Empty and Full at Once

A reflection on the inseparable nature of emptiness and fullness, and how glimpsing only one side distorts the whole.

What we are pointing to is also without substance, because if you examine what it is made of, you can turn that into a substance of its own. There is a substantive aspect to it. This is why it has been described as something with two aspects: it is empty and full simultaneously.

Partial realization and its consequences

You can realize its empty nature without realizing its full nature, and vice versa. If you begin glimpsing into its empty nature, it will feel scary, because it will be interpreted as death and lack of meaning. Its fullness, on the other hand, can be realized as loving and abundant, but it will lack a certain kind of peace.

Not two things combined

It is literally both at the same time, and it is not two things. Fullness and emptiness are not two separate qualities that have been combined. They are two ways of seeing the same thing. You cannot experience one without the other, because right now you are already experiencing them simultaneously. Everything you are experiencing in this moment is empty and full. Even the interpretation that it is not, or the interpretation that you are not experiencing this, is itself empty and full.