Centered in a Maṇḍala of Relationships (DN 31)
Though we often draw on Buddhist teachings to make the case for the lack of an inherent, permanent, personal soul as the guiding principle in human experience, it is a mistake to only then rely on the teachings of emptiness and conditionality to build a story about who we are in the world.
The Buddha as presented in the Pāli discourses does not, in fact, emphasize the emptiness of persons. When he does discuss individuality, it's mostly in the context of ethics: how we can act in relationship to each other in a way that creates the conditions for happiness and well-being.
The Buddha's approach to personal relationships is centered on mutual responsibility and accountability to each other, with different guidelines for specific types of relationship: family, professional, and community. Relatedness is conceived like a maṇḍala, or ordered circle, around oneself, using the six cardinal directions on a sphere (E, S, W, N, above, below) as symbolic of six general categories of relationship.
We can use this model to feel into the responsibilities we bear for all the people in our direct community, and how to practice with our intentions and actions in relation to each, with the aim of happiness and freedom from stress for everyone in our circle.
