[Buddha-l] Re: Jesus is Buddha?

[Benito Carral]

On Tuesday, January 24, 2006, Gad Horowitz wrote:

> what  can you mean by "relativism is relative, just a
> tool"?  I  understand  that there is no such thing as
> Emptiness  in  itself,  that  it  is  emptiness which
> allows  things  to sort of exist...do you mean to say
> more?

   Emptiness is a property of "things." For example, we
can say that a piece of paper is empty. What is a piece
of  paper  empty  of?  It  is  empty of self-nature. So
emptiness  is a tool that help us to make away with the
idea of self-nature. But when we stop thinking in terms
of  things endowed with self-natures and start thinking
in  a  piece  of paper as a changing manifestation of a
set of conditions, emptiness is not useful anymore.

   Some  years  ago,  when  I directed a Chan center in
Barcelona,  a  young  man  came  who  wanted to see the
emptiness. I said him, "That's easy. All you are seeing
is  emptiness. Form is emptiness." He was looking for a
more  "mystical"  thing,  so  he didn't come back for a
second lesson. :-)

   Best wishes,

   Beni