what does this mean, "form is emptiness and emptiness is form"

[old3bob]

 

there are certain problems if folks separate "God" from the totality of "creation" which is really an emanation of "God" thus not a separate creation...I'd also say that the play on words about emptiness/empty can be kind of confusing, anyhow we could say the transcendent is not a thing, but that the emanated aspects or resulting forms from the transcendent are things.  Btw to me  nihilism sucks.

 

[Cobie]

@Mark Foote 

Jesus too was itinerant and mendicant. Also seemed to think it was necessary (e.g. Matthew 19:21).  

 

Edited September 1 by Cobie

[Cobie]

@Mark Foote 

on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthys,

the second picture (Ι, Χ, Θ superimposed), imo looks like a dharmachakra.
On https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmachakra ,

“In Hinduism, the symbol is particularly used in places that underwent religious transformation.” 

 

 

Edited September 1 by Cobie

[Mark Foote]

On 8/31/2025 at 3:27 PM, Cobie said:

@Mark Foote 

Jesus too was itinerant and mendicant. Also seemed to think it was necessary (e.g. Matthew 19:21).  

 

 

My mind has always been on things other than material success. 

I had the support of my family to fall back on, that made a difference. I hope I have made the best use of my time, for all the generations of whom I am the last.

 

 

 

 

[Mark Foote]

22 hours ago, Cobie said:

@Mark Foote 

on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichthys,

the second picture (Ι, Χ, Θ superimposed), imo looks like a dharmachakra.
On https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmachakra ,

“In Hinduism, the symbol is particularly used in places that underwent religious transformation.” 

 

 

 

 

I don't quite see sigma in the dharmachakra, quite the stretch there rounding all the letters. 

Interesting article about the ichthys, for sure. So the notion that it was a secret sign has fallen out of favor now. Then again, the pressure to publish is enormous, the number of aspirants for PhD's unparalleled, and papers withdrawn and new conclusions overturned regularly. What an age!

 

 

[Mark Foote]

Emptiness is form:
 

Don’t ever think that you can sit zazen! That’s a big mistake! Zazen sits zazen!

 

--Shunryu Suzuki

 

(per Blanche, “Interview with Blanche and Lou Hartman” 10/9/95, conducted by David  Chadwick)

 

Form is emptiness:

 

Going into a wild field, not choosing
Picking up whatever plant comes to hand,
Rootless but finding life,
Apart from the ground but not falling.

(poem by Fadeng, from “Zen Letters:  The Teachings of Yuanwu”, tr. Cleary and Cleary, p 47)