Eighteenth
Those aggregates, constituents, and so forth-primordially devoid of obstruction, un differentiable, of equal taste, endowed with all noumenal aspects-are other than, supreme to, and transcendent over external and internal conventional aggregates, constituents, and so forth. other-emptiness means empty of the conventional, which themselves are empty of their own entities. However, it seems to me that conventional and noumenal aggregates, for instance, are not totally unrelated in that when the obstructions of afflictive conventionalities are removed, the noumenal versions are revealed.
Why the conventional are called “other” can be seen from Döl-bo-ba’s description of the difference between defilements and the basis of purification.
The defilements to be purified and the basis of purification are different, and those also not just different isolates since they differ by way of an extremely great number of differences:
because there is the difference of fabricated adventitious and natural fundamental
and because there is the difference of conventional and ultimate
and because there is the difference of phenomenon and noumenon
and because there is the difference of extreme and centre
and because there is the difference of other-arisen and selfarisen
and because there is the difference of imputational other powered and noumenal thoroughly established
and because there is the difference of consciousness and element of attributes
and because there is the difference of mundane and supramundane
and because there is the difference of suffering and bliss
and because there is the difference of contaminated and uncontaminated
and because there is the difference of incomplete and complete qualities of the body of attributes
and because there is the difference of destructible and indestructible.