Emptiness Meditation

Student: Sometimes in retreat, when you really meditate that everything is appearance, an illusion, and empty, it feels like the mind can become very depressed.

Rinpoche: Depressed?

Student: Yes, very cold…

Rinpoche: It should be other way around. Do you feel depressed because you are unable to stay with your meditation in daily life?

Student: No, the mind feels numb, unfeeling. Because everything is a label, then it feels like anything that happens is not really there.

Rinpoche: In what context? I don’t think it’s a problem.

Student: For example, if I go outside and see something beautiful, then I think, “It’s just a label, it’s not beautiful,” so I feel like I can’t enjoy it. Or if I feel happy, I realize the happiness is just a label, so I don’t feel anything any more, I go back into nothingness. The same when I feel sad. I say, “That’s just a label,” so I don’t feel sad any more. So, the result of doing that meditation over and over is that you end up feeling nothing. It feels very bleak and the mind gets a little strange.

Rinpoche: If the way of meditating is correct, the effect should be to feel more free. It should be like that, not feeling more upset. The other way is not free. If you see something beautiful and the grasping mind arises, this is not free. This is a prison. If the way of meditating is correct, the effect is to feel more free.

Student: But even the feeling of being free is labeled.

Rinpoche: Yes, labeled, but there is the base. You are not just labeling; there is a base. There is a feeling, and you label that feeling “free.”

Student: But when that feeling of being free comes, my mind immediately says, “Even that is a label,” and I can’t become attached to that feeling of being free. I would be meditating on the emptiness of that feeling, so I wouldn’t allow myself to feel it because that is also a label.

Rinpoche: Yes, a label, everything is merely imputed. That is why it is important first to meditate on karma, the suffering of samsara, and the shortcomings of delusions. Then, when this realization, discovery, and renunciation are very strong, then you meditate on emptiness. Then, the method to use, like an atomic bomb, is emptiness—to destroy delusions and be free from samsara, to destroy samsara.

But you need to meditate on karma, the shortcomings of delusions, how the delusions cheat us and cause the extensive sufferings of samsara, the shortcomings of samsara, which are the shortcomings of delusions, delusions as the enemy, how these objects are the nature of suffering, especially how samsaric pleasures are all in the nature of suffering. The problem is you haven’t meditated enough on renunciation, how samsara is in the nature of suffering, how samsaric pleasure is in the nature of suffering. Seeing how everything is the fault of delusions and seeing delusion as the enemy—when you have that and you know emptiness is like an atomic bomb that destroys the delusions, then you are only happy. However much one is able to meditate on emptiness is only happiness. It’s a jewel, it’s incredible. Without that you can’t be liberated forever from the hell realms, hungry ghost realm, animal realm, sura realm, asura realm, and human realm —you can’t be liberated from those sufferings forever.

Every single problem human beings have is due to the shortcomings of delusions, the shortcomings of the root of these delusions: ignorance. Whatever the delusion—attachment, anger—it goes back to the shortcoming of ignorance, the root of samsara. Everything comes from that. All the other delusions that make life so difficult for oneself and others come from the root, ignorance. The shortcomings of ignorance, holding the “I” as truly existent, are the root of samsara.

You haven’t meditated enough on looking at how samsara is suffering, on the nature of samsaric pleasure, on renunciation, because of that you don’t see samsaric pleasures as suffering and then there is clinging to samsaric pleasures. Because of that, when you meditate on emptiness, it becomes depressing, like a problem. So, please meditate more on karma, on how samsaric pleasure is suffering, on the delusions as the enemy, especially ignorance, then there will only be great joy in meditating on emptiness.

My very dear one,
Thank you very much your kind letter.

My advice is for you to practice more guru devotion, Thirty-five Buddhas practice, and Vajrasattva practice. With strong purification, emptiness will come more and more.

Also, make strong requests to the gurus and lineage lamas.

One way of doing this is, if you are performing Guru Puja first thing in the morning, begin with prostrations to the Thirty-five Buddhas and then at the end of the day do Vajrasattva practice.

With much love and prayers...

My very dear one,
I was very happy to visit you. I think the spot you chose for the abbey is wonderful—a place for awakening. It seems you lead practices from sutras so that is very good for community practice. Of course, later, when people take bodhisattva vows and possibly enter tantra etc, there are other prayers that have deeper benefit. As westerners they may not like gatherings and prayers so much. Other traditions, like the Chinese, have a strong tradition of reciting prayers in a group. It is very good and powerful to make prayers in a group—it helps everyone to collect merit and purify negative karma. It is mentioned in the Kadampa teachings that it is a hundred times more powerful to make prayers with your community than alone in your room, so I was happy to see the group practices and discussions.

Regarding the Heart Sutra chanted with a Chinese tune, it is better than just reading it in English. I remember His Holiness the Dalai Lama asking you and others to chant. I think it would be good to develop chanting in English—I’m sure that can be done. You recited the mantra of the Heart Sutra very nicely, so you know how to do it. Again, this is just my thought and idea.

Regarding your questions on emptiness, about the point “the sprout is non-truly existent because it is a dependent arising.” I took the lung from Chöden Rinpoche on the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, which included Pabongka Rinpoche’s commentary (received in Mongolia last year). Also at that time Denma Lochoe Rinpoche gave a commentary on dependent arising.

Chöden Rinpoche emphasized this meaning, to realize emptiness is dependent on causes and conditions. Gen Lam.rim.pa said this dependent arising is meant as emptiness. Your question “the sprout is not truly existent because it is a dependent arising” is similar as in the Three Principles of the Path—to realize dependent arising is the same meaning. I think realizing the sprout is a dependent arising, relying on causes and conditions, helps us to realize that the sprout is not independent. That leads to realizing the subtle view of the Prasangika—how the sprout exists. So, here, regarding the "cho chen", the base—if it is a dependent arising it has to be non-truly existent. The sprout, which is the base, is not truly existent—this is called “dub cha chur”, a phenomenon which has to be proved to one’s own mind in order that it can realize it. It helps the person to realize the sprout is non-truly existing because it is a dependent arising. This reasoning here and what is said in the Three Principles of the Path is the same. The only way to realize emptiness is to develop the Prasangika School view.

Kyabje Denma Locho Rinpoche emphasized twice that the meaning of this verse in the Three Principal Aspects of the Path is emptiness, which is the same as Gen Lamrimpa commented.

You can have an intellectual understanding of emptiness, which is preliminary to actual realization, the subtle dependent arising. With the support of the collection of merits, strong guru devotion, and having planted imprints in the past, this intellectual understanding helps us have the realization. That is the cause resulting in the extremely subtle dependent arising of the Prasangika school view.

Words and belief create hell and also enlightenment and nirvana. I had already discussed this with you but I wanted to give a little further explanation. Thank you for your question.

Thank you very much for all your dedication to sentient beings. See you soon.

With much love and prayers...