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Just like a movie, appearances are dependently originating as formation
like burning flames and bubbles without anything coming or going,
completely essenceless. Appearances are completely empty and non arising
by nature. Seeing this alone liberates. There is no persisting Essence
or self/Self anywhere, only dependent formations. Nothing is there, void
of substance yet appearing like flames and bubbles. As with a movie,
any sense of something or someone coming
from here or going there is wrong. It is because we fail to see the
nature of dharma (phenomena) as dependent formation that we conceive of
phenomena as having essences, as having a life of their own, that could
come and go, arise, abide and cease on its own. Has the burning flame
came from somewhere, arise, abide, and cease, or is merely an empty
dependent formation? You may not attribute some essence to characters in
the movie coming from somewhere and going somewhere, but you attribute
this to things and persons in real life. Rather see that all phenomena
are like burning flame or bubble that manifest on conditions and cease
upon cessation or conditions but without anything coming or going,
arising or ceasing. If you try to find where they abide, where they go
and come from, nothing whatsoever can be found. Appearing but nothing
“there”.
Do you say the
flame has some Essence that has gone somewhere else when ceased? Do you
say some Essence has arrived from somewhere when fire starts burning?
No, just dependent formations. All afflictive and non afflictive
phenomena roll on in dependence without a persisting Essence, agent, or
medium. Yet based on yesterday’s events, certain thoughts or actions
take place today, as the continuity of the chain of dependencies. Still
it is dependent formation, no self/Self involved.
Clinging and afflictions subside in actualizing this as there cannot be any sort of grasping at what is completely without Essence or self-existence. But this liberation does not come from the illusion-like experience but from the complete release of any notion of Essence.. the taste is illusion like but it is the release of Essence that is liberating. Just like it is not the experience of PCE/pure consciousness experience or a state of no-mind (which can simply be peak experiences) that liberates but the release of self/Self from realization of anatta that is liberating.
Seeing this requires us to see the right relationship between experience, view and realization, and not skewing to one aspect.
Clinging and afflictions subside in actualizing this as there cannot be any sort of grasping at what is completely without Essence or self-existence. But this liberation does not come from the illusion-like experience but from the complete release of any notion of Essence.. the taste is illusion like but it is the release of Essence that is liberating. Just like it is not the experience of PCE/pure consciousness experience or a state of no-mind (which can simply be peak experiences) that liberates but the release of self/Self from realization of anatta that is liberating.
Seeing this requires us to see the right relationship between experience, view and realization, and not skewing to one aspect.
