The Magic of Luminous Emptiness
Emptiness... emptiness....
In normal, everyday life, when someone uses the word “emptiness”, it usually has a negative connotion.
Like a 'lack of something'... like as if life is lacking something (e.g. "life feels so empty nowadays"). If anything, things lack ‘inherent, unchanging, independent existence’… yet they are wondrously, intensely vividly luminous and apparent!
Unfortunately, the teaching of 'emptiness', along with other teachings of Buddha (including the most common misperception of Buddha's teaching as 'Life is Suffering' which is certainly NOT what he said!*) gives the misconception of Buddhism as having a life-denying, pessimistic view of the world.
But this is NOT the Buddhist understanding of Emptiness!
Form is emptiness, emptiness IS form!
Emptiness IS Fullness!
I can assure you when you realize emptiness, you will marvel, be amazed, at the whole universe as a magical apparition... it's like Whoa, the universe is magic, luminous and empty, clearly manifest yet no-thing 'there'! No place of origin, place of abidance, and destination - to thoughts, to sensate experiences... just a clear display of luminous apparitions. Shunyata is a wonder.
This is a wonderful truth... This is nothing dreadful... and is nothing short of Great Bliss.
The luminous and empty universe is spontaneously perfected, lacking nothing, amazing!
*The Buddha taught that suffering is a part and parcel of life, or to put it more simply, 'there is suffering in life', and that there is a way to end suffering. He did NOT say "Life is Suffering" or "Life can only be suffering" even though sadly, this is what many teachers are promoting - their own distortion of Buddha's original words. For more info see this well-written article: Life Isn't Just Suffering by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
(update) p.s. found something from a great article,
http://www.ktgrinpoche.org/KTGR%20Buddhadharm%20Flashing%20Lances.pdf
"When you put the two truths together in this
way, you get Milarepa’s two lines:
E ma, the phenomena of the three realms
of samsara,
While not existing, they appear –
how incredibly amazing!
The three realms of samsara are dreamlike
– while not existing they appear, while appearing
they are empty of inherent nature, and so they
are miraculous."
In normal, everyday life, when someone uses the word “emptiness”, it usually has a negative connotion.
Like a 'lack of something'... like as if life is lacking something (e.g. "life feels so empty nowadays"). If anything, things lack ‘inherent, unchanging, independent existence’… yet they are wondrously, intensely vividly luminous and apparent!
Unfortunately, the teaching of 'emptiness', along with other teachings of Buddha (including the most common misperception of Buddha's teaching as 'Life is Suffering' which is certainly NOT what he said!*) gives the misconception of Buddhism as having a life-denying, pessimistic view of the world.
But this is NOT the Buddhist understanding of Emptiness!
Form is emptiness, emptiness IS form!
Emptiness IS Fullness!
I can assure you when you realize emptiness, you will marvel, be amazed, at the whole universe as a magical apparition... it's like Whoa, the universe is magic, luminous and empty, clearly manifest yet no-thing 'there'! No place of origin, place of abidance, and destination - to thoughts, to sensate experiences... just a clear display of luminous apparitions. Shunyata is a wonder.
This is a wonderful truth... This is nothing dreadful... and is nothing short of Great Bliss.
The luminous and empty universe is spontaneously perfected, lacking nothing, amazing!
*The Buddha taught that suffering is a part and parcel of life, or to put it more simply, 'there is suffering in life', and that there is a way to end suffering. He did NOT say "Life is Suffering" or "Life can only be suffering" even though sadly, this is what many teachers are promoting - their own distortion of Buddha's original words. For more info see this well-written article: Life Isn't Just Suffering by Thanissaro Bhikkhu
(update) p.s. found something from a great article,
http://www.ktgrinpoche.org/KTGR%20Buddhadharm%20Flashing%20Lances.pdf
"When you put the two truths together in this
way, you get Milarepa’s two lines:
E ma, the phenomena of the three realms
of samsara,
While not existing, they appear –
how incredibly amazing!
The three realms of samsara are dreamlike
– while not existing they appear, while appearing
they are empty of inherent nature, and so they
are miraculous."
Labels:
Emptiness
Luminosity
Comments
This is quite brilliant what you've come upon lately. The bit about "no destination" is like a magical key to surrender. The people, the sensations, the thoughts, the objects. They don't have a destination! It breaks their solidity down, the essence of the appearance of things is seen as almost like a passing perfume, without solidity, but still UMPH! Clearly there, but nothing to hold onto, pleasant or unpleasant as it may be. And the bit about destination also makes future irrelevant. No way to know where any of this is "going." Because it isn't! There's no destination!