According to Lord Buddha’s Teaching, the principle of emptiness is as follows:-
‘Sunyatta Buddho’ : This means Lord Buddha has emptiness - Empty because Lord Buddha has set an example for all of us to follow. Lord Buddha has sacrificed everything. Lord Buddha is empty therefore we take Buddho to be our ‘Arammana - an object of consciousness’ in our Vipassana practice as Lord Buddha has done.
‘Sunyatta Dharmo’: This means Dharma is empty. Dharma can be practised by anyone at any time or place. It has no limit. Whoever practises Dharma he or she will be free from sufferings. A King can practice Dharma, a beggar can practice Dharma as well because Dharma is empty and that is why it is called ‘Sunyatta Dharmo’.
‘Sunyatta Sangho: This means the Sangha is empty. It is empty because the Sangha has sacrificed everything and embodied the monastery. The Sangha knows that the Sankhara (body) is empty. When it is born it will eventually die. Death is nothingness or emptiness. The Sangha, just like anyone of us, are from the Sankhara (body formation). The Sankhara feels hot, cold, pain, old and finally the Sankhara will pass away. When we are still alive, we should know and understand the Sankhara and we should not be misled by the Sankhara otherwise this will lead us to sufferings.
If you are still not convinced that this is not so, you should practise Dharma until your Citta is liberated, then you will be convinced.
I would like to let you know again about the usefulness of an emptiness. Dharma will not develop (occur) anywhere except in an empty Citta. The world ‘Emptiness’ also means ‘ Have time’. Similarly ‘No emptiness means No time’. You can go to a temple or a monastery, to listen to a Dharma talk and you can understand other people talking, this means that you are empty. Empty in the sense that it is not harassing other people, and it is not being selfish. Compassion is also an emptiness. You want other people to be happy is also an emptiness. If you want to give something to someone, you should start with an emptiness; if you still have something troubling your Citta you will be unable to do anything as emptiness is the most important factor in the Citta.
I would like to give an example about compassion so that you will understand better. Happiness which is derived from compassion is the real happiness which all human beings as well as all Gods and Goddesses including Indra , Brahma and all beings regardless of sizes and shapes have striving to realise it. It is the truth in Dharma Teachings which Lord Buddha has realised it and then showered his message to all beings for the past 2538 years and this teaching will continue to be in existence for another 5000 years. A country which has no wars, its population is happy, its territory is abundantly full of natural resources. This country lives in an emptiness because its people are not killing one another. This country has Dharma and Dharma brings happiness.
On the contrary, when a country is raging war, it means this country has no emptiness. It will bring disaster to the entire population. Families will be broken up as some would be killed or disappear without trace. Many may have to leave their native land in search of a new place to live where there is no war and no killing - an empty country where nature is abundant and peaceful.
This is similar to a situation in a family, if all members of the family has no emptiness the family will not be happy. This means that this family has no Dharma - family members would quarrel and all in the family would be affected, each one would go his separate way and finally nothing is left for the family. Dharma will not develop in a family which has no emptiness and in the end everything in the family will be broken into pieces.
If we understand how important the meaning of emptiness is to all world beings then we will know how important Dharma is to all beings. At this stage, I do not wish to elaborate further because I know that you understand and know it very well. When a family has emptiness, this family will hardly have any argument in the family; all family members will be very happy. This family is blessed with Dharma, which is in turned derived from emptiness. As for an individual who has emptiness it means that he will not create problems for others. He is the one who is blessed with Dharma. On the contrary, the one who has no emptiness is the one who is worried about all sort of things, possibly he has lost in gambling or possibly he could not achieve what he has in mind. He has thousands of problems in his mind. For all night he cannot get any good sleep as he has been thinking heavily. This means that he is fully occupied and is not free at all.
The word ‘has no emptiness’ means a troubled Citta and when you cannot find emptiness you will be suffering from all sorts of things including all sorts of illness. When you cannot find emptiness you will not be happy. When you are empty you will be happy. Emptiness is the source of Dharma. When you have Dharma you will be happy. Emptiness leads to happiness. Emptiness is important; Emptiness is precious. We are all searching for an emptiness which is happiness.
Emptiness is Sila-Dharma is Kusala (good action)-Empty Citta is Maha Kusala (greatest good action) which is known as Mokha Dharma since bright light acquired from Mokha Dharma is helping all beings to live together in peace and harmony and eventually leading us to the ultimate happiness which all of us have been searching for.
Not only all beings are searching for Mokha Dharma, but also Deva World, Brahma World, as well as Naga and Garuda World . All of them are all searching for the Mokha Dharma - all of them respect Dharma, worship Dharma and they all want Dharma. All of them want to reach Dharma as they depend on Dharma as Dharma brings happiness to all.
Dharma is Emptiness. All beings can live together in peace and harmony because of Emptiness (Dharma). Emptiness means not mistreating, harming, bullying or envying others. Emptiness means realising the benefit of living together in an harmonious environment. This is like an old saying in the Buddha Teachings. It runs like this said:-
‘Sabbe Saddha Avera Hontu’ :-
Which means all beings are friends in a circle of life and death-to Be Born, in Getting Old, in Feeling Pain and in Passing Away . One should not cause bad karma with one another.
‘Sabbe Saddha Apaya Passa Hontu’:-
Which means all being are friends in a circle of life and death- to Be Born, to Get Old, to Feel Pain and to Pass Away and should not mistreat one another.
‘Sabbe Saddha Anikha Hontu’:-
Which means all being are friends in a circle of life and death - to Be Born, to Get Old, to Feel Pain and to Pass Away - Not to suffer physical or mental pain.
‘Sabbe Saddha Sukkhee Attanang Pariharantu’:-
Which means all being are friends in a circle of life and death- to Be Born, to Get Old, to Feel Pain and to Pass Away - They should be happy physically and mentally and should protect themselves from all sufferings.
Before wishing others to be happy - our Citta should be empty - empty from misunderstanding, from encouraging bad feelings between friends and acquaintances. We should attempt to make our Citta to be filled with loving kindness and compassion and supporting all others to be happy. This is what is known as a person with high level of Dharma or a person who sees Dharma. High In? High in not being selfish, not to seek personal revenge. This is the way to make our Citta empty. Emptiness is the source of happiness in the world that we have been searching for.
In actual fact, Emptiness has already been in existence in Nature, but the problem is that whether human beings can accept its existence and use it accordingly. Most human beings prefer doing things against Nature. Human beings like creating, developing or revolutionising. Similarly emptiness is in our body but human beings like creating. For example, many of you very often said that ‘ at home there is no peace and cannot practice Dharma. It is better to practice Dharma in a temple or in a forest’ . This is an illusion because human being do not accept the fact emptiness is within our own physical body.