Freedom and Emptiness are Mutually Supportive...

May all beings be happy. May they live in safety and joy.... As a mother watches over her child, willing to risk her own life to protect her only child, so with a boundless heart... cherish all living beings, suffusing the whole world with unobstructed loving kindness... During all your waking hours, may you remain mindful of this heart and this way of living that is the best in the world. - Shakyamuni Buddha

Lion's Roar - From the time Siddhartha Gautama was a young child, he burned with the essential questions: What is the meaning of life? Who am I? What is everything about? As he grew up, his contemplation of these matters became all-consuming. As we know, in adulthood he renounced the life of ease and power he’d been born into and devoted himself to seeking wisdom.

He received instruction in an array of spiritual traditions, from some of the most illustrious philosophers and meditation teachers of the time. A profoundly gifted student, he swiftly completed these various paths, and in some cases, he exceeded the teachers themselves. None of it, however, provided the kind of answers he was longing for.

We all are buddhas, right here, right now.

Siddhartha arrived at the conclusion that learning about meditation, no matter how sophisticated the education, wasn’t enough—he should really buckle down and focus on actually practicing. In this spirit, he embarked on a retreat on the banks of the Niranjana river; for six years, he took part in no activities apart from practice. However, even after this mammoth effort, he was still not fully satisfied that he had attained the type of ultimate wisdom he was after.

Finally, at Bodh Gaya, he simply let it all go. He let go of practice, let go of study, let go of meditation. He let go of the path itself. He meditated with nonmeditation—he just let everything be, as it is. And at last, when he began to let it be as it is, everything came together. Overnight, he discovered the true answer he had been so ardently seeking.

The answer: that there is no answer. Not only is there no answer, there’s no question. Everything is in fact perfect. Our nature is wonderful as it is. This is what the Buddha referred to as prajnaparamita, “beyond wisdom.” This understanding is what constituted the Buddha’s full enlightenment.

Prajnaparamita transcends knowledge. What we typically think of as “knowledge” has built-in limitations: there is concept, there are subject and object, there is a particular view. But the ultimate truth the Buddha realized is beyond concept, beyond subject and object; it is beyond philosophy, view, time, matter, suffering; it is beyond yes or no, pure or impure, right or wrong. It is totally open and free, yet it is the basis of love, compassion, wisdom, and awareness. It allows everything else to arise: emotions, thought, perceptions. It allows everything that comes from great wisdom, wisdom that is beyond wisdom.

Upon his initial discovery of this ultimate wisdom, the Buddha declared, “I found the dharma, the nectar. It is profound and peaceful, beyond concept, uncontrived luminosity. Even if I teach it to others, no one will understand. Therefore, I will remain in the forest in silence.” The answer was beyond knowledge, wisdom, and concept—even if he were to try to share it, he was sure there would be no one capable of comprehending it. So he remained in the forest, in seclusion.

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