Here we have shared a Buddha Story to explain what is Nothingness or emptiness in Buddhism by Buddha’s own words.
This is a really confusing way to convey the truth, but at the same time, it’s the only thing that’s ever been true. You should not consider and comprehend anything only by reading the term “Nothing,” as it has a profound significance that will blow your mind completely.
Even the term “nothing” can’t be found in real life. Let’s have a better understanding of what Gautam Buddha meant when he spoke about the Real Nothing Philosophy.
A Buddha Story to explain Nothingness
Once upon a time a follower of the Buddha asked a question to Gautama Buddha.
The disciple asked the Buddha: “O Buddha, what have you achieved by meditating?”
Buddha said: “By meditating, I have not gained anything.”
When all of Buddha’s disciples heard these words from Gautam, they were astounded. They said that they had believed that they would experience ecstasy, and that in order to achieve ecstasy, they had given up their families, their homes, their money, and everything else they owned. But you are admitting that you have not improved in any way, right? Is it possible that Buddha does not want to inform us? Then Gautam Buddha said.
Buddha said: “It is normal for your mind to be complicated, but I want to clear this up by saying that actually, via meditation, I have gained nothing.”
And once again by listening to the words of the Buddha. Everyone has a little bit of hopelessness within of them. All of the followers believed that our objective was to achieve ecstasy, but Buddha is making it quite apparent that we do not advance in any way by practising meditation. But immediately Buddha said.
Buddha Further says: “By meditating, I have not only failed to acquire anything, but I have also failed to preserve anything.” I have lost all My anger, fear, fear of death, anxiety, sense of insecurity, envy, and greed. Everything has vanished, along with every other aspect of my psyche.
Buddha concluded his discourse by stating that in point of fact, the purpose of meditation is not to acquire something; rather, the purpose of meditation is to lose those things that are preventing you from realising the Truth. The Aim itself is a barrier that prevents you from reaching the truth. When you meditate, avoid setting goals for yourself.
Therefore, the Meaning of Nothing refers to the state of Being Beyond Mind. You might quickly come to the conclusion that your own thoughts are to blame for all of your woes.
It is not the fact that you have lost your money that is causing you to feel depressed; rather, it is your mind that is convincing you that the money was a method to satisfy your illusory mental wants. Because of this, you are not feeling satisfied despite the fact that you eat breakfast, lunch, and supper every day.
Can’t you understand that the only thing you really need to survive is food, and everything else you want is only an illusion created by your own mind that can never be satisfied by anything?
Further Explanation on Importance of Emptiness
Nothing is significant enough to make you mad, nothing is significant enough to make you sad, nothing is significant enough to make you greedy, nothing can make you happy, and everything is nothing but a desire.
Sukrat is quoted as saying, “I know one thing, and that is that I know Nothing.”
If Socrates knows nothing then Why is it that Sukrat is considered to be the most intelligent man in the western part of the earth? Because knowing nothing is the wisdom.
Do you ever stop to think about how much you really know? Do you ever make an effort to discover the truth, which is that the only thing you really know is a few phrases from the Holy book? If you believe that you already know everything, you should reconsider that assumption.
- Why we born and why we die?
- Why are we unable to prevent ourselves from breathing?
- Why does our breath serve as the foundation of our lives?
- Why does this enormous universe even exist?
- Why does this cosmos not have a beginning and it will never end?
- where does all of that empty space in the cosmos originate from?
- Why do humans have brains yet other animals have not?
- Who made the decision to provide us with an intelligent mind?
- Who is the mastermind behind this whole creation?
- Why do you have so many wants when there is no way to satisfy them all?
- Why is it that even a wealthy person does not have enough money?
There are several unanswered questions, yet the solution may be summed up in a single word: meditation. Do meditation, and all of your questions will be burned away, since this is the advice given by the primary texts as well as by spiritual masters such as Osho, Gautam Buddha, and Ramana Maharshi, amongst others. Get rid of your ignorance, and you will find happiness.
What is Nothingness In Buddhism?
According to Gautama Buddha, the first step toward true understanding is the acknowledgement that one is ignorant about everything implies humans knows nothing. The Socrates always uses the exact same words while speaking for explaining the Truth.
The issue that arises now is, what do you know? According to the teachings of the Buddha, Knowing the world and about your body itself is not knowledge. If you believe that you have read a book, passed the tests given in today’s schools, and obtained a degree, you have mistaken the knowledge.
Do you now consider yourself to be a knower as a result of all this?
You are free to claim that you can speak fluent English, that you are able to fix any equipment, that you are a math instructor, that you are a doctor, or that you have completed any other course you have taken.
