In the Dalai Lama’s book, Advice on Dying, he discusses teachings on the illumination of consciousness at death—or, during life for those who have penetrated the matter of impermanence.

The details of the teaching are worthy of close examination.

Everything that appears to be real is inherently (L.: “as its basis”) empty “having nothing in it; without meaning.” That which is “nothing” is already recognized to be empty. But that which does not appear to be nothing is—despite appearances—also seen to be empty or without meaning.

The relative (“that can be sensed; or distinguished by the mind”) things (“distinguishable as animate or inanimate”) do not exist as independent of the Absolute which is formlessness, or emptiness.

Apparent phenomena thus are considered to be “dependently arisen,” from the Uncaused fundament, or source.

Therefore, the dependently arisen is said to be “not self-existent,” because of its inevitable dependence on the Absolute source which is beyond existence or nonexistence.

So, following upon the declaration that “the I does not exist,” the Dalai Lama explains that though it appears to exist, it is empty—as are all “things.”

The teaching elaborates that nothing else has existence (beyond appearance) either. All things that can be sensed, or distinguished by the mind as animate or inanimate, have no meaning, beyond being extenuations of the empty Formless.

Every named thing has existence (“in name only, not in fact”), because it is falsely, thought to be separate from every other thing.

The root of suffering can be traced, according to Buddha, to ascribing meaning to those transient appearances which have no innate reality, apart from the names we attach to them: “self” and “other”; “actor” and “acted upon”; “saint” and “sinner”; “doer” and “deed”; “life” and “death”; and so on.

Even the Dalai Lama, at one time, had difficulty penetrating to the ultimate emptiness of all nominal and conventional suppositions of “existence.” But he accepted the challenge (of a teacher) to discern for himself that relative phenomena cannot be “understood” as anything more than an “appearance” of the Absolute.

Thus if one truly perceives the emptiness of all phenomena—every named thing—one can arrive at the condition of the ultimate, absolute essence—a condition which is the final state in death; consciousness not even of oneself or emptiness.

Your ultimate identity is that you have no identity, the understanding of which is “crucial to living and dying.”

The ineffable source is not conscious of an ‘I’ or object-apart-from-subject being empty.

For those who do not realize their innermost nature during their lifetime, they will encounter it when perception of ‘I am’ ceases in death.

[From audio recording #255.]