Emptiness

This article is about "emptiness" in a general sense. For details on the concept in Buddhist philosophy, see nyat.

In a figurative sense, the emptiness of a sub ay station, hich is filled ith a crush of humanity during rush hours, could symboli!e the sense of void and isolation that a person may feel if they are facing depression and social isolation. Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generali!ed boredom, social alienation and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia,"#$ depression, loneliness, despair, or other mental%emotional disorders such as borderline personality disorder. & sense of emptiness is also part of a natural process of grief, as resulting of separation,"disambiguation needed $ death of a loved one, or other significant changes. 'o ever, the particular meanings of (emptiness) vary ith the particular conte*t and the religious or cultural tradition in hich it is used."+$ ,hile -hristianity and ,estern sociologists and psychologists vie a state of emptiness as a negative, un anted condition, in some .astern philosophies such as Buddhist philosophy and Taoism, emptiness /nyat0 is a reali!ed achievement. 1utside of .astern philosophy, some riters have also suggested that people may use a transitory state of emptiness as a means of liberating themselves for personal gro th."citation needed$

In Western culture
Sociology, philosophy, and psychology
In the ,est, feeling "empty" is often vie ed as a negative condition. 2sychologist -live 'a!ell, for e*ample, attributes feelings of emptiness to problematic family bac3grounds ith abusive relationships and mistreatment."4$ 'e claims that some people ho are facing a sense of emptiness try to resolve their painful feelings by becoming addicted to a drug or obsessive activity /be it compulsive se*, gambling or

or30 or engaging in "fren!ied action" or violence. In sociology, a sense of emptiness is associated ith social alienation of the individual. This sense of alienation may be suppressed hile or3ing, due to the routine of or3 tas3s, but during leisure hours or during the ee3end, people may feel a sense of "e*istential vacuum" and emptiness."5$ In political philosophy, emptiness is associated ith nihilism. 6iterary critic 7eorg 6u38cs /born in #99:0 argued against the "spiritual emptiness and moral inade;uacy of capitalism", and argued in favour of communism as an "entirely ne type of civili!ation, one that promised a fresh start and an opportunity to lead a meaningful and purposeful life."":$ The concept of "emptiness" as important to a "certain type of e*istentialist philosophy and some forms of the <eath of 7od movement"."+$ .*istentialism, the "philosophic movement that gives voice to the sense of alienation and despair", hich comes from "man=s recognition of his fundamental aloneness in an indifferent universe". 2eople hose response to the sense of emptiness and aloneness is to give e*cuses live in bad faith> "people ho face the emptiness and accept responsibility aim to live (authentic) lives"."?$ .*istentialists argue that "man lives in alienation from 7od, from nature, from other men, from his o n true self." -ro ded into cities, or3ing in mindless @obs, and entertained by light mass media, e "live on the surface of life", so that even "people ho seemingly have (everything) feel empty, uneasy, discontented.""A$ In cultures here a sense of emptiness is seen as a negative psychological condition, it is often associated ith depression. &s such, many of the same treatments are proposedB psychotherapy, group therapy, or other types of counselling. &s ell, people ho feel empty may be advised to 3eep busy and maintain a regular schedule of or3 and social activities."citation needed$ 1ther solutions hich have been proposed to reduce a sense of emptiness are getting a pet"9$"C$ or trying &nimalD&ssisted Therapy> getting involved in spirituality such as meditation or religious rituals and service> volunteering to fill time and bring social contact> doing social interactions, such as community activities, clubs, or outings> or finding a hobby or recreational activity to regain their interest in life. In Eelson ,. &ldrich Fr.Gs Old Money, he describes the relationship bet een emptiness and envyB ""e$nvy is so integral and painful part of hat animates human behavior in mar3et societies that many people have forgotten the full meaning of the ord, simplifying it into on of the symptoms of desire. It is that "/a symptom of desire0$, hich is hy it flourishes in mar3et societiesB democracies of desire, they might be called, ith money for ballots, stuffing permitted. But envy is more or less than desire. It begins ith the almost frantic sense of emptiness inside oneself, as if the pump of oneGs heart ere suc3ing on air. 1ne has to be blind to perceive the emptiness, of course, but thatGs hat envy is, a selective blindness. Invidia, 6atin for envy, translates as "nonsight," and <ante had the envious plodding along under cloa3s of lead, their eyes se n shut ith leaden ire. ,hat they are blind to is hat they have, 7odDgiven and humanly nurtured, in themselves"."#H$

