Chapter 33 Chapter 3 Everything Is Empty-7

Understanding emptiness is difficult for those of us whose minds are conditioned by pragmatism; therefore Milarepa's hiding in the yak's horn is almost always presented as a mere allegory.It cannot fit into our little heads any more than the sea cannot fit into a well.Once upon a time, a frog lived at the bottom of a well.One day, it met a frog from the sea.The sea frog told a lot of interesting things about the ocean, and bragged about how big it was, but the well frog didn't believe it.It thinks its well is the largest and most wonderful body of water in the world because it has no point of reference, no experience, no reason not to think so.So the sea frog took the well frog to see the sea.When the well frog saw the size of the sea, he had a heart attack and died.

Yet realization need not be fatal.We don't need to be like frogs in a well, scared to death in the face of emptiness.If the sea frog had a little more compassion and skill, maybe it could be a better guide, the well frog wouldn't be scared to death, maybe it would even migrate to the seaside.And we don't need supernatural gifts to understand emptiness.It has to do with education and a willingness to see all the parts and hidden causes of things.With this insight, we are like a set designer or camera assistant watching a movie.Professionals can see what we can't see.They see how the cameras are positioned, and other cinematic tricks that the audience doesn't know about, so for them the illusion is unraveled.But professionals can still enjoy themselves while watching movies.This is Siddhartha's transcendent humor.