Lewis Richmond has written an article on sunyata that's worth reading --"Emptiness: The Most Misunderstood Word in Buddhism." I want to point to just one part of this article, though, which is using emptiness as an excuse. He writes,
"Some Buddhist students rationalize or excuse bad behavior of their teacher by asserting that through his understanding of emptiness the teacher is exempt from the usual rules of conduct. One student said, "Roshi lives in the absolute so his behavior can't be judged by ordinary standards." While it is true that Buddhist teachers sometimes use unusual methods to awaken their students, their motivation must come from compassion, not selfishness. No behavior that causes harm is acceptable for a Buddhist practitioner, teacher or otherwise."
Maybe that should be engraved on the wall of every dharma center from now on.
Saying that actions must come from compassion doesn't mean teachers are necessarily always going to be nice to you. Teachers do reprimand students sometimes. But a skillful reprimand comes from compassion, not selfishness.
Zennies sometimes talk about being "stuck" in emptiness. This means clinging to the absolute and ignoring the relative. It's the old dodge that since the appearance of individual phenomena, including people, is illusion, then what happens to them doesn't matter.
Zen teacher Nonin Chowaney addresses this at Sweeping Zen.
"... dwell in the absolute, forget about the relative, and then you are blameless. But what about the first Pure Precept: "A follower of the Way does no harm." And what about the Prohibitory Precept on killing: "A follower of the Way does not kill but rather cultivates and encourages life."
The doctrine of Two Truths tells us that absolute and relative together make up the whole of existence. Thinking that the relative doesn't matter turns sunyata into a doctrine of nihilism, seems to me. And teachers also tell us that genuine wisdom cannot be separated from compassion.
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