The core of Master Yin Shun's philosophy is to "humanize Buddhism and bring bodhisattvas into this world." This concept of "humanized Buddhism" has been devoutly undertaken by Master Cheng Yen and her millions of followers. Here at the Taipei branch office, I often receive many visitors from around the world. I explain to them that both Master Yin Shun and Master Cheng Yen are practitioners of Buddhism who encourage their disciples to take what they have learned from the Buddha's philosophy and practice it in daily life.

To celebrate his birthday, the Tzu Chi TV Station began airing a documentary series on our Grandmaster on the evening of April 13th. The documentary consisted of eight 30-minute segments in which Yao Jen-lu, general manager of the TV station, interviewed the Grandmaster many times. In one of the interviews, Yao asked the Venerable Master to pinpoint the essence of Mahayana Buddhism in one sentence. After pondering for a few seconds, the Master replied, "The interdependent arising of conditions and the void of fixed nature." Even though I had studied this theory before from the Grandmaster's collected works in The Anthology of the Wonderful Clouds, I still got goose bumps all over my body when I heard this reply.

What exactly is "the interdependent arising of conditions and the void of fixed nature?" In short, this tenet means that nothing in the universe has its own fixed nature--that is, nothing is self-created, independent, or capable of existing permanently. Since nothing has a fixed nature in its own right, everything is created, and is terminated according to previous causes or chance meetings of certain circumstances. The moment a single change occurs in a person's life, the rest of his life will be transformed accordingly. Therefore, life essentially consists of one changing episode after another. It is a condition with no fixed nature and is thus void.

However, the tenet does not mean to teach people to ignore the world and disregard all things within it simply because all things are impermanent and will perish sooner or later. On the contrary, it positively teaches people on the one hand to remain unattached to anything physical and material and on the other hand to cherish everything created from the gathering of conditions. Once we can profoundly observe this tenet, we have the power to emancipate ourselves from the burdens and desires of this world. We then discover there is no fulfillment in continuing the cycle of obtaining such things as fame, wealth, long life, etc. We can reach the sphere of mental tranquility by treating everything with an unencumbered manner.

Unexpectedly, this tenet is a gift that has helped me gain a deeper understanding of the Heart Sutra. Now I can especially grasp the meaning of "form is void and the very void is form." Realizing the notion of "the interdependent arising of conditions and the void of fixed nature," I know that the Five Aggregates (form, perception, consciousness, action, and knowledge) are void as they arise from conditions and thus have no fixed nature of their own. I also realize that both form and emptiness coexist as one. I can then learn to follow the Golden Mean between these two extremes and to see "have" in emptiness and "have not" in form. Above all, I can observe everything with the wisdom of balance that teaches me to let go and yet to lead a diligent life in a world of impermanence.

With the help of our American editor, Douglas Shaw, I translated the Heart Sutra two years ago. Even though Master Cheng Yen encouraged me to have it published at that time, I did not respond promptly because of my uncertainty as to its quality. But I have more confidence now after understanding and, with the help of Susannah Lin, incorporating Master Yin Shun's teaching on "the rising of conditions and the void of fixed nature." I feel that the conditions are now right for me to publish it in our magazine. I offer this as a belated birthday present to Master Yin Shun.