Christianity

In &ustrian philosopher%educator Iudolf JteinerGs /#9?#K#C+:0 thin3ing, spiritual emptiness became a ma@or problem in the educated .uropean middle class. In his #C#C lectures he argued that .uropean culture became "empty of spirit" and "ignorant of the needs, the conditions, that are essential for the life of the spirit". 2eople e*perienced a "spiritual emptiness" and their thin3ing became mar3ed by a "la!y passivity" due to the "absence of ill from the life of thought". In modern .urope, Jteiner claimed that people ould "allo their thoughts to ta3e possession of them", and these thoughts ere increasingly filled ith abstraction and "pure, natural scientific thin3ing". The educated middle classes began to thin3 in a ay that as "devoid of spirit", ith their minds becoming "dimmer and dar3er", and increasing empty of spirit."##$ 6ouis <uprL, a 2rofessor of 2hilosophy at Male Nniversity, argues that the "spiritual emptiness of our time is a symptom of its religious poverty". 'e claims that "many people never e*perience any emptinessB they are too busy to feel much absence of any 3ind"> they only reali!e their spiritual emptiness if "painful personal e*periences DD the death of a loved one, the collapse of a marriage, the alienation of a child, the failure of a business" shoc3 them into reassessing their sense of meaning."#+$ Jpiritual emptiness has been associated ith @uvenile violence. In Fohn -. ThomasG #CCC boo3 How Juvenile Violence Begins: Spiritual Emptiness, he argues that youth in impoverished indigenous communities ho feel empty may turn to fighting and aggressive crime to fill their sense of meaninglessness. In -ornell Nniversity professor Fames 7arbarinoGs #CCC boo3 Lost Boys: !y Our Sons "urn Violent and How e #an Save "!em, he argues that "neglect, shame, spiritual emptiness, alienation, anger and access to guns are a fe of the elements common to violent boys". & professor of human development, 7arbarino claims that violent boys have an "alienation from positive role models" and "a spiritual emptiness that spa ns despair". These youth are seduced by the violent fantasy of the NJ gun culture, hich provides negative role models of tough, aggressive men ho use po er to get hat they ant. 'e claims that boys can be helped by giving them "a sense of purpose" and "spiritual anchors" that can "anchor boys in empathy and socially engaged moral thin3ing"."#4$ Jpiritual emptiness is often connected ith addiction, especially by -hristianD influenced addiction organi!ations and counsellors. Bill ,ilson, the founder of &lcoholics &nonymous, argued that one of the impacts of alcoholism as causing a spiritual emptiness in heavy drin3ers. In &braham F. T ers3iGs #CCA boo3 $ddictive "!in%ing: &nderstanding Sel'()eception, he argues that hen people feel spiritually empty, they often turn to addictive behaviors to fill the inner void. In contrast to having an empty stomach, hich is a clear feeling, having spiritual emptiness is hard to identify, so it fills humans ith a "vague unrest". ,hile people may try to resolve this emptiness by obsessively having se*, overeating, or ta3ing drugs or alcohol, these addictions only give temporary satisfaction. 1ften, hen a person facing a crisis due to feeling spiritually empty is able to stop one addiction, such as compulsive se*, they often @ust trade it in for another addictive behaviour, such as gambling or overeating.
"#5$

Fust as religion influences addiction counselling, it has also influenced other therapies. Jome eating disorder therapists argue that bulimia and anore*ia are caused in part by

"spiritual emptiness, recogni!ed as (hunger) of the soul", in hich omen ho face "isolation, emptiness, pain, fear and a profound sense of disembodiment" become an "empty vessel, devoid of life" hich needs to be filled ith comfortDgiving food."#:$ 2eople ho have an "empty self" may try to "fill up on food, e*citement, substances, relationships, "or$ consumer products"."#?$

