Buddhism: Emptiness (Sunyata) - The Essence of Buddhism

Emptiness, shunyata, the most misunderstood term in Buddhist philosophy. Emptiness is described as the foundation that makes all things possible. The 12th Thaissitthu Rinpoche has stated in the book, Awakening, the Sleeping Buddha, The feeling of expansiveness that comes when completely releasing the mind, referred to in Buddhist terminology as emptiness, is arguably one of the most misunderstood terms in Buddhist philosophy. For Buddhists, this term is challenging enough, but Western readers face even more difficulties. The initial translators of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit and Tibetan into English interpreted emptiness as voidness or nothingness, mistakenly likening emptiness to the concept that nothing exists at all. Nothing could be more off the mark compared to the truth that Buddha intended to convey. While Buddha indeed taught that the essence of the mind, and indeed, of all phenomena, is emptiness, he did not mean that this essence is truly empty, like a void. He referred to it as emptiness, and in Tibetan, the term is tongpa-nyi. Tongpa means empty, but only in the sense that it is something beyond our sensory perception or conceptual articulation. A better translation might be inconceivable or undefinable. Meanwhile, the word nyai does not have a particular meaning in everyday language, but when used after another word, it implies possibility, meaning anything can arise, anything is possible. Therefore, when Buddhists speak of emptiness, they do not mean nothingness, but rather an infinite potential that allows any event to manifest, change, or disappear. This concept may find parallels in the strange and wonderful phenomena observed by physicists studying the workings of an atom. According to physicists I have spoken with, all subatomic phenomena emerge from a ground state often referred to as the vacuum state, the state with the lowest energy in the subatomic universe. In this vacuum state, particles continuously appear and disappear. Thus, although it may seem empty, this state is actually highly dynamic and full of potential to generate any matter. In this sense, the vacuum state shares some properties with the emptiness of consciousness. Just as the vacuum is considered empty, yet is the source of all particle forms, consciousness is also empty in that it defies all concrete description. Yet, from this undefinable and unknowable foundation, all thoughts, emotions, and sensations continually arise. Because the nature of your mind is emptiness, you have the capacity to experience an unlimited variety of thoughts, emotions, and sensations. Even the misunderstandings about emptiness are merely phenomena that arise from emptiness. Here is a simple example that might help you somewhat understand the nature of emptiness on an experiential level. Chapter 1. The Tale of Yongge Mingyur Rinpoche, A Tibetan Buddhist Master Several years ago, a Buddhist practitioner approached me requesting a teaching on emptiness. I explained the basics to him, and he seemed very pleased, even overjoyed. Wonderful, he exclaimed at the end of our discussion. From experience, I knew that emptiness is not easily fully understood after just one lesson, so I advised him to reflect on what he had learned over the following days. A few days later, this person suddenly appeared outside my room with a look of terror. Pale-faced, stooped, and trembling, he carefully made his way across the room, as if testing the ground in front of him for quicksand. Finally, stopping before the chair I was seated in, he said, Rinpoche, you told me to contemplate emptiness, but last night I suddenly thought that if everything is empty, then this whole house is empty, the floor is empty, even the earth below is empty. If that's true, then why aren't we all falling through the floor down into the earth? I waited for him to finish, then asked, who would fall? He pondered the question for a moment, then his expression completely changed. He exclaimed, oh, I see now, if the house is empty, and the person is also empty, then there's no one to fall, and nothing to fall through. He sighed deeply, relaxed, and his face brightened up. I instructed him to go back and contemplate emptiness with this new understanding. About two or three days later, he again suddenly showed up at my room, pale and trembling, just like before. He moved across the room, clearly trying very hard to hold his breath, terrified to breathe out. Sitting down in front of me, he said, Rinpoche, I have been contemplating emptiness as you instructed, and I understand that just like the house and the earth beneath, I am also empty. But as I continued to contemplate this way, the more I delved into this meditation, the less I could see or feel. I became terrified that if I am nothing more than emptiness, I would surely die. So I rushed here this morning to see you. If I am just emptiness, then fundamentally I am nothing, and there will be nothing to keep me from dissolving away into the void. After ensuring he had finished speaking, I asked, who will dissolve? I paused to let the question sink in, then continued. You have confused emptiness with the void. This is a common initial mistake, always trying to understand emptiness as a concept or an idea. I myself