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Questions tagged [sunyata]

Sūnyatā (Sanskrit, also shunyata; Pali: suññatā), translated into English as emptiness, voidness,openness, spaciousness, or vacuity, is a Buddhist concept which has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context.

Sūnyatā (Sanskrit, also shunyata; Pali: suññatā), translated into English as emptiness, voidness,openness, spaciousness, or vacuity, is a Buddhist concept which has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. In Theravada Buddhism, suññatā often refers to the not-self (Pāli: anatta, Sanskrit: anātman)[note 1] nature of the five aggregates of experience and the six sense spheres. Suññatā is also often used to refer to a meditative state or experience.

Sunyata is a key term in Mahayana Buddhism, and also influenced medieval Hinduism.

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Is mathematics empty?

Buddhists say that everything is empty. Is mathematics empty? I thought that "empty" meant conceptually constructed. But how can the fact (not the expression) 2 + 3 = 5 not be a fact which is true regardless of how we are counting?
user2512
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Meaning of "Body is emptiness, emptiness is body"

In the Heart Sutra, Avalokiteshvara says to Sariputra this Body itself is Emptiness and Emptiness itself is this Body. This Body is not other than Emptiness and Emptiness is not other than this Body. (translation by Thich Nhat Hanh) What does…
Mr. Concept
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Is emptiness interdependence and interrelationship?

Emptiness is described in a number of ways however i am interpreting it as interdependence and interrelationships. Is this an appropriate understanding?
Motivated
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What does it mean when something has "no self-nature"?

I was reading on some later Buddhist and Mahayana sutras and kept seeing the principles along the lines of "all phenomenon have no nature of their own and are thus empty." I've studied on scriptures like this before, like the Heart Sutra, but I…
Maxwell T.
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Is Cūḷa Suññata Sutta a prelude to Bahiya Sutta?

The Cūḷa Suññata Sutta gives a progressive means of experiencing sunyata. The Bahiya Sutta (UD) tells of an interaction between Buddha and the Brahmin Bahiya - Buddha advises Bahiya to get right on the surface of things without any dwelling…
blue_ego
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Why does "not existing from its own side" make something a "conceptual construction"?

Why does "not existing from its own side" make something a "conceptual construction"? I believe, from memory, the former phrase in quotes is Tibetan, but that all Buddhists think every empty thing is a "conceptual construction": but am unsure what…
user19950
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Silence and emptiness

I never understood silence or emptiness in Buddhism and how is experiencing them beneficial?.Is it a way for experiencing the arising of experience ?
Omar Boshra
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Implementing Emptiness Practically

What is the manner in which those meditating on emptiness actually bring their contemplations into a practical, experienced form? In other words, how does insight (on emptiness) become effective in every day life?
user7302
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Is emptiness conventionally non-empty?

Is emptiness conventionally / provisionally non-empty? Please include reference to whose perspective you are replying from. By empty I mean non-substantial, how dharmas are constantly arising and perishing, and nothing is the same from moment to…
user19950
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Sunyata and Void. How can be the void without a super consciousness?

Vedantist calls it Sunya or Sunyata. Buddhists calls it Void . If you once perceive that voidness , is “something”. They both get inside there and return back, saying that was Samadhi. How can be Samadhi without Consciousness , isn’t it like susupti…
Doubtful Monk
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Emptiness and consciousness

Does Buddha refer Consciousness as emptiness? Consciousness, Emptiness and Self are the same things. Self can't exist independently hence it's an illusion. That is that which doesn't exist is identical to emptiness.
Rajesh Marndi
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Is uncertainty incompatible with the doctrine of emptiness?

For purposes of this question I define “uncertainty” as a willingness to entertain doubt or acknowledge incomplete knowledge with regards to the truth of the matter about what one knows of a particular question of subject. And I define “the truth of…
user13375
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Emptiness and physical pain

How can an understanding of emptiness help when experiencing physical pain, i have some understanding of emptiness from a mental viewpoint, and I understand that I can direct my mind to perceive the physical pain as karma ripening or that I have a…
Molly
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Emptiness and Mental Disposition

Upon reading Andrei Volkov's answer on this post, I am stricken by a deep questioning. My two questions are: (1) can emptiness be unsuitable for some dispositions? and (2) can emptiness be partially achieved? Forgive my probable vast elaboration on…
user7302
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A geometric analogy for understanding emptiness. Is it a valid one?

Segments in a straight line have non-zero lengths but all of them have zero area i.e. they are "empty" when viewed as embedded in 2-dimensional plane. Similarly, all 2-dimensional shapes viewed as embedded in 3 dimensions appear as zero-volume…
exp8j
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