Emptiness (San. śūnyatā)
Emptiness is a Buddhist term which is synonymous with Selflessness or Soullessness (Anatta). It is popularlized in the Mahāyāna tradition by the celebrated Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher, Nāgārjuna (2nd/3rd century C. E) who first discovered the Sūtra s of Perfection of Wisdom (Prajñāparamitā-sūtras) in southern India . He founded the Mādhyamika School which expounded the Middle Philosophy of Dependent Co-arising or Insubstantiality in the Sūtra s of Perfection of Wisdom.
Emptiness does not connote nothingness. Emptiness is synonymous with Dependent Co-arising in terms of Selflessness or Soulessness (Anatta). It connotes that all phenomena are devoid or empty of a permanent substance, such as self, soul or intrinsic or self-nature. All phenomena are conditioned and conglomerated from causes and conditions without any permanent substance. No conditioned or contingent being exists as an independent self-contained entity. All phenomena are conditioned and dependently co-arisen to form a totality without any permanent essence or substance . Hence, all phenomena are interrelated and interdependent. In the ultimate sense, all phenomena are signless, markless or characteristicless. All phenomena are empty of a permanent essence or substance but it does not connote that the phenomena do not exist. They exist merely as illusory appearances like dreams, magics, mirages, echoes, the children of a barren woman or the hairs of a tortoise. The ultimate truth of Emptiness lies in the middle which is neither existence nor non-existence ; neither eternalism nor annihilationism; neither identity nor difference ; neither coming nor going. From the view point of conventional truth, the illusive phenomena of the multiplicity exist. But from the knowledge of ultimate truth, all phenomena are empty of self-nature or intrinsic nature or soul. Hence, they are signless, markless or characteristicless. Therefore, Emptiness also connotes signlessness, marklessness or characteristiclessness. Emptiness can also be defined by the Buddhist logic of four dialectics of affirmation, negation, both affirmation and negation or neither affirmation nor negation enumerated as follows:
- Emptiness is not affirmation
- Emptiness is not negation
- Emptiness is both affirmation and negation
- Emptiness is neither affirmation nor negation
In other words, Emptiness is the elimination of the ontological commitment to all phenomena or the destruction of all substantial views or metaphysical views. Even the notion of Emptiness must be annihilated. Therefore, Emptiness is relinquishing all views including the view of Emptiness.
In the sense of Mahāyāna practice, Emptiness is an effective weapon to destroy the four signs of multiplicity or manyfoldness of all phenomena . The four signs relinquished by the wisdom of Emptiness are sign of self, sign of a human being, signs of sentient beings and notion of tri-temporal existence. Whoever perceives emptiness perceives Dependent Co-arising. Whoever perceives Dependent Co-arising perceives the Buddha which is the ultimate truth of totality. The totality or oneness is the emptiness of the five aggregates perceived both internally and externally. Emptiness is that ineffable Truth perceived by all saints past, present and future! |
