On Emptiness

“Emptiness, the womb of compassion.”  —Nagarjuna

Potential energy is real, and everything is potentially on fire. Fire needs something to burn, because fire can’t burn itself. There are potentially an infinite number of things to burn and potentially an infinite amount of time allocated for the burning of objects. In order to manifest, one thing needs the other, forever. When manifest, the quality of the fire depends on the qualities of the objects burning. That’s emptiness in a nutshell.

Hot Hand: Emptiness In The Kitchen

I love to cook. Sometimes, I burn my hand. By now, I have spontaneously removed my hand from hot kitchen equipment enough to say that it happens without deliberation or emotion. At a deep, visceral level, I acknowledge a connection to my hand. I say, “My hand is a part of me.” And therefore, when the health of my hand is threatened, I take immediate action to eliminate the causes of its suffering. I do so without any thought of reward or congratulations. I also don’t invite friends and family over to celebrate the occasion.

It’s almost irrelevant to speak of emptiness without also speaking of compassion. Emptiness says, “All for one, and one for all.” If, in fact, the nature of reality is free from all inherently self-existent conceptualization, everything that exists only does so as a result of everything else. Even something as inconceivable as a Buddha’s enlightenment has mutual dependence as its basis. Without others to care for, there can be no Buddhahood. Traditionally, the first direct experience of emptiness catalyzes a 360° makeover – all habits of body, speech, and mind. Born in clarity, a Bodhisattva is thenceforth motivated solely by the wish to communicate to others that reality is a magical, malleable, and all-inclusive playground and that suffering is, therefore, unnecessary. 

The answer to the question of whom we currently love and why is also habitual. Such sentiment is easier to generate around those for whom we acknowledge a connection, yet all families originate in the meeting of strangers. Loving my neighbor as much as I love myself or my friends and family seems nearly impossible. But from the point of view of emptiness, my neighbor and I are mutually responsible for the health of our shared experience, and we originate in one another. Were I to sense at a visceral level that, “Like my hand, my neighbor is a part of me,” loving my neighbor as myself would be spontaneous, enduring, and natural. 

Ideal & Identity: Emptiness In Psychology

That which offers us the most meaning in life is that for which we feel a deep sense of connection – that with which we identify. Perceived isolation engenders suffering, whereas perceived connection produces collaboration, companionship, and so on. When we acknowledge an authentic connection, like a mother does to her child, a sense of responsibility and motivation naturally arises. Henceforth, after such an acknowledgment, I am motivated to act on behalf of that connection. 

Mostly, my identity motivation manifests as me organizing my life in order to protect my body. In rare cases, decisions for a deliberate and radical identity reorganization emerge from bodhicitta, the sincere, spontaneous wish to protect all beings’ bodies and minds. This authentic, spontaneous wish is a portal – a signpost delineating entrance into the Bodhisattva path. Whether we believe it is ever even possible to protect all beings, the Bodhisattva aim naturally results in the construction of a mobile residence that is literally surrounded by an ever-deepening sense of meaning in all directions, wherever it moves. This living-breathing-moving field of meaning benefits both the individual Bodhisattva and the communities served by that individual.

Identity motives, whether selfish or selfless, whether fully crystallized qualities or budding aspirations, connote choices made, real-time. Identity, by default, manifests in attractions and aversions. Based on my identity, I prioritize and value certain actions, objects, ideas, places, and groups of people more than others. Generally, I try to surround myself with what I value, and I try to avoid what I do not value. Stated more clearly, the choices I make reinforce my identity feedback loop. 

Like all effects, the aversion I feel toward that with which I do not identify and do not value is habitual and patterned. Here, the question arises, “Is aversion wrong?” Clearly, all things do not possess equal relevance. I drink water – I do not drink bleach. I would recommend that those with whom I identify drink water, not bleach. Baseball players have valued discipline over leisure, which is why they develop as athletes. Both surgeons and chefs value a sharp edge over a dull one, often either selecting a higher grade of blade or sharpening the blade they currently use in order to optimize their performance. Chefs and surgeons simultaneously carry both a high priority for sharpness and an aversion to dullness. 

This fundamental, instinctual yearning to make the best possible choices relevant to an identity construct suggests that, taken to a logical conclusion, what I actually seek for myself and those with whom I identify is the maximum state of health of body, speech, and mind. Such maximum state requires maximum identity, therefore. A Bodhisattva experiences these maximum benefits, precisely because of an ability to identify with everyone. Thus, aiming at Bodhisattvahood is the best thing an individual can do both for self and others, simultaneously. 

Cake and Eat It Too: Emptiness In Ethics

No matter my level of conviction that 2+2=7, it isn’t so. Walking the Earth proclaiming that 4=7 is both arrogant and ignorant. As already stated, each of us acknowledges that arrogance (distorted view of reality), ignorance (active anti-knowledge), and fear are states of being to be avoided – they lead to suffering. The less in touch with reality and its common-sense workings I am, the more I will suffer. None of us wants to suffer, and that’s why we try to protect our perceived sources of connection, identity, and meaning. We often take that sentiment to its logical conclusion by actively trying to destroy that which threatens the health of our perceived sources of meaning. War is the obvious manifestation of that attempt.

The fact of inherent selflessness constitutes responsible behavior and creativity a necessity. Emptiness, “forever resting” on the two pillars of pure possibility and creative effort, initiates us into the wonder that is our own conscious evolution through discipline. Ultimately, no matter how dark the night or how deep the ditch, this indwelling creative potentiality, when harnessed, is redeeming – both for the individual who claims its responsibility and for the inconceivable matrix of beings who benefit from one individual’s endurance. 

Exposure to the hot seat of authentic spiritual training definitely sets a fire under the backside – and later awakens dull, sleepy eyes to the one clear brilliance simultaneously composing and embracing all diversities alike. Emptiness says, “Life need not remain a mystery, and while the peace we seek lies within ourselves, the profundity we seek lies in each other.”