This is a well-known phrase from the Heart Sutra.
At one level, it doesn’t really make sense to analyze it or even put words on it. It’s just how it is in direct perception. Words move away from the simplicity of direct noticing.
And if I were to try to put it into words, I could say…
What I am allows this content of experience that’s here, and it forms itself into the content of experience that’s here. It forms itself into the visuals of this computer, the table, the room and so on, the sounds, the smell and taste, and whatever happens within the sense fields.
The consciousness I am allows any and all experience, which our mental field can call “empty”. It’s inherently empty of any form, so it can take any form.
And it forms itself into the content of experience that’s here, whatever it is.
Night dreams and waking life both happen within and as the consciousness I am.
Form is empty. It’s made up of the consciousness I am which is inherently empty of any particular form.
Emptiness is form. The consciousness I am forms itself into the content of experience that’s here.
The direct noticing is very simple. It’s beyond simple. And whenever it’s reflected in our mental field and made into words, it seems far more complicated and exotic than it really is.
There are also other ways to talk about it. For instance, any sense of “I” or “me” is not what I more fundamentally am. Yes, it’s here. The mental representation of an I or me helps this human self orient and function in the world. And it’s not what’s more fundamentally here. The consciousness I am is metaphorically empty of a fundamental I or me. It’s what allows the experience of it, and the experience of anything at all. It’s what allows the sense of I or me – in whatever forms it takes – to come and go. It’s what temporarily forms itself into innumerable versions of images of an I or me.
INITIAL DRAFT
FORM IS EMPTINESS, EMPTINESS IS FORM
This is a famous phrase from the Heart Sutra.
For me, it almost seems meaningless to analyze it. It’s just how it is in direct perception.
What I am allows this content of experience that’s here, and it forms itself into the content of experience that’s here. It forms itself into the visuals of this computer, the table, the room and so on, the sounds, the smell and taste, and whatever happens within the sense fields.
The consciousness I am allows any and all experience, which our mental field can call “empty”. It’s inherently empty of any form, so it can take any form.
And it forms itself into the content of experience that’s here, whatever it is.
Waking life and night dreams both happen within and as the consciousness I am.
Form is empty. It’s made up of the consciousness I am which is inherently empty of any particular form.
Emptiness is form. The consciousness I am forms itself into the content of experience that’s here.
The direct noticing is very simple. It’s beyond simple. And whenever it’s reflected in our mental field and made into words, it seems far more complicated and exotic than it really is.
There are also other ways to talk about it. For instance, any sense of “I” or “me” is not what I more fundamentally am. Yes, it’s here. The mental representation of an I or me helps this human slf orient and function in the world. And it’s not what I more fundamentally am. The consciousness I am is metaphorically empty of a fundamental I or me. It’s what allows the experience of it, and the experience of anything at all.