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Why is emptiness an important element to ponder at? Why Buddhism stresses on seeing into emptiness? Frankly speaking, it is imperative for one to realise on the emptiness of all things because this would lead one into seeing all things as they really are. When we examine our usual mind, its delusion is negated, what is left is a nature of clarity of the innate mind. And Buddhism articulates on one’s potentiality of exploring the base level of the mind that is luminous.
From direct experience, we know that humans and things cause pleasure and pain, and that they can help and harm. Therefore, phenomena certainly do exist but the question is how? They do not exist in their own quality but only have an existence dependent upon many factors, including a consciousness that conceptualises them. In other words, one cause is never enough to bring about an effect. A cause must, at the same time, be an effect, and every effect must also be the cause of something else. This means all things exist conditionally without an eternal essence i.e. all things can never sustain in an absolute discrete orientation. In the dependent nature, we do know one thing that is consistently constant i.e. becoming. This becoming process is the main reason for all the things that we observe right here, right now. When there is a becoming process, there is a changing process. The changing process would then conjure up an ability of sorts that is known as ‘energy.’ Therefore, we shall be clear by now that energy is something that has always been in existence and remaining as constant - as per the Law of Conservation of Energy that says energy in a system can neither be created nor destroyed and the sum of all energies is a constant or never changes.
For generalunderstanding, energy is nothing but mere vibration. When there are opposing forces, there wouldbe vibration. The alternate movement ofthe opposing forces would generate a pattern of waves oscillating up and downin continuum. This is the main reasonfor all the repeating cycle of rising and falling activities that one could witness in the dependent nature or samsāra. In other words, by understanding well and observing thoroughly into the characteristics of energy, one could gain insight into the nature and its orientation. Right now, we start to understand that the fundamental qualities in the dependent nature would be energy and emptiness because every single thing or happening would involve with it, without exception. When one sees into energy, one sees into emptiness; when one sees into emptiness, one sees into energy. This is the rationale for the saying, ‘Form is Emptiness, Emptiness is Form.’ The principle in effect: seeing into form is seeing into matter, seeing into matter is seeing into energy and seeing into energy is seeing into emptiness. On the same pretext, emptiness is a necessary pre-requisite for any objects to exist; without it, the object would be impossible.
In order for one to develop the skills of realising into emptiness, one could perform a series of Buddhist virtues known as the four immeasurables or brahmavihāras. Through meditation, one could cultivate and radiate out to all beings in all directions the mental states of: -
1. Mettā (Loving-kindness). 2. Karunā (Compassion). 3. Muditā (Emphathetic joy). 4. Upekkhā (Equanimity).
The above four immeasurables are powerful antidotes that would act as means for weakening the links of suffering in the wheel of life and concurrently, it would expedite one’s effort of attaining enlightenment in the present lifetime.
The principle in effect: -
A stream of loving-kindness and compassion would conjure up empathy, A stream of empathy would conjure up boundless, A stream of boundless would conjure up voidness, A stream of voidness would conjure up stillness, A stream of stillness would conjure up peacefulness, A stream of peacefulness would conjure up enlightenment.
Once again, all subject matters are empty and comprise with energy per se. It is the wonder of nature that all things are neither identical to, nor entirely different from one another. The circumstances of duality or multiplicity are merely the end result of various activities of aggregation being observed by the mind under the influence of multiple causes and conditions. The mind is actually a pattern of consciousness that is born from awareness. When awareness touches on objects, consciousness would arise simultaneously. Consciousness is naturally looking outward to objects and it is flitting all the time. Whereas, mind is something more objective and involves clear discrimination – differentiates and understands the characteristics of objects.
And one utilises mind to understand things because mind understands the manipulation of consciousness. Subsequently, the untrained mind brings forth the false mode that all living beings, things and phenomena could establish their respective rights or qualities. However, one could distinguish between appearance and reality by fully realising on the emptiness via cultivating the four immeasurables or brahmavihāras. Retrospectively, one would realise that all things are born from the same fundamental qualities i.e.emptiness and energy that would orientate as one integrated whole in continuum. This is the ultimate reality of all things or matters. As the saying goes, “The peace of your mind is an ease of my heart.” All subjects and objects are inter-dependent and inter-connected at all times.
Last edited by Buddhitakso on 23-10-2013 06:30 PM
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Post time 23-10-2013 06:23 PM
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