Anavarāgra śūnyatā
anavarāgra śūnyatā (T. thog ma dang tha ma med pa stong pa nyid ཐོག་མ་དང་ཐ་མ་མེད་པ་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་; C. wuji kong 無際空).[1] Translated as "emptiness of that without beginning or end", "emptiness of that which has neither beginning nor end", etc.[2] One of the sixteen types of emptiness.[2]
Samsara is without beginning or end; its nature is empty. One contemplates the empty nature of samsara so that one does not see it as faulty and abandon it.[3]
The Madhyamakāvatāra states:
Since it has no point when it began
Nor time when it will end,
Samsara is called “that which has neither beginning nor end.”
Since it is free from coming and going, it is like a dream. (194)
Samsaric existence is void of samsaric existence—
This is the “emptiness of that which has neither beginning nor end.”
It was definitively taught in Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way. (195)[4]
The Garland of Radiant Light states:
Cyclic existence has no beginning or end. Its empty nature is referred to as "emptiness without beginning or end." One cultivates the knowledge that cyclic existence is empty so that cyclic existence is not completely abandoned. Unless it is understood that cyclic existence has no nature, one will see it as faulty and abandon it.[5]
Thrangu Rinpoche states:
The emptiness with no beginning or end refers to samsara which is beginningless and endless. We meditate upon this emptiness for the following reason: On the conventional level, samsara is full of faults. However, on the ultimate level, if we were to see samsara as faulty, then we would discard or leave samsara altogether. If a bodhisattva were to do that, then that bodhisattva would decide to remain in nirvana and not remain in samsara to benefit other sentient beings. By recognizing that samsara is truly of the nature of emptiness we do not have to regard it as faulty. This enables a bodhisattva to remain in samsara and thereby accomplish the welfare of other sentient beings. Samsara is without beginning and without end. Nevertheless, through meditating upon the nature of samsara as lacking any inherent existence, we pass beyond seeing it as faulty; beyond abandoning it, and we are thereby able to remain in it and to help sentient beings.[6]
Notes
- ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Lists of Lists, "sixteen emptinesses".
- ↑ 2.0 2.1
thog ma dang tha ma med pa stong pa nyid, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
- ↑ Lecture notes on the Madhyāntavibhāga, 2019-2020.
- ↑ Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso 2003, Appendix 3.
- ↑ Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2007, "The Characteristics of Emptiness".
- ↑ Thrangu Rinpoche 2000, Chapter 1.
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University
Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2007), Middle Beyond Extremes: Maitreya's Madhyantavibhaga with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham, Snow Lion Publications- Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso (2003), The Sun of Wisdom, translated by Ari Goldfield, Shambhala
- Thrangu Rinpoche (2000), Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes. The root text by Maitreya and a Commentary by The Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Namo Buddha Publications