Showing posts with label Dependent Designation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dependent Designation. Show all posts

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[19/6/22, 12:32:58 AM] John Tan: Do u know what I mean?
[19/6/22, 1:15:04 AM] Soh Wei Yu: Hmm… we are always dealing with designations post equipoise, just that post insights there is the added benefit of seeing that designated entities are not inherently existing but dependently designations
[19/6/22, 1:15:35 AM] Soh Wei Yu: May
07
Ultimate and Relative
"If asked what I am most drawn to (in Tsongkhapa's teachings), I am most drawn to Prasangika's "mere imputation". The quintessence of "mere imputation" is IMO the essence of Buddhism. It is the whole of 2 truths; the whole of 2 folds. How the masters present and how it is being taught is entirely another matter. It is because in non-conceptuality, the whole of the structure of "mere imputation" is totally exerted into an instantaneous appearance that we r unable to see the truth of it. In conceptuality, it is expanded and realized to be in that structure. A structure that awakens us the living truth of emptiness and dependent arising that is difficult to see in dimensionless appearance."
"In ultimate (empty dimensionless appearance), there is no trace of causes and conditions, just a single sphere of suchness. In relative, there is dependent arising. Therefore distinct in relative when expressed conventionally but seamlessly non-dual in ultimate."

"When suchness is expressed relatively, it is dependent arising. Dependent designation in addition to causal dependency is to bring out a deeper aspect when one sees thoroughly that if phenomena is profoundly without essence then it is always only dependent designations."

- Thusness, 2015
Labels: Dependent Designation, Dependent Origination, Emptiness, Madhyamaka |

[19/6/22, 1:26:49 AM] John Tan: Yes. And uprooting of inherent and dualistic tendencies does not mean we stop engaging thoughts, stop comparing, stop categorising, unable to discern self and others.  But experience is  non-dual, free and open even when fully engaging in these activities.
[19/6/22, 1:27:28 AM] Soh Wei Yu: Oic.. yeah
[19/6/22, 1:34:52 AM] John Tan: But non-gelug school sees conventional and ultimate as mutually exclusive.
[19/6/22, 2:00:29 AM] Soh Wei Yu: yeah
[19/6/22, 2:00:38 AM] Soh Wei Yu: actually master shen kai and teacher chen emphasis seems different also
[19/6/22, 2:00:49 AM] Soh Wei Yu: master shen kai is like non gelug, say buddhas have no thoughts at all no concepts
[19/6/22, 2:01:05 AM] Soh Wei Yu: teacher chen always quote the hui neng give rise to thoughts 🤣
[19/6/22, 2:01:26 AM] Soh Wei Yu: i think he is counteracting the tendency among some ren cheng practitioners to go to the extreme of nonthought, nonconceptuality and I AM
[19/6/22, 3:40:38 AM] Soh Wei Yu: Uploaded

https://app.box.com/s/zc0suu4dil01xbgirm2r0rmnzegxaitq

[19/6/22, 9:40:43 AM] John Tan: Nothing wrong with that, master Shen Kai is not saying u become a rock but whether u walk or sit, breathe or sweeping floor, one is in a state of open radiance and presence, free of thoughts and concepts.  We just name such a state as meditative equipose in contrast to relative knowing, where we compare, measure and categorize using conceptual thoughts as post equipose.  But when u realized anatta esp when u mature the insight, there is actually no entry or exit in taste.
[19/6/22, 9:48:50 AM] John Tan: However it is true that most of the time, one is in a natural state of non-dual presence and radiance free of conceptual thoughts.
[19/6/22, 10:32:24 AM] Soh Wei Yu: Oic..
[19/6/22, 10:38:57 AM] John Tan: The greatest challenge studying Tibetan Buddhism is to sort out those technical jargons and mapping it to anatta insight and experiences...so when coming out the ATR guide, u better come out a list of what u meant by those terms in ATR...🤣🤦‍♂️
 

Soh Wei Yu

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This explanation by Geoff on anatta is very good. Seer and seeing dependent on seen means no [self-existing] seer or seeing. Seen dependent on faculty and cognition is nothing seen. Therefore, in the seen just the seen is no seer, no seeing, and nothing seen. The vivid radiance of appearances are not denied yet resembles a rainbow or a mirage, illusory and unestablished.