Fiction, film and design

& number of novelists and filmma3ers have depicted emptiness. The concept of "emptiness" as important to a "good deal of #CthK+Hth century ,estern imaginative literature"."+$ Eovelist Fran! Oaf3a depicted a meaningless bi!arre orld in "!e "rial and the e*istentialist French authors s3etched a orld cut off from purpose or reason in FeanD2aul JartreGs La *aus+e and &lbert -amusG L,+tranger. .*istentialism influenced +Hth century poet T. J. .liot, hose poem (The 6ove Jong of F. &lfred 2rufroc3) describles an "antiDhero or alienated soul, running a ay from or confronting the emptiness of his or her e*istence". 2rofessor 7ordon Bigelo argues that the e*istentialist theme of "spiritual barrenness is commonplace in literature of the +Hth century", hich in addition to .liot includes .rnest 'eming ay, Faul3ner, Jteinbec3 and &nderson."A$ ,hile the film adaptations of a number of e*istentialist novels capture the blea3 sense of emptiness espoused by Jartre and -amus, the theme of emptiness has also been used in modern screenplays. Par3 Iomane3Gs #C9: film Static tells the surreal story of a struggling inventor and crucifi* factory or3er named .rnie ho feels spiritually empty because he is saddened by his parentsG death in an accident. Jcreen riter Pichael Tol3inGs #CC5 film "!e *ew $ge e*amines "cultural hipness and spiritual emptiness", creating a "dar3, ambitious, unsettling" film that depicts a fashionable 6& couple ho "are miserable in the midst of their sterile plenty", and hose souls are stunted by their lives of empty se*, consumption, and distractions."#A$ The #CCC film $merican Beauty e*amines the spiritual emptiness of life in the NJ suburbs. In ,es &ndersonGs +HHA film "!e )ar-eeling Limited, three brothers ho "... suffer from spiritual emptiness" and then "selfDmedicate themselves through se*, social ithdra al", and drugs."#9$ -ontemporary architecture critic 'erbert Puschamp argues that "horror vacui" / hich is 6atin for "fear of emptiness"0 is a 3ey principle of design. 'e claims that it has become an obsessive ;uality that is the "driving force in contemporary &merican taste". Puschamp states that "along ith the commercial interests that e*ploit this interest, it is the ma@or factor no shaping attitudes to ard public spaces, urban spaces, and even suburban spra l.""#C$ Films that depict nothingness, shado s and vagueness, either in a visual sense or a moral sense are appreciated in genres such as film noir. &s ell, travellers and artists are often intrigued by and attracted to vast empty spaces, such as open deserts, barren astelands or salt flats, and the open sea.

In Eastern cultures
Buddhism

The Buddhist term emptiness /J3t. ./nyat00 refers specifically to the fact that everything is dependently originated, including the causes and conditions themselves, and even the principle of causality itself. It is not nihilism, nor is it meditating on nothingness."+H$ In an intervie , the <alai 6ama stated that tantric meditiation can be used for "heightening your o n reali!ation of emptiness or mind of enlightenment"."+#$ In Buddhist philosophy, attaining a reali!ation of emptiness of inherent e*istence is 3ey to the permanent cessation of suffering, i.e. liberation.

.ven hile an ordinary being, if upon hearing of emptiness great @oy arises ithin again and again, the eyes moisten ith tears of great @oy, and the hairs of the body stand on end, such a person has the seed of the mind of a complete Buddha> 'e is a vessel for teachings on thatness, and ultimate truth should be taught to him. &fter that, good ;ualities ill gro in him.
Q-handra3irti1 2uide to t!e Middle

ay1 vv. ?B5D:"++$

The <alai 6ama argues that tantric yoga trainees needs to reali!e the emptiness of inherent e*istence before they can go on to the "highest yoga tantra initiation"> reali!ing the emptiness of inherent e*istence of the mind is the "fundamental innate mind of clear light, hich is the subtlest level of the mind", here all "energy and mental processes are ithdra n or dissolved", so that all that appears to the mind is "pure emptiness". &s ell, emptiness is "lin3ed to the creative Roid, meaning that it is a state of complete receptivity and perfect enlightenment", the merging of the "ego ith its o n essence", hich Buddhists call the "clear light"."+4$ In Ren. Thubten -hodron=s +HH: intervie ith 6ama Sopa Iinpoche, the lama noted that e "...ordinary beings ho haven=t reali!ed emptiness don=t see things as similar to illusions", and e do not "reali!e that things are merely labeled by mind and e*ist by mere name"."+H$ 'e argues that " hen e meditate on emptiness, e drop an atom bomb on this "sense of a$ truly e*istent I" and e reali!e that " hat appears true... isn=t true". By this, the lama is claiming that hat e thin3 is real Q our thoughts and feelings about people and things Q "e*ists by being merely labeled". 'e argues that meditators ho attain 3no ledge of a state of emptiness are able to reali!e that their thoughts are merely illusions from labelling by the mind."+H$

