Soh Wei Yu

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This is an important point and clarification by kyle dixon. Emptiness is not about 1) things having parts, 2) things being impermanent, and 3) things being interdependent.
https://www.reddit.com/.../10xvvuy/emptiness_demystified/...
Krodha:
"The toy is made up of many small parts, and the parts are made up of even smaller parts. When you look close enough, you can't find anything that is truly solid or permanent."
Not to detract from the theme of this post, demystification, but traditionally, emptiness does not mean that objects are made of smaller parts. Candrakīrti refutes this idea in his Sevenfold Reasoning of the Chariot:
(i) There is no chariot which is other than its parts
(ii) There is no chariot which is the same as its parts
(iii) There is no chariot which possesses its parts
(iv) There is no chariot which depends on its parts
(v) There is no chariot upon which the parts depend
(vi) There is no chariot which is the collection of its parts
(vii) There is no chariot which is the shape of its parts
The point is to refute the object to begin with. The chariot or any other object is ultimately a misconception which has no parts, this is why a synonym for emptiness is an absence of characteristics.
….
Right but possessing characteristics (parts and pieces), being impermanent and interdependence are actually the antithesis of emptiness.
These are often referred to as doorways to emptiness, but they do not even conceptually capture the actual meaning of emptiness. Which is an absence of characteristics (which refutes parts and pieces), a negation of arising (which refutes impermanence) and a negation of svabhāva or an essence (which negates interdependence).
Further, interdependence [parabhāva] and dependent origination [pratītyasamutpāda] are not the same thing. Per Nāgārjuna, interdependence is just a guise for inherent existence [svabhāva] because it requires entities that depend upon one another.

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r/Buddhism - Emptiness demystified
4 votes and 20 comments so far on Reddit

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Yin Ling
the Reddit ppl will be so confused lol.
No partless particle is still an important step ma
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Soh Wei Yu
Was reminded of this:
https://www.awakeningtoreality.com/.../Nancy%20Neithercut
In the seen only the seen is also no seer, no seeing and nothing seen / No Movement
John Tan: If seen is just seen, then there is no movement.
Soh: Movement?
John Tan: In the seen only the seen is also no seer, no seeing and nothing seen. There is no changing nor unchanging.
Soh: Ic..
Soh: The nancy also said the same.. nothing changing or unchanging
[10:15 pm, 05/10/2021] John Tan: That is ultimate view.
[10:16 pm, 05/10/2021] John Tan: Conventionally, there is changes and impermanence and origination in dependence as the right way of expression.
Soh: https://nancyspoems.blogspot.com/
Nancy:
We are infinite reflections without a source
Echoes spinning
Fleeting images
Flowing thought dreams
Without sides or a middle
Dancing without movement or non movement
without direction or non direction
There are no colors or rainbows without us
Without an imaginary persona there is no imaginary heart
Beating
Loving all this
That is not this
Or that
Or both
Or neither
There is no one to be free or bound
Or gaze as infinite awe painting the dream scape with colors that cannot be seen
Only felt
No one to fall into your unutterable beauty
Or fall endlessly in love with you
….
At first this felt like, 'I am all this!"
Then it felt like, 'All this!'
Later it was .... 'Not even nothing...'
….
no eyes apart from the seeing....
no ears apart from the hearing
no sound separate from the listening...
no wind separate from your cheek
no love separate from your heart
no inside
no outside
the horizon that held the sky apart from the sea
untied itself
the timeline from birth to death collapsed
as well as the time walker
and left this knowing and feeling that there are no things
simply an atemporal seamless flow without movement or non movement....
no things to be permeant or changing ...
feels like the first and last kiss ....
a constant union of what was never apart...
Soh: Sounds like she went through the stages
John Tan:

AWAKENINGTOREALITY.COM
Awakening to Reality
Awakening to Reality
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Soh Wei Yu
“The next understanding you must have after anatta and emptiness is to know that all qualities similar to those that are described and sounded ontological are always manifesting presently, spontaneously and effortlessly after the purification of anatta and emptiness insights. That is, spontaneous arising is not just saying responding automatically. It is the manifestation of these blissful characteristics of nature spontaneously. Non-arising, unmoving, unchanging, pristiness, clarity... spontaneously present” – John Tan, 2009
“Mr. T: I cannot find a ground a base, to identify with, everything is changing constantly. Arising and passing away. All of experience, where do I stand?
Kyle Dixon: Arising and passing away are characteristics of conditioned phenomena. As practitioners of the buddhadharma, our aim is to fully realize the unconditioned nature of phenomena, free of arising and cessation. That natural and perfect nature, is the true refuge.
Upon realizing that nature, the Buddha stated the following:
I have obtained the ambrosia of Dharma,� profound, peaceful, immaculate, luminous and unconditioned. �Even though I explain it, no one will understand, �I think I will remain in the forest without speaking. �Free from words, untrained by speech,� suchness, the nature of Dharma, is like space� free from the movements of mind and intellect, �supreme, amazing, the sublime knowledge. �Always like space, �nonconceptual, luminous, �the teaching without periphery or center �is expressed in this Dharmawheel. �Free from existence and nonexistence,� beyond self and nonself, �the teaching of natural nonarising �is expressed in this Dharmawheel.
— The Ārya-lalitavistara-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra” – Kyle Dixon, 2021
"This is correct. "Permanent" is not referring to something not undergoing change, it refers to the absence of causing of arising." - John Tan, 2021
"To conclude, in the expanse of phenomena, there is no dual nature of appearance and emptiness, and no twofold division. Therefore, by a mere expression of language—through words—it is also said that the relative truth and ultimate truth are “indivisible.” Although the expanse is like this, separate categories are made merely in terms of the conventional, based on the way things appear. In this way, all phenomena included within samsara—all that is comprised by distorted perceptions and all that appears through the power of dualistic thought—are not real when analyzed. They are fluctuating and impermanent; therefore, these deceptive phenomena are the relative truth. And all phenomena comprised by great nirvana—which is difficult to realize and thus profound, free from constructs, and which is the luminous clarity of wisdom’s knowing, relinquished from all suffering—are beyond material and momentary phenomena. Therefore, they are free from the misery of change. Having the nature of immutability, they are the ultimate truth."
- Mipham
Duckworth, Douglas; Mipam, Jamgon. Jamgon Mipam: His Life and Teachings (p. 159). Shambhala. Kindle Edition.
Labels: Anatta, Emptiness, Movement, Nancy Neithercut 0 comments | |
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Ms M:

Hi, I know I have asked you once before your opinion on Hillside Hermitage/Ajahn Nyanomoli Thero. I think u said he has anatta insight but u dont know much about him in detail

I wanted to share this video as I thought it was quite in line with your experience but I want to check to see if I am wrong

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDVvlTYxIc&t=918s

Soh:

Yes thats what i heard but im not familiar with his teachingsxabir Snoovatar

Ms M:

The whole 12:00-20:00 is great, but look at 14:30 - 15:00 and 16:30-18:00 especially

Talking about seeing that amorphous feeling of self or I am separate from 5 senses and thought

And undermining jt

How any type of feeling of watcher or observer is still realized as being present without your involvement, and dependent on other factors (not self and not in your control)

Soh:

Sounds like he might have the anatta insightxabir Snoovatar

Ms M:

Interestingly he really emphasizes self restraint as the basis of the practice, which seems good to me since the suttas always start with the person being secluded from sense pleasures, mind being ready for training, and then they have jhana/realization

Is your path/mahayana/dzogchen seeing this as unecessary? Like you can undermine things more directly by seeing the nature of reality?

I know sila is still important for you i just dont remember seeing *sense restraint

Soh:

dzogchen style practice is somewhat different

"This Dzogchen style. Very supple, produces flexible wood, very green, hard to break. In Dzogchen style śamatha you actually engage all six sense objects with your six senses, there is nothing to accept and nothing to reject, nothing to follow, nothing to ignore."

"

A little, but really it has to do with the definition of one pointed. In sūtra style one pointedness, one is focusing one's mind on one point, in a very concentrated way, while ignoring everything else. Also in Dzogchen, sometimes we use this experience as well.

But there is also another meaning of one pointedness, meaning that all sense contact all their objects."

"This Dzogchen style. Very supple, produces flexible wood, very green, hard to break. In Dzogchen style śamatha you actually engage all six sense objects with your six senses, there is nothing to accept and nothing to reject, nothing to follow, nothing to ignore."