made the same mistake. But there really is no way to conceptualize emptiness. It can only truly be recognized through direct experience. I don't ask you to believe me. I'm just suggesting that next time you sit down to meditate, ask yourself, if the nature of everything is emptiness, then who or what can dissolve, who or what is born, and who or what can die? Try it, and you might be surprised by the answer. After a long sigh, he agreed to try again. Several days later, he returned to my room, smiling serenely and reported, I think I'm beginning to understand emptiness. I encouraged him to explain. I followed your advice, and after a long period of contemplating the topic, I realized that emptiness is not void, because there must be something before there can be nothing. Emptiness is everything, all possibilities of existence and non-existence happening at once. Therefore, if our true nature is emptiness, it can't be said that anyone truly dies, nor can it be said that anyone truly is born, as the potential to exist in this way or not, exist in that way, is always present within each of us. I told him, well done. Now forget everything you just said, because if you try to remember it precisely, you will turn all that you have learned into a concept, and we will have to start all over again. Chapter 2. Truth is known only when the mind is absent. To comprehend truth, the mind must be silent. It needs to cease all activity, become still. This does not mean that thought can lead to truth, but once enlightenment is attained, thought can be employed to serve truth. This is the path that Buddha and the saints have walked before. I am presenting an idea, but the real essence behind it is emptiness. This empty space is not a product of thought. It exists beyond the reach of thought. No thought can touch it. It even defies contemplation. Have you ever observed the phenomenon that you cannot think about this empty space, cannot turn it into an idea? You cannot think about it. It is unthinkable. If you could think about it, it would no longer be empty. Thought must step back to make room for empty space. These two entities never meet. When that empty space arrives, it can utilize any means to express about itself. Intuition is the state where there is no thought. Whenever you discover something, you do it in the absence of thought. Sometimes when you listen to me speak, you might reach this state. But those moments are the gaps, devoid of thought. Between two thoughts, there is a gap. And within that gap, something flickers, begins to resonate. Like the emptiness inside a drum, it becomes useful. Sound is generated from emptiness. When your mind is devoid of thoughts, something can, and very likely will, happen. You can understand what I am saying. What I am saying is not just the words you hear, but it becomes an intuition, an insight, a revelation. You have experienced it. You have shared this with me. Intuition, in its essence, is a state without thought, devoid of mental constructs. It is the gap, a hiatus in the process of thinking, and it is within this gap that truth resides. Chapter 3. Empty and the Mind in Buddhist Philosophy. The word empty, in English, originates from an ancient term related to leisure and idleness. It is fascinating to realize that this word, from its roots, carries a profound meaning. It relates to leisure, idleness, and the act of letting go. When you are idle or engaged in leisure, your mind becomes empty. This contrasts with the notion, idleness is the devil's workshop, suggesting that a busy mind is a devil's dwelling. In reality, an empty mind is truly the temple of God, not of demons. It is crucial to understand the emptiness I am discussing. It is about relaxation, being stress-free, without disturbances, desires, or dreams, fully awake. An empty mind is a complete presence, and in that complete presence, anything can happen because everything originates from this absolute presence. Trees grow from this pure presence, and stars are born from it. We, and the enlightened ones, all emerge from this pure presence. In this pure presence, you merge with God, you are God. When the mind is busy, you fall. When the mind is busy, you are expelled from Eden. When idle, you return to it. When idle, you come home. When the mind is unoccupied by reality, by objects, by ideas, that is when you truly see the nature of things. And this nature is truth. Only in emptiness is there meeting, integration. Only in emptiness do you open your heart to the truth, and the truth permeates you. Only in emptiness do you become harmonious with the truth. Three states of the mind. The first state involves content and consciousness. The mind is always filled with content. Thoughts move, desires emerge, attachment, anger, ignorance. Your mind always contains an idea, never idle. The traffic of thoughts is constant, day after day. When you are awake, you call it thinking. When you sleep, you call it dreaming. Both are just processes. Dreaming is thinking in images, not using concepts but images. This is a simpler form of thinking, one even children use. This is why children's books are often filled with large colorful images to help them form thoughts through images. Gradually, as they grow, these images fade and eventually become unnecessary. Prehistoric humans