“Step into a world where truth unfolds in gentle waves, as Lama Chime Rinpoche weaves a timeless dance between the relative and the absolute. Imagine a river flowing, its waters ever-changing yet whole, whispering secrets of unity beneath the fleeting forms of life. In this sacred teaching, shared through the heart of Buddhism Now, you’re invited to release the grip of fleeting fears and joys, to see beyond the mirage of the everyday, and to rest in the boundless embrace of Reality as it is. Here, compassion meets wisdom, saṃsāra entwines with nirvāṇa, and the mountains stand as mountains once more — transformed, yet ever themselves, in a world alive with freedom and grace.”
Last update: August 9, 2025
Source of the Text:
https://buddhismnow.com/2015/06/17/two-levels-of-truth-by-lama-chime-rinpoche/
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We discuss the subject of relative [T1] and absolute truth [T2] [U2T] a great deal in Tibet; to understand it is really to understand the root of Buddha’s teaching.
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[Conventionally:]
The relative is the particular and limited [T1], (i.e. many dependently arisen relatively functional appearances)
the absolute is the unlimited and universal [T2]. (i.e. one emptiness of inherent existence)
(i.e. Mere adapted skillful means: That is the conventional difference between the two truths. But ‘Reality as it is’ is beyond all conditioned dualistic conceptual proliferation: beyond dualities like permanence and impermanence, subject and object, movement and stillness, word and silence, continuity and discontinuity, diversity and unity, duality and non-duality, particular and universal, limited and unlimited, finite and infinite, relative and absolute, appearance and emptiness, Ground and manifestations, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, acceptation and rejection.)
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[The two truths are not different, separate:]
What is it that one sees when one looks at the world? In one sense one sees the relative — particular things happening which are changing all the time. And yet how does one perceive them altogether, as a whole? Only because of the absolute. For example, suppose you are watching a river flowing by. How do you know it is a river? There is no continuity in the particles of water; from moment to moment the water changes and we do not see the same river twice. It only becomes a river by virtue of the absolute nature of flowing water by which the particulars are joined together into the whole; without the universal one cannot form any connection between the particulars.
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[The two truths are not identical, united:]
In Buddhism we say that we should not confuse the relative [T1] with the absolute [T2]. Most people see only the relative [T1], and take it as being completely real. They are absorbed in the particular things they are doing, once did, or will do. These become so real that everything else is blocked out, and if some of these things go wrong, they get upset and suffer. We say that this is like being taken in by an artificial snake: you go into a room where someone has left a toy snake; for a moment you think it is real, and so you are frightened, but as soon as you see that it is not real it ceases to frighten you. Similarly with all events in the relative world, all feelings of pleasure and pain, every memory we have: by seeing that they are not the whole of reality we can become free from them.
How does one come to see the absolute [T2] truth? One cannot see it as an object, by trying to find it in one particular place, or by piling one relative truth on top of another until the pile is high enough. It does not happen like that. The whole is always there — it is only because of the whole that the particular exists, but one cannot see the whole as one would a part. We say it is like the eye which sees, but cannot see itself, or the knife which can cut, but cannot cut itself.
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[Harmony of the two truths: it is acting without attachment, acting conventionally but not acting in absolute terms, in accord with the Middle Way – not accepting, not rejecting in absolute terms:]
So to see the absolute, one should not hold on to anything in the relative [T1] world (without attachment [T2]).
(i.e. Nothing to accept: This is the Middle Way free from all extremes and middle; nothing to accept / seek / do / add / affirm in absolute terms, nothing to reject / abandon / not-do / subtract / negate in absolute terms, nothing to change / improve / purify in absolute terms, just conventionally, relatively, temporarily if it helps on the path at this point.)
There is a story of a man who was travelling and who was attacked by two robbers. He was a strong man, and so he seized them both by their necks and was about to knock their heads together when he thought, ‘What is the point of doing this?’ So he let them go, gave them all he had and watched them go off. Then he went into the forest and meditated. What was essential could never be taken away from him.
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On the other hand, it is not necessary to destroy/reject the relative in order to see the absolute.
