Empty is the phenomenal world

I was reading this interesting discourse from the Samyutta-Nikaya (S. iv. 54) last night.  It is entitled, Empty Is the World.  I hope to show the reader how a normal sane Buddhist might read it; one not stung by nihilism.  First, here is the discourse.  It is Bhikkhu Bodhi’s translation.

Then the Venerable Ananda approached the Blessed One ...and said to him: “Venerable sir, it is said, ‘Empty is the world, empty is the world.’  In what way, venerable sir, is it said, ‘Empty is the world’?”

“It is, Ananda, because it is empty of self and of what belongs to self that it is said, ‘Empty is the world.’  And what is empty of self and of what belongs to self?  The eye, Ananda, is empty of self and what belongs to self.  Forms are empty of self and of what belongs to self.  Eye-consciousness is empty of self and of what belongs to self.  Eye-contact is empty of self and of what belongs to self.... Whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is empty of self and what belongs to self.

“It is, Ananda, because it is empty of self and of what belongs to self that it is said, ‘Empty is the world.’”

Now, here is the way the above discourse should be comprehended by someone who is not suffering from nihilism; who understands that the self is the Tathagatagarbha according to the Nirvana Sutra and that our phenomenal world is not the supramundane world, i.e., lokuttara.

Then the Venerable Ananda approached the Blessed One ...and said to him: “Venerable sir, it is said, ‘Empty is the phenomenal world, empty is the phenomenal world.’  In what way, venerable sir, is it said, ‘Empty is the phenomenal world’?”

“It is, Ananda, because it is empty of our true self and of what belongs to our true self that it is said, ‘Empty is the phenomenal world.’  And what is empty of our true self and of what belongs to our true self?  The eye, Ananda, is empty of our true self and what belongs to our true self.  Forms are empty of our true self and of what belongs to our true self.  Eye-consciousness is empty of our true self and of what belongs to our true self.  Eye-contact is empty of our true self and of what belongs to our true self.... Whatever feeling arises with mind-contact as condition—whether pleasant or painful or neither-painful-nor-pleasant—that too is empty of of our true self and what belongs to self.

“It is, Ananda, because it is empty of our true self and of what belongs to our true self that it is said, ‘Empty is the phenomenal world.’”

Our phenomenal world is an illusory, empty world which is filled with the potential of great suffering for those who would tenaciously cling to it and their corporeal bodies.  Our true self is not naturally connected with phenomenality except that we firmly believe the phenomenal world is our self including our senses like the eye and what they perceive.  Our greatest problem is that as the self we are unable to recognize it in the deceiving confusion of phenomenality.  But besides our self, we cannot recognize nirvana, the Tathagatagarbha, our Buddha-nature, the Dharmakaya, pure Mind, Thus-ness, etc.

 

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[clyde]

I read tonight from Nagarjuna’s Emptiness: The Seventy Stanzas:

“III. Since the intrinsic being of all entities does not exist in the
cause and conditions, either together or separately, or in any way,
therefore they are empty.”