The
Four Extremes and Emptiness
Pay
attention. You are missing important bits. Let's clarify the view.
Emptiness means being at zero in all states and
circumstances. When samsaric beings are tricked by mental and
emotional states marked by the sense of self, me/I, buddhas remain in
natural wakefulness that remains empty despite of internal or
external circumstances. So, emptiness means remaining at zero despite
of changes. This is why I use the term zero-dimensional.
Samsaric
mind based and built on a sense of me-ness by definition is a state
that is located in time and space. Our very problem of confusion is
that we believe to exist in time and space. In other words, all of
samsaric functioning is based on a delusion that binds us to these
dimensions, space (3D) and time (4D). We become "things",
"selves" or me's and you's stuck in the dimensions of space
and time, reacting to internal and external stimuli.
Like you
say, being a thing or being nothing are just opposing states, both
stuck in the duality created by the other opposite. So, to become
nothing, instead of being something, is not the solution. This means
that we have to break that duality.
And excellent way to
shatter any opposites is to use the tetralemma (skt. caturanta, p.
catuskoti), or what I like to call "Rubik's cube of the four
extremes". This is discussed by mahasiddha Nagarjuna in his
writings as well as in countless other sources, including hindu
mahasiddhas, Abhinavagupta to name one.
1st position: I
am
2nd position: I am not
3rd position: Both, I am and I am
not, are the same
4th position: Neither, I am nor I am not, are
the same
To use a bit different verbal expression.
I
exist
I don't exist
Both, I exist and I don't exist, are the
same
Neither, I exist nor I don't exist, are the same
Tetralemma,
the four extremes, has the power to establish the basic state through
careful analysis where all corners are covered.
In tantra, we
speak of gross, subtle and very subtle selfing that we remove layer
by layer, or bhumi by bhumi, by meditating on gurus and deities. The
same layers can be accessed by this analytical tool and the end
result is insight into zeroness or emptiness of all self-phenomena.
You don't need to be a philosopher or an intellectual to use
it. I definitely am not but I since I learned about it many years ago
I kept it in the back of my mind and returned to it every now and
then to test my understanding. It took me a loo-ong time to
understand the last pair.
So, shatter space and time, 3D and
4D, to reach the groundless ground. All of this can be accomplished
by practicing tantra and especially by using the bhumi knowhow we
havebut it is very useful to look into other presentations and tools
than the ones one is used to.
Mahamudra texts also discuss
timelessness or breaking the subtle bond of existing as a being in
time. That's the work of sameness of samsara and nirvana, or "one
taste", related to bhumis 7-10.
That's where your
worksite is at present. Good luck!
KR, 19.2.2022