(i.e. Nothing to reject: This is the Middle Way free from all extremes and middle; nothing to accept / seek / do / add / affirm in absolute terms, nothing to reject / abandon / not-do / subtract / negate in absolute terms, nothing to change / improve / purify in absolute terms, just conventionally, relatively, temporarily if it helps on the path at this point)
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They are not in conflict; the relative comes from the absolute in a natural and spontaneous way.
(i.e. Harmony / Union of the Two Truths: One truth implies the other: they are not different / separate / multiple / dual, not identical / united / one / non-dual, not both together, not neither. They are inseparable, in harmony, dependently co-asisen, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed, thus both empty of inherent existence; both like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’. So we can use them conventionally, but without attachment, never grasping them as the true nature of Reality as it is. Emptiness of dependent origination and emptiness, never absolute.)
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It is only from our way of seeing things and our attachments that conflict arises.
We have a simile: absolute truth is like the moon in the sky, and relative truth is like a reflection of the moon in a pool of water. Normally, we only see the reflection and not the real moon, but in order to see the latter, we do not have to destroy the reflection, but only have to look up. In fact, to try to destroy something is only another way of emphasizing its existence.
(i.e. Ignorance vs. wisdom: Ignoring this Harmony / Union of the Two Truths (dependent origination and emptiness) about everything, including the two truths themselves, is saṃsāra here & now. But awareness of the true nature of ‘Reality as it is’, of the inconceivable Union of the Two Truths about all phenomena [U2T], or Union of opposites [Uopp], is nirvāṇa here & now. It is liberation through direct wisdom.)
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[Middle Way:] So we have to be in the middle, on the knife edge between yes and no, between accepting/affirming and rejecting/denying the relative world. And so perhaps it will happen that we shall enter the absolute truth; our minds will become all-inclusive. We cannot make this happen; though to some extent we can prepare for it, it occurs beyond our contriving. We see the whole — we are the whole, beyond separation or distinction.
(i.e. Direct realization, transcending without rejecting: Reality as it is, enlightenment, is indescribable, inconceivable; beyond all conditioned dualistic conceptual proliferation; beyond all conditioning / karma (individual, collective, cosmic); beyond all description / conceptualization, differentiation / discrimination, causality / production, form / matter-energy, space and time. So it has to be spontaneously non-dualistically non-conceptually, non-conditionally, directly perceived, realized, experienced in the here & now. It is about transcending all conditioning, karma (physical, conceptual, mental, body, speech and mind), without rejecting its conventional usefulness, by realizing its true nature & dynamic as it is here & now.)
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[Union of the Two Truths in action: practicing / learning / teaching / helping [T1] without attachment, reification, effort or absolute [T2]:]
There is the same distinction between absolute and relative in the practice of Buddhist religion.
– [Conventional tools [T1]:] Taking the refuges, making vows, performing ceremonies and chanting, reading scriptures and so on — these are relative truths.
– [Never absolute [T2]:] They may help us, and prepare us in a certain faith and understanding, but once we have seen the absolute truth, there is no need to continue to hold unto them as absolute;
– they are merely a ship that takes us towards where we really are.
– [Conventional tools / T1:] To say Buddhism is taking refuge in the triple gem of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and practising the eightfold noble path is only true in a relative way.
– [Like a boat:] Buddha himself compared his teachings to a raft which could carry the traveller across the stream of existence,
– [Without attachment / T2:] but he asked, ‘If you had crossed over to the other bank, would you go on carrying your raft on your back?’ (i.e. But the boat can still be useful for other people)
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The absolute truth of Buddhism is nirvāṇa, and nirvāṇa includes all of saṃsāra as well.
(i.e. Nirvāṇa is directly realizing the true nature & dynamic of saṃsāra as it is here & now. Then everything impure in saṃsāra is transmuted into the purity of nirvāṇa. Then everything is perceived as primordially equal, pure, perfect, complete, divine, ‘One’ in the non-dual sense: not many, not one, not both, not neither; beyond all conditioned dualistic conceptual proliferation. Then one can use the conventional tools without being bound by them, without thinking they are inherently existing, in inherent opposition or relation, with inherent characteristics, marks, signs. Not accepting them, not rejecting them. Combining adapted skillful means like compassion with wisdom to help other beings still stuck in their illusory karmic cycle, bound by illusions.)
