Not Glued to Meaning

    In The Buddhist Teaching of Totality, Garma C.C. Chang remarks "Existence or non-existence is only meaningful when a definite realm is predetermined or implied. This very act of confining oneself to a particular realm in order to make something meaningful is the fundamental difference between the orientation of men and that of Hwa Yen. Men (sic) judge and view things from a definite, thus limiting, realm, but Hwa Yen views things from the standpoint of Totality--thus repudiating the very essence of 'defining' or building of any kind." (p.17) Some of this kind of discussion leads me to wonder, how does Buddhism compare with this attitude of finding meaning in specific things? One writer, Victor Frankl,talked about how those who lived in a concentration camp became resilient when they were able to story their lives or add something meaningful and hopeful to the situations. For instance, one of the concentration camp members had kept a picture of his wife with him as a reminder of the power of love in his life. Is Hwa Yen suggesting that all meaning is repudiated altogether? Why would it be insistent on, as Chang suggests, "repudiating the very essence of 'defining' or building of any kind"?
    I think the point of Hwa Yen school is not to repudiate meaning but to realize the endless, shifting multiplicity of realms of interconnected meaning., and how they don't interfere with each other. In fact, one can think of the whole of totality in this way. If  I am clinging to one particular view of things and the situation no longer allows my perspective to feel meaningful, then I am free to let go of it and experiment with other ways of seeing. In fact, it more often happens in meditation that my clinging to one particular experience causes me great suffering. Temporarily, it may seem that clinging to a good experience is a great energy boost-- and it certainly can be in some situations. But in the long run, I have never encountered a single instance in meditation practice that has been universally meaningful to me, or even serves as the 'model' for my other experiences. According to Hwa Yen school, the universe is simply too vast, intricate and infinitely complex to be able to be simplified into one equation or way of seeing. To put it in a more mundane sense: my understanding of water as a chemical compound might help me to develop a new water treatment system, but it won't help me to enjoy swimming. The two processes have to do with water, but mastering them requires completely different ways of seeing water.
     The view of 'no view' is not a nihilistic one, but it seems intended to show how mind can switch between realms and is never tied to a single perspective. It requires a bit of strength to see this, because for me, I have always wanted to be able to reduce experience to a single unified 'meaning' which I could write down or somehow memorize. Ironically, I almost feel like letting go of attachment to single meaning is perhaps the most (paradoxically) meaningful life because it allows each moment to reveal itself and alert us to life's inexhaustible mysteries.

Chang, Garma C.C.. The Buddhist Teaching of Totality. Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania University Press.