Friday, 28 January 2011

Emptiness


Form is emptiness, emptiness is form;
Emptiness is not separate from form,
Form is not separate from emptiness;
Whatever is form is emptiness,
Whatever is emptiness is form.
The same holds true for sensation and perception,
Memory and consciousness. 
- Red Pine

Emptiness is the usual translation for the Buddhist term Sunyata (or Shunyata). It refers to the fact that no thing - including human existence - has ultimate substantiality, which in turn means that no thing is permanent and no thing is totally independent of everything else. In other words, everything in this world is interconnected and in constant flux. A deep appreciation of this idea of emptiness thus saves us from the suffering caused by our egos, our attachments, and our resistance to change and loss. - James Ure 

True emptiness exists when the mind is clear and all forms have disappeared. Externally, there are no objects. Internally, there is no mind. There is only emptiness. In this state even emptiness does not exist. In true emptiness there is no space, no desire, no will; there are no appearances, no thoughts. All realms of existence are dissolved. In absolute stillness there is no self and no other. There is only Earlier Heaven in its undifferentiated whole. - Shui-ch'ing Tzu

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