 

p.s. The source PDF by Geoff [although this particular text is focused on the Pali canon, Geoff is both a scholar and practitioner in both Vajrayana/Mahamudra and Theravada traditions] is so good that John Tan has commented its good quality multiple times and has asked me to pin it to the top of the 'Insightful Materials' of the AtR blog. Hope there are more similar summaries for Mahayana and Vajrayana paths as well. Measureless Mind PDF: https://app.box.com/s/nxby5606lbaei9oudiz6xsyrdasacqph

 

The Recognition of Selflessness (Anattasaññā)

 

Look at the world and see its emptiness Mogharāja, always mindful,

Eliminating the view of self, one goes beyond death.

One who views the world this way is not seen by the king of death.

— Sutta Nipāta 5.15, Mogharājamāavapucchā

 

The contemplation of selflessness is given in AN 10.60 Girimānanda Sutta:

 

Now what, Ānanda, is the recognition of selflessness? Here, Ānanda, a monk, gone to the wilderness, to the root of a tree, or to an empty place, discriminates thus: ‘The eye is not-self, forms are not-self; the ear is not-self, sounds are not-self; the nose is not-self, odors are not-self; the tongue is not-self, flavors are not-self; the body is not-self, tactual objects are not-self; the mind is not-self, phenomena are not-self.’ Thus he abides contemplating selflessness with regard to the six internal and external sensory spheres. This, Ānanda, is called the recognition of selflessness.

 

In practice, we need to be able to recognize this absence of self in our immediate experience: When seeing, there is the coming together of visible form, the eye, and visual consciousness. When hearing, there is the coming together of sound, the ear, and auditory consciousness. When touching, there is the coming together of tactual sensation, the body, and tactile consciousness. When thinking, there is the thought, the mind, and mental consciousness. These processes arise simply through ‘contact.’ When a sense faculty and a sensory object make contact, the corresponding sensory consciousness arises. This entire process occurs through specific conditionality (idappaccayatā). There is no independent, fully autonomous agent or self controlling any of this.

 

An independent, autonomous self would, by definition, be:

 

1. permanent

2. satisfactory

3. not prone to dis-ease

4. fully self-determining (be in complete autonomous control of itself)

 

Thus, what is being negated is a permanent, satisfactory self which is not prone to old age, sickness, and death. As SN 22.59 Pañcavaggiya Sutta (abridged) states:

 

Monks, form, feeling, recognition, fabrications, and consciousness are not-self. Were form, feeling, recognition, fabrications, or consciousness self, then this form, feeling, recognition, fabrications, and consciousness would not lead to dis-ease.

 

This criterion of dis-ease is the context for the following statement that:

 

None can have it of form, feeling, recognition, fabrications, or consciousness: ‘Let my form, feeling, recognition, fabrications, or consciousness be thus, let my form, feeling, recognition, fabrications, or consciousness be not thus.’

 

By engaging in sustained, dedicated contemplation we find only impermanent processes, conditionally arisen, and not fully self-determining. First we clearly see that all conditioned phenomena of body and mind are impermanent. Next we come to see that whatever is impermanent is unsatisfactory in that it can provide no lasting happiness. Then we realize that all impermanent, unsatisfactory phenomena of body and mind are not-self — they can’t be the basis for a self, which by definition would be permanent and (one would hope) satisfactory. This relationship between the recognition of impermanence, the recognition of unsatisfactoriness, and the recognition of selflessness is illustrated in the following diagram.

 

With the recognition of selflessness there is an emptying out of both the “subject” and “object” aspects of experience. We come to understand that “I-making” and “mine-making” with regard to the mind and body as well as all external representations is deluded. When the recognition of selflessness is fully developed there is no longer any reification of substantial referents to be experienced in relation to subjective grasping. Whatever is seen is merely the seen (diṭṭhamatta). Whatever is heard or sensed is merely the heard (sutamatta) and merely the sensed (mutamatta). Whatever is known is merely the known (viññātamatta). This is explained in Ud 1.10 Bāhiya Sutta:

 

"Then, Bāhiya, you should train yourself thus: In reference to the seen, there will be only the seen. In reference to the heard, only the heard. In reference to the sensed, only the sensed. In reference to the cognized, only the cognized. That is how you should train yourself. When for you there will be only the seen in reference to the seen, only the heard in reference to the heard, only the sensed in reference to the sensed, only the cognized in reference to the cognized, then, Bāhiya, there is no you in connection with that. When there is no you in connection with that, there is no you there. When there is no you there, you are neither here nor yonder nor between the two. This, just this, is the end of stress."

