Emptiness in Buddhism (Sunyata)
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- Опубліковано 23 кві 2021
- The Buddhist term "Emptiness", or Sunyata/Shunyata, often gets overlooked by most new Buddhists. However, it is a very fundamental concept that is even the foundation of Mahayana Buddhism.
It is similar to the teaching of non-self/no-self where we say that all sentient beings (you, me, etc.) do not have an unchanging, independent, everlasting "self". However, emptiness goes a step further saying that ALL phenomena, not just sentient beings, lack this independent, unchanging, everlasting "self". All phenomena are called "dharmas" in Buddhism (note the smaller case 'd' to differentiate itself from the term 'Dharma' which means the Buddha's teachings).
"Empty", in the term "emptiness", means that all phenomena are empty of having an unchanging, independent, everlasting 'self'. And with this emptiness, it allows dependent origination to exist. Dependent Origination is what Siddhartha Gautama awakened to under the Bodhi Tree which allowed him to become the Buddha. It teaches that all things (dharmas) arise and fall due to causes and conditions. But how can things arise and fall if they are not empty? If there was no emptiness, then 'you' could not have had the ability to exist right now. Things must be empty for them to arise (temporarily), but it also means that they will not always be.
Nirvana, however, is our natural state which is everlasting because it is devoid of form. It is supreme emptiness. Yet, we are blinded to this truth due to delusion - which is why Buddhism is practiced in the first place! When one sees the true nature of emptiness, all the other concepts in Buddhism fall into place. Then we are awakened/enlightened to our natural state of Nirvana.
Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh gave this example:
"If I am holding a cup of water and I ask you, “Is this cup empty?” you will say, “No, it is full of water.” But if I pour out the water and ask you again, you may say, “Yes, it is empty.” But empty of what? Empty means empty of something. The cup cannot be empty of nothing. “Empty” doesn’t mean anything unless you know “empty of what?” My cup is empty of water, but it is not empty of air. To be empty is to be empty of something. This is quite a discovery. When Avalokita says that the five skandhas are equally empty, to help him be precise we must ask, “Mr. Avalokita, empty of what?”"
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Thank you for this explanation Alan, It is a very difficult concept to grasp for the ignorant western mind where everything has to be intellectualized. Considering that emptiness and nirvana is something that has to be understood at the experiencing level, this talk can make one "understand" the concept much better. It did help me a lot, I now just need to keep working and experiencing it 😊. Appreciated 🙏
Thank you, Maribel!
Very good explanation of a topic that's misunderstood by a lot of westerners
Thanks Jordan!
Great sharing Alan. My understanding of your talk is that there is only Emptiness in its natural state. However, due to taints (asava), the white cloth of Emptinessgets trained. If we are able to stop the creation of our emotional reactions (wholesome and unwholesome) with wisdom, then Emptiness will become more prevalent.
Thanks for sharing your insight! Emptiness is a very challenging and interesting concept. At least in Mahayana Buddhism, it takes on a deeper role that impacts all conditioned phenomena, and not just us. We are unable to deeply understand that the five aggregates are empty of a separate self, or how everything is interdependent and interconnected. When we fundamentally due (as explained in the Heart Sutra), we are able to become awakened and have that full enlightement as a Buddha.
very good video, very informative and succinct. can sense the presence in your voice, soothing from the start
Very important teaching 👏🏿👌👍❤
Thank you for this clarification. It has always been a bit challenging to fully grasp the emptiness concept.
You're very welcome!
Thank you for this wonderful channel. Your explanations are clear, subtle,easy to understand yet profound. Amituofo 🙏🙏🙏
Amituofo! 🙏
Wonderful. Thanks. If we have reached ultimate Shunyata we are "in" Nirvana we cease to exist and have in fact never existed?
Really advanced philosophy for its time! Imagine if the world heard these teachings instead of the other religions...
Thank you. You have made emptiness much clearer. Really good explanation.
Wonderful!
The term "emptiness" has a negative connotation here in the West. in fact, it's often the emptiness in our souls that inspires us to investigate Buddhism in the first place. A better term may be "interconnectedness."
