this connection between himself and the people of Africa. However, a beautiful piece of music composed by Bach provided the catalyst that led to the great resolution of the young scholar of Alsace, Albert Schweitzer.

This is only one example of how invisible human relationships extend widely and deeply, like the meshes of a net. We can easily realize how much more closely the people of the same country are linked to one another. Economics provides an example of how relationships that appear superficial are actually much more deeply interwoven. For whom are the taxes that we pay used? Who benefits by the health-insurance premiums that healthy people pay? Who pays the unemployment-insurance premiums that the unemployed receive? Such invisible and unrealized connections are more numerous than we can imagine. We are inseparably bound up with one another, and we all exist through being permeated by the same life-energy. In spite of this, opposition, dispute, struggle, and killing cause each of us to be swayed by his own ego and to live selfishly for his personal profit alone. This is the important reason why we must realize the truth that all things are devoid of self. When we have a deeper view of things, we realize that, as mentioned above, stagnating in a particular state or returning to a wrong course of life is sinful and evil because it goes against the historical inevitability and the natural course of human life that humanity advance step by step.

The Buddha's teachings instruct us that sin and evil did not originally exist in this world. They are due to the cessation of the proper progress of human life or the return to a wrong course. Therefore, the moment we abandon such negative uses of energy, that is, as soon as we are free from illusion, evil disappears and the world of the light of the brilliant rays of the Buddha is revealed before us. Our "non-advance," our "non-approach" to the Buddha, is sin and evil because such action is contrary to the proper course of human life.

From the selfish point of view of ego, we think that we can do as we like so long as we are prepared to accept the consequences of our actions, and ask only to be left alone and not interfered with by others. However, such an attitude is a fundamental error because our lives are related in some way to the lives of all others, so that the evil produced by one person inevitably exerts an influence upon other people somewhere, and the negligence of one person is sure to prevent others from advancing. If we understand this, we can be spiritually awakened to the fact that our own stagnation or retrogression hinders others, so that we determine to advance bit by bit. This is the true spirit of the law that all things are devoid of self, and this is the reason why the true spirit of Buddhism consists in constant endeavor.

NIRVANA IS QUIESCENCE. The law that nirvana is quiescence is the third of the three major fundamental principles of Buddhism. This law has been misunderstood because of misconstruing the word "nirvana." Many people think nirvana is synonymous with death. The words "Shakyamuni Buddha entered nirvana" are ordinarily used to refer to the death of the Buddha. For this reason the law "Nirvana is quiescence" has been understood to refer to a paradise like the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha, which in Pure Land Buddhism is believed to be our ideal destination after death.

The Sanskrit word nirvana has the negative meaning of "extinction" or "annihilation." Therefore this word also means the state in which one's body dies or disappears. At the same time, nirvana means the state reached by extinguishing all illusions, and this is the sense in which it is used in the teachings of the Buddha. In the true sense of the word, nirvana means the state attained by completely destroying all illusions and of never being tempted by them in the future. Therefore the words "Shakyamuni Buddha entered nirvana" mean not his death but the enlightenment attained by him.

The law "Nirvana is quiescence" teaches us that we can completely extinguish all the sufferings of human life and obtain peace and quietude when we destroy all illusions. How can we reach this state? The only way is to realize the two laws "All things are impermanent" and "All things are devoid of self."

The reason we worry about various kinds of sufferings is that we forget that all phenomena in this world are impermanent, that all things continuously change according to the law of cause and condition; we are deluded by phenomena and influenced by considerations of immediate gain or loss. If we study the way to buddhahood and by practicing it realize the truth of the impermanence of all things, we become able to attain a state of peace and quietude in which we can never be swayed by shifting circumstances. This is the state of "Nirvana is quiescence."

We sometimes feel troubled by shortages of goods, setbacks in business, or personal conflicts and disputes. This is because we lack harmony between ourselves and inanimate things and with other people. Why are we not in harmony with one another? This is because either we do not realize the truth that all things are devoid of self or we have forgotten this truth.

We can attain harmony with others spontaneously when we remember the truth that all things and all men are permeated by one great life-energy and that all things are invisibly interconnected, and when we make the best use of this interconnection by abandoning the idea of ego, that is, by enhancing this interconnection to benefit both ourselves and others. When in harmony with others, we can give up excess and deficiency, struggle and friction, and can maintain peaceful minds. This is the state expressed in the law "Nirvana is quiescence." It is an ideal state that can be only attained by realizing the other two laws, "All things are impermanent" and "All things are devoid of self."

The doctrines of the Eightfold Path and the Six Perfections teach us how to live in order to reach the state of "Nirvana is quiescence" and how we should practice the Buddha's teachings in order to do so. As these two doctrines have a close connection with the doctrine of the Four Noble Truths, a brief explanation of them follows.