Is Buddhism simply the direct conscious experience of the void, instead of the unconsciousness of those who...

Question

are not in direct contact with it?

Are lives are a manifestation of the void. the only difference between an enlightened man and one who is not is being aware of it and constructing ones life according to it?

The void: Interconnectedness and impermanence of all things. empty mind (or at least for temporary periods)

of notions, concepts and mental filters arising from a created ego/identity (understood by one as being permenant),

which arises from the attachment to transient mental activity

e.g. images, thoghts, ideas etc.

Please correct my understand of the 'void' if i am wrong.

2nd question: Does our need to attach ourselves to mental activity, material objects and relationships etc.

come from our need to have security on all levels of life, inorder to find firm ground, which stems from our ignornance of the void? Is this correct?

If so, why do we not know from the beginnig this knowledge of the void sinse it is fundamental to existense.

Answer 1

The Void is big in those sect who want to keep the public confounded because they are more manipulable that way.

Shakyamuni created many expedient means for his various followers. Some of those means are modifications of non-Buddhist concepts.

His main aim was to help all people rid themselves of the sufferings of birth, sickness, death aging.

Contemplating the void is just an initial stage to get the attention of acolytes. Later they start learning more  practical things like hoodwinking the flock.

There are sects that have continued with the effort to alleviate the suffering of the people. The brightest among them is SGI.

They are all over the world and don't charge for their very active teaching.

Answer 2

The void is not the goal.  You must be able to detach from the void.

Some that reach the void do not come back but, many do to teach the path.

"Then, monks, it occurred to me: 'I have discovered this path to enlightenment, that is, with the cessation of name and form comes cessation of consciousness; with the cessation of consciousness comes cessation of name and form; with the cessation of of name and form, cessation of the six sense bases; with the cessation of the six sense bases, cessation of contact.... Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering.'

Answer 3

It is good that you asked. I believe that Buddhism uses the concept of the 'void' to help us gain insight into the true meaning of life. Buddhism begins with the concept that life is unsatisfactory, that life is suffering, that everything we see is impermanent and hence unsatisfactory. In the end there is nothing, absolutely nothing, a 'void' and in that 'void' there is everything. There is total awareness, nothing but awareness, total consciousness. It is a mental state. It does not mean that all material objects vanish. It simply means that the mind is freed of all attachment to material objects. Once the attachment is broken, totally severed, then the soul is freed and no more birth is possible for that liberated soul. 'Nirvana' is the result. Buddhism teaches one to have right knowledge, right understanding and right practise in order to attain enlightenment. With enlightenment comes liberation, escape from the viscous cycle of birth and death. It says, who else can save you (from birth and death) but you yourself. Well, a lot of practise is needed. My answer to your second question would be 'yes'. We do not know from the beginning because probably nobody told us. It doesn't matter. Now that you know, you can start investigating and experiencing for yourself. Like I said, good that you asked.

Answer 4

Think about the void as if it were a bunch of clouds.

Clouds are clouds. Someone might see rabbit forms. Someone might see butterfly shapes. Someone might make out shapes of dogs. But in actuality, it's just a cloud. There isn't really anything. It's just the perceptions in our minds. We create something out of nothing. That's basically the general mechanics of existence. We are ignorant towards what is truly empty, so we think there is something. And thought and ignorance give rise to substance and form... believing nothing has something... something means substance and form.  Because we give rise to forms, there is then discrimination and preference. We like some things, we don't like some things. If there was absolutely nothing, there is nothing to like or dislike at all. But as we keep convincing ourselves of material forms, we desire for them. It's like, we give ourselves a choice. Once we have a choice and option, we desire for what is better over the other. So desire gives rise to attachment and production of materials and life.

Take an empty cup for instance. There's nothing in the cup. What's in there? Emptiness, right? That's something already because we deem it to be empty. We identify it, so it's substance already, as emptiness. But emptiness has nothing right? That is why things are there, yet empty. Emptiness is empty yet not empty.

Now look at dreams. We can feel actual emotions in dreams. We can touch and see objects in detail. We can hear sounds, identify smells, etc. We can even talk to people in our dreams as if we knew them for years, yet we don't know them in our waking life. In dreams, we are completely convinced that it's real. It's as if we're living another life. But once you wake up, that entire existence is gone! Where did it go? It returned back to the source--the mind. An entire new life with complete history, feeling, background, sensations, was created right out of your thoughts. And you were convinced that it was completely real while dreaming. But it's not there anymore! The dream is just an illusion. It's really just false and emptiness! It's not even there, yet there in your dream.

Well, this waking life, is the same thing as the dream. The dream is just a deeper level of our thoughts manifesting creations and delusions. The waking life is no different. We're just totally convinced that this waking life is real. We feel the tables, chairs, people, food, etc, all in the same way that we convinced ourselves in the dream. So how can you really say this waking life is real while the dream is false? In both instances, dream or wake, you were convinced of the utter reality!

So that is how we take emptiness and suddenly manifest an existence. We take nothingness, and convince ourselves there is something. So we start to create these illusions of shapes, sounds, smells, tastes, emotions, etc.

Why aren't we aware of this normally? Same reason why you sleep, dream, and think you're still awake. What is ignorance? Define the word. If you're ignorant, you simply don't know. We are ignorant because we deluded ourselves into believing something else... so we are ignorant to emptiness. We delude and convince ourselves that forms and materials are real.

What about insane people that see illusory things? They're just as awake as you are. Yet they see flowers and crazy shapes that YOU DO NOT SEE!  But they're convinced they see flowers!

One might argue that in the waking life, it's as if we all share the same illusion. How can that be? I ask you, how are you so sure that everyone you encounter in the world is not just your imagination?  Of course, my interpretation is that people share this same waking illusion because of affinities. We each have the ignorance to manifest forms and material existence. We all came from the same source, like seedlings sprouting from the same plot of soil, we share the same space, time, and illusion. So we have the same affinities with this material existence, so we share it together.