[edit] aoism
In Taoism, attaining a state of emptiness is vie ed as a state of stillness and placidity hich is the "mirror of the universe" and the "pure mind"."+5$ The Tao Te -hing claims that emptiness is related to the "Tao, the 7reat 2rinciple, the -reator and Justainer of everything in the universe". It is argued that it is the "state of mind of the Taoist disciple ho follo s the Tao", ho has successfully emptied the mind "of all ishes and ideas not fitted ith the TaoGs Povement". For a person ho attains a state of emptiness, the "still mind of the sage is the mirror of heaven and earth, the glass of all things", a state of "vacancy, stillness, placidity, tastelessness, ;uietude, silence, and

nonDaction" hich is the "perfection of the Tao and its characteristics, the "mirror of the universe" and the "pure mind"."+5$

Further reading

Poss, Iobert. &nderstanding Emptiness: "!e "!in%34eel #on'lict. I. &. Poss, #CC4. IJBE HDC?49959DHD9 Janders, -atherine. How to Survive t!e Loss o' a #!ild: 4illing t!e Emptiness and 5ebuilding 6our Li'e. Three Iivers 2ress, #CC9. IJBE HDA?#:#+9DCD?

.mptiness .mptiness is a 3ey concept in Buddhist philosophy, or more precisely, in the ontology of Pahayana Buddhism. The phrase "form is emptiness> emptiness is form" is perhaps the most celebrated parado* associated ith Buddhist philosophy. It is the supreme mantra. The e*pression originates from the 2ra@na 2aramita 'ridaya Jutra, commonly 3no n as the 'eart Jutra, hich contains the philosophical essence of about si* hundred scrolls ma3ing up the Paha 2ra@na 2aramita. The 'eart Jutra is the shortest te*t in this collection. It belongs to the oldest Pahayana te*ts and presumably originated in India around the time of Fesus -hrist. The 'eart Jutra. Translation by .d ard -on!e 'omage to the 2erfection of ,isdom, the 6ovely, the 'olyT &valo3ita, The 'oly 6ord and Bodhisattva, as moving in the deep course of the ,isdom hich has gone beyond. 'e loo3ed do n from on high, 'e beheld but five heaps, and he sa that in their o nDbeing they ere empty. 'ere, Jariputra, form is emptiness and the very emptiness is form> emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness> hatever is form, that is emptiness, hatever is emptiness, that is form, the same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses and consciousness. 'ere, Jariputra, all dharmas are mar3ed ith emptiness> they are not produced or stopped, not defiled or immaculate, not deficient or complete. Therefore, Jariputra, in emptiness there is no form, nor feeling, nor perception, nor impulse, nor consciousness> Eo eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind> Eo forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touchables or ob@ects of mind> Eo sightDorgan element, and so forth,

until e come toB Eo mindDconsciousness element> There is no ignorance, no e*tinction of ignorance, and so forth, until e come toB there is no decay and death, no e*tinction of decay and death. There is no suffering, no origination, no stopping, no path. There is no cognition, no attainment and nonDattainment. Therefore, Jariputra, it is because of his nonDattainment that a Bodhisattva, through having relied on the 2erfection of ,isdom, d ells ithout thoughtDcoverings. In the absence of thoughtDcoverings he has not been made to tremble, he has overcome hat can upset, and in the end he attains to Eirvana. &ll those ho appear as Buddhas in the three periods of time fully a a3e to the utmost, right and perfect .nlightenment because they have relied on the 2erfection of ,isdom.Therefore one should 3no the pra@naparamita as the great spell, the spell of great 3no ledge, the utmost spell, the une;ualled spell, allayer of all suffering, in truth D for hat could go rongU By the pra@naparamita has this spell been delivered. It runs li3e thisB 7one, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond, 1 hat an a a3ening, allDhailT Translations and commentary. &valo3ita V &valo3iteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion Jariputra V disciple of the Buddha sunyata V emptiness, void pra@na V isdom paramita V that hich has reached the other shore pra@naparamita V isdom ac;uired e*perientially, by means of intuitive insight, and perfected through cultivation to the level of transcendental 3no ledge hridaya V heart nirvana V ultimate attainment bodhi V a a3ened mind sattva V being &ccording to Buddhist scholars, the dialogue bet een &valo3iteshvara and Jariputra is inspired by the Buddha. This is to say it occurs spontaneously ithout the spea3erGs intention. The content of the conversation is determined entirely by the po er of the BuddhaGs concentration. The bodhisattva &valo3iteshvara represents the idea of perfect universal isdom, hile Jariputra is regarded as one of the BuddhaGs closest and brightest disciples. The dialogue ta3es place at the Rulture 2ea3 near the ancient city of Ia@gaya here the Buddha and his community of mon3s stayed. Jariputra re;uests &valo3iteshvara to instruct him on the practice of the perfection of isdom, hich means pra@naparamita in Jans3rit. The perfection of isdom refers to the isdom that directly and intuitively understands the ultimate nature of phenomena. Jariputra ans ers ith the profound ords, ".mptiness is form> form is emptiness," and proceeds to state the emptiness of the five aggregates /s3andhas0, the emptiness of the teachings /dharmas0, and the emptiness of all phenomena. The sutra ends ith the celebrated mantra "gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi svaha" hich can be translated ith "'omage to the

