Sunday 29 January 2012

Buddha Speaks - How To Understand Emptiness

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I was doing some reading in my studies on Buddhism, and I found this interesting quote on emptiness.  Since it resonated for me, I thought it might resonate for some of you, as well.

Many blessings,

Judy

Emptiness is a mode of perception, a way of looking at experience. It adds nothing to, and takes nothing away from, the raw data of physical and mental events. You look at events in the mind and the senses with no thought of whether there's anything lying behind them. This mode is called emptiness because it is empty of the presuppositions we usually add to experience in order to make sense of it: the stories and worldviews we fashion to explain who we are and the world we live in. Although these stories and views have their uses, the Buddha found that the questions they raise—of our true identity and the reality of the world outside—pull attention away from a direct experience of how events influence one another in the immediate present. Thus they get in the way when we try to understand and solve the problem of suffering.

- Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "What do Buddhists mean when they talk about emptiness?"

 

judy@angelsandancestors.com

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Thanks for reading this blog post. Sharing is good if it is kind and either has questions or tells about an experience.

Blessings,
Judy