The Art of Emptiness

A free six-essay series from The Labyrinth

The Art of Emptiness is a series of six free essays on the concept of śūnyatā (emptiness). Below, you’ll find links to each essay, and an introduction to the project.

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Essays

Part 1 of The Art of Emptiness explores:

• Emptiness in 150 words

• Ignorance, fabrication, and inherent existence through IKEA tables

• The importance of study, reflection, and meditation

• How emptiness has transformed my life

Part 2 explores the teaching of anatta (not-self), covering:

• How the sense of self is fabricated

• Why a permanent self cannot be found

• Why we are interdependent, changing persons

• The joy of selflessness

Part 3 is on the teaching of dependent arising. In it, we explore:

• The interdependence of all things

• The impermanence (for the time being) of all things

• Binding and unbinding from suffering

Part 4 demystifies emptiness by way of Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, covering:

• The illusion of svabhava (thingness)

• How emptiness implies no thingness (not nothingness!)

• How dependent arising implies emptiness

• Duality and the Middle Way

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Introduction

Hello, reader!

Does the word śūnyatā mean anything to you?

If not, let me be the first to sing its praises. Śūnyatā (translated as emptiness or boundlessness) is the central concept of Mahayana Buddhism, and the single idea most responsible for transforming my mind.

Though most powerful in a Buddhist context, śūnyatā is not a claim about religion but about reality. It’s not something believed, but perceived. That perception, with practice, enables a new way of life: one which is wiser, more flexible, and more loving. It has for me.

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I’ve been obsessed with śūnyatā for over a year now—studying, reflecting on, and meditating with it daily—to truly awe-inspiring effect. But because much of the writing and teaching around śūnyatā can be technical and inaccessible, I’ve felt a hunger to adapt the teachings for a wider audience.

So I made a completely foolhardy decision. I wrote The Art of Emptiness: a six-essay series I’ll be publishing for free here on The Labyrinth. I want to demonstrate that śūnyatā (emptiness) is not a dry concept like the quadratic equation, but an art. Like painting, piano, or French cooking, emptiness is something to be learned, practiced, and then innovated on. It opens the door to a playground of limitless possibility.

Stay tuned for Part 1—Emptiness changes everything—arriving in your inbox this week! Future essays will explore the illusion of the self, our interdependent world, and the love and wisdom that flow out of emptiness.

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My dream for The Art of Emptiness is for it to go beyond essays and be a source of community. You’re encouraged to share reflections, insights, and questions in the comment section—including the comment section of this post! I’m excited to see how people are engaging with these mind- and heart-opening teachings.

If you have friends who would enjoy this material, I encourage you to bring them along for the ride! Sharing The Labyrinth helps support my work more than people realize.

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See you all very soon! Together, we’re about to discover how emptiness changes everything.

Rey ☀️