 

When there is no self to be found one’s experience becomes very simple, direct, and uncluttered. When seeing, there is the coming together of visible form, the eye, and visual consciousness, that’s all. There is no separate “seer.” The seer is entirely dependent upon the seen. There can be no seer independent of the seen. There is no separate, independent subject or self.

 

This is also the case for the sensory object. The “seen” is entirely dependent upon the eye faculty and visual consciousness. There can be no object seen independent of the eye faculty and cognition. This is the case for all possible sensory objects. There is no separate, independent sensory object.

 

The same holds true for sensory consciousness as well. “Seeing” is entirely dependent upon the eye and visible form. There can be no seeing independent of the eye and cognition. This is the case for all possible sensory cognitions. There is no separate, independent sensory consciousness.

 

It’s important to understand this experientially. Let’s take the straightforward empirical experience of you looking at this screen right now as an example. Conventionally speaking, you could describe the experience as “I see the computer screen.” Another way of describing this is that there’s a “seer” who “sees” the “seen.” But look at the screen: are there really three independent and separate parts to your experience? Or are “seer,” “sees,” and “seen,” just three conceptual labels applied to this experience in which the three parts are entirely interdependent?

 

The “seer,” “seen,” and “seeing” are all empty and insubstantial. The eye faculty, visible form, and visual consciousness are all interdependent aspects of the same experience. You can’t peel one away and still have a sensory experience — there is no separation. AN 4.24 Kāakārāma Sutta:

 

Thus, monks, the Tathāgata does not conceive an [object] seen when seeing what is to be seen. He does not conceive an unseen. He does not conceive a to-be-seen. He does not conceive a seer.

 

He does not conceive an [object] heard when hearing what is to be heard. He does not conceive an unheard. He does not conceive a to-be-heard. He does not conceive a hearer.

 

He does not conceive an [object] sensed when sensing what is to be sensed. He does not conceive an unsensed. He does not conceive a to-be-sensed. He does not conceive a senser.

 

He does not conceive an [object] known when knowing what is to be known. He does not conceive an unknown. He does not conceive a to-be-known. He does not conceive a knower.

 

Sensory consciousness can’t be isolated as separate and independent. Nor can any of these other interdependent phenomena. Even the designations that we apply to these various phenomena are entirely conventional, dependent designations. But this doesn’t mean that we should now interpret our experience as being some sort of cosmic oneness or unity consciousness or whatever one may want to call it. That's just another empty, dependent label isn’t it? The whole point of this analysis is to see the emptiness of all referents, and thereby stop constructing and defining a “self.”

 

The purpose of correctly engaging in the contemplation of selflessness is stated in AN 7.49 Dutiyasaññā Sutta:

‘The recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and benefit; it merges with the death-free, has the death-free as its end.’ Thus it was said. In reference to what was it said?

 

Monks, when a monk’s mind frequently remains acquainted with the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, his mind is rid of “I-making” and “mine-making” with regard to this conscious body and externally with regard to all representations, and has transcended conceit, is at peace, and is well liberated.

If, monks, when a monk’s mind frequently remains acquainted with the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, his mind is not rid of “I-making” and “mine-making” with regard to this conscious body and externally with regard to all representations, and has not transcended conceit, is not at peace, and is not well liberated, then he should know, ‘I have not developed the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, there is no stepwise distinction in me, I have not obtained the strength of development.’ In that way he is fully aware there. But if, monks, when a monk’s mind frequently remains acquainted with the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, his mind is rid of “I-making” and “mine-making” with regard to this conscious body and externally with regard to all representations, and has transcended conceit, is at peace, and is well liberated, then he should know, ‘I have developed the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, there is stepwise distinction in me, I have obtained the strength of development.’ In that way he is fully aware there.

 

‘The recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, monks, when developed and cultivated, is of great fruit and benefit; it merges with the death-free, has the death-free as its end.’ Thus it was said. And in reference to this it was said.

 

Here we get to the heart of the matter, which is one of the most subtle aspects of the Buddhadhamma. Simply stated: when ignorance ceases, belief in self simultaneously ceases. And when there is no self to be found, then there is no self to die or take birth. This right here is “death-free.” And it is precisely this that the Buddha is declaring when he says to Mogharāja:

 

Look at the world and see its emptiness Mogharāja, always mindful,

Eliminating the view of self, one goes beyond death.

