(The following is an excerpt from Chapter 8 of The Art of Happiness: Teachings of Buddhist Psychology, (Shambala, 1989), by Mirko Fryba. Fryba is a Czech Theravada monk, also known as Ayu Kusalanda Thera; the book was originally published in German as Anleitung zum Gluecklichsein.
It should be evident why the claims expressed here are of interest, given the importance of the notion of “emptiness” (Sansrit sunyata, Pali suññata) in Mahayana thought.)
“Turning away from suffering, once successfully accomplished, leads to the peaceful experiencing of an emptiness that is called suññata. The attainment of suññata is the highest fruit of liberational progress in vipassana, which can also be described as perfected clear comprehension of nondelusion; [earlier] we also described it metaphorically as a kind of evacuation that stopped the building of castles in the air. The experiencing of suññata is considered a gateway to supreme liberation, to entry into the stream of enlightenment (sotapatti). A person who succeeds in entering emptiness is always able to realize the experience later as an object of meditation. But then also, the way into the free space of suññata is conditioned by the regular procedure of satipatthana-vipassana, the steps of which we know from previous exercises. Now let us try to make clear, at least in broad outlines, what suññata is, and also, particularly, what experiences of emptiness have nothing to do with suññata.
To begin with, let us look at some rather widespread false interpretations of emptiness, which stem from inadequate understanding.
“A first type of false understanding of suññata is based on experiences of gaps in perception or memory. These are experiences of an empty consciousness, or rather a nonconsciousness, in which all awareness of any phenomenon is absent. Such gaps in experiencing appear often in the meditation of a beginner but are also known to many who have never meditated. After starting more advanced meditation, it usually happens when the attention is fatigued and somehow “succeeds” in soothing the mind by means of a lapse in mindfulness.
“Another false notion of suññata arises when the perceived emptiness of an object is fixated upon. This could be the emptiness of a container, an empty window, or an empty sheet of paper. When a person solidifies such an experience of emptiness by believing in its ontological reality and then thinks about it, then he might perhaps think he is meditating on suññata.
“Another type of false understanding is the mere thought of emptiness as a word without any connection to reality or any ontological attribute. Emptiness can also be a result of a philosophical deduction, a conceptual abstract. Such an abstract concept can afterward have signs or symbols attributed to it that can be meditatively visualized. in this visualization, the abstract concept becomes a mental representation or image, which then exists as an autonomous object of consciousness.
“Sometimes very advanced meditative experiences that are very intense and extraordinary are wrongly held to be experiences of suññata. These could be ecstatic experiences of bliss, of a seeming ontological unity of all things, profound peace, or pure light. Even a person who is experienced in meditation might develop craving-filled attachment to such spectacular and intense experiences. This leads to exclusion of the connection to reality and thus hinders real progress toward liberation.
“A combination of the last two false interpretations of emptiness actually appears in the younger schools of Buddhism, which were predominantly mystically or philosophically oriented. suññata is then presented through a kind of mental acrobatics as identical with samsara and nirvana. However, the original tradition of Abhidhamma, which is practically based on liberational way of life, recognizes such spectacular experiences and deductive results caused by attachment as obscurations of insight (vipassana-upak-kilesa). Abhidhamma teaches the basic attitude of openness toward all experiences. This is an openness free from any attachment and any belief in identity.
“Suññata is emptiness of mind that is without any interpolation of mental representations (nimitta) or concepts (akkheya) and that is free from distortion resulting from greed, aggression, or arrogance. Thus it makes possible a direct experience of reality. When awareness is free from all obscurations (kilesa), then reality is fully experienced.”
meditation
Post a Comment