John Tan answered someone on contemplating emptiness:

 

John Tan:

Hm... There r 4 parts to really penetrate... If he really keen to penetrate.  He should contemplate:

1. non-arisen

2. Dependent arising of a vivid hearing of sound from hitting a bell... Where is that sound? Not found in any of the conditions, not found even if all conditions added yet when conditions are there, sound is heard. How is the world now articulated this way understood as compared to the dualistic and inherent paradigm then how is experience like?

3.  Then how to apply these insight emptiness, non-arisen, dependent arising relate to the world of delusory, the world of dreams, the world of pure appearances free from conceptual taints, what does it tell us about these 3 "worlds"?  

4.  Lastly after he understands 3, how he understand freedom comparing to how he sees now, freedom from conceptualities.
[9:40 pm, 15/05/2022] John Tan: For 1 he can contemplate:
[9:41 pm, 15/05/2022] John Tan: We seldom realize the baggage of notions that thoughts carry.  They are extremely "weighty" and tie down tremendous energy.  In addition to the notion of "self" that some have seen through, the next set of heavy weighty notions are "arising, abiding and ceasing". 

There are several times the cryptic phrase "non-arisen" has been asked and even though explanations are being made that conceptual notions are "empty and non-arisen", they do not exist much like a rope being mistaken as a "snake".  "Snake" never existed despite its "delusory appearance" when in confusion. 

But it can't trigger the "aha" moment that can free the mind and releases its energy much like in anatta.  Why?  Because “uprooting" of our deeply hypnotic spell cannot come from textbooks; the entire "weight" of these deeply ingrained notions must be felt so that we can feel the "weight" that spell-bound us to samsara.  So for those that r interested, they can contemplate:

1. This moment ceases as it arises, does it arise or does it cease.

2.  Past does not exist since it is already gone. Future does not exist since it is yet to arise and present is merely the intersection of past and future, then "present" also does not exist.  So "present" that is undeniably "here", does it exist or not exist?

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