Emptiness and Joyful Freedom Read online

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  GREG GOODE is a long-time student of Advaita-Vedanta, Buddhism and the Direct Path. He is the author of many articles on these topics, as well as the books entitled Nondualism in Western Philosophy, Standing As Awareness, and The Direct Path: A User Guide. Greg holds a doctorate in philosophy, and serves on the editorial board of the peer-reviewed journal Practical Philosophy: Journal of the American Practical Philosophers Association.

  TOMAS SANDER is a spiritual practitioner and teacher in New York. He has studied in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and his approach is also influenced by the insights of positive psychology. Tomas grew up in Germany, holds a doctorate in mathematics and works as a research scientist at a computer company. He has published articles in the areas of mathematics, computer science and positive psychology.

  Praise for Emptiness and Joyful Freedom

  THE BUDDHA TAUGHT THAT IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO GAIN ANY SUSTAINABLE experience of liberation without a full realization of sunyata or “emptiness.” On the one hand, sunyata is a very profound dimension of reality—the key to the supremely joyful state of complete freedom. Yet on the other, it is simply the uncontrived way things are, free from labels and reification. It is part of the natural state of everything. In Emptiness and Joyful Freedom, Sander and Goode explore the living spirit and liberating potential of these teachings with an eye to making them accessible and relevant to modern readers. This new book may contribute to a growing interest in the study, practice, and direct experience of this crucial principle.

  – Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, author of Rebel Buddha: A Guide to a Revolution of Mind

  TRANSLATING THE WRITINGS OF NAGARJUNA, THE FAMOUS Mahayana Buddhist philosopher, into a modern idiom is no small task; but that is exactly what Goode and Sander have set out to do. The result is at once both intelligent and thoroughly accessible. This is a wise and compassionate book, a good read for anyone interested in exploring the profound teachings on Emptiness.

  – C.W. Huntington, author of The Emptiness of Emptiness

  THIS IS AN AWESOME AND LONG-OVERDUE BOOK. ALMOST ALL classical Indian and Tibetan works on emptiness and Madhyamaka were born from debates among Buddhists and their non-Buddhist philosophical opponents between 1800 and 1200 years ago, and they have been transmitted in unchanged form since that time. While the human mind essentially still functions in the same way, there is a definite need for an update in terms of how emptiness relates to the philosophical ideas developed in the West and how it applies to the thinking and problems of contemporary people in a practical way. This book is a groundbreaking effort in that regard: It not only transplants the Buddhist teachings on emptiness into more approachable Western terminologies and concepts but also provides a toolbox of very practical and helpful contemplations that can be applied by everybody at any time. Unlike many classical Buddhist texts on emptiness, this book actually does address the questions and issues that we Westerners have and care about. Maybe most important of all, the authors make it clear throughout that insight into emptiness is not some dry and completely removed state of indifference, a kind of dull nihilism, or sheer cynicism. Rather, they point out, a living experience of emptiness is intrinsically embedded in the warmth of great compassion and the playfulness of a joyous mind.

  – Karl Brunnhölzl, author of The Center Of The Sunlit Sky: Madhyamaka In The Kagyü Tradition, and The Heart Attack Sutra: A New Commentary On The Heart Sutra

  THIS BOOK IS NOT LIKE THE OTHER NON-DUAL BOOKS ON THE SHELVES. Not even close. I worked with Greg for a number of years on emptiness. It was a very enriching and transformative period for me. If you soak in the book from all the angles that Greg and Tomas explore, you can’t help but be transformed completely by it – you may never look at awareness or emptiness teachings the same way. And that’s great news. This style of looking unearthed hidden dogmas, unexamined beliefs in objectivity, and certain essentialist views that were buried in the way I spoke about nonduality. This approach showed me that there is more than one way to speak of nonduality. And today, I choose this way, simply because it is more fun.

  – Scott Kiloby, author of Living Realization and Love’s Quiet Revolution.

  Also by Greg Goode

  Standing as Awareness

  The Direct Path: A User Guide

  EMPTINESS AND JOYFUL FREEDOM

  First English edition published August 2013 by NON-DUALITY PRESS

  © Greg Goode and Tomas Sander 2013

  © Non-Duality Press 2013

  www.emptiness.co

  www.non-dualitypress.org

  Back cover photos of Tomas Sander and Greg Goode by Robert M. Ford

  Greg Goode and Tomas Sander have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as authors of this work.

