Compassion and Empty Void

 “Mahamati, since the ignorant and simple-minded, not knowing that the world is only something seen of the mind itself, cling to the multitudinous-ness of external objects, cling to the notions of beings and non-being, oneness and otherness, both-ness and non-both-ness, existence and non-existence eternity and non-eternity, and think that they have a self-nature of their own, and all of which rises from the discriminations of the mind and is perpetuated by habit-energy, and from which they are given over to false imagination. It is all like a mirage in which springs of water are seen as if they were real. They are imagined by animals who, made thirsty by the heat of the season, run after them. Animals not knowing that the springs are merely hallucinations of their own minds, do not realize that there are no such springs."

Gautama, Buddha. THE LANKAVATARA SUTRA (p. 5). Independent. Kindle Edition. 

It's very easy to mistakenly think that practice is about realization of "nothingness" or a kind of "empty void", which is imagined as some kind of literal "no thing"--perhaps an empty space or an empty sky. The problem here is that of subtly separating the concept of emptiness from the very forms where emptiness manifests. This can create an overly detached or nihilistic attitude which feeds into a habit energy, perhaps something akin to ennui or boredom. When practitioners become bored in meditation or experience dryness, most likely it is because they have created a kind of inert "thing" out of the concept of emptiness, or are even just lacking attention to the method. This is a sign of laxity, but it can be easily corrected through attention to all the elements of experience. Practice is like a mirror. We have to keep shining the mirror as much as possible on all things, illuminating them equally with a kind of equanimity. If we don't do so, we fail to recognize the changing and impermanent qualities of mind, which then puts us into a torpor state.

The mirage that is described in this sutra is taking something to be real that is only a construction of the mind. When we let go of even such things and don't take them to be concrete realities, then we have this freedom for the mind to move in infinite directions, because it's no longer attached to any particular thought. A mind that doesn't stick to anything also doesn't create the illusion of something existing "out there", even if it is something called "emptiness" or "spirit". The important point is to try to directly observe things as the operations of mind, such as when sensations are grouped into perceptions, perceptions become thoughts, and thoughts lead to decisions. This is a kind of subtle awareness that I have to admit I have only rarely achieved in my life.

The mirage metaphor extends the dream metaphor, by adding the qualities of heat and thirst, which often accompany a frenzied state of desire or greed. This is an apt metaphor to describe the twin problems of a) taking something we desire to be real, when it's not so substantial; b) moving toward it in expectation, only to be disappointed. 

Practice needs to be sustained through a continuous checking in with our mind and even with our body. With subtle vexations comes a sense of an object that I want to avoid or surmount, which then leads to discontent and agitation. Then the question of , where is mind now? Mind is not those vexations, so why are we so closely identifying with them? Why is the mind narrowing toward a concept or object, as though the other phenomena were not the mind? When the mind is able to embrace everything that comes up with an attitude of not seeking it, clinging to it or rejecting it, then true peace and equanimity naturally arises. We need to let go of even the concept of letting go, since that will also ensnare us.