Write 300-1,800 words (about 1-6 pages, double-spaced) on the following topic:

The Heart Sutra says, "Listen, Shariputra, form is emptiness, emptiness is form...." Explain what this means according to Hua-yan Buddhism. (Your explanation should make clear both why form is emptiness and why emptiness is form.) How is this doctrine related to Nagasena's view, as illustrated by the simile of the chariot? (In particular, is the position of Hua-yan the same as, contradictory to, or consistent with Nagasena's position?) What ethical implications are supposed to follow from the metaphysical position of Hua-yan? Consider the life of a person with a romantic partner and children. To what extend is it possible to justify such a life according to the Hua-yan view? (Is it ethically permissible to lead such a life? Could such a life be the best, or at least one of the best, kinds of life?)

Our representative Huayan Buddhist texts have been The Heart of Understanding and the "Treatise on the Golden Lion." Remember that you are responsible for the rules of writing and usage in my A Supplement to Strunk and White.

(Last updated February 6, 2007.)