Hi Bill! I think that speaks to a larger topic, which is Western "perspectives" do influence our understanding of things. There is not always a great 1:1 translation for terms or even entire teachings. Emptiness is widely used but does take a bit to start grasping (because we want to force our own ideas and understanding of things - even if that happens subconsciously). Interconnectedness is a term used by some like Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, although he also uses Emptiness when fundamentally explaining the teaching. Emptiness is a wonderful teaching because while a western view might be "negative", it is actually a "positive". If you didn't have a place to park a car, could you have a car? If you didn't have an empty coffee mug, could you have coffee? If you didn't have an empty refrigerator, where would you put your food? If you did not have an "empty" (aka: open) mind to learn, then you would be stuck where you're at (it's that old "overflowing teacup" story). Etc. Those are just superficial and generalistic examples, but emptiness is very much a positive thing - because without it, we wouldn't even exist right now.
Emptiness is not a notion that The Buddha came up with as an abstract construction. It is clear in his teachings that his knowledge of Emptiness was based on his experience of Awakening. As I wrote in my books...'We know that the Buddha’s Awakening was a life-altering experience which gave him a radically new perspective. Awakening, or pure experience, unveiled for the Buddha the cognitively-based, dependent, complementary relationship of the subject-object world. In other words, his enlightened mind became free of the dichotomy of subject and object. This was a crucial distinction between mind and mind events. ‘Mind’ is understood as a direct awareness without any conceptualization, while mind events arise immediately when they become identified with an object. So, although there is a mind at pure experience that exists without mental events, we don’t normally experience this. It was through this experience of emptiness that the Buddha confirmed that meditation allowed him to experience non-substantial wholeness. The Buddha had the experience of freedom which provided a superior criterion of certainty rooted in actual experiential knowledge. The obstacle of mental constructions, ignorance, and its accompanying egotistical, driven self, was removed'....Best wishes...
Well, at first when you gave the car example...I am still wondering because someone would have to "drive" that car and be aware of that car because otherwise if it was empty...there would be no one to drive it or it wouldn't be aware of itself. Same as us. We are aware of our human bodies, emotions, and thoughts and that is our "consciousness". So same as that car...obviously we can't physically "see" anything driving that car but it wouldn't mean that there is "nothing" or its really completely empty". Also, by Oneness, I still figured that from a Buddhas perspective the reason why a Buddha would look at everyone as "ONE" is because of Consciousness and would know that the true nature of consciousness is not separate from any other being WITH consciousness..just like "We are little water droplets of a BIG pure and eternal ocean"...aka referring to consciousness. So the concept of "non-self" to me would be "non-individual self-. We would attach ourselves to our EGO/Identity/Personality and grasp on thinking we are separate beings thinking that our illusional selves would be "permanent" even though we all know that's not true and that the identity changes all the time and there's.....death. but our TRUE self would be our consciousness that makes us all connected. And I am guessing that is what passes on as far as re-birth. But our consciousness would be the unchanging and permanent TRUE nature of who we are but when we reach the state of nirvana and "pass" away then we'd still be our consciousness which is our TRUE real self its just that...we wouldn't experience any form of reality, no thoughts or emotions or any kind of perceptions. Just peace, wholeness and freedom from all sorts of suffering, even desires. Idk...im 15 im still learning on this Journey haha.🙏🏽
Hi! In rebirth, only our karmic actions (future potential of them and past karmic impressions) are what continues on. This is part of the 'store consciousness' part of the five aggregates, but it is important to note this is not a soul, ego, etc., which the Buddha said did not exist because we are conditioned beings. You might enjoy these two videos. Rebirth: ua-cam.com/video/sYmp3LjvSFE/v-deo.html and Dependent Origination (explains about causes and conditions and interconnectedness): ua-cam.com/video/0OCNnti-NAQ/v-deo.html
Keep asking questions and learning on your journey 🙂🙏
Memory...
How difficult is this to achieve? Or how long do you think it would take? I think I grew up a half way buddah because of my experiences and feel I'm close if not mostly there, but I want to be able to guide loved ones in the future.
Hi Andrew! Perhaps the simplest answer for you is that it's very challenging, and even more so nowadays. Because we are 2,600 years removed from when the Buddha was alive, fewer people will become enlightened. That doesn't mean practice isn't important, because we are on a long path to enlightenment and 'stopping' just delays us further when conditions will be right. This is why Buddhists around the world practice every day with a daily practice and go to temple!
Don’t quarks and electrons have permanent existence?
What or who is it that knows the aggregates?
Sir pl add English caption. It become really difficult to understand without captions.
