TF: Might this account for some of the messiness in our sangha communities?
JW: Definitely. It is easy to use the truth of emptiness in this one-sided way: “Thoughts
and feelings are empty, a mere play of samsaric appearances, so pay them no heed. See
their nature as emptiness, and simply cut through them on the spot.” In the realm of
practice, this could be helpful advice. But in life situations these same words could also
be used to suppress or deny feelings or concerns that need our attention. I’ve seen this
happen on a number of occasions.