Great metaphor Rey. It's interesting how in the west, emptiness has a negative connotation, often defined as "a sad feeling of having no emotion or purpose". From Wikipedia:
Śūnyatā is usually translated as "devoidness", "emptiness", "hollow", "hollowness", "voidness". It is the noun form of the adjective śūnya, plus -tā:
• śūnya, in the context of buddha dharma, primarily means "empty", or "void," but also means "zero," and "nothing," and derives from the root śvi, meaning "hollow"
• -tā is a suffix denoting a quality or state of being, equivalent to English "-ness"
Śūnya, zero. One of my teachers explained this many years ago. I liked that. Zero has potential. Add a 1 next to it. Now we have 10! Zero is empty of, zero! It can change. Everything changes. Thanks Rey! Looking forward to your next writings on no-thingness!
I love your insights, Jampa! 😌 Translating śūnya as "zero" has always resonated with me personally as well.
As a fellow etymology nerd, I was blown away when I read this in David Loy's Nonduality: In Buddhism and Beyond.
"[Śūnyatā] comes from the root śū, which means “to swell” in two senses: hollow or empty, and also full, like the womb of a pregnant woman. Both are implied in the Mahāyāna usage: the first denies any fixed self-nature to anything, the second implies that this is also fullness and limitless possibility."
I explore the zero-ness and womb-ness aspects of śūnyatā in my other piece "How to love nothing." (Not to give you any more reading, though! 🤭) Very grateful for your attention and engagement.
Lovely introduction to emptiness. And your metaphor of the IKEA table - chef's kiss! As someone who studied/worked as a computer scientist while simultaneously being a fan of The Tao of Physics, the impermanence and interdependency of emptiness settle into place fairly easily. But as a justice warrior, the 'nothing to defend' is something I look forward to exploring more deeply - i.e., when do my acts of service towards reducing suffering spring from selfless wisdom and when are they bound up with fabrication and self? Is the experience of either liberation or dissatisfaction in the moment of action a key to knowing?
Because of my interest in experiencing more of this natural boundlessness, I've recently added chanting the Heart Sutra to my daily practice, and I look forward to expanding my reflections using the resources you've provided. This came up today for me - perhaps it will resonate with you as well - https://buddhismnow.com/2013/05/11/recognising-the-thinker-by-tulku-urgyen-rinpoche/
Damn, Star, what great questions! I’m excited to learn what you discover as you ask, and answer, them in your own life. Thank you for the Tulku Urgyen piece too!
Hello Rey. It is great to read another way of describing concepts which I talk to people in my practice about who are looking at how to find inner peace as a Christian. You clearly understand some very important and healthy ways to see ourselves and the world around us. I refer to scriptures that talk about not being of the world, dying to self, grace and forgiveness toward self and others, turn the other cheek etc. I say the key to inner peace is not needing anything, just preferring. Being at peace in advance with any outcome. The point of life is who I’m becoming in Christ, not what I’m getting from Christ.
Emptiness sounds a lot like a possibility. You are allowing yourself to learn or obtain something new and exciting without grasping at things to feel complete.
I've had experiences of (what I believe to be) emptiness, but I've found the lack of conceptual ground terrifying, like a freefall. Do you have any advice on how to feel effortless love*?
*I know the answer is some variation on "don't try," but I'd like to pick your brains.
Amer, I love your question! Fear of groundlessness is a common response to emptiness teachings, and love is the best path through it.
With respect to the fear: hold on to whatever ground helps you, for as long as it helps you. That grounding can be physical (taking a shower, walking in nature, eating a nourishing meal) or conceptual ("I am inherently [X quality]," "[Y belief] is really, objectively true."). There's absolutely no need to rush any of this.
With respect to effortless love: I'm certain you've felt it at times! There's no on-off switch from {not loving} to {effortlessly loving} — rather, a continuum along which we all move. When loving feels hard, maybe think of it like starting a fire: you gotta put in a little effort at the outset.
Metta practice is great for this, because we start with the easiest people to love and then work our way outwards. Shameless plug: I give advice on metta here:
When is a table, not a table?
When it appears as a table.
