Contemplation on The Emptiness that is Full - Shunyata
Inspired from the
first three verses of The Heart Sutra of
Great Perfection
The Venerable Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva,
When carrying out the profound Prajnaparamita career,
Penetrated through the five aggregates
And saw that they are Shunya in their nature.
Here, Shariputra, Form is Shunyata; Shunyata is Form.
Form does not differ from Shunyata; Shunyata does not differ from Form.
That which is Form is Shunyata; that which is Shunyata is Form.
The very same applies to feeling, idea, formations and consciousness.
Here Shariputra, all Dharma’s are marked with Shunyata;
Neither originated nor destroyed; neither defiled nor undefiled; neither
decreased nor increased.
Therefore, Shariputra, in Shunyata, no form, no feeling, no idea, no
formation, no consciousness…
Contemplation #1
Why seek emptiness?
Because in becoming empty we become
All in All.
Yet how can you seek that which cannot be sought?
Surely emptiness cannot be found by seeking,
For our seeking forms a misty veil that distorts and
hides it.
Yes, instead just sit - seek nothing, but surrender
everything,
Over and over, all that stuff which fills you,
And then surrender you – it’s not the real you anyway.
Sunyata dawns in our awareness
Like clouds clearing from an open sky,
Not as a goal achieved but simply as true awareness.
Contemplation #2
Sitting in the stillness of a forest glen,
Surrendering everything until you become nothing,
Empty like the moon shining now upon us.
Becoming empty, we open to that quiet emerging of our
true self;
Be still,
Don't scare it away with thinking, or
try to capture it
with conceptualization,
Just be present, allowing emptiness to fill you of its own
accord.
Oh look!
The deer have come to enjoy the moon,
Appearing out of the dark forest.
Contemplation #3
In becoming empty, we become full of all things,
But yet are not filled.
There is a fullness that cannot be filled, for it is
always empty;
If it were filled with just one thing,
then it would not
be full anymore.
Finding nothing, we become everything!
Contemplation #4
Seek it, it cannot be found,
(don't seek, surrender);
Found, it cannot be grasped,
(don't grasp, let go);
Present, it cannot be
possessed -
(don't
try to possess, be present).
Contemplation #5
What is It?
It is the Self or yourself!
It is hidden by what you think you are,
Hidden by what you think you have made (or not made) of
your life. Yet It cares not for these!
Though hidden, It cannot be lost - It IS you.
It is ignored at first, sought later; found through pain and embraced through surrender; actualized by living
in an awakened way.
It is powerful, eternal, fearless, ever loving, ever
free, and always positive; this awakening of you is relentless, unstoppable, evolving; It is always pushing to emerge, into your awareness and world, through every tiny hole made in your ego.
