APPENDIX Emptiness of the outer Since their nature is emptiness Forms are empty of forms Sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, And phenomena are exactly the same (183) Forms and so forth have no inherent nature: This is the "emptiness of the outer." (184ab) Emptiness of the outer and inner49 That both have no inherent nature Is the "emptiness of the outer and inner." (184cd) Emptiness of emptiness Phenomena have no inherent nature The wise ones call this "emptiness." It is asserted that this emptiness as well Is empty of the essence of emptiness (185) The emptiness of what is called "emptiness" Is the "emptiness of emptiness." The Buddha taught it to counteract the clinging Of the mind that thinks emptiness is a thing (186) Emptiness of the vast Since they pervade everything without exception All sentient beings and the whole universe, And since the immeasurables are an example of their infinitude,50 The directions are given the name "vast." (187) 49 "Outer and inner" refers to the meeting ofthe outer sources of consciousness (the subject of the second emptiness) with the inner sources of consciousness (the subject of the first emptiness) in moments of sense perception The emptiness of this contact between outer and inner is the emptiness of the outer and inner 50 The immeasurables are immeasurable love, compassion, joy, and equanimity for all sen tient beings in the ten directions, which one cultivates as a part of Mahayana practice The sentient beings in the ten directions are limitless in number, which is why these four contem plations are called immeasurable That they are immeasurable for this reason is thus an example of the ten directions' infinite reach T H E TWENTY E M P T I N E S S E S 199 All these ten directions' emptiness Is the "emptiness of the vast." It was taught in order to reverse Our clinging to the vast as being real (188) Emptiness ofgenuine reality Nirvana is the supreme goal, And therefore it is genuine reality Nirvana is empty of itself, And this is the "emptiness of genuine reality." (189) To counteract the mind's tendency to think that nirvana is a thing, The Knower of Genuine Reality Taught the "emptiness of genuine reality." (190) Emptiness of the composite Because they arise from conditions The three realms are "composite," it is taught They are empty of themselves, And this, the Buddha stated, is the "emptiness of the composite." (191) Emptiness of the noncomposite When arising, abiding, and cessation are not among its characteristics, A phenomenon is "noncomposite." These are empty of themselves, And this is the "emptiness of the noncomposite." (192) Emptiness of that which is beyond extremes51 That to which extremes not apply Is expressed as being "beyond extremes." 51 "That which is beyond extremes" refers equally to emptiness, dependent arising, and the Middle Way, because none of the extremes of permanence, extinction, realism, nihilism, existence, nonexistence, and so forth apply to or can describe their essential reality 200 APPENDIX Its emptiness of its very self Is explained to be the "emptiness of that which is beyond extremes." (193) 10 Emptiness of that which has neither beginning nor end Since it has no point when it began Nor time when it will end, Samsara is called "that which has neither beginning nor end." Since it is free from coming and going, it is like a dream (194) Samsaric existence is void of samsaric existenceThis is the "emptiness of that which has neither beginning nor end." It was definitively taught in Nagarjuna's Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way (195) 11 Emptiness of what should not be abandoned To abandon something means To throw it away or to get rid of it What should not be abandoned is What one should never cast away from oneself-the Mahayana (196) What should not be abandoned Is empty of its very self Since this emptiness is its nature, It is called the "emptiness of what should not be abandoned." (197) 12 Emptiness of the true nature52 The very essence of the composite and everything else Was not created by the students,53 the solitary buddhas, The bodhisattvas, or even the tathagatas (198) 52 Emptiness is the subject of both the fourth and the twelfth emptinesses The reason emptiness is described as being empty of its own essence twice is that we have two different ways of clinging to it First, we cling to emptiness itself as being truly existent, and in order to reverse that, we are taught the emptiness of emptiness Second, we hear the teachings that emptiness is the true nature of phenomena, and we then cling to this true nature as being truly existent To reverse this type of clinging, we are taught the emptiness of the true nature 53 "Students" refers to the shravakas T H E TWENTY EMPTINESSES 201 Therefore, this essence of the composite and s o forth Is explained to be the true nature of phenomena It itself is empty of itselfThis is the "emptiness of the true nature." (199) 13 Emptiness of all phenomena54 The eighteen potentials, the six types of contact, And from those six, the six types of feeling,55 All that has form and all that does not, The composite and the noncomposite-these compose all phenomena (200) All of these phenomena are void of themselves This is the "emptiness of all phenomena." (201ab) 14 Emptiness of defining characteristics56 The nonexistence of entities such as "suitable to be form" and so forth Is the emptiness of defining characteristics (201cd) All composite and noncomposite phenomena Have their own individual defining characteristics These are all empty of themselves, And this is the "emptiness of defining characteristics." (215) 15 Emptiness of the imperceptible The present does not abide; The past and the future not exist Wherever you look, you not see them, So the three times are called "imperceptible." (216) 54 The emptiness of all phenomena is the emptiness of the names we give to things For example, the name fire is empty of its own essence 55 The six types of contact are the contact between the six inner sources of consciousness and their respective objects The six types of feeling are the pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral sensations that arise as a result of the six types of contact 56 The emptiness of defining characteristics is the emptiness of the bases to which we give names, for example, the emptiness of the actual thing that is hot and burning to which we give the name fire 202 APPENDIX The imperceptible is empty of its own essence It does not remain, it does not cease, And this is the "emptiness of the imperceptible." (217) 16 Emptiness of an essence in the nonexistence of things Since things arise from causes and conditions, They are mere collections that have no essence This nonexistence of collections is empty of itself, And this is the "emptiness of an essence in the nonexistence of things." (218) THE F O UR EMP TINESSES 57 Emptiness of things In short, "things" are Everything included in the five aggregates These are empty of themselves, And this is the "emptiness of things." (219) Emptiness of the absences of things In short, "absences of things" are All noncomposite phenomena Absences of things are empty of themselves, And this is the "emptiness of the absences of things." (220) Emptiness of the true nature58 Phenomena's true nature itself has no essence This is the "emptiness of the true nature." It is called "true nature" Because no one created it (221) 57 These four emptinesses are a summary of the first sixteen The first two of the four include all the phenomena in apparent reality and the latter two include everything in genu ine reality 58 This is the same as the twelfth emptiness above ... example, the name fire is empty of its own essence 55 The six types of contact are the contact between the six inner sources of consciousness and their respective objects The six types of feeling... Everything included in the five aggregates These are empty of themselves, And this is the "emptiness of things." (219) Emptiness of the absences of things In short, "absences of things" are All noncomposite... Absences of things are empty of themselves, And this is the "emptiness of the absences of things." (220) Emptiness of the true nature58 Phenomena's true nature itself has no essence This is the "emptiness