a a3ened mind hich has gone over to the other shore." The one ho has gone over meansB the enlightened one, ho has done a ay ith vie s, ideas, and perceptions and ho loo3s upon reality ithout any obstructions of mind. ,hat is emptinessU

The Buddhist notion of emptiness is often misunderstood as nihilism. Nnfortunately, #Cth century ,estern philosophy has contributed much to this misconstruction. Pean hile ,estern scholars have ac;uired enough 3no ledge about Buddhism to realise that this vie is far from accurate. The only thing that nihilism and the teaching of emptiness can be said to have in common is a sceptical outset. ,hile nihilism concludes that reality is un3no able, that nothing e*ists, that nothing meaningful can be communicated about the orld, the Buddhist notion of emptiness arrives at @ust the opposite, namely that ultimate reality is 3no able, that there is a clearDcut ontological basis for phenomena, and that e can communicate and derive useful 3no ledge from it about the orld. .mptiness /sunyata0 must not be confused ith nothingness. .mptiness is not nonDe*istence and it is not nonDreality. ,hat is emptiness thenU To understand the philosophical meaning of this term, letGs loo3 at a simple solid ob@ect, such as a cup. 'o is a cup emptyU ,e usually say that a cup is empty if it does not contain any li;uid or solid. This is the ordinary meaning of emptiness. But, is the cup really emptyU & cup empty of li;uids or solids is still full of air. To be precise, e must therefore state hat the cup is empty of. -an a cup be empty of all substanceU & cup in a vacuum does not contain any air, but it still contains space, light, radiation, as ell as its o n substance. 'ence, from a physical point of vie , the cup is al ays full of something. Met, from the Buddhist point of vie , the cup is al ays empty. The Buddhist understanding of emptiness is different from the physical meaning. The cup being empty means that it is devoid of inherent e*istence. ,hat is meant ith nonDinherent e*istenceU Is this to say that the cup does not ultimately e*istU D Eot ;uite. D The cup e*ists, but li3e everything in this orld, its e*istence depends on other phenomena. There is nothing in a cup that is inherent to that specific cup or to cups in general. 2roperties such as being hollo , spherical, cylindrical, or lea3Dproof are not intrinsic to cups. 1ther ob@ects hich are not cups

have similar properties, as for e*ample vases and glasses. The cupGs properties and components are neither cups themselves nor do they imply cupness on their o n. The material is not the cup. The shape is not the cup. The function is not the cup. 1nly all these aspects together ma3e up the cup. 'ence, e can say that for an ob@ect to be a cup e re;uire a collection of specific conditions to e*ist. It depends on the combination of function, use, shape, base material, and the cupGs other aspects. 1nly if all these conditions e*ist simultaneously does the mind impute cupness to the ob@ect. If one condition ceases to e*ist, for instance, if the cupGs shape is altered by brea3ing it, the cup forfeits some or all of its cupness, because the ob@ectGs function, its shape, as ell as the imputation of cupness through perception is disrupted. The cupGs e*istence thus depends on e*ternal circumstances. Its physical essence remains elusive. Those readers ho are familiar ith the theory of ideas of the 7ree3 philosopher 2lato ill notice that this is pretty much the antithesis to 2latoGs idealism. 2lato holds that there is an ideal essence of everything, e.g. cups, tables, houses, humans, and so on. 2erhaps e can give 2lato some credit by assuming that the essence of cups ultimately e*ists in the realm of mind. &fter all, it is the mind that perceives properties of an ob@ect and imputes cupness onto one ob@ect and tableness onto another. It is the mind that thin3s "cup" and "table". <oes it follo that the mind is responsible for the e*istence of these ob@ectsU D &pparently, the mind does not perceive cups and tables if there is no visual and tactile sensation. &nd, there cannot be visual and tactile sensation if there is no physical ob@ect. The perception thus depends on the presence of sensations, hich in turn relies on the presence of the physical ob@ect. This is to say that the cupGs essence is not in the mind. It is neither to be found in the physical ob@ect. 1bviously, its essence is neither physical nor mental. It cannot be found in the orld, not in the mind, and certainly not in any heavenly realm, as 2lato imagined. ,e must conclude that the ob@ects of perception have therefore no inherent e*istence. If this is the case for a simple ob@ect, such as a cup, then it must also apply to compound things, such as cars, houses, machines, etc. & car, for e*ample, needs a motor, heels, a*les, gears, and many other things to or3. 2erhaps e should consider the difference bet een manDmade ob@ects, such as cups, and natural phenomena, such as earth, plants, animals, and human beings. 1ne may argue that lac3 of inherent e*istence of ob@ects does not imply the same for natural phenomena and beings. In case of a human being, there is a body, a mind, a character, a history of actions, habits, behaviour, and other things e can dra upon to describe a person. ,e can even divide these characteristics further into more fundamental properties. For e*ample, e can analyse the mind and see that there are sensations, cognition, feelings, ideas. 1r, e can analyse the brain and find that there are neurons, a*ons, synapses, and neurotransmitters. 'o ever, none of these constituents describe the essence of the person, the mind, or the brain. &gain, the essence remains elusive. .mptiness of the five s3andhas.

