empty

Beings are like the moon in rippling water,
Fitful, fleeting, empty in their nature.


Chandrakirti,
Madhyamakavatara

path to enlightenment

... meditation on the preciousness and rarity of a human incarnation endowed with infinite spiritual potential... a spiritual vessel, a boat with which to generate inner qualities that that have eternal benefits. The ordinary samsaric mind sees the human body as just a tool with which to chase material, social and biological needs, all of which to satisfy only superficial levels of the spirit. Their effects do not pass beyond the gates of death. We have to learn to appreciate the intrinsic spiritual quality of human nature, to have a subtle confidence in the positive, creative aspect of our being. It is difficult to enter spiritual training if one regards one's life as having no purpose other than the pursuit of ephemeral, transient goals. In order to break the mind of this vain, mundane attitude towards life, we sit in meditation and contemplate first the 8 freedoms and 10 endowments described earlier, and then the meaningful and rare nature of human incarnation. This contemplation imbues us with a sense of spiritual dignity that subtly transforms our way of relating to ourselves and our existence. We cease to see ourselves as animals uncontrollably chasing after the immediate cravings of the senses in a vicious circle of jungle law; and we come to appreciate the quality of penetrating awareness and the capacity for spiritual development that distinguishes humans from animals and insects. This causes the thought of extracting the essence of life to arise with a joyous intensity.


The Dalai Lama
The Path to Enlightenment