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[Union of virtues like compassion and wisdom – in accord with the Union of the Two Truths [U2T]:]
It is said that for the absolute [T2], one has wisdom, and for the relative [T1], one has compassion.
After his enlightenment Buddha did not need to teach people in order for them to become essentially wiser; he did so in order to try to help people, to provide them with a means by which some of them could come to the same understanding that he had reached [U2T]. So even though one may have understood the absolute truth [T2], one need not be opposed to the outward forms of religion [T1], but work through them if they are the forms best suited to one’s needs and understanding.
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[Union of opposite [Uopp] like saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, relative and absolute, or the three times:]
The absolute does not contradict the relative.
Nirvāṇa does not contradict samsara.
Nirvāṇa is not another place and time.
It is here and everywhere, a timeless present in which past and future are included.
In Zen Buddhism there is a saying,
(i) ‘Before one practises Zen, mountains are mountains and trees are trees [T1].’ (i.e. grasping at conventional truths [T1-only])
That is to say, there is only the reality of the relative world (diversity, opposition).
(ii) ‘After one has practised Zen for some time,’ the saying continues, ‘mountains are no longer mountains and trees are no longer trees [T2].’ (i.e. grasping at emptiness [T2-only])
One has seen the absolute, underlying unity of all things (unity, emptiness).
(iii) ‘But at the completion of one’s practice of Zen, mountains are again mountains and trees are again trees [U2T].’
(i.e. The Middle Way; the Union of the Two Truths in action [U2T], Union of opposites [non-duality / Uopp] like diversity and unity, appearance and emptiness, relative and absolute, compassion and wisdom, pure and impure, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa…
Where ‘Union’ means that the apparent opposites in any duality, triad, quad… are more like inseparable, in harmony, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed [T1-opp], thus empty of inherent existence, never absolute [T2-opp] [U2T-opp]; like illusions, reflections, mirages, dreams, echos, ‘there, yet not there’. Pointing to the Middle Way free from all extremes (this, not-this) and middle (both together, neither), with nothing to accept / reject / change in absolute terms. Pointing to the primordial equality, purity, perfection, completion, divinity, Oneness of everything: not ‘this’, not ‘non-this’, not both together, not neither, for whatever ‘this’ is.)
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The relative is the absolute and yet at the same time it is the relative.
(i.e. The two truths are not different / two / dual, not identical / one / non-dual, not both, not neither. One truth implies the other [U2T]. The two truths, individually or collectively, are just another conventional duality, another temporary imperfect adapted skillful means, another boat to be used to cross saṃsāra, but without attachment, without thinking they are absolute or ‘Reality as it is’.
Like in the case of the two opposites of any duality: (i) it is not about accepting one side (ex. dependent origination / realism) while rejecting the other (ex. emptiness / nihilism), (ii) not about accepting the other side (ex. emptiness) while rejecting the first side (ex. appearances), (iii) not about accepting both sides together (ex. both truths as opposites / dualism), (iv) not about rejecting both sides (ex. neither of the two truths) for a transcendental monism. It is about realizing the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] or Union of opposites in general [Uopp]. The Middle Way: not accepting, not rejecting. That is in accord with ‘Reality as it is’.)
We live in the same world [T1], and yet it is completely transformed (i.e. we see it differently) [U2T].
It does not overwhelm us; we do not need it and yet we can enjoy it.
It is one [T2], and yet it is always changing [T1] [U2T].
To the unenlightened it is a source of bondage, but to the enlightened it is a source of freedom, freedom at the heart of all things.
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[Added Conclusion: In the tapestry of Lama Chime Rinpoche’s teaching, the interplay of relative [T1] and absolute truth [T2] [U2T] reveals a profound path to liberation. By embracing the Middle Way, we learn to navigate the fleeting particulars of the relative world [T1] without clinging, while resting in the boundless unity of the absolute [T2] [U2T]. This union of compassion [T1] and wisdom [T2] [U2T] transforms our perception, allowing us to live fully in the present, where saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are not opposed but intertwined [Non-duality / Uopp]. As we let go of attachment and aversion, the world becomes a dance of freedom — unchanging in its essence [T2], yet ever-new in its expression [T1] [U2T]. Through this understanding, we awaken to Reality as it is (tathātā), finding peace and purpose in the heart of all things, with mountains as mountains and trees as trees, radiant in their liberated truth.]
