Talk Notes:
2026-03-18 Heart Sutra 5 - Making Friends with Emptiness
This emptiness stuff we've been exploring through the teachings of the Heart Sutra is really hard to understand. Maybe it's safe to say it's impossible to understand in the way we usually think about understanding.
We understand something when we can find a way to fit it into our collection of concepts, ideas, and theories about how everything is - what we are, how it all works - and the term emptiness is pointing to the non-conceptual - or maybe pan-conceptual - nature of everything.
Maybe we need a different word from "understanding" in our emptiness studies. And really that means in our real studies of life itself. To appreciate is often used and I think that fits. We can learn to appreciate emptiness. We can feel more or less in tune and accord with the emptiness teachings. Somehow there seems to be some kind of connection between feeling constricted and tight - caught in the world of form - and NOT appreciating emptiness. And a connection between feeling open, flexible, and radically accepting and appreciating emptiness more. My experience is this isn't a fixed thing.
While sometimes there are big shifts in our understanding (oops there's that word again) but these kind of being in accord with emptiness comes and goes like anything else in my experience. And my conscious mind doesn't usually say "hey cool, you're more in accord with emptiness" but I do notice when I'm more open and accepting and flexible. And when it's that way I also notice it's much easier to love and appreciate people too - nice bonus. So it's not too far off to say that emptiness is also about love.
And then I feel constricted, threatened, impatient and so on it seems to go one of two ways and these two also come and go and swap out.
Sometimes I'm believing my story of what's going on. So-and-so is a such-and-so, they should know better, why don't they get it, why aren't they nicer to me - you know these cycle of tales right?
Other times I'm aware of the skandas involved as skandas to some extent. Form - how it feels in my body to be constricted and annoyed. Ick. Feeling-tone (sensations in our translation) that this whole things has a deep flavor of unpleasantness. Perception I don't usually notice when I'm caught but it's often the first thing I notice when I start to come out of it: the shift of perception that happens. Mental objects: for sure, on a good day I notice "that's impatience" "that's judgement". This helps make a little space but I can still be quite well and fully hooked too. Unfortunately for us just noticing doesn't make it all better. Our conditioning is too powerful for that but it helps. The mind can be fully invested in what a jerk he's being and how he should know better even while mind can also recognize "judgment" - but I'm right damnnit, you know what I mean. As for the 5th skandha of consciousness I don't think I'm aware of the mental space in which all of this happens when I'm triggered particularly. That seems to require being more in accord with emptiness.
This quality of emptiness, or the aspect of the interdependent world emptiness points to, often called the Absolute, is such an important and central and pretty difficult concept-that's-not a concept. It's rewards are boundless as one of our sutras says. And it's the study of a lifetime to appreciate emptiness more deeply.
Let's bring another voice into the mix - here's how Thich Nhat Hanh talked about this through most of his career: read The Heart of Understanding: end of Empty of What? chapter p. 8-10 and from chapter Long Live Emptiness p. 15-18
Let's do an exercise in groups of 3 for the rest of our time together. Take turns and on your turn pick one thing to explore its emptiness, and thus its fullness of everything else, one what does that thing depend? how does it arise? how do you recognize it? how does it cease? what else does it contain? You might pick a physical object, maybe something here in the room, or a mental object like "my belief that I'm an introvert" or an extrovert - something internal like that is also empty and contigent and subjected to arising and ceasing.
This can be challenging especially if you overthink. Just on your turn relax as best you can and start talking. Without thinking about it we think any certain thing is solid, separate, definable and pretty much permanent. Just take that apart little by little. Discover as you speak.
I won't do timed turns because I think we need a looser and more relaxed container for this. Maybe on your turn not much comes, that's okay - but still like when we do do timed turns and theres that wide open space of 5 minutes give yourself space, don't be too quick to get to "okay that's all I've got, done!" Hang with it and trust your partners to hold space with you. Once you've gone around once with really really just ONE person speaking and everyone listening with patience and interest then discuss each other's objects more and see what as a collective you can add about the implications of emptiness with your object.
Okay! Let's try. This is kind of an experiment. We might call this exercise "Unpacking Emptiness" - channel Thich Nhat Hanh's joy if you can - long live emptiness! It makes everything possible.
