ŚŪNYATĀ Skt. (Pali, sunnatā; Jap., kū), lit. “emptiness, void”; central notion of Buddhism. Ancient Buddhism recognized that all composite things (samskrita) are empty, impermanent (anitya), devoid of an essence (anātman), and characterized by suffering (duhkha). In the Hīnayāna emptiness is only applied to the “person”; in the Mahāyāna, on the other hand, all things are regarded as without essence, i.e., empty of self-nature (svabhāva). All dharmas are fundamentally devoid of independent lasting substance, are nothing more than mere appearances. They do not exist outside of emptiness. Shūnyatā carries and permeates all phenomena and makes their development possible. One should not, however, take this view of the emptiness of everything existing simply as nihilism. It does not mean that things do not exist but rather that they are nothing besides appearances. Shūnyatā is often equated with the absolute in Mahayana, since it is without duality and empirical forms. Beyond that, the individual schools present differing interpretations of shūnyatā.
The Mahāyāna illustrates the difference between the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna views with the following image: in the Hīnayāna, things are like empty vessels, whereas the Mahāyāna denies even the existence of the vessels and thus arrives at total insubstantiality.
In the prajñāpāramitā texts shūnyatā is regarded as what is common to all contrary appearances; they stress the non distinctness of emptiness and form (Heart Sūtra). For the Mādhyamikas, things are empty because they arise conditionally (pratītyasamutpāda). The true nature of the world is shūnyatā, which is explained as the “pacification of the manifold.” Emptiness means that in relation to the true nature of the world, any manifoldness, i.e., any concept or verbal designation—including nonbeing—is inapplicable. Shūnyatā has three functions for the Mādhyamikas: it is the precondition for the arising of beings as well as for the impermanence of beings but also makes possible liberation from samsāra. Comprehension of emptiness by wisdom (prájñā) is the realization of nirvāna.
In the Yogāchāra, things are empty because they arise from the mind (chitta). Mind in this school is equated with shūnyatā.
The concept of emptiness and the communication of this concept in such a way as to lead to a direct experience of it also played a central role in the introduction of the Mādhyamika teachings to Tibet. In the confrontation between the Indian scholar Kamalashila and the representatives of a school of Ch’an (Zen), the main question was whether awakening to supreme reality was by stages or was revealed in a sudden flash of insight. The decision in favor of the gradual way proposed by the Indian party led in the 11th century to the development of a number of philosophical methods, the argumentations of which were eventually recorded in the Siddhānta literature. Therein all the schools of the “middle teaching” take as their point of departure Nāgārjuna’s thesis of the two truths: (1) the apparent truth (also relative or conventional truth, samvriti-satya), which ordinary people take to be real—fundamentally it does not exist since it only appears through “interdependent arising” (pratītya-samutpāda); and (2) the supreme truth (also ultimate or absolute truth, paramārtha-satya), the emptiness (beyond existence and nonexistence) of all phenomena, which cannot be expressed in words but only directly experienced. The differences among the individual Mādhyamika schools lie in their differing views concerning the nature of the two truths and how experience of emptiness is to be attained. The realization of emptiness, which is seen as the goal of religious practice (enlightenment), does not come about through philosophical argumentation; however, it becomes directly experiencable in the symbology of the Tantras. The way to this experience is described especially in the teachings of Mahāmudrā and dzogchen. While emptiness is indicated in traditional Mādhyamaka by saying what it is not, in Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen it is viewed in positive terms. Shūnyatā as supreme reality here becomes “openness” that is inseparable from clarity (luminosity).
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
External link: Śūnyata