Emptiness of self...

Perhaps everyone knows the Heart Sutra's most famous lines:

"O Shariputra form is emptiness, emptiness is form, form is no other than emptiness, emptiness is no other than form."

There is no doubt that this classic formulation of non-duality has a unique place in Buddhist thought and practice. But today I'd like to draw your attention to the line that follows:

"Of sensation, conception, predisposition and consciousness the same can be said."

So it follows that:

"O Shariputra sensation is emptiness..., conception is emptiness..., predisposition is emptiness..., and consciousness is emptiness..."

All five skandhas are emptiness, shunyata. In truth we could rewrite this passage in a summary form saying:

"Oh Shariputra, the skandhas are emptiness, emptiness is the skandhas, the skandhas are no other than emptiness, emptiness is no other than the skandhas."

And what are the skandhas? They are ourselves...

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