Abhāva svabhāva śūnyatā
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abhāva svabhāva śūnyatā (T. dngos po med pa’i ngo bo nyid stong pa nyid; C. wuzixing zixing kong 無自性自性空). Translated as "emptiness of the nature of nonexistence", "emptiness of reality of that which lacks true existence", etc.[1][2] One of the sixteen types of emptiness, according to the Madhyamakāvatāra and other texts.[1]
The Madhyamakāvatāra states:
Since things arise from causes and conditions,
They are mere collections that have no essence.
This nonexistence of collections is empty of itself,
And this is the “emptiness of an essence in the nonexistence of things.” (218)[3]
Jeffrey Hopkins' Tibetan-Sanskrit Dictionary states:
- Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen explains that this means the emptiness that is the ultimate nature which is the opposite of non-entities, or conventionalities (kun rdzob las bzlog pa don dam pa'i ngo bo nyid). Non-entities here are imputational natures which include other-powered natures and thus are all conventionalities. In Gelugpa explanations, this emptiness is the emptiness of the nature of non-entities, that is to say, the emptiness of the inherent existence of non-things, or non-products.[1]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2
dngos po med pa’i ngo bo nyid stong pa nyid , Christian-Steinert Dictionary
- ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Lists of Lists, "sixteen emptinesses".
- ↑ Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso 2003, Appendix 3.
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso (2003), The Sun of Wisdom, translated by Ari Goldfield, Shambhala