The Treatise on the Middle Way says, “Because there is emptiness, all phenomena exist. Without emptiness, all phenomena could not be.” Without emptiness, the phenomenal world could not exist. For example, from the perspective of dependent origination, a piece of cotton cloth is “empty.” Why? The cloth only exists temporarily, for it is conditioned by other things. The cloth is made from cotton yarn, and the yarn is made from cotton fiber. Cotton fiber comes from cottonseeds, and the seeds need soil, air, sunlight, water, and nutrients before they can grow into plants that produce cotton. Therefore, the cotton cloth is the result of the combination of many conditions that span the universe. Looking at all things from this point of view, we can see that the cloth’s nature is empty. This core of emptiness is what allows all phenomena to exist.
What is emptiness?
Submitted July 17, 2020 at 11:35PM by MichaelScott42069 https://ift.tt/395IVxO
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