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<Introduction to Buddhism I>

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<What Is the Meaning of “Emptiness”?>

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(Questioner) Hi, Sunim, [br]Hi, everyone.

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Raising a question in such a large[br]group makes me a little nervous.

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So, please bear with me.

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The question that I have relates [br]to the concept of emptiness.

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Emptiness has come up [br]in a few of your Dharma talks,

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your videos, and textbooks a few times.

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It also comes up in many [br]of the traditional texts and sutras

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like Diamond Sutra and Heart Sutra.

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Whenever I read through what emptiness [br]means in the Buddhist concept,

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it leaves me a bit more confused

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and sometimes a little bit dampened [br]and slightly demotivated.

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The reason is because the way [br]I understand it is very shallow.

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The way I understand it is that because of[br]the impermanence and the causality

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being dependent on each other,[br]things become empty, or things are empty.

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But my challenge and difficulty [br]with understanding the concept is

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how do I approach it so that I'm not [br]undermining what is important in life,

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for instance, family relationships [br]that matter, or ambitions that matter.

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That's my question.

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(Sunim) We usually express emptiness[br]using the Chinese character

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meaning not filled, empty.

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But how a word is interpreted[br]really depends on the context

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of what came before,[br]and what follows after.

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So, the same word can mean [br]multiple things.

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For example, if you claim that [br]this word can only mean one thing,

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it can be called "form."[br]But if it means multiple things

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depending on the context,[br]we can call it "empty."

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That's what emptiness means.

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Emptiness in this context [br]does not mean a complete absence

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of something or a complete void.

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It really means that everything is[br]contextual and depends on the context

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in which the words are used [br]or the definition the word falls under.

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Let's take an example:[br]Somebody may look at you

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and claim that you are a good person.

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Another person may look at you [br]and say you are a bad person.

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When somebody claims [br]that you're a good person

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that means that you have[br]an essence of goodness in you.

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If somebody says you're a bad person,[br]you have something within you that

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that person perceives as bad.

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So, whether it is a positive element[br]or a negative one, the very assertion that

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such an element exists is what is referred[br]to as "form," in contrast to "emptiness."

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What emptiness refers to is that [br]it's all about that person's perception

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as being good, or that person's [br]perception as being bad,

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but that there's nothing intrinsic [br]within you that's good or bad.

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In other words, you don't have [br]an essential form, element, or attribute

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within you that somebody can point to[br]and say that's good or bad.

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It is just their perception of you, within[br]that specific context of space and time,

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in which they claim you are good or bad.

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So, when somebody says you are[br]a bad person or you're a good person,

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I can say,[br]"You are neither good nor bad.

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You just are. You are emptiness,[br]devoid of a fixed self."

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In that case, empty doesn't mean[br]that you don't exist,

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that there's nothing,[br]or that there's just a void.

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It just means that there's no attribute[br]or an essence within you intrinsically

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that we can call as good or bad.

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Let's say we have this thing.

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Somebody took a little bite [br]of this thing and got healed.

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So, that person said, [br]"This is a great medicine."

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But somebody else took a bite[br]of the same thing and got sick.

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That person pointed the same thing[br]and said that's poison.

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So, is this thing medicine or poison?

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There are three things in this world.

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One is medicine.

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Second is poison.

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And the third is that it has both [br]medicinal and poisonous properties

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But this thing itself is empty.

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That means that it neither has [br]toxic properties nor medicinal properties.

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That means that this is just a thing.

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In whatever context and situation[br]this thing has been applied to,

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it sometimes has medicinal attributes [br]or sometimes has toxic attributes.

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That's when you use the word [br]emptiness or Gong (空) to refer to that

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this is neither medicinal nor toxic, [br]you are neither a good nor bad person.

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All existence, whether that's[br]biological or non-biological,

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or even a thought,[br]a mental phenomena,

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is empty (of a fixed nature).[br]It's neither good nor bad.

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That's why "the truth is emptiness." [br]In other words, it simply is what it is.

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How it's represented or manifests[br]really depends on the situation,

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the context, and the connections [br]in which it is allowed to manifest.

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So, in some situations, [br]you are a good person

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and in other situations,[br]you're a bad person.

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In some situations, this thing is[br]medicine; in other, it is poison.

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So, when we say Gong (空), or emptiness,[br]it refers to the true nature of existence-

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just as it is-while Saek (色), or form, is[br]how that nature appears to us

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in various ways,[br]depending on the context or situation.

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Therefore, if you truly understand [br]that the essence of all existence

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is really empty,[br]there's no cause for you to suffer

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because you realize the person is [br]neither bad nor good.

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That doesn't mean [br]that nothing exist.

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That just means that the person[br]in a specific context of space and time,

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under a specific set of conditions, [br]may appear to be good or bad to me.

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It doesn't look like [br]you are fully clear on that.

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(Questioner) I am thinking of[br]how you mentioned

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good or bad sometimes is empty.

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At the same time, I can't help [br]but think of historical dictators

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that have caused a lot of hurt.

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But also, I have in my head[br]explained to myself

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that they have violated the precepts.[br]That's all.

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(Sunim) Even the precepts themselves[br]are empty.

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(Sunim Laughter)

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(Questioner) I guess I am still[br]a little confused about

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the precepts being empty.

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Do you mean they are dependent

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on the historical age we're in, [br]the society that we're in?

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(Sunim) There's no precepts that can be[br]regarded as an "always objective truth,"

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regardless of the context, time, and space[br]that we find ourselves in

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because that is a very dangerous path.

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So, the Buddha taught us [br]that the right way is always determined

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by the space and time of the situation[br]that we are under.

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It's like setting a compass down [br]in a new place and seeing

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where it points north and[br]that's when you find the right way.

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So, everything is dependent; it's not[br]that the right way is predetermined.

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That's the middle way.

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And the concept of the middle way, as it[br]transition over to Mahayana Buddhism,

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became translated [br]or understood as "emptiness."

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The concept and the word "emptiness" was [br]a criticism against Theravada Buddhism's

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rigid traditionalism in which [br]they claimed that

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a certain set of ethical construction[br]was the only true way.

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So, the criticism in Mahayana Buddhism[br]against that was that

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even the construct itself should be empty.

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The original criticism against Theravada's[br]rigid absoluteness of the way was that

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there is no fixed way and that eventually[br]got translated and consolidated

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into the word "emptiness."

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So, one claims that this the truth,[br]then the criticism is that there's nothing

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that you can point to and say[br]that's the absolute truth,

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and that got translated into[br]the sense of emptiness.

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We misunderstand the term and the concept[br]of "emptiness" because the word is

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primarily used in terms of space,[br]but it's only a part of all.

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We usually obsess over somebody [br]if we like that person.

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And we want to make that person behave [br]the way we want them to behave.

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If they don't behave accordingly,[br]we feel bitter.

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If that disappointment becomes too much,[br]we leave that person alone.

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We become indifferent to them.

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When we realize the concept of emptiness[br]and understand that

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there's nothing to obsess over,[br]we can truly let go of our obsession.

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Then we can allow them [br]to behave as they want.

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If they ask for our help, we help.

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If they don't ask for help, [br]we don't help.

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In this case, we're neither indifferent[br]nor obsessive.