Hi Arun, that is on my to-do list! In the meantime, UA-cam does have 'auto' closed captions available. Depending on what you are using to watch the videos, you have to click the 'settings' gear icon or the closed captioning icon to enable it. While not perfect, it will provide you some closed captioning until I can type these all out.
@@AlanPeto Thank you for your feedback sir.
beautiful explanation. subscribed
Awesome, thank you!
Complete story of Emptiness from Nagarjuna to the Shentong School of Tibetan Buddhism. at "Swami Sarvapriyananda - Emptiness".
Do you believe that this is related to the Hegelian absolute spirit that is ultimately eternally changing in a dialectical manner?
Good question! I'm not familiar enough with that topic to be able to answer your question. In Buddhism, there is no spirit, soul, or otherwise something known as "self" that is permanent, unchanging, and independent of other things. The religion teaches that there is a casual connection between existences where karma (actions) are what connects them (past fruition of them, and the future potential of those that have yet to come to fruition). This is through something called the 'stream consciousness', but that shouldn't be confused with a "self", as the Buddha said that doesn't exist (insofar as a permanent, unchanging, indepdendent self). What we believe as "self" right now (and may be considered a soul, etc.) is actually the temporary five groupings of a being (Five Aggregates) that work seemlessly together (Namarupa) which gives off the false impression of a permanent/unchaning "self".
@@AlanPeto In so far as your explanation and my little knowledge of Buddhism in general allows me to conclude, the 'stream of consciousness' in Buddhism can be equated with the eternal spirit in Hegel. The notion of self as individual, eternal consciousness is in his philosophy, too, seen as a misconception. He calls it 'unhappy consciousness'. In the end, the goal is to see us as part of the same stream. My question to Buddhism is one of the origin or beginning... In Hegel, there is no real beginning, as the absolute spirit is the eternally changing reality. It has no end, neither. For Hegel this is very important as his whole philosophy is about negating the objective character of reality as unchanging. Because there is no end and no beginning - no one true reality - our life, although flawed and full of suffering etc., is nonetheless the true reality itself, rather than just an epistemological misunderstanding. Often when I hear about Buddhism in the western context, it seems to be aligned with the Christian (monotheistic) idea of one eternal truth we only get at by negating all desire/suffering etc... Do you think this is a western misconception or is Buddhism still fundamentally believing in one such eternal/true reality?
Hegal is not an enlightened being, and he read a lot of spiritual texts from india, critiquing them in open and appropriating the same concepts into his own world view.
So 18-19-20th century enlightened movement in Europe started with their research on eastern texts.
Schopenhauer for example the famous German philosopher openly embraced Indian philosophical thought.
That's why we see a lot of resemblance in their philosophies.
Hi Alan please explain ,If there is no independent self why there is rebirth?
Hi Aniket! I have two videos, and articles, on that for you. There is no independent, impermanent, and unchanging "self", but we believe there is. This results in delusion, greed, and anger (three poisons) as we cling and grasp to the 'self' and the belief in that 'self' in other phenomena. That results in intentional actions (karma) which keep 'us' in the cycle of rebirth. This refers to the past karmic actions (and future potential of them), and the ones you are generating right now. Samsara is like beads on a string of karma between existences - it is what connects them. Yet, each existence is not the same thing as the past (because there is no 'self'). Karmic actions are what connects. You can loosely imagine it as seeds planted in the ground waiting to be watered to bloom or have already bloomed. This is why laypersons focus heavily on ethical and moral conduct on the Buddha's eightfold path to generate wholesome karma and not unwholesome karma. While we may not be able to escape the cycle of rebirth in this lifetime, our wholesome karma can hopefully benefit whatever the next existence is. That's a very high level but hope it helps :) Rebirth video: ua-cam.com/video/sYmp3LjvSFE/v-deo.html and article: alanpeto.com/buddhism/understanding-reincarnation-rebirth/
@@AlanPeto Thank you Alan !!
@@aniketnarkhede6918it's basically non soul but subtle body (mind, desires, vasanas) which takes rebirth same in advaita Hinduism.
It's not permanent soul
Trees, being living entities, alive, ARE indeed sentient brings.