In Mahayana Buddhism, the Two Truths are the conventional dependently co-arisen relatively functional appearances [T1] and the ultimate / absolute / emptiness [T2]. These truths describe how phenomena arise (pratītyasamutpāda) and appear to us [T1], and their emptiness of inherent existence (śūnyatā) [T2], respectively.
A. [T1] Conventional truth refers to the way things dependently arise (pratītyasamutpāda) and appear to us in our everyday experience,
B. [T2] while ultimate truth refers to the emptiness of inherent existence (śūnyatā) of those appearances.
C. [U2T] The true nature of reality (tathātā) is more like the inseparability, interdependence, harmony, Union of the Two Truths.
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A. [T1] Conventional / Relative Truth (saṁvṛti-satya) – Multiple dependently co-arisen relatively functional impermanent appearances (pratītyasamutpāda):
This is the world as we perceive it through our senses and conditioned dualistic conceptual understanding. It includes all the things we experience, name, and categorize, like objects, emotions, and even concepts like "good" and "bad". However, these are considered relative because their existence depends on conditions and relationships (pratītyasamutpāda), and they are not ultimately real in themselves (śūnyatā). For example, a table is a table because of its specific arrangement of materials, its purpose, and our perception of it. If any of those conditions change, our perception of it as a "table" might change as well.
Conventional truth encompasses the world of our everyday experiences, the realm of dualistic phenomena and conceptual understanding. It's the world of names and forms, of individual objects and beings, of their characteristics / marks / signs, and the relationships/oppositions between them. However, this conventional truth is ultimately understood as empty of inherent existence (śūnyatā), revealing the true nature of reality (tathātā) as pointed out by adapted skillful means like the Union of the Two Truths [U2T], the Union of opposites [Uopp], the Union of the three spheres [U3S], the Union of the Ground and its manifestations [UGM], the Union of the three kayas [U3K].
Dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) [T1]: Dependent Origination explains how all phenomena arise in dependence upon causes and conditions, highlighting the interconnectedness and impermanence of all things.
Dependent Origination describes how everything in the universe arises and ceases in dependence upon other factors (like causes and conditions, parts, conceptual opposite(s), and the mind merely labeling, imputing, imagining them). It's a limitless centerless web of interconnected causes and conditions [T1], where nothing exists independently [T2] [U2T].
A common way to understand Dependent Origination is through the twelve links (wheel of life), which illustrate how ignorance leads to karmic formations, consciousness, name and form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, becoming, birth, and ultimately, suffering and death.
A key aspect is the rejection of inherent or independent existence [T2]. Nothing possesses a fixed, unchanging essence. Everything is a result of causes and conditions, and therefore impermanent [T1]. One truth implies the other [U2T].
Relativity: Conventional truth is relative to our perception and conceptual framework (i.e. Union of subject and object [U3S]). It's the way things appear to us, including our thoughts, emotions, and the world around us. Subject, action and object are inseparable, interdependent, co-defined, co-evolving, co-imputed, thus empty of inherent existence, never absolute, like illusions. This co-evolution is the karmic cycle.
Dualistic: It involves the perception of a subject-object duality, where we perceive ourselves as separate from the world and other beings. Opposites like subject and object are not different / separate / multiple / dual, not identical / united / one / non-dual, not both together, not neither.
Nominal: It relies on concepts, names, marks, signs, and designations to understand and interact with the world.
Examples: A coffee cup, a person, a feeling of happiness, the rising and setting of the sun, are all examples of conventional truths. All appearing phenomena: physical, conceptual, mental, individual, collective, cosmic, past, present, future, pure, impure, composite and non-composite.
Function: Conventional truth is how we navigate daily life, communicate, and engage with the world.
The Zen proverb "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water" signifies that the fundamental, everyday tasks of life remain the same, regardless of one's spiritual state (Buddha or ordinary being). It emphasizes that enlightenment doesn't negate the need to perform ordinary, even mundane, duties; it doesn’t deny conventional truths. The phrase highlights the importance of mindfulness and presence in daily life, rather than seeking a grand transformation or escape from reality.
