Emptiness

2023, September, Issue 62

“ . . . once we actually pursue analysis in terms of what is and what is not absolutely true, we must admit that everything we hold to be true is fabricated by our minds out of thin air.  With this realization [there may] come a great terror, which is actually a fear of the dawning of the view of emptiness.”

~Gendün Chöphel~

You can seek teachings about emptiness from any number of Buddhist teachers.  It’s a very popular topic, one that leads to elaborate teachings, which is really entirely too tragic.  You see, there’s nothing to emptiness.  It’s a very simple understanding of what is, as it is. 

Just look at something without subject or object.  Don’t use sticky notes or place holders to remember something about that conceptually.  Stop labelling everything.  Stop evaluating and comparing that relaxed view to what you have known before.  Simply rest in a non-judgmental state of observation.

Observe mind without fixation or elaboration.  Relax in the nature of what that is, which is not an object or a subject at all.  We turn it into an object, and a subject, by narrating, thinking, judging, naming, elaborating, ideating, hypothesizing, theorizing, plunging into vast intellectual speculation about whatever that thing is that you’re trying to prove is real.  Even stupid people do that, and it only cultivates delusion.  Concept does you in.

Let’s start from a different point of reference, one that I hope you will use for your own Spiritual Practice.  In my talks and writing, my books Timeless Luminosity and The Frog, I explain how I instantly became the light of Dharmakaya for an eternity.  This is very odd.  How could that possibly happen?  It doesn’t make sense from a conceptual level.  Why did I say that it is indescribable, then write two rather challenging books about that?

You see, when I completely relaxed in that state that some people call the Source or the light of Dharmakaya, it was in the state of Ultimate Reality, which is really emptiness, even though it encompasses absolutely everything and beyond anything that we can imagine. 

Imagine yourself in this Ultimate Condition of total and complete awareness, without any thoughts or narration clouding the View.  Just relax, cultivating a glimpse of that which has always encompassed us all.  See it from my point of view, in your mind, while remaining in that completely relaxed state.  After you have studied what I have said, after looking within, you will see a glimpse of that, just a flash of light.  Really delve into that without trying to change anything or conceptualizing such an experience.

When you have come to me for a little helpful advice, I want you to start with the light of Dharmakaya.  This is what you need to do, even if it doesn’t make any sense to you at first.  Just as my journey started with the ineffable, let that be your journey by starting with Bodhicitta.  Have the courage to see that the beginning of the Path is the same as its fruition. 

When I say that Bodhicitta is the key, it is not only the key to liberation, it is also the key to being here without being overwhelmed by all the clutter and chaos, and it is the key from the awareness of awakening itself.  When we start with the aspiration of Bodhicitta, which is a strong desire to awaken, it is the same as being awakened, which is Ultimate Bodhicitta.  When you start where you are, with this key of immense power and light, of emptiness, you are opening a door to the Ultimate Wisdom that has crafted this key.

I hear people who have taken the Bodhisattva Vows, which is about living altruistically, with great compassion, talking about Bodhisattvas as if they are supernatural beings far far away.  Or, sometimes I hear them say that they’d like to become a Bodhisattva in some future lifetime, as if it is unattainable.  Well, I have news for people, if you have taken those vows, you are automatically a Bodhisattva, one who is committed fully to helping all beings with this key of Bodhicitta.

If someone has taken those vows and still has no Bodhicitta, then I wouldn’t even say that they’ve entered the Path in the first place.  To enter the Path, we must start with this great compassionate aspiration for ourselves, one that involves a resolve to become enlightened.  Without that key, one is really just finding more elaborate ways to flounder in this Ocean of Samsara.

Once you have some understanding of emptiness, become aware of all the turbulence.  See the energy in your mind.  See your own thoughts flying by.  This is the same as the second part of my journey back into a life.  See these storms of mind with Bodhicitta, as well.  Relax into that field of appearances.

For the third step, which is just like my journey, you go back to your life—simply that.  When emptiness dawns, the world will become crisp and clear.  You see the inherent illusion that mind creates. 

This is not something that I want you to accept without question.  Examine what I have shared without conceptual elaboration.  It’s really what we all share.  In time, you will awaken.

Blessings in Light,

Robert Aho