Distinguishing the Middle From the Extremes, Karmê Chöling and Kagyu Thubten Choling 1990 དབུས་དང་མཐའ་རྣམ་པར་འབྱེད་པ།

2 - The Defining Traits of Refinement 

You should know this brief explanation of emptiness, / Which includes the characteristics that define it, / Synonyms, their meaning, types, and proof.

The emptiness is defined by the following traits: / It is dualism’s absence of a core / And the core which is this absence of a core. / It is not that there is something which exists, / Nor is it that there is nothing there at all. / These cannot be defined as the same or different.

A synopsis of the emptiness in brief / In terms of its synonyms would read as follows: / The suchness and the ultimate perfection, / The attribute-free and authentic reality, / The expanse of qualities, the dharmadhatu.

Not something else and not involving error; / It is a complete elimination; / It is the object experienced by the noble, / As well as the cause of the qualities of the noble; / This, the respective sense of the synonyms.

Completely afflicted and thoroughly purified, / Involving blemish and free of every stain - / The purity meant is like the purity / Of water’s composition, gold and space.