Understanding Conventional Truth:
– It's not about denying the conventional existence of things (saṃsāra), but rather acknowledging their relative and conventional nature.
– It's important to recognize that our perceptions and concepts can be limited and lead to misunderstandings.
– Ultimately, conventional truth [T1] points to the ultimate truth [T2] (and vice versa), and to Reality as it is (tathātā) [U2T], which is beyond all conceptual limitations.
In essence, conventional truth is the world as we experience it, with all its complexities and appearances [T1]. However, it's crucial to understand that this is a relative truth [T1], not Reality as it is (tathātā) [U2T]. Recognizing the limitations of conventional truth is a step towards realizing the truth of emptiness [T2], and non-duality at all levels [U2T / Uopp / U3S / UGM / U3K].
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B. [T2] Ultimate / Absolute Truth (paramārtha-satya) – Unique emptiness of inherent existence (śūnyatā), no absolute:
This truth transcends conventional understanding and refers to the true nature of reality (i.e. the omnipresent timeless unborn unconditioned unchanging unceasing unique aspect of all phenomena: emptiness of inherent existence), often described as emptiness (śūnyatā). It is beyond concepts, descriptions, and dualistic thinking. It's the fundamental, interconnected nature of all things, where distinctions and separate identities dissolve. This truth is not something we can grasp with our ordinary minds, but it is the foundation of conventional reality.
In Mahayana Buddhism, emptiness (śūnyatā) signifies that all phenomena lack inherent existence [T2] and are interdependent, arising from a complex web of causes and conditions [T1] (and vice versa) (i.e. Both truths point to the inconceivable Reality-as-it-is (tathātā) as pointed by the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] of all phenomena, in both saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, no exception at all). It's not about nothingness, but rather the absence of a fixed, independent, and enduring self-nature in everything, including physical objects, mental states, and even the concept of self. This understanding of emptiness is a core teaching that shapes how Mahayana Buddhists view Reality as it is (tathātā), the self, and the path to liberation.
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C. [U2T] The Union of the Two Truths is our best pointer to the inconceivable true nature of Reality as it is (tathātā):
In Mahayana Buddhism, the "Union of the Two Truths [U2T]" refers to the concept that the two truths – relative [T1] truth (how things dependently arise and appear) and ultimate [T2] truth (how things truly are, often described as emptiness or non-dual reality) – are not separate and in opposition but are two aspects of a single, unified reality (tathātā) (in the non-dual sense: not many, not one, not both, not neither). This union is not a merging of two distinct entities [T1+T2], but rather a recognition that the perceived world (manifestations) and the ultimate nature of reality (Ground) are fundamentally interconnected and inseparable [U2T / UGM].
Recognizing the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] is considered a key step on the path to enlightenment in Mahayana Buddhism. It helps practitioners to move beyond clinging to fixed concepts and dualistic thinking, ultimately leading to a deeper understanding of reality (tathātā) and liberation from all conditioning, karma, and suffering.
Essentially, the Union of the Two Truths suggests that the world we perceive [T1] is not fundamentally different from the emptiness of all phenomena [T2], and from the ultimate Reality as it is (tathātā) [U2T / UGM / Uopp]; it is simply a different way of understanding the same interconnected [T1] and empty [T2] nature of existence [U2T].
Interdependence: The Two Truths are not separate realms, but rather two perspectives on the same reality (i.e. one truth implies the other). Conventional truth is the way dependently co-arisen relatively functional phenomena appear to us [T1], while ultimate truth is their emptiness of inherent existence (no absolute) [T2] [U2T]. Understanding conventional truth [T1] through analysis and practice is seen as a path to realizing their emptiness [T2], and ultimately realizing their inseparability, harmony, interdependence, union [U2T], pointing to the inconceivable true nature of reality (tathātā).
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D. Purpose – To transcend conditioned dualistic conceptual thinking, without rejecting it completely. Being able to use it as a tool without being bound by it.
