This month we are discussing about Emptiness (Shunyata).

The wisdom of emptiness should be a direct remedy for our ignorance of the true nature of reality.  If this wisdom is not completely opposite to the ordinary way we view things, then it is not true wisdom at all.   Because our ignorance conceives of object in a distorted manner, our wisdom must be directly opposed to it in order to be effective.

            Our mind has been so accustomed to viewing things in a distorted manner that it is difficult to gain clear picture of reality.   Because our wisdom is so limited, it is hard enough to recognize our mistaken beliefs,  if we ask ourselves, “what exactly is this “I” that I am always talking about?”   We shall have great difficulty in formulating an answer.  This is so despite the fact that we think in terms of ‘I’ at all times, even our dreams.  Our delusions are so think that we cannot even explain what we are accustomed to seeing.

The non-existence or lack of such a false ‘I’ is what is meant by emptiness.  Because ignorance believes that we exit somehow as a truly independent ‘I’ and the wisdom of emptiness  see clearly that such am ‘I’ has never had even the slightest existence, these two views are said to be complete opposites.

(Dalai Lama as a DHARMA SOLDIER with Ven.Sumedha Bodhi, author)