Receiving the Emptiness

The State

Inside: giving. Everything. Including the physical. Not as sacrifice — that word implies loss, and there is nothing left to lose. The giving at 7.6 is total because there is no self left to withhold anything from. The body serves. The mind serves. Whatever remains of the physical form is offered to the field.

At 7.6, there is nothing left TO devote. Pure giving without a giver. The body serves until it can't. The way a river gives itself to the sea. Not sacrifice. Return.

Outside: complete self-offering. Others witness someone who has given everything. Not martyrdom. Not performance. The person doesn't experience sacrifice. The body wears out. The giving doesn't.

The Shadow

If shadow exists, it is the body's pain — the physical cost of total offering. The consciousness is at peace. The body still hurts. The body's suffering is its final contribution.

The Gift

Total offering. Gives everything — body, mind, life — without experiencing loss. Sacrifice is only sacrifice when a self exists to lose something. You can give everything because you have nothing. You have nothing because you are everything.

The Illusion

'This is my purpose.' The last illusion before complete dissolution is meaning. The giving is as purposeless as rainfall. It nourishes because that's what it does.

The Crossing

Let the body go. Not death — though it may coincide with death. Complete release of identification with the physical form. The body's peace with its own dissolution.

Diagnostic

Social phenomena

The bodhisattva ideal. The parent who gives everything completely. Dying in peace — completion rather than cessation. Teachers whose bodies fail while teaching intensifies.

Cultural handle

They gave everything. They didn't have anything left — and they were the happiest person I ever met.