The purpose of understanding the Two Truths is to move beyond the limitations of conventional conditioned dualistic conceptual thinking and to realize the true nature of reality (tathātā) as pointed out by the Unions [U2T / U3S / Uopp / UGM / U3K]. This realization can lead to liberation from suffering and the development of virtues like compassion [T1] combined with more and more wisdom [T2], one supporting the other [U2T].
Wisdom and Compassion: Understanding Dependent Origination [T1] and the Union of the Two Truths [U2T] leads to wisdom (understanding the true nature of reality) and compassion (recognizing the interconnectedness of all beings). This is acting more and more in accord to the true nature & dynamic of Reality as it is (tathātā).
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E. Emptiness of emptiness [U2T-2T] – Not grasping at any of the two truths as absolute or reality as it is.
In Mahayana Buddhism, the concepts of dependent origination (interdependence) [T1] and emptiness (lack of inherent existence) [T2] are themselves considered empty of inherent existence [T2-2T] because they are mutually dependent [T1-2T] [U2T-2T]. This means that the idea of something arising dependently is itself dependent on the concept of emptiness, and vice versa. Neither can be understood in isolation; they are two sides of the same coin, illustrating the ultimate nature of reality as a network of interconnected, impermanent phenomena.
In Mahayana, particularly within the Madhyamaka school, these two concepts are inseparable. The very notion of something arising dependently [T1] implies that it does not have its own independent nature (emptiness) [T2]. Conversely, understanding emptiness [T2] reveals that all phenomena are dependently originated [T1]. (i.e. One truth implies the other [U2T]; like the two opposites of any duality [Non-duality / Uopp].)
Both dependent origination and emptiness ultimately point to the absence of a fixed, independent self or essence in any phenomenon, including the concepts of dependent origination and emptiness themselves.
In Mahayana Buddhism, the "emptiness of emptiness" refers to the idea that even the concept of emptiness itself is ultimately empty of inherent existence. It's not a fixed entity or a thing to be grasped, but rather a perspective that arises in relation to other phenomena. This means that emptiness is not a final, absolute reality, but a tool for understanding the nature of reality as impermanent and interdependent.
The concept of emptiness, and even the emptiness of emptiness, is ultimately a tool for liberation. It helps break down the illusion of inherent existence, which is the root of suffering. By recognizing the emptiness of all things, including the concept of emptiness, one can let go of attachment and clinging, leading to a more peaceful and liberated state.
In essence, the emptiness of emptiness emphasizes that emptiness is not a static, absolute state, but a dynamic process of understanding the nature of reality through dependent origination and the lack of inherent existence.
Note: The same for “dependent origination / causality”.
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F. The perfection of one truth is the other truth:
Mahayana teachings explain that the perfection of dependent origination is the realization that all things lack inherent existence, and that this lack of inherent existence is precisely what allows for dependent arising. This understanding is crucial for liberation from suffering, as it reveals the impermanent and interconnected nature of reality.
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G. Progression in understanding: T1 ⇒ T2 ⇒ U2T/Uopp ⇒ Tathātā
In Mahayana Buddhism, the path to enlightenment involves understanding
– (i) the interconnectedness of dependent origination [T1] (how things arise and cease),
– (ii) emptiness (the lack of inherent existence) [T2],
– (iii) and the two truths (conventional and ultimate) as a unified concept [U2T / Uopp].
This understanding progresses from recognizing the dependent nature [T1] of all phenomena, to realizing their emptiness [T2], and finally to grasping their unity within the framework of the two truths [U2T].
The Mahayana path culminates in the realization of the Union of the Two Truths [U2T]. This means recognizing that conventional reality [T1], with all its appearances and interactions, is simultaneously an expression of ultimate reality, which is emptiness [T2] (and vice versa; one truth implies the other [U2T]). By understanding that conventional reality is empty of inherent existence, one can move beyond grasping at fixed identities and experience a deeper, more liberating understanding of reality. This realization is often described as the "Union of emptiness and appearance [U2T]", the "Union of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa", or the "Union of opposites in general [Non-duality / Uopp]".
In essence, the Mahayana path progresses from recognizing the interdependent nature of all things [T1], to realizing their lack of inherent existence [T2], and finally to grasping the unity of conventional and ultimate realities [U2T], leading to liberation and compassion (i.e. Union of compassion and wisdom; or Union of the three kayas [U3K].