23: Emptiness, West And East

     The twenty-third letter to Lucilius finds Seneca moving away from the campaign to get his friend to retire from the position of provincial governor. Seneca begins by telling Lucilius that he is not going to write about banalities like how mild the weather has been; instead, Seneca will talk about something that will benefit both of them: an exhortation toward excellence of mind -- "Would you like to know what it is that such excellence is founded upon? It is this: don't rejoice in empty things. ... As for your paltry body, it is true that nothing can be done without it, but think of it as a necessary thing rather than as something great. The pleasures it accumulates are empty, short, and regrettable ... ."
     While the concept of emptiness did not play a major role in Seneca's philosophy, the idea figures prominently in Mahayana Buddhism. Like Theravada Buddhism, which began in ancient India and spread south to what is now Sri Lanka, the Mahayana school began in India but spread north to Tibet and northeast to China. According to Kazuaki Tanahashi, in his excellent The Heart Sutra: A Comprehensive Guide to the Classic of Mahayana Buddhism, the Heart Sutra is the scripture most often recited by Mahayana Buddhists around the world. The Heart Sutra begins with Avalokitesvara, who was one of the Buddha's senior disciples, answering the question posed by another senior disciple, Sariputra:
          "O, Sariputra, a Noble Son or Daughter who wishes to engage in the profound activities of the Perfection of Wisdom should consider thusly ... Form is empty. Emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form, nor is form other than emptiness. Similarly, sensations, conceptions, formations, and consciousness are empty. Sariputra, in that way all phenomenon are emptiness. They have no characteristics. They are not born. They do not cease. There is no defilement. There is no lack of defilement. There is no taking away, and there is no filling. O Sariputra, therefore, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, no conception, no formations, no consciousness. There is no eye, no nose, no ear, no tongue, no body, no mind. There is no form, no sound, no scent, no taste, no touch, and no phenomenon. There is no visual sphere, and on through to no mental sphere, up to: there being no sphere of mental consciousness either. There is no ignorance, nor is there anything from elimination of ignorance to there being no aging and death, up to: there being no end to aging and death either. ... There is no primordial wisdom, there is no attainment, and there is no non-attainment. ... Because there is no obstruction to the mind, there is no fear. ... " 
     This English translation, by the way, is one of several set forth in an appendix to Tanahashi's work, along with translations from multiple Asian languages. It was translated from Tibetan by Christian P.B. Haskett. Personally, I find this view of emptiness to be fascinating. But I am also troubled by the idea's philosophical -- especially ethical -- implications: if everything is empty, then isn't everything permitted? That is, why not just say or do whatever brings you pleasure, regardless of the impact it has on others?
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     Seneca, Letters on Ethics to Lucilius, Translated with an Introduction and Commentary by Margaret Graver and A.A. Long (University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2015), Letter 23, 1, page 82; 6, page 83.
     Kazuaki Tanahashi, The Heart Sutra: A Comprehensive Guide to the Classic of Mahayana Buddhism (Shambhala, Boston & London, 2014), Appendix 1: Texts for Comparison, pages 225-226.

15: On A Lighter Note ...

     In looking back on my most recent blog posts, one could fairly accuse me of focusing on the darker side of things. However, in the course of reading Seneca, I have learned that not all of his letters are unrelentingly serious. In the fifteenth letter, for example, Seneca advises his friend Lucilius to focus more attention on mental health rather than on the body's condition. Regarding exercise, Seneca writes:
          "It is foolish, dear Lucilius, and unbefitting an educated man, to busy oneself with exercising the muscles, broadening the shoulders, and strengthening the torso. You may have great success with your training diet and your bodybuilding, but never will you match the strength and weight of a prime ox. Besides, your mind is then weighed down by a more burdensome body, and is less agile as a result. Restrict your body, then, as much as you can, and give more latitude to the mind. Those who are obsessed with such a regimen incur many discomforts. ... Drinking and sweating -- a life full of heartburn! There are ways of exercising that are easy and quick, that give the body a workout without taking up too much time -- for time is what we have to keep track of more than anything: running, and arm movements with various weights, and jumping, either the high jump or the long jump, or the dance jump ... . Choose whichever you like, and make it easy by practice. But whatever you do, return quickly from the body to the mind and exercise that, night and day. A moderate effort is enough to nourish it, and its exercise is such as neither cold nor heat will hamper, nor even old age. Tend to the good that gets better with time. I am not telling you to be always pouring over a book or tablet: the mind should have some respite, but to relax, not to become lax."
     In my own life, I spent a significant amount of time lifting weights during my mid-teens to mid-twenties, with the public reason that it would make me a better athlete, but with the private hope that I would end up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his Mr. Olympia days. While I did become somewhat stronger and more muscular, no one would have mistaken me for a professional bodybuilder. In my late twenties through late forties, my main form of exercise was distance running, yet I was never more than a middle-of-the-pack runner, even on my fastest days. Following a leg injury, I had to give up running, and switched to walking; recently, I decided to add some circuit training to increase my heart rate (as my cardiologist advised). Because it seems like the thing my body is best suited for is sitting on the sofa and drinking beer, I think Seneca would agree that the time spent on my blog is time well spent.
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     Seneca, Letters on Ethics to Lucilius, Translated with an Introduction and Commentary by Margaret Graver and A.A. Long (University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 2015), Letter 15, 2-6, page 60.