Form is Empty

The purpose of this meditation is become familiar with the way things really exist, as opposed to the way they appear to exist, and thereby free ourselves from the root of all our delusions, self-grasping ignorance.

I began the meditation by remembering the words from the Heart Sutra, ‘Form is empty’. I thought about how the objects that normally appear so vividly to my mind in fact lack any true, independent existence. I thought about how when I see an object, I normally see a single, solid thing, which seems to exist separately from its parts. These objects seem to have their own existence quite separate from anything else. But if I try to find the single, solid object, all I can find are its parts – not the object itself.

I imagined my mother, who I was with today. I remember being with her, and talking to her, and I remembered how she appeared to me. She appeared simply as ‘my mother’. She was a solid, single entity. She certainly did not appear as a collection of parts, and yet when I try to identify my mother who was here today, all I can actually identify are the parts of my mother. I thought about all the feelings I have for my mother, and then felt them smooth out to a very even, neutral feeling when I established that the mother that I normally relate to does not exist.

I extended this feeling to all objects that I normally see, including my body, and felt the same even, neutral feeling towards everything. Far from feeling detached from everything, I felt like I could relate to them properly for the very first time. I stayed with this feeling of expansive peace for a while.

I then considered what this means in the context of my precious human life. Geshe Kelsang says in The New Meditation Handbook that emptiness is the door through which we can escape from samsara. My human life provides me with the very special conditions needed for me to find the door and to step through it. It is the way to liberation and enlightenment. The opportunity to find the door seemed very precious and rare, and I returned my mind to the feeling of expansive peace with a special recognition of its significance. I remained in this state for the rest of the meditation.

Dedication

May all living beings step through the door to liberation and enlightenment.

Practice in the Meditation Break

Although all the objects I come into contact with automatically appear as inherently existent, I shall try to remember that they completely lack any trace of independent existence. I shall remember the words – Form is empty.

Meditation 1/20