Sat, 13 Feb 2010
Emptiness
Emptiness is the unfindability of a thing when searched for. The classic example is a wheel. When we take apart the hub, the spokes, and the rim, the wheel can't be found in any of them. Nor is the collection of parts a wheel. When we assemble the parts, we call it a wheel, but that is nothing more than a name. So the "wheel-ness" of the wheel cannot be found and the wheel is empty of being a wheel.
By a similar argument, everything which arises in dependence on something else is empty. The classic example is a rainbow, which arises when you stand in the correct position to sun and raindrops, but which cannot be found apart from these factors that it is dependent on. All phenomena arise in dependence on other phenomena, so all are empty. But this does not mean there is nothing. The rainbow exists, just as the wheel does, but only as a dependent, relative phenomenon.
Hope this makes the knotty subject of emptiness clearer.