-- dzogchen teacher acarya malcolm smithxabir Snoovatar

"This is Hinayāna teaching. It does not apply to Dzogchen and Vajrayāna practitioners. As Dzogchen and Vajrayāna practitioners, we are supposed to enjoy all objects of desire of the five senses as objects of desire. We are not Hinayāna monks refusing to mix the sauce into our rice.

So while there are certainly some Buddhists who apply this method, it is not really the principle of our teaching here."

- malcolm

so quite different

but insight of anatman and emptiness is still crucial for liberation

eventually all paths must lead to liberation of mental afflictions

“There are three traditional methods of dealing with emotions: abandoning them, transforming them, and recognizing their nature. All three levels of Buddhist teaching, all three yanas, describe how to deal with disturbing emotions. It is never taught, on any level, that one can be an enlightened buddha while remaining involved in disturbing emotions - never. Each level deals with emotions differently.

…

Just like darkness cannot remain when the sun rises, none of the disturbing emotions can endure within the recognition of mind nature. That is the moment of realizing original wakefulness, and it is the same for each of the five poisons.

…

In any of the five disturbing emotions, we do not have to transmute the emotion into empty cognizance. The nature of the emotion already is this indivisible empty cognizance.” - Vajra Speech, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

“Why would you accept afflictive emotions? They are afflictive and are the root cause of suffering.

Either you renounce them, transform them or self-liberate them. But you certainly don't accept them. That way just leads to further rebirth in samsara.

M” – Dzogchen teacher Acarya Malcolm Smith

“We do bad things, non-virtuous things, because we are afflicted. Afflictions are never a part of oneself but they do define us as sentient beings. If you want to stop being a sentient being and start being an awakening being you have to deal with your afflictions via one of three paths I mentioned.

Why am I a sentient being and not a Buddha? Because I am subject to afflictions. How do I become a Buddha? By overcoming afflictions and attaining omniscience. How do I begin? By setting out on one of the three paths, depending on my capacity.” – Dzogchen teacher Acarya Malcolm Smith

“Mr. JK said: What you're describing is the duality found in Christianity. saying we are impure and must better ourselves.

Kyle Dixon replied: Not at all, this is literally the teaching of Dzogchen, Śrī Siṃha one of the original Dzogchen masters, who was Padmasambhava’s guru, states:

This is acceptable since a so called “primordial buddhahood” is not asserted. Full awakening is not possible without being free of the five afflictions... It is not possible for wisdom to increase without giving up afflictions. Wisdom will not arise without purifying afflictions. (Bolded and emphasized by Soh)

Likewise, Khenpo Ngachung, one of the greatest luminaries of recent times states:

In any system of sutra or tantra, without gathering the accumulations and purifying obscurations, Buddhahood can never be attained. Though the system of gathering accumulations and purifying obscurations is different, in this respect [dzogchen] is the same.

Longchenpa states:

All phenomena of samsara depend on the mind, so when the essence (ngo bo) of mind is purified, samsara is purified... The essence of mind is an obscuration to be given up. The essence of vidyā is pristine consciousness (ye shes) to be attained... That being so, it is very important to differentiate mind and pristine consciousness because all meditation is just that: all methods of purifying vāyu and vidyā are that; and in the end at the time of liberation, vidyā is purified of all obscurations because it is purified of the mind.

Even Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche’s father, states:

Purification happens through training on the path. We have strayed from the basis and become sentient beings. To free the basis from what obscures it, we have to train. Right now, we are on the path and have not yet attained the result. When we are freed from obscuration, then the result - dharmakāya - appears... the qualities of the result are contained in the state of the basis; yet, they are not evident or manifest. That is the difference between the basis and the result. At the time of the path, if we do not apply effort, the result will not appear.

Thus there is still much for you to understand about how Dzogchen actually works. You are only speaking of the side of the nature, the state of Dzogchen, but the side of appearances, the side of the practitioner, is not pure and perfect just yet. The two sides meet when the practitioner recognizes that nature, which is not presently known, and trains in the method and view.

5” – Kyle Dixon, 2021, krodha (u/krodha) - Reddit

Sentient beings are numberless, I vow to ferry them across the ocean of suffering.

Confusion is inexhaustible, I vow to uproot it all.

The gates to Dharma are endless, I vow to know them all.

The way of the Buddha is unsurpassed, I vow to actualize it fully.

- Bodhisattva Vow