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Originally Posted by sentient
but since “emptiness is also form”
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Just my opinion here but that to me is talking about the fact every idea is an idea. There is no such thing as an idea that is not an idea. Idea, mental image, thought, whatever you name it. So I can say there is form and not form, both are thoughts right? The thoughts may be pointing to different concepts, but here again, concepts are concepts.
In this moment, as the writer of the above, I am just juggling mental images, ideas. No matter what I come up with, enlightened or not enlightened, up or down, self or no-self, this all exists in the same exact box as the exact same thing, mental ideas.
Take form for example, we can define that as all of these mental images. Ok so then no-form would be the absence of these images. But I am considering no-form as a form. As an idea or mental image. I have an image of what no-form is so no-form here is a form.
Is emptiness a form? Of course it's just another idea we can carry. Now one perceiving the world as it is, apart from the mental images of it. They are empty of form. But then with this liberation (non-identification) with mind, they can witness and experience the play of form. The formless experiencing form is very different from the formless all mixed up and lost in and identified with form experiencing form.
The self is formless it just believes it is form (and experiences itself as form) due to delusion. Someone steps on your foot, you say "You stepped on me!" They stepped on the body you are merged with, not you. You look in the mirror to see how "you" look. We are identified with our impermanent bodies. Same basic idea with our impermanent thoughts and conditioning. Because of identifying, (ignorance) we don't know (or experience) what we really are. When we stop delusional identifying, through self awareness and understanding, we experience everything through our true perception "true nature," that has no name, no symbol, no image as it is just us, me and you, that which is above and apart from form.
In this moment, as the writer of the above, I can let go of all mental images...then what is left?... where is emptiness, form, or no-form, or enlightenment?.... as these are all ideas...mental images.... so what is left? Funny how we look for an answer as an idea. We are so locked into ideas as reality.