One who views the world this way is not seen by the king of death.

 

When one completely abandons the underlying tendencies which give rise to mistaken apprehensions of a self — any and all notions of “I am” — then there is no self to die. This stilling of the “currents of conceiving” over one’s imagined self, and the resulting peace that is empty of birth, aging, and death, is straightforwardly presented in MN 140 Dhātuvibhaga Sutta:

 

‘He has been stilled where the currents of conceiving do not flow. And when the currents of conceiving do not flow, he is said to be a sage at peace.’ Thus was it said. With reference to what was it said?

 

Monk, “I am” is a conceiving. “I am this” is a conceiving. “I shall be” is a conceiving. “I shall not be” ... “I shall be possessed of form” ... “I shall be formless” ... “I shall be percipient” ... “I shall be non-percipient” ... “I shall be neither-percipient-nor-non-percipient” is a conceiving. Conceiving is a disease, conceiving is a cancer, conceiving is an arrow. By going beyond all conceiving, monk, he is said to be a sage at peace.

Furthermore, a sage at peace is not born, does not age, does not die. He is unagitated, and is free from longing. He has nothing whereby he would be born. Not being born, how could he age? Not aging, how could he die? Not dying, how could he be agitated? Not being agitated, for what will he long?

 

So it was in reference to this that it was said, ‘He has been stilled where the currents of conceiving do not flow. And when the currents of conceiving do not flow, he is said to be a sage at peace.’

 

Truly, “a sage at peace is not born, does not age, does not die.” In this way, when ignorance ceases, the entire complex of conditioned arising bound up with dissatisfaction also ceases. When all traces of “I-making” and “mine-making” are abandoned through the fully integrated threefold training of ethical conduct, meditation, and discernment, just this is dispassion (virāga). Just this is cessation (nirodha). Just this is extinguishment (nibbāna). Just this is without outflows (anāsava). Just this is not-born (ajāta), not-become (abhūta), not-made (akata), not-fabricated (asakhata), endless (ananta), indestructible (apalokita), and yes, death-free (amata). It is freedom (mutti).

 

The Recognition of Selflessness and the Seven Factors of Awakening (Satta Bojjhagā):

 

Sustained, dedicated practice of the recognition of selflessness will gradually create the optimal conditions for the arising of all seven factors of awakening. SN 46.73 Anatta Sutta (abridged):

 

Here monks, a monk develops the awakening factor of mindfulness accompanied by the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, dependent upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, resulting in letting go. He develops the awakening factor of dhamma-investigation accompanied by the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, dependent upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, resulting in letting go. He develops the awakening factor of energy accompanied by the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, dependent upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, resulting in letting go. He develops the awakening factor of joy accompanied by the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, dependent upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, resulting in letting go. He develops the awakening factor of tranquility accompanied by the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, dependent upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, resulting in letting go. He develops the awakening factor of meditative composure accompanied by the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, dependent upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, resulting in letting go. He develops the awakening factor of equanimity accompanied by the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory, dependent upon seclusion, dispassion, and cessation, resulting in letting go.

 

It is in this way that the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory is developed and cultivated so that it is of great fruit and benefit. It is in this way that the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory is developed and cultivated so that one of two fruits is to be expected: either final gnosis in this very life or, if there is a residue of clinging, the state of nonreturning. It is in this way that the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory is developed and cultivated so that it leads to great good. It is in this way that the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory is developed and cultivated so that it leads to great security from bondage. It is in this way that the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory is developed and cultivated so that it leads to a great sense of urgency. It is in this way that the recognition of selflessness in what is unsatisfactory is developed and cultivated so that it leads to dwelling in great comfort.”