The truth of the matter is, however, that all of these courses are nothing more than a collection of unremarkable particulars that have been manufactured by humans, and the fact that we humans have assigned such a high level of significance to these courses is the reason why they give the impression of comprising a substantial body of information.
When we were younger, we spent a lot of time in school learning about world history. When we took tests, we were required to write about that history. If we did well on those tests and got high scores, we began to think of ourselves as extremely knowledgeable person. Incredible, wouldn’t you say?
Even if you have a strong background in science and mathematics, you will still be reading something that we humans have created.
- We are the ones who come up with the formulae, and we are the ones who name everything.
- We are the ones that come up with all of the hypotheses. And even if, for the sake of argument, we assume all of this information to be accurate knowledge, we still do not enjoy mental tranquilly.
What are you going to do with all of this information if you don’t have mental peace, and why are you spending your life under such constant stress if you don’t? Are you naturally at ease in a chaotic environment? Absolutely not. Isn’t it.
Emptiness Philosophy of Buddhism
Emptiness, Nothingness or voidness, is a term that is often used in Buddhist thought. Its primary purpose is to highlight the difference between how things appear to be and how they actually are, as well as the accompanying attitudes that are regarded as having positive implications for one’s spiritual development.
The state of being empty is a method of seeing the world and a perspective through which one might examine experience. It does not contribute anything to the basic data of physical and mental experiences, nor does it remove anything from those facts. You look at what’s going on in your head and your senses without giving any consideration to the possibility that there’s anything more going on behind the scenes.
This mode is known as emptiness because it is devoid of the presuppositions that we typically add to experience in order to make sense of it. These presuppositions include the narratives and worldviews that we create in order to explain who we are and the world in which we live. The Buddha found that the questions that these stories and views raise—of our true identity and the reality of the world outside—pull attention away from a direct experience of how events influence one another in the immediate present. Although these stories and views have their uses, the Buddha discovered that the questions they raise pull attention away from a direct experience. As a result, they create obstacles for us to overcome as we attempt to comprehend and eradicate the issue of pain.
Let’s say, for example, that when you’re meditating, a sense of hatred against your mother comes up in your mind. The first thing that happens in the mind is a reflexive identification of the anger as “my” anger or a declaration that “I am” irritated. The emotion is then developed further, either by including it into the narrative of your connection with your mother or by shifting the focus to your general beliefs of the circumstances under which a person’s anger at their mother may be justified.
According to the Buddha, the problem with all of this is that these stories and views entail a great deal of suffering. This is the Buddha’s perspective. The more you become interested with them, the more you allow yourself to get sidetracked from perceiving the underlying source of the misery, which are the labels of “I” and “my” that put the entire process in action. As a direct consequence of this, you are unable to identify the root of the problem and put a stop to the suffering.
Emptiness – A Mode of Being
If, on the other hand, you take on the perspective of emptiness—that is, if you refrain from acting on or reacting to the anger and instead observe it as a series of events in and of themselves—you will be able to see that the anger is devoid of anything that it is possible to identify with or possess. When you develop greater consistency in your mastery of the emptiness mode, you begin to recognise that this reality is valid not just for major feelings like rage, but also for the tiniest occurrences that occur within the world of experience.
This is the sensation in which everything is devoid of significance. When you recognise this, you know that labels such as “I” and “my” are not only improper but also unneeded, and they result in nothing but worry and anguish. You are free to discard them. When you let go of them completely, you open yourself up to a way of experiencing life that goes much deeper and is completely liberating.
A strong commitment to training in virtue, attention, and discernment is necessary to achieve mastery of the empty mode of perception. Without this training, the mind remains in the mode that constantly generates new narratives and perspectives on the world. And when seen through the lens of this mode, the teaching of emptiness seems to be nothing more than an alternative narrative or worldview with different fundamental principles.
In the context of the narrative about your connection with your mother, it appears to be implying that there is in fact neither your mother nor you. It would seem that what it is saying, in terms of your worldview, is either that the world doesn’t actually exist or that nothingness is the huge undivided ground of being from which we all originated and to which we will all return eventually.
Conclusion
The purpose of these teachings was to bring people into the “emptiness mode,” which is to get them to concentrate on the quality of the perceptions and intentions that are occurring in their minds at the current time.
When they reached that point, they were in a position to put the teachings on emptiness to use for what they were designed to do, which was to help them let go of all of their attachments to views, stories, and assumptions.
This would leave the mind free of all of the greed, anger, and delusion, and therefore free of suffering and stress. And when everything is said and done, it’s the void itself that’s the only thing that truly matters.