Emptiness: a Buddhist concept

@Carissimi Thank you so much for your response. Very well said. Yes that definition of emptiness corresponds to what I have read about it thus far. Buddhism describes those elements as the 5 aggregates. My reading has covered those concepts well. I have a hard time remembering the details off the top of my head but really profound ideas. You mentioned you were Buddhist once? Would you mind sharing your story about that with me?

In a nutshell, I lost my Christian faith over a period of years that had me in an existential crisis. One day, I woke up, and my faith was gone. I don’t recall how long it was before Thay came to my notice, but his words resonated with me, and he seemed like love incarnate. Wise, kind, and compassionate, but accepting reality ... for the most part. He did not believe in reincarnation, but “continuation and transformation.” He believed we live on after we die, just in a different form, like we become part of the earth, a tree, the rain because atoms continue on.

I felt like I’d been that kind of Buddhist my whole life, but after reading a story written by a another monk, and something The Buddha said himself about being your own light, and your own authority, I knew I was no longer a Buddhist in how we think of being a Buddhist. I no longer follow. I am my own authority, and I came full circle. That’s not to say, I wouldn’t look toward Buddha, or God, or The Vedas, or The Bible for wisdom and guidance, but I’m just sort of on my own with it. @curiouspirit

@Carissimi That's really beautiful! Thank you for sharing your story.

@Carissimi

"I was a Buddhist once..."

have you become someone else or do you not have a certain view of reality now?

I just don’t label myself as anything, although my values are mostly in line with the wisdom of the ages and great books and religions, such as Christianity and Buddhism to name two. Actually, Buddhism is not a religion, it’s a way of being, and Buddha was not a God. @fakable

@Carissimi
yes. i understand you. i have a similar approach to evaluating life.

by the way, the masters of buddhism say that there is no Buddha, there is no path, and there is no Buddhism either.

good luck to you.

@fakable Those masters are correct.
Even the historical Buddha said once you reach enlightenment throw it away (Buddhism and enlightenment)..
If you seek Buddha outside of yourself you will never find him.

@Entwistle
there are a thousand buddhas sitting on your eyelashes. yes.

@fakable Yes. The enemy (so to speak) in Buddhism is not Satan or other Gods..it's conceptual thought.

@Entwistle
and the last and strongest enemy is the thought of "i am"

@fakable Yep,as we falsely conceive a separate self exists and no such thing has ever existed.

@Entwistle
yep