“Before one studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are no longer waters; after enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters once again waters.”
― Dōgen
Listen, oh adepts of the Neon Lotus! There is a common pitfall many a student finds themselves in. I know it first hand, for I have been there too. Sorry for a bit of repetitiveness, but I really want to push the point home.
The teaching of emptiness is a trap. A koan, really. Or maybe it is just a fault of the translation. It should have never been translated as just “emptiness”. The implications are vast.
In Buddhist philosophy, the concept of emptiness, or "shunyata," refers to the idea that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence. This means that everything that exists is dependent on other factors for its existence, and does not have an independent, self-sufficient nature.
The “inherent” and “independent, self-sufficient” are the keywords here. The idea of emptiness is not meant to be understood as a nihilistic or negative concept, but rather as a way of emphasizing the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things.
By no means it has meant that phenomena do not exist at all.
Every time I had a problem with this, I went up and touched a wall. If you find yourself in this trap too, I can only recommend you do the same. The realization that the wall is inherently empty of self-existence and that it is just a fabrication of the mind doesn't make you able to walk right through it now, does it? It doesn't make the wall non-existent.
Touch it!
Wall is an amazing reality check. Wall is a great teacher.
Is there “something” blocking your hand? If there is “something” blocking your hand, doesn’t it mean that the wall, in fact, does exist? Will you deny the evidence of your own senses? It may be empty of independent existence. It may be dependent on infinite causes and interconnected with all other phenomena – but it is still there.
The same is true for the "self" or "I" or "ego" or anything, really. When you realize their inherent emptiness, they still remain and can be used skillfully for great benefit. Contrary to popular belief, the emptiness practice and the spiritual path does not seek to destroy the self or assume some uniform, empty self. As Rob Burbea writes:
"Dharma practices are not to lead to an erosion of our personalities. It is not a sign of spiritual growth to have the personality dampened down, or blanched to some kind of uniform ideal. Yet in sometimes subtle ways, variations of such a pernicious idea can commonly be grasped at and take root in the mind. And even if it is only half-conscious the effects of that kind of assumption will usually be enormous."
Don't try to destroy yourself. Do not assume you are nobody. Do not deny the wall its existence. See through it, accept it as a part of your experience, and see it empty of independent existence. That’s what phenomena are – empty of inherent self-existence. Not empty of any and all existence altogether.
Mountains, turns out, are in fact mountains.
Nah