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Emptiness, Interdependence & Interbeing - Coggle Diagram
Emptiness, Interdependence & Interbeing
“Understanding Emptiness & Interdependence”
emptiness
Nothing exists in a vacuum. Everything is embedded within a context—a complex set of circumstances. We have the ability to change and adapt to certain circumstances.
Emptiness inspires optimism, rather than pessimism, because it reminds us of the boundless range of possibilities of who we can become and how we can live.
All phenomena are empty of a separate unchanging core or self.
Interdependence and emptiness show us that there are no fixed starting points. We can start from nothing.
People feel that they can't do things if they do not have enough money, but emptiness shows us that we can start from zero.
Nothing exists without zero, meaning that everything comes from zero.
Everything that exists depends on others and other things.
We are all connected in one way or another, which describes the term interdependence.
Our actions determine different outcomes whether that be negative or positive. Our actions reach far beyond ourselves.
This relates to the idea of karma. What moves from life to life is karma, meaning how we act in one life can affect the outcomes of our next life.
Living this Reality
Everything we use/need comes from outside sources that gives us the ability to survive. Things like our clothes, books and food all come from processes that exist outside of our being.
In order to ensure our own happiness, we have to respect and care about the happiness of others.
Relating to Reality
When we face impermanence wisely, we have an opportunity to cultivate a more constructive way of relating to that reality.
The more widely we are able to love others, the happier and more content we can feel within the relations of interdependence that are a natural part of our life.
This idea relates to the third of the 3 marks of phenomena: Anatman = lacking a totally separate unchanging core or self
This doesn't mean we do not exist, rather the self is like a flame, consistently there, but constantly changing.
“The Insight of Interbeing”
Emptiness does not mean nothingness
We must be there in order to be empty of a permanent, separate self.
The word interbeing describes our deep interconnection with everything else
We inter-are with one another and with all life.
The planet as a whole is one giant cell, with it's parts working together to create life and everything that comes with it.
Example of interbeing with a child
If we look at a child, it’s easy to see the child’s mother and father, grandmother and grandfather, in her. The child is a continuation.
Looking into the child, we can be in touch with her parents and ancestors, but equally, looking into the parent, we can see the child.
This article relates to the fourth key idea of cause and effect...
Interdependent Origination
Each phenomenon arises due to multiple causes and conditions
Thich Nhat Hanh refers to "interbeing" as something existing only because other things are.
All things are connected together in one way or another
Ex: to make apple pie you need apples which need the sun which needs hydrogen and hydrogen comes from atoms and to get atoms you need a big bang. YOU NEED THE UNIVERSE TO MAKE ANYTHING.