Now I am confused, sorry!
I thought Buddhism is not about nothingness? (pardon the
play on words) Emptiness is not nothingness was what I think I
heard from some others here.
So we all dissolve into this I AMness which is called God?
And this "God" is not an entity but some kind of ethereal
presence that permeates everything? Now it sounds like pantheism,
if it is not monism.
Clarifications?
Just look from the perspective of realization. The original
teachings of Buddha did not stress too much about it, but
nonetheless it cannot be denied that there is such a
realization.
We stress more on the realization of anatta and emptiness that
liberates self view and suffering.
However it does not mean anatta and emptiness is a dead
nothingness. There is a total intelligence, total vitality and
total clarity of pure consciousness. The Buddha also talks about a
"luminous mind" that is merely temporarily obscured from our view
by adventitious defilements (such as our attachment to 'self').
However because our view of anatta and emptiness is
nonsubstantialist, ultimately Buddhism is not to be labelled as a
kind of pantheism since we are careful to be free of any kind of
substantialist view. Our Buddha Nature is known as the
inseparability of luminosity and emptiness. One must neither skew
towards emptiness or to luminosity. We say that Hinduism skews
towards luminosity, and certain teachings that preach emptiness
intellectually might be skewing towards emptiness. The luminous
presence is very important but the moment we form an image or
concept about it and grasp after it, we have missed its nature, we
have 'defiled' it with our notions so we have to cleanse it with
the truth of anatta and emptiness.
Also, for example the luminous factor is also spoken in a Dzogchen
tantra (not by Buddha though, a later text expounded in the Tibetan
tradition) 'the all creating king':
"I, the supreme source ["All-Creating King"], am the sole maker,
and no other agent exists in the world. The nature of phenomena is
created through me ... The very manifestation of existence itself
depends on me ... I am self-arising wisdom that has existed from
the beginning. I am the supreme source of everything, pure and
total consciousness ...'Consciousness' means that self-arising
wisdom, the true essence, dominates and clearly perceives all the
phenomena of the animate and inanimate universe. This self-arising
fundamental substance, not produced by causes and condition,
governs all things and gives life to all things ... As my nature is
unhindered and all-pervading, it is the celestial abode of wisdom
and luminous space: therein abides only self-arising wisdom. As I
am the substance whence everything arises, the five great elements,
the three worlds [i.e. the worlds of Desire, Form, and
Formlessness] and the six classes of beings [hell-denizens, ghosts,
animals, humans, Titans, and gods] are only my body, my voice, and
my mind: I myself create my own nature ... The root of all
phenomena is pure and total consciousness, the source. All that
appears is my nature. All that manifests is my magical display. All
sounds and words express only my meaning ...
"I am
the core of all that exists. I am the seed of all that exists. I am
the foundation of all that exists. I am the root of existence. I am
'the core', because I contain all phenomena. I am 'the seed',
because I give birth to everything. I am 'the cause', because all
comes forth from me. I am 'the trunk', because the ramificationsof
every event sprout from me. I am 'the foundation', because all
abides in me. I am called 'the root', because I am
everything [emphasis added]" (Translation of "The
All-Creating King", published as The Supreme Source, tr.
by Adriano Clemente and Andrew Lukianowicz, Snow Lion Publications,
Ithaca, New York 1999, pp. 137-141, 157).