Sleep dreams are just another layer of our ignorance and mad-mind. It's not as heavy as this waking dream we live, hence, sleep illusion/dreams only last as long as sleep. As for the waking dream, well, it's as if this is our primary dream right? It seems to last forever!

One that is enlightened has awakened. They simply woke up from this waking dream, just as we wake up from sleeping dreams. Have you ever had a lucid dream--in which you realize you're dreaming and suddenly you have the ability to manipulate your dream and take over your destiny in the dream? Well, enlightenment fundamentals are pretty much like that. You liberate yourself from this illusion and take control of your destiny--thus escaping the shackling rules of life/birth/death in the material world.

So when you become enlightened, yes, in a sense, you shape your life according to your perceptions--which is basically how everything works.

An enlightened being's perception sees no forms, shapes, identifications, thusly there is no time perceived, nor are there boundaries. This person thusly, shapes their destiny and existence as completely stillness and bliss. A Buddha is what we call an enlightened being. An enlightened being perceives life in the way of a buddha, thus manifesting a destiny that is of a buddha.

A person that perceives that life should be based on doing good deeds, making people happy, giving, charity, kindness, compassion, and bliss through giving and making other people happy... then this person sees life in this way right? As a result, this person manifests and shapes their destiny and life accordingly as a good person. They live the life they perceive it to be. The live a life they believe the way it should be. They do all this good and manifest a life in the heavens afterwards... simply because that's the kind of life they live and perceive.  And a life in heaven is with all sorts of meritorious people of wholesome characteristics.

A person that perceives that life is all about desires, indulging in materials, materials are everything, protecting one's material wealth, and usurping the happiness of others, then what kind of existence do you think they manifest? Obviously this person's mind and perception is very limited to only what he sees with his eyes. This is the likeness of animals don't you think? Animals only understand and perceive forms, shapes, food, sleep, greed, territorial behaviors... very limited. It's all they know and see, right?

There are people that strike it rich because of open-mindedness and unbounded imagination of ideas. They perceive a life of innovation, taking risks, and reaching beyond rules/boundaries. So you have people like Donald Trump. People like Trump merely manifest a destiny/life according to how they perceive the world.

On the other hand, you have people that perceive a limited life of caution and safety. These people want to play it safe. They believe it is better to play it safe-- get a stable job, work for somebody else that gives you rules and boundaries, etc. So they become what they perceive... clerks.  They work the 9-5 shift daily, safely with a fixed salary/wage.

So you're very very right when you stated that in your question. You shape your destiny according to the way you perceive things.

One more thing I will say about the "void" of emptiness. Why are we all interconnected? Look at emptiness within the cup again. Isn't all the emptiness in the cup unified and interconnected? There is no beginning or end to any part of the empty space. You can't say one hemisphere of emptiness is only connecting to the adjacent hemisphere of emptiness... since the entirety of emptiness does not have hemispheres or identifiable shapes within. If there are shapes or lines, then there is something.

Now remove the cup and any boundaries. That's true emptiness right there. No forms or lines. No shapes. No boundaries. Everything is interconnected-- meaning, nothing is connected. If things are connected, then there are shapes and pieces to be connected. But interconnected-- it means it's just one together. Imagine if you traveled 50,000 miles in emptiness.. did you move anywhere? Of course NOT. Therefore, you can travel 50000 miles in empty space, and where you're standing is no different than where you were standing before. If there was a boundary, then not only is this one big area and a shape of SOMETHINg, but you can also travel from one end to the next. But in emptiness, no odds n ends. Keep moving all you like, anywhere you stand is no different than the next.

This is why the Buddha also does not perceive time. He sees the past as if it were today, and the future as if it were now. Nothing is distinguished. No forms or time is discriminated between. Truly profound is it not?

Answer 5

Buddhism is one way to the 'Void' but not the only way.  Also in Buddhism, 'Void' is thought to be the ultimate truth which limits seeker from transcending beyond it.  The reality of 'Void' is often misidentified for what it is not.  Dr. David R. Hawkins explains this in one of his books ("Transcending Levels of Consciousness" or "Devotional Nonduality").  

Our lives are actually a manifestation of what is held in mind.  Because the mind identifies with form and we (the unenlightened) identify with the mind (or body) as self, then we believe we are subject to existence and non-existence (duality).  The conditioning of the mind is difficult for us to overcome or transcend because it is valued as 'me.'   So we can say our attachments to mental and physical form comes from identifying with it.

There is no need for attachment, it is just unconscious conditioning from social and parental programming.  Throughout many life times this conditioning takes it hold on the consciousness, and is perpetuated by the inheritance of the human ego (or animal mentality).  People only choose what they know.  If we had all this information long ago we would know we have the option to choose.  That is why The Buddha said, "Once a person hears of Enlightenment, they will never be satisfied with anything else."  That is very true in my case, even before I was aware of that quote.

To have all of this knowledge from the beginning is to be Enlightened at birth.  Buddha/Christ/Krsna Consciousness is beyond 'Void,' therefore not the the ultimate reality.  Devotional service to the Self/God is the straightest pathway rather than service to the self/ego.  That is what is meant by Free Will, the option to choose service.

http://beyondtheordinary.net/drhawkins.s...

Dr. Hawkins explains everything a person needs to know to find Truth.

Answer 6

the "void" neither "is" or "is not" . .  which is to say it can not be characterized, nor can it "not" be characterized. This, of course is a problem for those of us who would wish to describe it (for whatever reason . . .  desire to "describe" anything is "attachment").



I suggest you take a look at the early works of Ken Wilber.