 

    Remember,
    It is exactly because things are “empty” that they can function.
    Only empty cars can carry you, knock u down,
    Only empty notes 🎶 can become music
    Only empty food can be eaten
    If thing has essence, the car cannot move, can’t be created, can’t decay etc
    If notes has essence, we have no music . The interdependence of chords cannot form.
    If food has essence, it won’t be metabolise.
    Hence the “world” has to be empty to have such amazing functionality.
    This means that it is vivid, yet never Truly there!
    Emptiness hence is never, will never be nihilistic!
    Because it can function!
    Karma can work!
    Hence, the Teaching of the blessed one -
    Emptiness
    Dependent origination
    Karma (causal efficacy)
    is tied together most beautifully with this correct understanding.
    Any other understanding will undermine the teaching and cannot stand analysis.
    Those who learn emptiness and not respect karma has seriously flawed understanding .. because it should give you more reverence to karma .
    hence don’t be afraid to ask hard questions!
    If ppl can’t answer you, it is bec their understnding is flawed 😉
    Ask someone else!

    52 Comments


    Victor Wt Choo
    I now have alot of questions when I see u 😂


    Yin Ling
    Can. U bribe with coffee I ok d 😜


  • William Lim
    Will one of those questions be, "What are you smoking?"


  • Yin Ling
    I was telling victor few days back, met him for coffee - see I’m not looking at you, you are looking at yourself then he’s like wtf
    Then I tell him .. see the music is hearing itself .. he wtf again .. then we change topic to
    Complainign about our parents 🤣🤣🤣


  • William Lim
    Yin Ling I'm glad you're out of the closet and not trying to hide your nutcase condition. Yogi Power United!


  • Victor Wt Choo
    Hahaha..... what are u smoking and can I have some ?
    Yin Ling we need to continue the conversation ( not the complaning parents part )


  • Yin Ling
    Victor Wt Choo smoke smoke your head smoke air la lol.


  • Victor Wt Choo
    Smoke coffee 😉😛







  • Stian Gudmundsen Høiland
    Is there "illusoriness" for you in any of this? Would you say something about that?


    Yin Ling
    Hi Stian.
    Yes.
    Once conviction arise - nargajuna MMK repetitively negate essence throughout its 27 chapters , again and again and again,
    To tell us only one thing- that essence cannot function.
    Seed cannot become sprout
    Movement cannot happen
    Cause and effect untenable
    4 noble truths cannot work
    Nor does path and fruit, no one can get enlightened
    If essence is posited
    the opposition premise of essence is faulty
    Firsf principle is wrong
    Where else can we go?
    Essencelessness.
    The whole world turns fluid, fuzzy, soft, not solid anymore.
    Especially if one have anatta insight, - they could sense this illusoriness as objects don’t appear physical to them but “physical +mental” which is “vivid yet empty” in one taste.
    This is my xp, do u relate, though?


  • Stian Gudmundsen Høiland
    Gotama often asked first, is form constant or inconstant? Permanent or impermanent?
    Maybe part of his point was that absolute things do not change. In a sense, he is asking, is form absolute? Are feelings absolute? Fixed, unchanging, static, constant. Like absolute is.
    But those things are not absolute.
    So since they are not absolute, they are relative. Actually, they are "relative to their source" or dependently arisen. All things do not stand alone, and instead stand *in relation*, and for Gotama the principal *standing in relation* was the one called "when this is, that is" and "when this arises, that arises". The idappaccayatā.
    Things that have causes are relative; are not absolute.
    But relative things have a certain illusoriness about them. For example, a rainbow doesn’t really exist as it appears. The coming together of myriad causes and conditions merely gives an appearance of being a rainbow in the sky over there.
    Such is the *nature* of relative things, their "suchness".
    And the realization that these considerations are linked together is penetrating insight: that things that change are relative, and not absolute, and the comprehension of what the nature of relative (dependently arisen) things are, which is the understanding that clarifies the absolute nature, and the two truths.
    For me the illusoriness has to do with comprehending the nature of these appearances, and their nature can be understood by seeing that they are dependently arisen. This can be expressed as non-arising. That is, since these thing *do indeed* arise dependently, therefor they are illusory, since arising doesn’t work, and yet, look at them go! Arising! When arising is impossible! And yet they do! Thus they are illusory, since their mode of arising is only valid as magic, illusion.
    That is an expression from a young realization of emptiness. A more mature expression would hone more precisely in on how it is not exactly the "reality" of appearances which are negated by emptiness, but intrinsic existence.
    Anyway, this is getting too long!


