...we need to distinguish between emptiness, which is the ultimate nature of reality, and being in the nature of emptiness. For example, conventional phenomena, such as things and events, cannot be said to be emptiness as such, but are in the nature of emptiness in that they are empty of intrinsic existence. From the perspective of the meditative equipoise that perceives emptiness directly and is totally fused with that realization, conventional phenomena do not exist because they are not perceptible to someone in that meditative equipoise. (p. 128)
Nirvana is a state where afflictions have completely come to an end, and where karma has lost its potency to produce rebirths....Karma is created by afflictions, afflictions are created by conceptual thought processes, and the conceptual thought processes are fueled by dualistic elaborations, which here refers to the ignorant mind grasping onto the true existence of phenomena. Therefore, the causes giving rise to rebirth in cyclic existence are karma and afflictions. Grasping onto true existence can only be eliminated by generating insight into emptiness. (p.129)
