Why Is Emptiness So Important?
Emptiness is just a word: there are many words for the nature of spirit or mind, the nature of our being: rigpa, mahamudra, sunyata, maha ati, dharmakaya, luminous awareness … but they all mean the wisdom of primordial purity, free from elaborations.
Emptiness isn’t nothingness, as our nature is also knowingness, awareness, consciousness.
It is also, when realised, compassionate empathy.
The opposite to emptiness is fullness. When our mind is full of ideas and information, we feel proud of what we think we know as “It’s who I am!” Oh dear. This pride has turned into clinging and has sentenced us for life; that is samsara. We are stuck in this mind clutter, and so we suffer.
Know that the nature of mind or spirit is not the tormented, worried ‘soul’ we carry around with us: it is primordially pure wisdom, free from elaborations. We are luminous awareness. For this reason, it’s important to recognise what we are, empty of contamination.
