It seems every pointer to the ultimate Reality, though aiming at the same reality, is different, and the pointer itself matters for the journey. Buddhism might say the sea (reality) doesn’t have inherent existence, ever-changing as rivers merge and clouds form. A non-dualist would say the sea exists, and only the sea is everywhere, unchanging. Even Dvaita, with Vishnu whose will dictates all experience and whose cosmic dream (akin to emptiness) allows for all possibilities and our connection to Him, sounds reasonable. If I feel it’s emptiness, Vishnu wishes so; if I feel it’s Brahman, Vishnu wishes so.
It truly feels like every viewpoint can explain its superiority, terming others as subspaces of its own vast expanse. And in a final paradoxical twist, I have to admit, emptiness itself seems to span such a vast space!
My journey through these ideas, wrestling with emptiness, inherent existence, consciousness, and love, has been incredibly rich. It’s clear there are many paths, many pointers, to a truth that perhaps lies beyond any single conceptual framework. The quest for a stable, loving, and inherently existing ground continues, but the landscape of that quest has become infinitely more textured.
Buddha says,
When you have reached the opposite shore, you do not carry the raft on your back, but leave it behind.
There’s a traditional saying, based on the Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, is on attainment of direct realisation of one’s True Nature, or God Self, one can throw both thorns away. One thorn is the pointer we use to come closer to reality, and the other thorn is our ignorance which gets removed by the chosen pointer. It goes like:
Use a thorn to remove a thorn, then throw them both away!
A famous quote says,
The day a blind man sees, the first thing he throws away is the stick that helped him all his life.
The key is to use it like a tool to approach the truth. But ultimately, let go of the tool to truly experience the truth. Directly!
If you come across Buddha on the road, Kill Him!
I need to use an oxymoron here. These quotes are “Full of Emptiness.”
Reinvent The Self! 