The 'eart Jutra e*presses the same idea by stating the emptiness of the five s3andhas, i.e. the emptiness of the body, sensations, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness. The five s3andhas are commonly translated into .nglish as the five aggregates. &ccording to the Buddha, these aggregates are hat constitutes a person. &s adumbrated above, it is possible to deconstruct the five s3andhas in the same manner as ob@ects. 'o ever, this method of deconstruction assumes a third person perspective. It analyses phenomena perceived as e*ternal to the observer. ,hen e tal3 about the essence of a person, the situation is slightly different, because e tal3 indirectly about ourselves. It may therefore be more intuitive to loo3 at things from a first person perspective. The first person perspective allo s us to ma3e statements about the internal state of the observer thereby producing selfDreference. ,hat is observed is the observer. 2erhaps this ill lead to ne insights into the essence of mind and body. First, letGs loo3 at e*perience. ,hat e*actly is e*perienceU D 1bviously, e e*perience ob@ects and phenomena through the senses. This is one form of e*perience. ,e also e*perience feelings, moods, thoughts, and emotions. The former can be called sensory e*periences and the latter mental e*periences. Npon contemplating the distinction e may find that there is no clear boundary bet een sensory and mental e*perience. &s soon as e perceive a physical ob@ect, for e*ample an apple, the corresponding mental e*periences are immediately triggered. First, e thin3 "apple". This is identification. Follo ing this thought, a number of things e associate ith apples may come to mind, for e*ample "s eet, edible, green, red, healthy, delicious, @uicy," and so on. These associations may be follo ed by the buildDup of a desire to touch or to taste the apple. 1nce the desire is strong enough, our thoughts may be occupied ith consuming the apple and e start eighing the merits and demerits of consuming the apple no or later. &ll these mental e*periences are caused by, yet independent of the original ob@ect. If the apple is ithdra n, the memory of it may be able to sustain the chain of thoughts for a short time, yet it ill eventually cease. ,e can infer that mental e*perience re;uires sensory e*perience, or respectively memory of sensory e*perience. Jensory e*perience in turn re;uires the body. If e carried through a thought e*periment and e*amined hether each of the s3andhas is able to e*ist ithout the other four, e ould find that this is not possible. The latter four aggregates all depend on the body. ,ithout the brain and the nervous system there is no consciousness, no sensation, no perception, and no mental formations. 1n the other hand, e cannot imagine the body to function ithout the mind. The body and the mind depend on each other, the five s3andhas depend on each other. ,e must

