Hello, I’m Cheng Qing. Welcome to Relief for Life: Forty Introductory Lectures on Buddhism.

Recent episodes have entered the topic of emptiness, which many listeners may find difficult. That is entirely normal. When I first read the Diamond Sutra, I knew every character but understood none of its logic and even wondered whether the Buddha was being deliberately obscure. After deeper study, some details still took me a long time to absorb, and I too passed through a lengthy period of doubt. Buddhist scriptures often begin with a disciple voicing doubt, followed by dialogue and even debate with the Buddha, before ending with the disciple joyfully accepting and practicing the teaching. Buddhism values reason and welcomes doubt; it merely asks for a little patience.

Like many terms in Buddhist scripture, “emptiness” describes the state experienced in the Buddha’s awakening. The texts use many other expressions for it, including“unborn,” “unceasing,” “unstained,” “quiescence,” “nirvana,” “suchness,” “Dharma realm,” and “Dharma nature.”But this awakened experience differs so greatly from ordinary life that it is hard to understand or imagine. The Buddha therefore used many concepts and metaphors to explain emptiness.

Zen Buddhism has the metaphor of“a finger pointing at the moon”:when a finger points toward the moon, look along it at the moon rather than staring at the finger. Zen masters use guidance, questioning, shouts, and blows to help students see their true nature. Later generations often imitate only the masters’ words and actions without understanding their purpose. Gentle reasoning and fierce shouting are merely pointers, never the goal—just asthe Buddha’s concepts and metaphors point us toward understanding and experiencing emptiness, while we mistake the finger for the moon and the concept for truth.。