  • Stian Gudmundsen Høiland
    > That is, since these thing *do indeed* arise dependently, therefor they are illusory, since arising doesn’t work, and yet, look at them go! Arising! When arising is impossible! And yet they do! Thus they are illusory, since their mode of arising is only valid as magic, illusion.
    This is where function and empty and illusory meet for me. Appearances function *because* they are not absolute, but are instead relative. And this itself makes them illusory; that is, that they are relative—like a rainbow, or reflections.
    Hence, being empty, they function. Functioning, they are relative. Being relative, they are illusory: Only as magic display do they function.

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  • André A. Pais
    Stian Gudmundsen Høiland Is there a place where the display can retain its magic and yet lose its illusoriness and "relative nature"?
    Like it's said in the Mahamudra tradition, the *conviction* that things are empty (lesser 2nd yoga) and that things are one taste (lesser 3rd yoga), such conviction must be removed if one is to attain the greater levels of those yogas. 'Emptiness' and 'non-duality' are reference points that "stain" the primordially pure nature of mind.
    So, can the illusoriness go, and yet the magic - the wonder - remain?


  • André A. Pais
    Stian Gudmundsen Høiland I do think you're pointing to something very significative, and I wonder if it relates to something that I've seen you refer to briefly: the spacelike- and the dreamlike samadhi.







  • Yasmin El-Hakim
    difficult to understand for the mind.


    Yin Ling
    Yasmin El-Hakim haha it’s ok.
    It’s very hard to sense this without some insight though imo.
    But I think the theory can be explained quite thoroughly


  • Yasmin El-Hakim
    Yin Ling haha.
    I’m very curious about the theory.


  • Yasmin El-Hakim
    Yin Ling funny that a person (also empty) can be run over by a car (also empty)
    haha. Yes, science explains it very well, that matter doesn’t really exist and it’s all nothing but energy 😃


  • Yin Ling
    Yasmin El-Hakim precisely! Quantum physics found nothing lol







  • Jachym Jerie
    Aren't you making a jump here from how you perceive things to then making statements about how the world has to be in order to work?


    Yin Ling
    Jachym Jerie the other way. The analysis first then the perception will change


  • Jachym Jerie
    Hm OK, maybe I'll understand it when I get there. Personally, I do not believe that we human beings can analyse or perceive how things really are. So these statements are in the realm of guesses. Our nervous system is extremely limited and hence our access to so called reality is as well.


  • Yin Ling
    Jachym Jerie haha have hope! Our nervous system can be quite malleable


  • Stian Gudmundsen Høiland
    Hey Jachym. Just to pick a materialist brain for a bit, to see for myself how the materialist view works.
    Can the human nervous system access itself from outside itself? And if not, how can there be talk of human nervous system?


  • Geovani Geo
    Jachym Jerie, any notion of "how things REALLY are" is just one more concept. What if the very absence of how things really are is how they REALLY are?
    For example: dream-nature is how dream-things really are. That does not mean they are not, neither that they are.

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  • Jace Min
    Love this. I don't know if I experience it the way u do.. But what was written evokes an ease and aliveness all at once, which are nevertheless empty.. Which is wonderful. ❤️🙏


  • William Lim
    I never understood why the word "empty" is chosen to describe reality.
    Are we simply saying that there aren't things, but essentially what everything is is a dynamic system.
    So shouldn't "dynamic" be clearer than "empty"?


  • Yin Ling
    More like empty of independent and inherent existence ahaha
    Then again so many definitions of emptiness between schools everyone have their own meaning
    So it’s just like a word representing lots of meanings


  • Jean-Sebastien Thorn
    William Lim empty of inherent nature would bee 🐝 a better way of seeing it


  • William Lim
    "Dynamism" does seem to convey the lack of independent and inherent existence better yah?
    Maybe it's just me, "empty" has a "stuck" connotation in the everyday understanding of the word.
    Then you end up having to qualify it with "empty of..." and "Emptiness is not void but..."
    Then empty is actually not the quality itself, but used as a modifer.


  • Jean-Sebastien Thorn
    Shapeshifting brah 😆 Btw William Lim I wrote to you on messenger


  • William Lim
    Then "empty" (in the normal understanding of the word) doesn't actually convey the quality itself, but the word is used as a modifer instead.


  • Yin Ling
    William Lim yeah but then ppl will ask you, what is dynamic.
    The name dynamic
    Or the nature dynamic
    Or the self become dynamic
    Lol. It’s coz the nature that Buddhism wanted to put forth is unprecedented hence any word we use would be pretty troublesome imo


  • William Lim
    I suspect there might be a reason why "empty" is used or translated as such, just that I dun really "get it".
    Is it used to describe the non-arising aspect of reality?


