EXISTING

Awareness of emptiness is analogous to realizing that a movie is empty of real people. However, the appearance of the characters does exist, dependent on the film, actors, screen, and so forth.We generate the wisdom that directly realizes emptiness, so we will perceive the mode in which we and other phenomena exist: all are empty of our fantasized projections on them, and most importantly, the projection of inherent existence. Having this wisdom realizing reality, we’ll gradually free ourselves from the bonds of the ignorance that misconceives reality.

Familiarizing our minds with emptiness, what happens is that gradually, but not over night, we’ll eliminate all ignorance, anger, attachment, pride, jealousy, and other disturbing attitudes and negative emotions from our mindstream, and by doing so, we’ll cease to engage in the destructive actions motivated by them. Anything bothering about that? And finally freed from the influence of ignorance, negative emotions, and the actions motivated by them, well, we’ll be liberated from the causes of our problems, and thus the problems also will cease. In other words, the wisdom realizing emptiness is the true path to happiness.

We don’t have to be Buddhists to learn and use this wisdom. If you’re still with me, read on, cause it only gets more exciting!

All persons and phenomena are empty of true or inherent existence. Persons like you and me and all other phenomena (tables, etc.) are empty of these fantasized qualities that we project onto them, that is, things do not exist under their own power, from their own side, independent of all other things.

In comprehending this, let’s be careful not to fall to the extreme of nihilsm, thinking that no self at all exists. while an independent self does not exist, a conventional, dependent one does.