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'Emptiness applies to things, not to ultimate truth.' ~ Clara Llum

Truth of emptiness of things is not empty of reality!

Truth of emptiness of things is not empty of reality!

• Clara: reality is what stands under this dream ~ understand?
• CW: is there really a reality beyond these fleeting impermanent moments? Imho an underlying reality would be the opposite of emptiness
• Clara: does Dharmakaya ring a bell?
• CW: I'm a bit rusty,but imho if you think of dharmakaya as an underlying reality,then you're moving towards a hindu view of atman
• Clara: seems underlying but it actually stands alone ~ there's nothing but that ~ dharmadhatu
• Clara: in advaita vedanta "atman is brahman", meaning 'no intrinsic atman' or 'no own nature of atman'. - this agrees w/ 4 dharma seals
• CW: agree that late hindu thought converges with late #buddhist thought.Contary to popular opinion,the 2 influenced each other greatly
• CW: surely if ultimately everything is of the truth body (emptiness) then that means that everything is empty of inherent existence?
• Clara: yes. all compounded things are anatma, anitya and dukha. nirvana is not compounded phenomena. hence buddhadharma at all.
• Clara: while 'things' are illusory & empty of intrinsic existence, ultimate truth can't be qualified yes, not, both, neither existing
• CW: but is ultimate truth not emptiness? Ie the fact that no things exist inherently?
• Clara: yes, emptiness that applies to things!, not to itself! - "things" are empty of existence, not truth - truth can't be qualified
• Clara: if you say that 'truth is empty of existence', you fall for one of the four mistaken propositions denied by Nagarjuna
• CW: but emptiness does not exist apart from things, it is a property of things, and has no existence from its own side, no?
• Clara: exactly, emptiness applies to things, not to ultimate truth. truth is not "empty" but beyond qualification (see 4 denials)
• Clara: truth is emptiness of things, truth is not empty of reality. if you say so, you fall in one extreme rejected by Nagarjuna.
• Clara: if truth was itself empty, i.e. non existing, then there would not be buddha dharma to realize it
• Clara: In eagerness to "empty the most the better" we commit the mistake to even empty ultimate truth. No. Truth reveals emptiness of *things*.
• CW: but what is this truth? Imho it is nothing more than the way things are. if there were no things - what would truth be?
• Clara: there are no things!, only Dharmakaya, and this is the real truth. (and it's not empty or illusion)
• CW: there are things! They just don't exist inherently :-)
• Clara: that things do not exist inherently is to say there are no things. things are imputed upon ultimate truth.
• CW: "form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form; emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness"
• Clara: you just said the truth. do not say that the truth of emptiness is empty!
• Clara: in the sutra, emptiness is predicated of form, form is predicated of emptiness, they are the theme of truth, truth which itself transcends
• Clara: ultimate or absolute truth reveals the nonduality of form and emptiness, remaining itself beyond conceptualization of the four propositions

 

The Path Of Non-Attachment...

Hello my friends,

As I mentioned in my previous post regarding the "Things I believe in..." I 've decided try and write a post on something I have been thinking about a lot lately. It is something that I feel is important and at the same time very hard to put into words. Anyone familiar with Buddhism will know this as The Path Of Non-Attachment. A quote from the The Dalai Lama can basically sum up how Buddhist feel regarding how we attach our selves (mostly our egos) to things that we feel will make us happy or feel good:

Another quote that I found on the Wikipedia page for Buddhism that might help us understand this theory of Attachment is the following:

I will be the first to say I don't totally understand the entire Buddhism religion or beliefs and that I'm not writing to preach Buddhism, but I do believe in a lot of the principles and I'm realising the more I can detach myself from things, the more things seem to just "be" and aren't as heavy and in turn they aren't as big a deal (good and bad). I am writing this post in hopes that someone can read it and think it makes sense and possibly start thinking about attachment and suffering in their own lives.  It takes a lot of work and we have to work on this everyday if we want to detach from certain things like our phone when we leave it somewhere, our sports team when they lose at the end of a game, our favorite shirt that rips, or even at a deeper level the things we love very much . This might sound crazy and these ones still have a ? by them in my mind but if we want to be free from suffering than we have to detach from everything. This doesn't mean we stop living and loving, just the opposite happens when we are not so attached and dependent on things for our happiness. It seems more than ever we depend on "things" to bring us happiness. We've heard it 1000 times, if we get that raise we'll be happy, when we go on vacation we'll be happy, when we meet the right person it'll be great, when we get rid of that piece of shit car we'll be better... when "this" happens we'll be happy! We'll guess what? Things in life are never stable (it's a fact) and we really don't know what is going to happen from moment to moment so there is no reason to attach yourself to anything because most times you'll just be let down which will then cause suffering (and who wants that!). Again, I'm not trying to preach here, just hoping that someone may see what I've begin to see over the past little while, that we really shouldn't be attached to anything. This might sound odd but when you start working on it, it can really change how you perceive things and open your mind. I've read a few times that a good way to get used to this is to give something that you really, really, really like (and are probably attached to) to someone else. I'm sure it'll be hard at first but after you do it you will hopefully realise your not that attached to it anymore and it really had no affect on your happiness! If anyone decides to give this a shot, please leave a comment and tell us how it goes... thanks for checking out the blog and take care!

Adrian

Zen / Pure Land

Brad Warner | Hongaku Jodo
Seung Sahn | Joshu Sasaki Roshi

The many sesshins I attended in the early 1980s were led
by a teacher connected to these two lineages, and practice style.

 

 

Vajrayana

Dharma Fellowship (Namgyal Rinpoche) | Pundarika Foundation |

| Dzongsar Khyentse | Beru Khyentse | Dharma Dictionary |

  My first Vajrayana lama, H.E. Beru Khyentse Rinpoche,
a Kagyu-Nyingma siddha, emanation of Vimalamitra and Manjushri.

Dharmata Foundation (Anam Thubten)|
 The Bodhisattva Way of Life

Keith Dowman | Blazing Splendor Chants 
| Shedrub | Ranjung Yeshe

Dodrupchen | Rigpa Shedra |

 | Sechen | Never Born, Never Ceasing 
| Chatral's Advice | Lotsawa |

 Dudjom Rinpoche: Series Advice 

Great Perfection Heart-Essence
Meditation | Supplication Sadhanas (mp3)

Arnaud Desjardins 1960's superb 
documentary on Tantric Buddhism
featuring Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche,
the Sakya Trizin, and the XVI Karmapa.

.Tsawai Lama.
His Holiness Dungse Shenpen Dawa Norbu Rinpoche,
Heart-Son and Heir of HH Kyabje Dudjom Rinpoche,
Regent of the Dudjom Tersar lineage of Nyingma Dharma.
Emanation of Sambhogakaya Bodhisattva Hayagriva,
Nirmanakaya manifestation of Mahasiddha Virupa.

| Great Madhyamaka 
Mist Real (Mike Dickman) Tersar 
| Turtle Hill | Tsegyalgar |