The Distinction between "Empty by Nature" and "Emptiness (śūnyatā)"

What is emptiness? Emptiness is nothingness; first, it represents no object, no dharma, no mark, no mind, no activity; second, it represents non-abiding and nothing attained.

The meaning of "empty by nature" is that the nature of a certain dharma is empty—no object, no dharma, no mark, no mind, no activity, and also non-abiding with nothing attained. Which dharma has a nature that is empty like this? One must look among the eight mind-bodies. Although the seven deluded consciousnesses have no object, no dharma, and no mark, they do have mind, do have activity, do have abiding, and do have attainment; therefore they are not empty by nature. The nature of the eighth consciousness is no object, no dharma, no mark, no mind, no activity, non-abiding, and nothing attained; the mind does not hang on a single object, does not attach to a single dharma, and within the mind-body there are no dharmas at all—no wisdom and nothing attained. Therefore the eighth consciousness is empty by nature.

Being empty by nature represents virtue; an empty mind is virtue. What people in the world call a "great virtuous one" (dade) mostly refers to a person of the Way who has realized emptiness, whose mind is empty and without objects. Why is being empty by nature and having an empty mind virtue? Because emptiness is the most powerful; no thing, matter, or principle can surpass emptiness, and none can defeat emptiness. Since the mind is empty, what could surpass emptiness? Nothing. Emptiness is the highest and greatest, transcending everything; all people, things, and affairs cannot be compared with emptiness. Therefore emptiness is virtue. A person with an empty mind is worthy of offerings from humans and devas, worthy of their admiration and respect.

The "nature" in "emptiness of nature" sometimes refers to the mind-body. For example, "self-nature" (svabhāva)—in ancient times people generally used the term "self-nature" to represent the unborn and unceasing fundamental conscious mind, the eighth consciousness, which has its own independent nature and function and is not swayed by other dharmas. The most obvious example is the Sixth Patriarch, who frequently kept the word "self-nature" on his lips. "Emptiness of nature" is similar to "self-nature," meaning that a certain dharma possesses the nature of emptiness—and this can only refer to the mind-body of the eighth consciousness. The subject is the omitted eighth consciousness, and the predicate is "emptiness of nature," directly representing the substance of the eighth consciousness.