Form is emptiness, emptiness is form
I
thought I'd share a few thoughts about the Zen saying "form is emptiness,
emptiness is form." I will start by saying that any thinking about a Zen
saying is a big mistake! But how can we understand what these sayings mean if
we can't think about them? This paradox is what is known in Zen as a koan. A koan
cannot be solved using the logical, conceptual mind; it must be solved by accessing
some other wisdom that we all possess. So let me be clear about this - I'm not
trying to "solve" this saying, just sharing some thoughts about it.
One
way of interpreting this saying, is to align form with duality - that everything
is separate and has its own existence. And to align emptiness with non-duality,
that everything is interconnected, and nothing is absolutely separate. Depeding
on one's perspective, either of these views can be correct. So a butterfly in
China can change the weather, and hence the mood of a person in the US. In that
way everything is interconnected, and I am not isolated from anything else in
the universe. Yet, from a conventional point of view, we are all separate individuals,
and we deal with many discrete items in our lives, and if we did not operate from
this point of view, we couldn't live our day to day lives. One way to look at
the saying "form is emptiness, emptiness is form" is that it reminds
us that both points of view are true, and that if we are attached to one or the
other, that we are missing something important. Yes, we are separate individuals,
but if we live as if our actions take place in a vacuum without affecting those
around us, we are deluded. And we are all connected, but we still need to take
responsibility for our own feelings, thoughts, and actions. So there is a paradox
here, but only by embracing the paradox, by recognizing both sides of it (and
maybe there are more than 2 sides to this paradox), can we begin to recognize
the truth of any situation.Posted by
BuddhaBoy at May 12, 2003 11:54 AM