In Buddhism, the term "sentient beings" generally refers to beings with consciousness, such as humans, animals, and other creatures that experience life subject to illusion, suffering, and rebirth (saṃsāra). Trees and plants, while recognized for their complex life processes and ecological interactions, are not traditionally considered sentient beings within most Buddhist teachings. To my understanding, The Buddha did not state that trees are sentient beings. While the above is generally accepted, Buddhism, and Buddhists in general, have a variety of views and beliefs. Thank you for sharing yours.
I really still can't get concept of shunyavada 😢
It’s a very difficult concept, even for experienced Buddhists. But if it was easy, we’d all be enlightened by now. We are working through several “layers” built up over time to uncover the truth and understanding. For Sunyata, we are incorporating in our practice many ways (compassion, meditation, etc) to understand it. Emptiness is the absence of a permanent and unchanging self, which the Buddha said does not exist (but we believe it does). So emptiness is the emptiness of that false belief. For something to be created (such as “us”) there must first be an emptiness. Just like an empty cup is the only thing that can then become a cup with tea.
Who gets Niravana ? When you say you can become Budhha who are you referring to ?
Nirvana is the absence of greed, anger, and ignorance. So, it's something everyone "has", but our unwholesome actions and ignorance keeps it suppressed. The Buddha said everyone can achieve what he did (enlightenment and nirvana), thus we say everyone has "Buddha nature" meaning the seed or capability to also become enlightened is within all of us...if we put for the real effort to get there.
@@AlanPetoone question?? So where is the buddha after Nirvana and after dying?? He's now non existent just like void emptiness?? Nothing??
Empty of what? Empty of independent existence.
I don’t understand how emptiness is the appropriate word. This makes no sense.
Emptiness is an English word to explain a complex topic. Very much like how "Dukkha" is commonly translated as "suffering", but that is a poor translation. Like most things, we try to apply our conventional everyday thinking to terms and ideas, but Buddhism is about breaking down this view of things (after all, it's why we are in this predicament). Emptiness is one of the challenging concepts to understand in Buddhism and takes a lifetime (or more) for many.
Emptiness means absence of a permanent, unchanging, independent "self". This is a root cause of many things, because we are impermanent, ever changing, and not separate from other things. However, there is something we believe that makes us "us" that is permanent. This causes a cascade of beliefs and actions to take hold.
Emptiness does not mean something is "empty" in our conventional thinking, but instead is empty of a separate existence. Thich Nhat Hanh gave an example that a cup filled with water appears to us in conventional thinking as "full", but if you drink all the water, our conventional thinking believes it is now "empty". But instead, it is filled with something else - such as air. This is a very simple example he gave, but when we get into deeper concepts, such as the Five Aggregates / "self", it becomes harder for us to accept. But when we do, we can break free and become enlightened.
Here's a good article from Thich Nhat Hanh on it and there should be some videos on UA-cam as well: www.lionsroar.com/the-fullness-of-emptiness/#:~:text=Emptiness%20is%20not%20something%20to%20be%20afraid%20of%2C,a%20cloud%20floating%20in%20this%20sheet%20of%20paper.
I don’t understand how you conclude that everything is emptiness.
Everything is empty of an independent "self". Because we are a temporary grouping and existence of things, known as the Five Aggregates, there is nothing permanent, unchanging, and independent about ourselves. However, the Five Aggregates work together seamlessly in a process Buddhism calls "Namarupa". This "Namarupa" gives the "illusion" of a permanent "self". Your beliefs, ideas, feelings, etc., we believe is all permanent and marks us as "separate", but it's all impermanent.
Emptiness is an English word translation for a complex teaching. It means we are empty of a separate self (the Buddha taught we are *not* unchanging, impermanent, or independent of other things). So, when we say everything is "empty", we are saying they are empty of that illusionary belief. And when that illusionary belief is gone, we see that "emptiness" allows everything to exist. Because all things are "empty of a separate self", that opens our understanding at a fundamental level (rather than our everyday conventional level) on how the true nature of our world an existence works (partly, called Dependent Origination / "cause and effect").
Here's an article by Thich Nhat Hanh that you might enjoy: www.lionsroar.com/the-fullness-of-emptiness/#:~:text=Emptiness%20is%20not%20something%20to%20be%20afraid%20of%2C,a%20cloud%20floating%20in%20this%20sheet%20of%20paper.
@@AlanPeto So, you’re saying that the matter which is taking the form of us right now will eventually rearrange into new forms? If that’s what you’re saying, your view is consistent with science.