The Importance of Meditative Experience

This chapter emphasizes the necessity of a strong meditative foundation for understanding the concepts discussed. It acknowledges that without firsthand meditative experience, the insights regarding the fading of phenomena and the subsequent realization of their emptiness might seem abstract. Therefore, it is crucial to have cultivated and matured such insights through meditation before embarking on deeper stages of understanding.

The Illusion of ‘Just Being’

There is a common notion in spiritual practice that simply 'being' as opposed to 'doing' is a more authentic state. Practitioners may associate ‘just being’ with a less fabricated sense of self and a more natural state of existence. However, the chapter argues that this dichotomy between being and doing is illusory. Being actually requires doing since any experience of being involves clinging and therefore some level of fabrication. Insights from previous chapters show that perceptions and experiences, including those associated with being, are dependent on clinging and are hence empty.

The Emptiness of Clinging, and of Mind States

The chapter moves on to explore the emptiness of clinging, as well as mind states like equanimity and anger. Clinging, already revealed as a form of doing, depends on having an object to cling to. However, since this object is itself empty, clinging too is grounded on emptiness. This leads to a deeper realization of the groundlessness of phenomena, where both the object and the clinging to it are understood as empty. This has profound implications for mind states; for instance, equanimity is seen as inherently dependent on its object, and without a perceivable object, the state itself cannot exist.

The Voidness of the Aggregates

The Buddhist concept of the five aggregates (form, sensation, perception, mental formations, and consciousness) is discussed in the context of emptiness. Although they are foundational in understanding experience, all aggregates are empty of inherent existence. Every element of the aggregates, including clinging (part of the fourth aggregate), is void. Importantly, it is emphasized that not just the personal self, but the aggregates themselves are empty, an understanding that is vital for deeper liberation.

Mutual Dependency and the Emptiness of Cause and Effect

Understanding the principle of dependent co-origination (paṭiccasamuppāda) leads to acknowledging the emptiness of cause and effect as independent phenomena. It’s highlighted that this emptiness is ultimately what the teaching aims to convey, not just the mutual dependency of phenomena. This section explains that the entire cause-and-effect mechanism, while functioning conventionally, lacks inherent existence, which is a core realization for the practitioner.

Practice: Contemplating the Emptiness of Clinging

Finally, the chapter provides a meditation practice for contemplating the emptiness of clinging. It suggests choosing an object in meditation and regarding it as empty because it's dependent on clinging, and then considering that clinging is also empty because it depends on the illusory object. This mutual dependency is to be infused in the view during meditation. The chapter instructs that recognizing this can lead to a more profound fading of perception and an experience of the magical, groundless nature of reality.

In summary, this chapter delves into how phenomena that seem fundamental, such as the states of being and mind states like equanimity and anger, are in fact constructed upon emptiness. It extends this concept to the five aggregates and the principle of cause and effect, prompting practitioners to comprehend that even core experiences are empty of inherent existence. This insight, supported by meditative practice, seeks to unravel deeper layers of existence, ultimately leading to liberation from delusion and suffering.