Day 29 of 365: I Didn't Do It

Nagarjuna takes a look at actors and actions to refute the argument that things really exist because actors and actions do.  If actors and actions exist, then surely the things that are involved exist!  This argument is simply stated:


An actor exists in dependence upon an action,
An action exists in dependence upon an actor,
And apart from that,
No reason for their existence can be seen.


Examine the relationship between actors and actions in terms of their sequencing as with previous arguments.  If they are real and therefore independent, then they can't even arise at the same time.  If they did, there wouldn't be any connection between them.  Therefore, they are appearance and emptiness, inseparable.

Somehow, I think the children in Family Circus would have gotten good mileage out of this argument.  However, the savvy parents, trained in the profound Middle Way view, could have come back by saying that "Not Me" is not more real that "Me".