Emptiness in Mahayana Buddhism
Emptiness paper
Buddhism is an orthopraxy where identity comes from implementing “correct” behavior, rather than orthodoxy where identity is found through “correct” beliefs. Mahayana Buddhism, termed “the Great Way” is essentially a vision of what Buddhism is really about. Although the permeation of Mahayana was harmless, the status of the sutras was constantly disputed.
From the very onset of Buddhism, the concepts of Self/not-Self and dependent arising were prominent and fundamental. The Not-Self teaching has been considered by Buddhists to be the unique breakthrough of the Buddha, the discovery that solidifies his superiority over other teachers. According to the Buddha, for something to be characterized as “Self,” it would not lead to suffering, it would have to be permanent, and also it would obey the person of whom it is the Self. If something were to be a Self, it certainly must be controllable and conducive to happiness; or at least not conducive to suffering.
Furthermore, in contemplating the existence of a Self, he stresses that the five plausible candidates for “Self” (the five aggregates) in fact cannot be the Self because they do not meet these criteria. These five aggregates (form, sensation, conception, disposition, consciousness) are certainly not permanent. They could be considered analogous to a tornado in that they arise from certain conditions and circumstances and are not extractable from the environment in which they occur. Any part of our psychophysical make-up, anything that can be classified under one of the five groups, cannot fit the description of a Self and therefore they are all not Self.
In response to claims of having found an unchanging Self, the Buddha asserts that if there is at all a Self, it is only a result of the coming together of causal conditions (dependent origination). In this case, it could not be permanent, and therefore could not be a Self.
Through further analysis and insight
Buddhism is an orthopraxy where identity comes from implementing “correct” behavior, rather than orthodoxy where identity is found through “correct” beliefs. Mahayana Buddhism, termed “the Great Way” is essentially a vision of what Buddhism is really about. Although the permeation of Mahayana was harmless, the status of the sutras was constantly disputed.
From the very onset of Buddhism, the concepts of Self/not-Self and dependent arising were prominent and fundamental. The Not-Self teaching has been considered by Buddhists to be the unique breakthrough of the Buddha, the discovery that solidifies his superiority over other teachers. According to the Buddha, for something to be characterized as “Self,” it would not lead to suffering, it would have to be permanent, and also it would obey the person of whom it is the Self. If something were to be a Self, it certainly must be controllable and conducive to happiness; or at least not conducive to suffering.
Furthermore, in contemplating the existence of a Self, he stresses that the five plausible candidates for “Self” (the five aggregates) in fact cannot be the Self because they do not meet these criteria. These five aggregates (form, sensation, conception, disposition, consciousness) are certainly not permanent. They could be considered analogous to a tornado in that they arise from certain conditions and circumstances and are not extractable from the environment in which they occur. Any part of our psychophysical make-up, anything that can be classified under one of the five groups, cannot fit the description of a Self and therefore they are all not Self.
In response to claims of having found an unchanging Self, the Buddha asserts that if there is at all a Self, it is only a result of the coming together of causal conditions (dependent origination). In this case, it could not be permanent, and therefore could not be a Self.
Through further analysis and insight