  All rights reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the Publisher.

  eISBN: 978-1-908664-36-5

  NON-DUALITY PRESS | PO Box 2228 | Salisbury | SP2 2GZ United Kingdom

  Disclaimer: This book is for educational purposes only and is not intended in any way to be a replacement or a substitute for qualified medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, or as a replacement or substitute for psychological advice, diagnosis or treatment, or therapy from a fully qualified and licensed person. If you think you are suffering from a medical or psychological condition, consult your doctor or other appropriately qualified professional person or service immediately. The authors and publisher of this book are not responsible or liable for any action made by a user based on the content of this book. We are not liable for the contents of any external books or websites mentioned or listed, or for any actions made by a user based on the contents of these books or websites, nor do we necessarily endorse any product or service mentioned or advised on any of these books or websites. Any data or information is provided for informational purposes only, and is not intended for any other commercial or non-commercial purposes. We will not be liable for any errors of omission or commission in the content of this book, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. By reading and using this book, you agree not to redistribute the material found therein, unless appropriate rights have been granted. We shall not be liable for any damages or costs of any type arising out of or in any way connected with your reading or use of this book. By reading and using this book, you fully agree to these terms.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  One remarkable thing about the emptiness teachings, in the broad sense in which we interpret them, is their sheer variety. So it is not only a great pleasure but also quite fitting to acknowledge a large variety of people who have helped this project in many ways.

  Tomas would like to acknowledge the kindness and wisdom of his Buddhist teachers Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche who opened his world to these liberating teachings. Greg would like to acknowledge his dharma preceptor Ven. Wen Zhu, as well as the heart-opening teachings of Ven. Yin Shun and Ven. Chin Kung.

  We would also like to thank Rosemary Bakker, Carlos Ferreyros, Andrew Libby and David Turnbull, the directors of the Nalandabodhi dharma center in New York, for so kindly hosting a series of our classes on the Madhyamika and Western approaches to the emptiness teachings. In fact, this book and many of its meditations began in classes held at Nalandabodhi.

  We are very grateful to Karl Brunnhölzl, Jay Garfield, Jeffrey Hopkins, C.W. Huntington, Mark Siderits and Jan Westerhoff. The commentarial work on Madhyamika from these outstanding scholars is insightful. It is also illuminated by a sensitivity to the cross-cultur
al issues that arise when one studies an ancient Asian teaching in a modern Western environment.

  To Todd Anderson, Jonathan Bakker, Rosemary Bakker, Robert Biswas-Diener, Tim Douglas, Andrew Libby and Rob Matthews we would like to express our gratitude for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript. Their suggestions made this a better book. Thanks also to Daniel Singer, David Arjanik and Paul Brodbeck for many stimulating conversations about these topics over the years. Special thanks go to Tamara Vyshkina, who proofread each version and assisted the book’s creation in more ways than we can mention here.

  Our thanks go out to Catherine and Julian Noyce at Non-Duality Press for striking out in a new direction with this project. Thank you for your support!

  And to the members of the Emptiness e-group on Facebook. They come from a variety of backgrounds, Buddhist and non-Buddhist, and we’re inspired by how they’re integrating the insights from the emptiness teachings in creative and fascinating new ways.

  And finally, to Greg’s lovely wife May, who understands in every way!

  Contents

  Cover Image

  Title Page

  About the Authors

  Praise for Emptiness and Joyful Freedom

  Also by Greg Goode

  Copyright & Permissions

  Acknowledgments

  PART I

  BUDDHIST AND WESTERN SOURCES OF THE EMPTINESS TEACHINGS Introduction

  Chapter 1: Discovering the Joy of Emptiness

  Chapter 2: Emptiness Teachings in Buddhism

  Chapter 3: Emptiness in Western Philosophy

  Chapter 4: How Do I Go About Studying Emptiness?

  Chapter 5: The Interplay Between Emptiness, Compassion and Happiness

  Chapter 6: How Not to Misunderstand Emptiness

  Chapter 7: Some Questions From our Students

  PART 2

  MEDITATIONS Chapter 8: How To Meditate on Emptiness

  Chapter 9: Freeing Yourself From Negative Personal Labels

  Chapter 10: Seeing Through the Illusion of the Self

  Chapter 11: Deconstructing Presence

  Chapter 12: Lightening up Your Social World

  Chapter 13: Refuting Moral Objectivity

  Chapter 14: Loosening up Fixed Meaning in Language

  Chapter 15: Recognizing the Myth of the Given

  Chapter 16: Challenging a Common Notion of Truth

  Chapter 17: Liberating Yourself from Rigid Beliefs

  Chapter 18: Living a Joyfully Empty Life

  PART 3 List of Meditations

  Readings from Buddhist and Western Sources

  Footnotes

  PART I

  BUDDHIST AND WESTERN SOURCES OF THE EMPTINESS TEACHINGS

  INTRODUCTION

  “Wow, I’m an illusion!” The Tibetan lama was laughing as he walked down Fifth Avenue addressing a student’s earnest question about the emptiness of self.

  We – Greg and Tomas – were part of the small group that guided the lama around Manhattan during a break in his teaching schedule. He had been giving a class on the emptiness teachings. Out on the street, he was feeling animated. As he walked, his arms were moving with an energy all their own. “Not having a self is not depressing at all,” he continued. “That’s the way to walk down the avenue!”

  A radiant smile played across his face. “Knowing you’re an illusion is actually a source of great joy,” he went on. We were smiling too, feeling this same animating wonder. As we walked, our little party passed the Cartier boutique and, a few blocks downtown, Saks Fifth Avenue. The sidewalk was crowded. All around us were New Yorkers in designer apparel, and tourists wearing sport Rolexes. But many of these A-list pedestrians seemed to exude a somber heaviness that formed an obvious contrast to the joyful lightness that we were experiencing.

