Adhyātma śūnyatā
adhyātma śūnyatā (T. nang stong pa nyid; C. nei kong 空). Translated as "internal emptiness", "inner emptiness", "emptiness of the inner", etc.[1][2] One of the sixteen types of emptiness.[1]
The lack of the inherent existence (svabhāva) of the six inner sense bases, such as the eye base, and so forth.[1]
The Madhyamakāvatāra states:[3]
Since it has no inherent nature,
The eye is empty of the eye.
Ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind
Are all described as being the same. (181)
They do not remain; they do not cease.
Therefore, the eye and the rest that are the six inner ones
Are things that have no inherent nature at all.
This is the “emptiness of the inner.” (182)
The Garland of Radiant Light states:
The eye and the remaining five inner sense sources encounter, or take in, outer objects. They have no essential establishment. From this perspective, one speaks of (1) "emptiness of the inner."[4]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2
ནང་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
- ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Lists of Lists, "sixteen emptinesses".
- ↑ Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso 2003, Appendix 3.
- ↑ Dharmachakra Translation Committee 2007, "The Characteristics of Emptiness".
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University
Dharmachakra Translation Committee (2007), Middle Beyond Extremes: Maitreya's Madhyantavibhaga with Commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham, Snow Lion Publications- Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso (2003), The Sun of Wisdom, translated by Ari Goldfield, Shambhala