address  himself  to its  understanding.  To ignore  it is to
remain in the samsaaric  realm.  He must thus concentrate  on
the rise of experiential  events  in terms of perceiving  the
nature of experiential  events in terms of perceiving  the
nature  of dependency  (yuan(i), pratyaya) and  relationality
(yin-yuan(j)   ,　　 yuan-ch'i(h)   ,　　 pratiitya-samutpaada,
pratiitya-samutpanna) of those events and attendant  elements
in the  total  context  of being.  This  is where  meditation
enters to pacify or calm down the grasping nature of the mind
(chih-cho(k), upaadaana, abhinive'sa).  This grasping  nature
belongs  to the unsettled  mind which has not as yet captured
the  middle  ground  (way) of existence  by hovering  between
substantive nature and non-substantive (the extremes of which
are self- destruction and nihilism). But the middle ground of
existence  is captured  only when one perceives  rightly  the
rise  and fall  of experiential  events, or, more  precisely,
when one is not attached to the elements of the process

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of relational origination.  Naagaarjuna and Prajnnaapaaramita
thinkers have introduced  the concept of emptiness (k'ung(l),
'Suunyataa) to check  the grasping nature, the  ontological
force, and thereby reveal at once the nongrasping nature that
opens  up  a  new  vista  of  existence.  So  that  when  the
enlightened  person (bodhisavttva) perceives things under the
aegis  of emptiness, his  perception  is characterized  by an
initial  epistemic  control, i.e., prevention  of the rise of
ontological entities, which then discloses the wondrous realm
of the thatness of being (chen-ju(m), yathaabhuutam). However
tempting  it may be, the concept  of emptiness  must never be
lifted to a metaphysical level or reduced to an ontology.  In
the　　 statement,   "perception　　 under　　 the   aegis　　 of
emptiness,"there is no metaphysicizing nor ontologizing for
the aim is toward the sameness  or equality  of the nature of
things (p'ing teng(n), samataa).(13) Hui-neng  captured  this
undifferentiable  realm when, in his famous poem, he referred
to   the　　 "non-ex-　　 istence　　 of   things　　 from　　 the
beginning"(pen-lai-wu-i-wu(o)) and  set  the  stage  for  the
rapid growth and dissemination of Zen thought in China.
　　 In the Yogaacaara-vij~naanavaada  tradition, the  concept
of emptiness  is applied uniquely  to the Eight Consciousness
(vij~naana) theory. This theory is yet another development in
understanding  the psychological foundations of man, carrying
over  much  from  the  early   Buddhist   knowledge   of  the
psychological   elements   (skandhas,   aayatanas,   dhaatus)
discussed earlier,but going further into the subtle nature of
the discriminative  faculty (manas the 7th consciousness) and
the all-containing  receptacle of the mind (aalaya-vij~naana,
the 8th consciousness).  The Zennist, again, must be familiar
with  all  of this  but, as  in the  case  of early  Buddhist
psychology  he acknowledges  the samsaaric  nature  which now
refers   to   all   activities　　 relative   to   the   eight
consciousnesses and seeks a way out of it. This system
premises  three aspects  of man's nature  of being, i.e., the
imagined nature (parikalpita-svabhaava), the dependent nature
(paratantra-sabhava)　　 and　　 the　　 pure　　  nature
(parinisspanna-svabhaava), the first  two being  samsaric  and
the last nirvaanic.(14) The samsaaric  nature goes on because
the first two natures are characterized  by a perpetuation of
the clinging to unrealities (i.e., things, objects, elements,
etc.) which forces the turbulent  irning of the mind function
(prav.rtti).  But the trubulence  will stop by the removal of
all dichotomies, such as, the basic  division  into outer and
inner realsm

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of existence, the removal of which will happen with the right
understanding   of   the   psychological   play   of  all