  We wondered, could this have something to do with emptiness, the very thing we were talking about? Could these solemn vibes around us come from the strong beliefs people have about the existence of their own self? Can you actually have a better time as an empty person in an empty world? Or is it preferable to live as the solid self we usually think we are?

  Of course the thought may leap to mind, “If I am empty, and the world is empty, isn’t this just a dreadful big meaningless abyss? How can it be a source of obvious delight?”

  Buddhism has an ingenious insight here. It makes an important distinction. Phenomena are not real enough to be experienced as serious trouble, but nevertheless they are real enough so that you can still enjoy a rich, beautiful life full of meaning, while deeply caring for others, animals and the earth we live on.

  Let’s make this concrete! Have you ever had an experience where something happened to you that made you highly resentful? Let’s imagine being overlooked for a promotion. It may feel like you personally had been wronged? You brood for hours. And then a friend comes in and provides a bit of perspective, “Don’t take it personally. It has nothing to do with you.” In that moment you see the world differently. Your anger dissolves and you suddenly realize that you weren’t targeted at all – it was just some unrelated back-office politics.

  We all know the felt difference between how we respond emotionally when we take things personally, as really about us, compared to how we respond when we don’t take them personally. According to the emptiness teachings, nothing is personal in this way. This is one of the central claims of Buddhism – that being free from an exaggerated sense of self can reduce suffering.

  [T]his emptiness is not like the emptiness of an unfilled cup, a vacant room, or worse, an empty pocket. It’s not like that. When we have a genuine experience of emptiness, it actually feels good. Rather than being depressed or anxious, we suddenly feel utterly carefree.

  Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche (2011)

  This Book in a Nutshell

  The goal of this book is to introduce the reader to “emptiness,” which is the pinnacle of Buddhist understanding of reality. To realize something as empty means to realize that it does not exist in the solid, self-contained way that we attribute to it. This insight about how things exist often seems abstract or inconsequential at first, but it is surprisingly profound. It can entirely transform how we experience ourselves and our place in the world. In fact, realizing emptiness is closely linked to achieving “enlightenment,” which for Buddhism is the ideal outcome of human development.

  The benefits of understanding emptiness, even partially, include a deep sense of freedom and connectedness with the world. This deep sense overcomes the alienation that many of us (post-)moderns feel. When we understand emptiness, we experience an unshakable ease and lightness in life. For thousands of years, these benefits have inspired people to take up the study of emptiness.

  The most significant challenge to understanding emptiness is practical. The emptiness teachings can be hard. They proceed by taking a very precise look at our experience. They identify and correct the errors we make about things. This process is a subtle, often demanding undertaking. The main reason we have written the present book is to make the emptiness teachings and their benefits more accessible. We approach this by creating meditations based on modern Western culture, that is, on ideas with which you may already be familiar with. Some of these meditations might also be called experiments, investigations or analyses. Using Western material to teach emptiness is the major innovation of this book. By presenting emptiness outside of its traditional cultural packaging, we hope to make its profound benefits also relevant to people who may not consider themselves to be Buddhists.

  We hope that through reading this book you will:

  1) understand what the emptiness teachings are about,

  2) taste experientially what emptiness is like,

  3) discover how these teachings can help you live a more satisfying life,

  4) learn how to use some powerful Western meditation tools to deepen your insight.

  A Quick Taste

  We all have tastes of emptiness, even if we don’t study this teaching. A taste
of emptiness is an experience in which we realize that something doesn’t exist in the exaggerated way we had thought. As a result, the thing seems much lighter. It seems sweeter, more flexible, more alive and richer with possibilities.

  The University

  Let’s take the example of a university, borrowed from the writing of the British philosopher Gilbert Ryle. He wasn’t actually trying to talk about emptiness, but we find it to be a wonderful example, and it can give us a quick taste.

  Imagine that you are a foreign student visiting Oxford University for the first time. You are taken on a taxi tour around all the buildings and colleges of Oxford University. After a while you ask your guide, “OK, now can you show me the university itself?” Of course, there is nothing to Oxford University other than its buildings, quads, fields and other structures.

  Let’s take a closer look and try to find the university:

  Imagine the physical structures. Can you point to any building, office, field or other physical object that is the university?

  Imagine the people teaching, attending classes, and doing administrative, housekeeping and security work. Can you identify any particular person or group that is the university?

  Imagine the activities related to the university. For example, the faculty teaches classes and publishes research. The administration charges tuition and grants degrees. Is there any activity that is the university?

  No matter how closely you look, you cannot find the university in any object, person or activity. When looked for in this detailed way, a solidly existing university is not found to exist. In other words whatever the university is, it is “empty” of that solidness.

  And yet, it makes no sense to treat the university as utterly non-existent. In an everyday sense, we can designate various structures, people and activities as a university. Thus designated, the university can serve the purpose of education. Professors can teach; students can learn. We can do all this in the full knowledge that the university as a concrete, solid entity is not actually there to be found.