Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
1
What is Sunyavada in
Buddhism?
2
Buddhism is…
a religion, philosophy, soteriology and
way of life that was developed in North-
Eastern India from the teachings of a man
called Siddartha Gautama, born about 624
BCE as a prince in a Hindu royal family
called Sakyamuni, who after his
enlightenment became known as Buddha,
the Enlightened One.
3
The Main Schools of Buddhism
Theravada
Mahayana
Pure Land
Ch’an / Zen
Vajrayana / Tibetan
4
Various Dictionary Definitions of Reality
re·al·i·ty (rê-àl-î-tê) noun, plural re·al·i·ties
1. The quality or state of being actual or true.
5
What verbal symbol do you think best
expresses THIS Reality?
6
What numerical symbol do you think best
expresses THIS Reality?
0 – Zero?
1 – One?
2 – Two?
3 – Three?
? – Many? If many, how many?
∞ – Infinity / Eternity?
Infinitely large or small space / or Time?
7
And what pictorial symbol do you think best
expresses THIS Reality?
5
0
1 6
2 etc.
4 ∞
8
Any Other Symbol?
9
Enso – the Zen Symbol
At first glance the Enso
- an ancient Zen symbol -
may appear to be nothing
more than a circle. Yet when
painted by a skilled artist, it
becomes much more than
that: representing the mystery
and oneness of life, the
beginning and end (or
emptiness?) of all things and
the inter-connectedness and
infinity of all existence.
10
What is Sunyavada? (1)
Sunyavada is a Mahayana Buddhist theory (vada) of negation, holding that
the world, reality to be empty, void (sunya), or unreal.
Sunyavada (Nagarjuna) recognizes two forms of Truth, the relative that can
be spoken about and discusssed (Samvriti), and the Absolute (Paramartha) –
Sunyata, or the Voidness of all things, particulars, phenomena – of which
nothing can be said: Sunyata is neither relative nor absolute, neither existent
nor non-existent…
11
What is Sunyavada? (2)
According to Sunyavada
the phenomenal world is said to have no reality; yet the
world “underlying” it (Noumenon?) defies all description,
because of our inability to see, grasp, comprehend “the-
thing-itself ” (svabhava);
12
What is Sunyavada? (3)
Sunyavada is in many ways similar to
Plotinus’1 negative characterization of the One
1
Plotinus (205-270 AD) - Egyptian-born Roman philosopher who founded Neo-Platonism.
13
A Scriptural Prophecy Regarding Nagarjuna
As is written in the Manjusrimulakalpa, the Acarya
Nagarjuna lived for a total of 600 years:
14
Some Criticism of Sunyavada
Classical Hindu and some Buddhist thinkers dismissed Nagarjuna's
extreme use of the Via Negativa as self-condemned:
the negation of everything is inconceivable without implying an
affirmation, a positive ground to negate;
nothing can be proved false if nothing is taken as true;
therefore:
One could also say that the act of negation itself requires the existence
of the negator.
15
Sunyavada as Prajnaparamita
The Sunyavada School considers all philosophy as prajna-
paramita = the supreme non-conceptual intellectual intuitive
awareness and wisdom.
According to Sunyavada
Prajna is the supreme, immediate, sudden, non-
progressive attainment of non-dualistic Knowledge
(known as Jnana in Sanskrit), through Enlightenment;
16
Sunyavada as Absolutism & Nondualism
Sunyavada teaches that
The only absolute being is self-evident and real, here & now;
There are two truths: the illusory (dualistic) truth of the empirical
standpoint and the Ultimate (Nondual) Truth of the Absolute,
which cannot be expressed in any words or symbols.
17
Sunyavada is not Nihilism
It does not teach that there is no reality, but
that there can be no doctrine or views about
reality.
18
Sunyata and Wu-Wei, Wu Hsin & Wu-Nien
Sunyata or wu (kokoro or mu in Japanese)
= absolute emptiness, voidness
Wu-wei = non-action
Wu-hsin = no-mind
Wu-nien = no-thought
renunciation of immateriality
20
Two “kinds” of Sunyata, Voidness Buddha Taught
21
Sunyata and Awareness
If the mind has lust, know that the mind has lust
If the mind has hatred, know that the mind has hatred
If the mind has compassion, know that the mind has compassion
If the mind is deluded, confused, depressed… know that the mind is deluded,
confused, depressed…
If the mind is not liberated or void, know that the mind is not liberated or void
If the mind is liberated or void, know that the mind is liberated and void
22
Levels of Sunyata, Voidness
23
Living with Sunyata
We realize = we realize sunyata
We see clearly = we see sunyata clearly
We know = we know sunyata
We live with = we live with sunyata
24
Quote about Striving to Get to Where You Already Are
You will come to look upon all those aeons of work and
achievement as no better than unreal actions performed in
a dream. - Huang Po
25
Quotes about Emptiness
If you want to get the plain truth,
Be not concerned with right and wrong.
The conflict between right and wrong
Is the sickness of the mind. - Seng-ts’an
If you run away from the Void, you can be never free from it;
if you search for the Void, you can never reach it.
- Niu-tou Fa-yung
26
Some Final Quotes
The deepest truth cannot, like other objects of
study, be put into words: from long intercourse
and close intimacy with the facts, it comes
suddenly into existence… – Plato.
Be still, and know that I am God. – Psalms.
Those who know don’t speak – those who speak
don’t know. – Zen.
27
Thank You
Ivan Frimmel
Cell: 082-454-0311
E-mail: ivan.frimmel@nanhua.co.za
28