In the Fall of 1991 and most of 1992， Sandy Huntington， Karl Pohrt and I would meet for lunch at the Michigan League and talk about Sandy's book "The Emptiness of Emptiness: An Introduction to Early Indian Madhyamika。" It was a difficult book， but was the one that established Sandy's cred in Buddhist studies。 Karl had a better foundation in Buddhist philosophy than I had， but I was probably a bit better acquainted with Western philosophy and critical theory， which Sandy also used to shape his in In the Fall of 1991 and most of 1992， Sandy Huntington， Karl Pohrt and I would meet for lunch at the Michigan League and talk about Sandy's book "The Emptiness of Emptiness: An Introduction to Early Indian Madhyamika。" It was a difficult book， but was the one that established Sandy's cred in Buddhist studies。 Karl had a better foundation in Buddhist philosophy than I had， but I was probably a bit better acquainted with Western philosophy and critical theory， which Sandy also used to shape his interpretation of the ancient Sanskritic text he translated here （Chandrakirti's "The Entry into the Middle Way"） 。 But we worked through the book sentence by sentence， paragraph by paragraph， and had the author to guide us the whole way。 It was a great reading experience。 I marked this in particular， near the end of Sandy's long introduction -- "。。。 this philosophy offers no answers。 All it does is dissolve the old questions， which are seen to have been misguided from the start， leaving behind nothing that a dramatic awareness of the living present--an epiphany of one's entire form of life。"I'm not sure Sandy would have used those words when he came to the end of his life， but this posthumous book is not far off。 Sandy was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January， 2020， and died in July of that year。 Apparently he wrote this short book in between those dates。 At times it has the difficulty of the philosophy Sandy spent a lifetime studying and at other times it has the immediacy of the sick man who knows he's going to die。 He writes -- "These days I'm resolutely ensconced at home， an old， dying man living out his last days in quarantine from a pandemic that is ravaging the world。"And later， very near the end， he writes -- "With the passing of the final weeks and days of my life， I am learning the hardest of lessons: to no longer want more than I am given， and to allow what I have been given to guide me through the purifying flames of love and grief into the brilliant darkness of unknowing。" If you think that sounds a little easy， realize that it comes after a very rigorous， and （I suspect -- but don't know） quirky interpretation of some arcane Buddhist philosophy。 Karl and Sandy have both died now， and I am the only one who remembers those extraordinary lunches at the League when we tried to wrap our brains around some difficult ideas， ideas that helped shape Sandy's life and eased his dying。 。。。more