  • William Lim
    Yin Ling isn't the correct answer "everything is dynamic"... the entire cosmos is a dynamic system in flux and therefore there aren't independent things with inherent existence


  • John Tan
    William Lim smack ur head. 😝How does dynamism liberate u from the cyclical existence? Although "emptiness" entails dynamism, "emptiness" relates more to the nature of consciousness.
    The mind is "molded" and trapped to think in a dualistic and inherent pattern due to many factors esp reinforced by objective and hard science. But when consciousness becomes primary and is added to the equation of understanding reality, everything changes and turns fuzzy and paradoxical as it does not adhere to the materialistic paradigm.
    U don't need emptiness if consciousness is excluded.


  • Jean-Sebastien Thorn
    Dynamic yet still. Stillness in dynamism. No inherent and independant quality and all inherent and dependent qualities at the same time


  • Yin Ling
    John Tan lol thanks this makes sense . I’m already stuck😂


  • William Lim
    John Tan, thanks for the Zen smack ✨
    Yes, because most people define Emptiness as the lack of independent and inherent existence, I do understand it from the perspective that everything is dynamic and in a flux (and hence there are no independent things that has an inherent essence).
    Which is why I'm questioning if I understood the word "empty" correctly beyond "dynamism", or am I missing something.


  • Jean-Sebastien Thorn
    Yin Ling emptiness of emptiness… or just silence


  • John Tan
    William Lim yes as I said essencelessness "entails" dynamic manifestation but much more. In fact post anatta insight, it is easier to authenticate directly essencelessness but much more difficult to understand through logical analysis. It requires time, genuine and sincere contemplation to constantly check with one's radiance clarity.
    The issue about logical analysis is it is presented in apophatic negation as we can't use one thesis to prove the invalidity of another, it is like comparing apple and orange. Therefore Nagarjuna is unable tell them what he actually experienced and tasted.
    So Nagarjuna can only show the realists and essentialists that their inherent view is untenable and lead to absurd consequences by using their own premise. Hence u negate the false until nothing "false" is left. U negate "essence and substance" until insight of "essencelessness" dawns. Therefore if u go by analytical reasoning, that is the best u can do imo. Unless u approach another way.
    Do take note that by emptiness here I m referring to empty of self-nature, not emptiness as freedom from all elaborations/conceptualities aka primordial purity of non-gelug schools which is altogether a different praxis. However both of them do meet ultimately (imo).


  • John Tan
    Yin Ling ur radiance must be very soothing, very light and transparent; like space, free and liberating. Appearances turn illusory and magical, joy keep surfacing in every authentication and hopefully also helps to release part of ur energy imbalances.
    Enjoy practicing!👍


  • Yin Ling
    Thanks John for your help. Couldn’t have intuit it without. Slowly slowly getting there .. really slowly . emptiness insight really takes a lot of practise time.. so far so good.
    In my xp it’s completely a different “realm” , Anatta insight melt into the whole xp and completely integrated. Very interesting .. quite surprise actually 😬😬


  • Soh Wei Yu
    Everyone understands dynamic but not everyone understands what is dynamic is dependently originating and non arising like a rainbow or reflection. Vividly present yet nothing there. Hence the dynamic phenomena is also free of some sort of real existence undergoing arising, abiding and ceasing.
    Dynamic phenomena can be mistaken as not empty - that is, it may be mistaken that there exists phenomena that have some sort of real essence or existence that is truly undergoing arising, abiding and ceasing by its own self existence, even if that process happens momentarily and quickly.


  • Soh Wei Yu
    “Pursuant to the middle view, Tson-kha-pa cites Nagarjuna's Yuk-tisastika and Candrakirti's Yuktisastika-vrtti.
    Nagarjuna:
    What arises in dependence is not born;
    That is proclaimed by the supreme knower of reality 😊 Buddha).
    Candrakirti:
    (The realist opponent says): If (as you say) whatever thing arises in dependence is not even born, then why does (the Madhyamika) say it is not born? But if you (Madhyamika) have a reason for saying (this thing) is not born, then you should not say it "arises in dependence." Therefore, because of mutual inconsistency, (what you have said) is not valid.)
    (The Madhyamika replies with compassionate interjection:)
    Alas! Because you are without ears or heart you have thrown a challenge that is severe on us! When we say that anything arising in dependence, in the manner of a reflected image, does not arise by reason of self-existence - at that time where is the possibility of disputing (us)!” - excerpt from Calming the Mind and Discerning the Real: Buddhist Meditation and the Middle View


