Why is emptiness the essence of Buddhadharma? Because all buddhas and bodhisattvas have but one goal in mind, that is, to help sentient beings attain liberation. How can this be achieved? We cannot resolve the question of birth, aging, illness, and death, or obtain liberation by way of clairvoyant powers, etc. There is only one root cause of cyclic existence and only one method that can eliminate it. The root cause of cyclic existence is ignorance. All afflictions such as greed, anger, and delusion stem from ignorance or from self- attachment which arises from ignorance.

How do we overcome ignorance? Only wisdom can cut through ignorance, since wisdom and ignorance directly oppose or contradict one another. There is no such contradiction between ignorance and other methods like generosity, moral conduct, patience, and meditative absorption.

The wisdom herein refers not to worldly knowledge; it is the unsurpassed wisdom propagated by Buddha Sakyamuni, the realization of emptiness of self in person and in phenomena. The essence of the teachings of the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three times is none other than the wisdom that realizes emptiness.

- Quote from The Four Seals of Dhama, "All Phenomena Lack Self-Existence"