conclude that none of the s3andhas is fundamental. Body, sensations, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness are interrelated. .*periences emerge from the interaction of all five s3andhas. Fust as ob@ects, e*periences are conditioned by the interplay of multiple phenomena. .*perience has no inherent e*istence either. 1ur brain is advanced enough to reflect on its e*periences. By means of selfDreference e can direct mental activity onto itself. For e*ample, e can thin3 about thought. From this arises a division bet een sub@ect, percept, and ob@ect. The percept is the mental impression, the sub@ect is the o ner of it, the thin3er, and the ob@ect is that hich causes the mental impression. This threefold division seems so natural to us that it is reflected in the grammar of most human languages. ,e perceive the separation of sub@ect, percept, and ob@ect as real, because mind attributes an o ner to e*perience and thought. This o ner is the "self", the sub@ect, the centre of consciousness, the supposed psychological entity. Jurprisingly, this entity remains completely undetectable. Body, feeling, perception, and mental formations are not the self. -onsciousness is not the self either, other ise it ould follo that the self temporarily ceases to e*ist during unconscious states, for e*ample during deep sleep. ,e might as3 ho "self" can be independent of a surrounding orld. Is it possible for the self to e*ist in a mental vacuum, a orld devoid of sense impressions, thought, and mental imagesU ,ould the self not literally run out of fuel if it lac3ed thoughts and contents to identify itself ith or to set itself apart fromU It seems there is no basis an independent entity. It seems more that the self is an emergent phenomenon arising from the application of comple* interpretative schemes to perception. In particular, it arises from the conceptual division bet een sub@ect, ob@ect, and percept. Through introspection it is possible to realise that the "self" is not fundamental. It is created by the mind through identification and discernment. The "self" is itself a mental formation D a product of mind. It is therefore empty of inherent e*istence. The emptiness of matter. The ancient 7ree3s believed that matter is composed of indivisible small elements ith certain characteristics, such as the characteristics of earth, ater, air, and fire. They called these elements atoms and they held that atoms ere solid and fundamental, li3e microscopic billiard balls. .rnest Iutherford invalidated the billiard ball theory by conducting an e*periment, hich suggested that atoms have an internal structure. 'e established that atoms have a nucleus containing most of its mass and that electrons orbit the nucleus. Poreover, he established that the nucleus of an atom is only about one tenDthousandth of the diameter of the atom itself, hich means that CC.CCW of the atomGs volume consists of empty space. This is the first manifestation of emptiness at the subtle level of matter. Eot long after IutherfordGs discovery, physicists found out that the nucleus of an atom li3e ise has an internal structure and that the protons and neutrons ma3ing up the nucleus are composed of even smaller particles, hich they named ;uar3s after a poem of Fames Foyce. Interestingly, ;uar3s are hypothesised as geometrical points in space, hich implies that atoms are essentially empty. This is the second manifestation of emptiness at the subtle level of matter. The terms ";uar3s" and "points in space" still suggest something solid, since they can

be imagined as irreducible mass particles. Met, ;uantum field theory does a ay even ith this finer concept of solidity by e*plaining particles in the terms of field properties. Xuantum electrodynamics /X.<0 has produced an ama!ingly successful theory of matter by combining ;uantum theory, classical field theory, and relativity. Eo discrepancies bet een the predictions of X.< and e*perimental observation have ever been found. &ccording to X.<, subatomic particles are indistinguishable from fields, hereas fields are basically properties of space. In this vie , a particle is a temporary local densification of a field, hich is conditioned by the properties of the surrounding space. .rgo, matter is not different from space. This is the third manifestation of emptiness at the subtle level of matter. &n important class of phenomena in the subatomic orld is defined by the various interactions bet een particles. In fact, there is no clear distinction bet een the notions of phenomena, particles, and interactions, although interactions can be described clearly in mathematical terms. For e*ample, there are interactions bet een free electrons by means of photons that result in an observed repelling force. There are also interactions bet een the ;uar3s of a nucleon by means of mesons, interactions bet een the neighbouring neutrons or protons, interactions bet een nucleus and electrons, and interactions bet een the atoms of molecules. The phenomena themselves Dthe nucleon, the nucleus, the atom, the moleculeD are sufficiently described by these interactions, meaning by the respective e;uations, hich implies that interactions and phenomena are interchangeable terms. Interestingly, the interrelations of ;uantum physics do not describe actual e*istence. Instead they predict the potential for e*istence. & manifest particle, such as an electron, cannot be described in terms of classical mechanics. It e*ists as a multitude of superposed "scenarios", of hich one or another manifests only hen it is observed, i.e. upon measurement. Therefore, matter does not inherently e*ist. It e*ists only as interrelations of "empty" phenomena hose properties are determined by observation. This is the fourth manifestation of emptiness at the subtle level of matter. .mptiness in mathematics. In mathematics the notion of emptiness finds e*pression in the number !ero, as ell as in contemporary set theory. The concept of !ero as discovered in India prior to the si*th century &.<. The "&rabic" number system e use today is neither &rabic nor 7ree3 in origin. In fact, the digits H#+45:?A9C go bac3 to India here they ere first created. The ancient Indian number system distinguished itself from other positional systems by virtue of allo ing the use of !ero as a legitimate number. Interestingly, the number !ero did not e*ist in 7ree3 mathematics, because the 7ree3s ere essentially geometricians and had no use for the mathematical concept of a nonD entity, neither did it e*ist in .gyptian mathematics. The &rabs, ho encountered the Indian number system during their early con;uests in India, found it superior to their o n traditional system hich used letters, and thus adapted it to develop Islamic mathematics. The &rabic ord for !ero is "sifr", meaning "empty." In the #+th century, the Italian mathematician 6eonardo 2isano Fibonacci studied &rabian algebra and introduced the 'induD&rabic numerals to .urope. The ord "sifr" thus became "!ephirum" in 6atin and "!ero" in .nglish. In the ancient Indian conte*t, the number !ero did not originally refer to nothingness

