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**bunkalapa** · 04-05-2011, 03:25 PM

"It is important to clarify that we are not speaking of emptiness as some kind of absolute strata of reality, akin to, say, the ancient Indian concept of Brahman, which is conceived to be an underlying absolute reality from which the illusory world of multiplicity emerges. Emptiness is not a core reality, lying somehow at the heart of the universe, from which the diversity of phenomena arise."

Hi fojiao,
Absolutely wonderful statement there and I couldn't agree more. The only thing I've found is that emptiness is used in precisely that way by the tenets systems in Mahayana Buddhism and with good reason.

The second we ask ourselves about an ultimate state or reality, we need to furnish ourselves with an answer. The solution is usually a deity or the void. The Mahayanists chose the latter but if you look carefully at how they present it, it has elements of Advita philosophy, ie: we are deluded by Maya and trapped in an illusory fake reality.

The escape is to comprehend the void nature of this illusion, then we will no more assent to it's appearance.

my point is that how one relates to --or has been taught to relate to --particular dhamma teachings is very personal, and not necessarily due to the texts themselves. Obviously, the way a teacher presents the material will inform a student's understanding of it but the Mahayana tenets system is very well structured and has been transmitted from ancient India. This system was considered sacred and the gateway to understanding emptiness.

So, perhaps for many people the Mahayana texts also provide guidelines to understand Dukkha and its origin and to set the practical means to cease it, by dissecting Dukkha. They uphold the 4NTs but have their own interpretation of "true suffering" - ignorance of the 'true state', the emptiness of inherent existence.

I think if we're after a Mahayanist 'means' of training - which at it's core avoids proliferation and speculation - we can find it in completion stage tantric practice.

04-05-2011, 03:25 PM	#3
bunkalapa Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 496 Senior Member	"It is important to clarify that we are not speaking of emptiness as some kind of absolute strata of reality, akin to, say, the ancient Indian concept of Brahman, which is conceived to be an underlying absolute reality from which the illusory world of multiplicity emerges. Emptiness is not a core reality, lying somehow at the heart of the universe, from which the diversity of phenomena arise." Hi fojiao, Absolutely wonderful statement there and I couldn't agree more. The only thing I've found is that emptiness is used in precisely that way by the tenets systems in Mahayana Buddhism and with good reason. The second we ask ourselves about an ultimate state or reality, we need to furnish ourselves with an answer. The solution is usually a deity or the void. The Mahayanists chose the latter but if you look carefully at how they present it, it has elements of Advita philosophy, ie: we are deluded by Maya and trapped in an illusory fake reality. The escape is to comprehend the void nature of this illusion, then we will no more assent to it's appearance. my point is that how one relates to --or has been taught to relate to --particular dhamma teachings is very personal, and not necessarily due to the texts themselves. Obviously, the way a teacher presents the material will inform a student's understanding of it but the Mahayana tenets system is very well structured and has been transmitted from ancient India. This system was considered sacred and the gateway to understanding emptiness. So, perhaps for many people the Mahayana texts also provide guidelines to understand Dukkha and its origin and to set the practical means to cease it, by dissecting Dukkha. They uphold the 4NTs but have their own interpretation of "true suffering" - ignorance of the 'true state', the emptiness of inherent existence. I think if we're after a Mahayanist 'means' of training - which at it's core avoids proliferation and speculation - we can find it in completion stage tantric practice.
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