*date: jan 8 2025 (initially written Mar 2024)* --- *Last March I attended a Tibetan buddhist course (see [[on spirituality]] for more details) where the topic of [emptiness](https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/buddhist-concept-of-emptiness/v-1) was introduced. For many reasons, I was drawn to the concept and ended up reading more about it during the course. Fast forward to a few weeks ago in December 2024, I was reviewing my year and re-discovered this bit of text I jotted down back in March. I thought I'd share it here in case it resonates/or people would like to talk about it!* Emptiness to me is about grasping deep interconnectedness and subjective reality of all phenomenon. The former leads to the death of the self, the latter leads to freedom from afflictions and ignorance. It's about going a level deeper than being aware of your emotions, intentions and that we are all suffering, and is the deepest level of compassion one can be in. It's aiming to understand the 'self' as it is at the root of all suffering, and the root of compassion. Once you realize that the self is 'empty', by this i mean that it has no intrinsic existence (it does not exist on its own, but only from other phenomenons), then everything else also crumbles down. There is no separation between everything around. The teaching of emptiness to me is that the delineation between 'you' vs 'them' does not exist, there is no separation, and that all emotions & attachments are illusions. But to get to his realization, it could be better to achieve 'level 1' first both to develop focus & understanding, and to build connection with others already before realizing they are 'you', same as Ven Thubten Pema asking us to think about all the people that directly & indirectly helped as a way to foster feelings of interconnectedness before lifting the veil.