Unborn emptiness has let go of the extremes of being and non-being. Thus it is both the centre itself and the central path. Emptiness is the track on which the centred person moves. JE TSONGKHAPA (1357-1419)
Reading this quotation from the Tibetan Buddhist Je Tsongkhapa (aka Je Rinpoche) just now in Stephen Batchelor's excellent book Buddhism Without Beliefs (1997), it struck me that it had some affinity with the poem I wrote a few days ago, Sweet Nothing.
The photo was taken on Mount Etna in Sicily.
4 comments:
Yes Robert - Etna is pretty bleak isn't it.
I, too, like Batchelor's book, "Buddhism Without Beliefs." The quote is absolutely on track, but it requires some thought, a willingness to let go, the Zen notion that to be empty is to be full.
I, too, have Batchelor's book. Your post here is encouraging me to pick it up again and be reminded of the value of nothing and emptiness in present moment awareness.
To quote Batchelor, and to resonate with one of your recent posts, Bonnie:
"To know emptiness is not just to understand the concept. It is more like stumbling into a clearing in the forest, where suddenly you can move freely and see clearly. To experience emptiness is to experience the shocking absence of what normally determines the sense of who you are and the kind of reality you inhabit. It may last only a moment before the habits of a lifetime reassert themselves and close in once more. But for that moment, we witness ourselves and the world as open and vulnerable. This calm, free, open and sensitive space is the very center of dharma practice. It is immediate, imminent, and dynamic. It is a path, a track..."
Post a Comment