  • Angelo Grr
    William Lim to me it’s a word that can be easily misapplied, but is apt for this direct experience. Empty of necessity for fixed position, dimension or size. Empty of meaning or purpose and thus can accommodate anything, all movements. Empty of identity thus accommodates all positions, formulations, views. Also empty of defined nature even emptiness so not apart from experience, appearance, formulation. In some way, experientially quite robust, intimate, alive, tactile, radiant, yet not limited to those ways of being. Can be on both sides at once. Can be simultaneous opposites, easily. Can be a front without a back. Can be the bearded Bodhidharma with no beard. 👀


  • Stian Gudmundsen Høiland
    William Lim I like your inquisitiveness. And I actually like the way Jean-Sebastien Thorn replied here. His answers are quite apt! Because he points out the duality, and because he indicates non-conceptuality.
    Soh also put his finger on it.
    Let me try to add a little to what they said.
    At a kind of higher level overview, I want you to notice that "dynamic" or "dynamism" is part of a complimentary pair—a duality. This can clue you in on that your mind is "stuck" in a "dualistic fixation" (like we all are all the time). You have ended up with one end of the stick: dynamic, and not static; dynamism, and not staticness.
    Just notice that "dynamic" is part of this complimentary pair, together with "static".
    "Empty" is "empty" because when your realization occurs, your mind and vision is empty of all of those (that is, all of those, eh, 'sticks'—or, rather, 'ends'). At least at first.
    Do you understand what I mean?
    Always we go from one end to the other. From static to dynamic; empty to non-empty; arising to ceasing; existence to non-existence; subject to object; attainment to non-attainment; attachment to freedom; cause to effect; affirmation to negation. Note that these are pairs. Always we go from one end to the other. And wonder now: How should I conduct myself so that instead of just going from one end to other, or back again, how can the whole stick—with both its sides or ends—be let go of?
    Dependent arising/designation.
    Do you understand?
    These *pairs* are *complimentary*. What does this mean?
    Well, what is dynamic without static? What is non-empty without empty? What is non-existence without existence? What is subject without object? In dependence on one, the other is designated. This is mutual.
    The path of logical reasoning teaches you how to make *one swift cut* through the complimentary pair instead of cutting/negating one end and ending up at/affirming the other. They are called the (dualistic) extremes (or 'ends'—"anta" as in madhyānta), and dependent arising is the middle way, the king of reasons.
    If dynamism and staticness are designated in mutual dependence, which come or arise first? Ponder this.
    In emptiness there is neither dynamism nor staticness.
    I would also recommend some writings of mine where I try to illustrate the double-edged cut, but I’m on my phone now, so I’ll get you a link later.

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  • Daniel Lester
    A better description might be "neutral state"). (Absolute Entrophy?)


    Yin Ling
    Daniel Lester better description for emptiness? Or?
    Hmm.. Not exactly neutral though.. it’s really not about being neutral but rather about negating an imposition of Inherency by the humans mind onto the world.


  • Daniel Lester
    Yes, in this particular emptiness or nothingness state, energy still exists (quantum energy) right? It does not have a physical form. It can exist in physical form, it just doesn't because all of the positive energy is perfectly counterbalanced by all of the negative energy. Time has no meaning, because there are no atoms to move around and give meaning to time.
    Maybe We don't have a word in common English to properly describe such a state because this situation only existed prior to the existence of the universe?
    Emptiness is the content of a volume, or a state of something. While nothingness is an entity, emptiness is its content.


  • Yin Ling
    Daniel Lester not sure if I catch u lol my understanding is much simpler.
    To me there’s no existence of anything prior to the universe as the universe itself is what I am describing.
    It functions because it is empty
    Its emptiness allows all things to function
    For if things are not empty, if they have essence, nothing could work, nothing could modulate, effect each other, there is no world no time no space nothing at all.
    This is just the message I was trying to convey.
    As most of the time ppl like to equate emptienss with - not able to function
    Which is totally and completely 180degrees away from right understanding. A very gross errror

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