What *is* intrinsically real? Is the "unconditioned", "absolute", or "ultimate" intrinsically real?

To better see the relative, insubstantial nature of phenomena, maybe it is helpful to think about this another way, that is, seeing what is *not* relative, not conditioned, not empty. It has been said that all phenomena are conditioned, not intrinsically real, empty of independent, self-existence. What *is* intrinsically real? Is nibbāna intrinsically real? > O bhikkhus, what is the Absolute (Asaṃkhata, Unconditioned)? It is, O > bhikkhus, the extinction of desire (rāgakkhayo) the extinction of > hatred (dosakkhayo), the extinction of illusion (mohakkhayo). This, O > bhikkhus, is called the Absolute When the terms *unconditioned*, *absolute*, and *ultimate* are used, as in the above and below quotes, do they not mean the same as *intrinsically real*? Does *un*-conditioned not mean "independent of conditions" and hence self-existing? > Bodhicitta literally means “awakened heart.” On the relative level it > is compassion, expressed in the bodhisattva vow to save all beings; it > is the aspiration to awaken from ignorance in order to live one’s life > for the benefit of all. On the ultimate level, bodhicitta goes beyond > the concepts of self and other. It is the empty, aware nature of the > mind itself. ---------- The first draft of this question was partly motivated by the question, "is compassion real?", however, from reading One Dharma: The Emerging Western Buddhism (Joseph Goldstein) , my understanding is now that compassion is relative (not intrinsically real), i.e. as Joseph Goldstein puts it: > I realized that the relative level is the expression of the ultimate: > compassion is the activity of emptiness. Since that part of my question has been answered, it has now been revised.