also thought in images and the oldest form of writing, hieroglyphics, attests to this. The discoveries of psychoanalysts are crucial as they study dreams. The reason is that in dreams, you become simpler. You do not try to deceive anyone. You are more truthful. During the day, you often wear many masks to hide yourself, shifting from one personality to another, making it difficult to find the real you. You must dig through these masks, which can touch your self-esteem and cause resistance. But at night, when you undress and prepare to sleep, you also shed your persona. You no longer need it because you are not interacting with anyone, just yourself. You cut off communication with the external world and are completely alone in your private space. There is no need to hide or pretend. This is why psychoanalysts want to study your dreams because they reveal more truthfully about you. It's just another game happening in a different language. The normal state of mind includes the mind and its content. The second state of the mind is contentless consciousness. This is the essence of meditation. You are fully awake, with a gap, a hiatus. No thoughts appear in your consciousness. You are not sleeping and are completely conscious, but there is no thought. This is meditation. There is a third state. When content disappears, when the object also disappears, the subject cannot exist because they are interdependent. When only the subject is left, it exists a little longer by the momentum of the past. Without content, consciousness cannot last long. It has no use anymore because consciousness is always consciousness of something. When you say consciousness, someone may ask about what? An object is necessary for the subject to exist. Once the object has disappeared, the subject will also vanish soon. First, content goes away, then consciousness follows. The third state is called meditation, samadhi, no content, no consciousness. But remember, this state of no content, no consciousness is not a state of unconsciousness. It is the state of transcendental consciousness. The mind is now just consciousness of itself. Consciousness has turned towards itself. The circle is complete. You have come home. This is the third state, samadhi, which Buddha refers to as emptiness. First, cast off content. You are half-empty. Then, remove consciousness. You become completely empty. And this complete emptiness is the most beautiful thing that can happen, the greatest bliss. Chapter 4, Conclusion In this emptiness, you realize that perfect safety and peace exist when the individual self is no more. All fears vanish. Why? Because the most fundamental human fear is the fear of death. Every other fear is a reflection of this one. We are afraid that one day we will cease to be, that one day we will die. Our current existence will end, and that is a terrifying prospect. It is the most fundamental fear. To escape this fear, we try every means to live as long as possible. We strive to make our lives safer, accepting compromises for more security. This leads to paralysis, for the more we try to live safely, the less vibrant we become. Real life thrives amid challenges and grows in crises. It requires insecurity to mature. When you feel unstable, you feel more alive and alert. This is why overly secure people become dull. A type of stupidity and numbness surrounds them. They have no more challenges, no need to use their intelligence. Intelligence is sharpened by challenge. Thus, fearing death, we strive for safety, to have money in the bank, to have insurance, to be married, to have a stable job. We become citizens of a country, join political parties, join religions. These are the ways we seek security. If you are fearless, no politician or priest can exploit you. Because you are afraid, they have the opportunity to exploit you, because they can promise to make you safe, at least they can promise that. And it is these promises that lead to people being exploited and oppressed. Once you understand this inner emptiness, you are no longer afraid of anything because death has already occurred. In this emptiness, you have disappeared. What then is there to fear? Who is there to fear? You no longer exist to fear. In this emptiness, all fears disappear because death has already happened. Hence, there is no more death. You feel immortal, beyond time. Eternity has arrived. Now, you no longer need to seek security. This is the state where a person does not need countries, religions or such groups. Only when you become truly empty can you truly be yourself. This might sound paradoxical, but you need not compromise. Due to fear and greed, people often compromise. But you can live without anything because there is nothing left to lose. You can become indomitable. There is nothing left to fear. No one can kill you because you have already done that. No one can take anything from you because you have already let go of everything that could be taken. Now you live in emptiness. You are emptiness. Hence, the paradox. That in this emptiness, there is great safety, great stability, because you cannot die again. And with death, time also disappears. And all the problems that were caused by death and time disappear with it. What remains is a clear sky. This pure sky is samadhi, is nirvana. Buddha spoke much about this.