or nullity. The Jans3rit ord for !ero is shunya, hich means "puffed up, hollo , empty." The !ero stands for emptiness suggestive of potentiality. The discovery of the mathematical !ero concurred ith the emptiness of pra@naDintuition in India around +HH B-. Both signify polar opposition bet een being and nonbeing. Sero is that hich contains all possible polarised pairs such as /Y#, D#0, /Y+, D+0, etc. It is the collection of all mutually cancelling pairs of for ard and bac3 ard movements. 2ut it another ay, !ero is fundamental to all e*istence. Because of it, everything is possible. Sero is the additive identity, the focal point of all numbers> ithout it, numbers cannot be created. India alone, among the great civilisations of anti;uity, as able to fathom the depth of emptiness and illing to accept its conse;uences in mathematics. Follo ing the introduction of the 'induD&rabic numerals into ,estern culture, !ero became a number that as used in calculations li3e any other number. -onse;uently, it lost some part of its original meaning, namely the part that suggests potentiality. Today, most mathematicians do not associate the notion of emptiness ith !ero, but ith the empty set, hich is a construct of set theory. & set is a collection of ob@ects or numbers. For e*ample, the set Z #, +, 4, :, 9 [ is a set of numbers containing five elements> it is therefore said to have the "cardinality" of :. The empty set Z [ is a collection that contains nothing and has the cardinality H. The mathematician Fohn von Eeumann /#C+40 invented a method, 3no n as von Eeumann hierarchy, hich can be employed to generate the natural numbers from the empty set as follo sB Jtep HB Z[ /empty set0 /set containing the empty set0 /set containing previous t o sets0 /set containing previous three sets0 /etc.0

Jtep #B Z Z [ [ Jtep +B Z Z [, Z Z [ [ [ Jtep 4B Z Z [, Z Z [ [ , Z Z [, Z Z [ [ [ [ Jtep 5B Z Z [, Z Z [ [ , Z Z [, Z Z [ [ [, Z Z [, Z Z [ [ , Z Z [, Z Z [ [ [ [ [

This se;uence is obtained by iterating a functor that creates a ne set from the union of the preceding t o sets, thus generating sets ith the cardinalities H, #, +, 4, 5, ad infinitum. In less mathematical terms, the principle can be described as follo sB Beginning ith emptiness /step H0, e observe emptiness. Through the act of observing e create an entity containing emptiness /step #0. Eo e perceive emptiness, as ell as an entity. From the combination of the former t o e create another entity by observation, hich is different from the first entity /step +0. This process is repeated again and again. Interestingly, if e define suitable operations on the obtained sets based on union and intersection, the cardinalities of the resulting sets behave @ust li3e natural numbers being added and subtracted. The se;uence is therefore isomorphic to the natural numbers D a stunningly beautiful e*ample of something from nothing. .mptiness of emptiness.

In The &rt of 6iving /+HH#0 the #5th <alai 6ama says, "&s your insight into the ultimate nature of reality is deepened and enhanced, you ill develop a perception of reality from hich you ill perceive phenomena and events as sort of illusory, illusionDli3e, and this mode of perceiving reality ill permeate all your interactions ith reality. "...$ .ven emptiness itself, hich is seen as the ultimate nature of reality, is not absolute, nor does it e*ist independently. ,e cannot conceive of emptiness as independent of a basis of phenomena, because hen e e*amine the nature of reality, e find that it is empty of inherent e*istence. Then if e are to ta3e that emptiness itself is an ob@ect and loo3 for its essence, again e ill find that it is empty of inherent e*istence. Therefore the Buddha taught the emptiness of emptiness."