Great metaphor Rey. It's interesting how in the west, emptiness has a negative connotation, often defined as "a sad feeling of having no emotion or purpose". From Wikipedia:
Śūnyatā is usually translated as "devoidness", "emptiness", "hollow", "hollowness", "voidness". It is the noun form of the adjective śūnya, plus -tā:
• śūnya, in the context of buddha dharma, primarily means "empty", or "void," but also means "zero," and "nothing," and derives from the root śvi, meaning "hollow"
• -tā is a suffix denoting a quality or state of being, equivalent to English "-ness"
Śūnya, zero. One of my teachers explained this many years ago. I liked that. Zero has potential. Add a 1 next to it. Now we have 10! Zero is empty of, zero! It can change. Everything changes. Thanks Rey! Looking forward to your next writings on no-thingness!
I love your insights, Jampa! 😌 Translating śūnya as "zero" has always resonated with me personally as well.
As a fellow etymology nerd, I was blown away when I read this in David Loy's Nonduality: In Buddhism and Beyond.
"[Śūnyatā] comes from the root śū, which means “to swell” in two senses: hollow or empty, and also full, like the womb of a pregnant woman. Both are implied in the Mahāyāna usage: the first denies any fixed self-nature to anything, the second implies that this is also fullness and limitless possibility."
I explore the zero-ness and womb-ness aspects of śūnyatā in my other piece "How to love nothing." (Not to give you any more reading, though! 🤭) Very grateful for your attention and engagement.
https://thelabyrinth.substack.com/p/how-to-love-nothing
Lovely introduction to emptiness. And your metaphor of the IKEA table - chef's kiss! As someone who studied/worked as a computer scientist while simultaneously being a fan of The Tao of Physics, the impermanence and interdependency of emptiness settle into place fairly easily. But as a justice warrior, the 'nothing to defend' is something I look forward to exploring more deeply - i.e., when do my acts of service towards reducing suffering spring from selfless wisdom and when are they bound up with fabrication and self? Is the experience of either liberation or dissatisfaction in the moment of action a key to knowing?
Because of my interest in experiencing more of this natural boundlessness, I've recently added chanting the Heart Sutra to my daily practice, and I look forward to expanding my reflections using the resources you've provided. This came up today for me - perhaps it will resonate with you as well - https://buddhismnow.com/2013/05/11/recognising-the-thinker-by-tulku-urgyen-rinpoche/
Damn, Star, what great questions! I’m excited to learn what you discover as you ask, and answer, them in your own life. Thank you for the Tulku Urgyen piece too!
Hello Rey. It is great to read another way of describing concepts which I talk to people in my practice about who are looking at how to find inner peace as a Christian. You clearly understand some very important and healthy ways to see ourselves and the world around us. I refer to scriptures that talk about not being of the world, dying to self, grace and forgiveness toward self and others, turn the other cheek etc. I say the key to inner peace is not needing anything, just preferring. Being at peace in advance with any outcome. The point of life is who I’m becoming in Christ, not what I’m getting from Christ.
Emptiness sounds a lot like a possibility. You are allowing yourself to learn or obtain something new and exciting without grasping at things to feel complete.
Dumb table! Who built you?! (Me)
I've had experiences of (what I believe to be) emptiness, but I've found the lack of conceptual ground terrifying, like a freefall. Do you have any advice on how to feel effortless love*?
*I know the answer is some variation on "don't try," but I'd like to pick your brains.
Amer, I love your question! Fear of groundlessness is a common response to emptiness teachings, and love is the best path through it.
With respect to the fear: hold on to whatever ground helps you, for as long as it helps you. That grounding can be physical (taking a shower, walking in nature, eating a nourishing meal) or conceptual ("I am inherently [X quality]," "[Y belief] is really, objectively true."). There's absolutely no need to rush any of this.
With respect to effortless love: I'm certain you've felt it at times! There's no on-off switch from {not loving} to {effortlessly loving} — rather, a continuum along which we all move. When loving feels hard, maybe think of it like starting a fire: you gotta put in a little effort at the outset.
Metta practice is great for this, because we start with the easiest people to love and then work our way outwards. Shameless plug: I give advice on metta here:
https://thelabyrinth.substack.com/p/the-meditators-handbook#%C2%A7metta