Emptiness From A Buddhist Perspective

What is Emptiness?

When one plumbs the depths of the mind, a kaleidoscope of dharma is revealed. The meteor of wisdom discloses the fundamental truths of impermanence, non-self, form, and formlessness; the juxtaposition of existence and non-existence shines forth.

All is illuminated in a lightning flash, instantly revealing the creator of the object: the subjectivity of mind itself. Infinite phenomena co-exist, arising through reflection and deflection within the vacuum of awareness. The gossamer thread between moments is woven so finely that the rapidity of transformation appears fixed to the observer, though nothing endures for any measurable span.

The borderless, timeless realm of illusion, the architect of suffering, reveals itself unto itself. Observer, observation, and observed dissolve into one. For a fleeting moment, no question remains within the void. One need only abide faithfully in Awareness itself to experience the cessation of confusion and illusion.

Causes and conditions scatter themselves across the boundless breadth and depth of an untainted canvas within this galaxy of stillness, until agitation again takes up the paintbrush, dipping into the vessel of creation and filling the void with fantasy.

Emptiness is not nothingness. It is the openness from which all possibilities arise. It is the field of ceaseless transformation, beyond both existence and non-existence.


“Gate gate, pāragate, pārasaṃgate, bodhi svāhā.”