The Twenty Emptinesses of the Mahāyāna Dharma

In Volume 51 of the Great Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, the Buddha taught that the Great Vehicle has twenty kinds of emptiness, which bodhisattvas should study and cultivate: inner emptiness, outer emptiness, inner-and-outer emptiness, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, emptiness of ultimate reality, emptiness of the conditioned, emptiness of the unconditioned, ultimate emptiness, emptiness of the boundless, emptiness of dispersion, emptiness of no change, emptiness of intrinsic nature, emptiness of self-characteristics, emptiness of common characteristics, emptiness of all dharmas, emptiness of the unattainable, emptiness of non-nature, emptiness of self-nature, and emptiness of the self-nature of non-nature. The emptiness of worldly dharmas refers to nonexistence, absence, nonbeing, and unattainability; the emptiness of the self-nature tathāgatagarbha refers to that kind of emptiness which is devoid of all marks of worldly dharmas. It is different from worldly dharmas: its essence exists and truly is, only it is not cognized in the way worldly dharmas are cognized. If one tries to cognize the emptiness of the tathāgatagarbha by the way of cognizing worldly dharmas, one cannot cognize it correctly and will often misinterpret it. The meanings of the twenty kinds of emptiness are explained roughly as follows:

Inner emptiness means the emptiness of the inner dharmas of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Outer emptiness means the emptiness of the outer dharmas of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. Inner-and-outer emptiness means the emptiness of the inner and outer dharmas—the inner six sense bases and the outer six sense bases.

Emptiness of emptiness means that all dharmas are entirely empty, and this emptiness itself is also empty. Great emptiness means the emptiness of the ten directions—east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, up, and down.

Emptiness of ultimate reality means the emptiness of nirvāṇa. Why is nirvāṇa empty? Because nirvāṇa is merely a state of tranquility manifested by the essence of the tathāgatagarbha; a state, of course, is not a real dharma, let alone one that is revealed and displayed by the tathāgatagarbha. Do not confuse nirvāṇa with the essence of the tathāgatagarbha, failing to distinguish them; of the two, one is unreal and one is real.

Emptiness of the conditioned means the emptiness of the three realms of the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. The three realms are created and produced, and are therefore conditioned; dharmas that arise from nonexistence into existence are naturally empty. Emptiness of the unconditioned means the emptiness of those phenomena without arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing; that is, the phenomena of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing are empty, and the phenomena without arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing are manifested and are also empty. Existence and nonexistence are merely provisionally established dharmas, mere verbal expression. Ultimate emptiness means that all dharmas are ultimately unattainable, and this unattainability is empty. Attainability and unattainability are both without any such thing—mere conceptual proliferation (prapañca)—and therefore are empty.

Emptiness of the boundless means that in all dharmas there is no past limit, no present limit, and no future limit to be attained, and no limit of coming and going to be attained; the past, present, and future limits of the occurrence, development, and change of things are unattainable, and this unattainability is empty. That all dharmas have attainable past, present, and future limits is empty; unattainability is also empty; that all dharmas have limits of coming and going, development, and change is empty. For example, sentient beings' past, present, and future lives are empty, and the absence of limits of coming and going is also empty; all phenomena, properties, and states whatsoever are empty.

Emptiness of dispersion means that the phenomena of all dharmas—disintegration, scattering and breaking apart, and abandonment—are empty; both gathering and dispersing are empty. Emptiness of no change means that not altering, not changing, not dispersing, not breaking apart, and not abandoning—these phenomena are empty. Both change and non-change are empty; both are conceptual proliferation. Emptiness of intrinsic nature means that the intrinsic nature of all dharmas is empty; whether it is the conditioned dharma-nature or the unconditioned dharma-nature, it is neither created by the Buddhas, bodhisattvas, śrāvakas, and pratyekabuddhas, nor created by ordinary beings—no one creates it—and therefore it is empty.

Emptiness of self-characteristics means that the self-characteristics of all dharmas are empty. For example, the self-characteristic of the aggregate of form is material impediment, and this is empty; the self-characteristic of the aggregate of feeling is experiencing, and this is empty; the self-characteristic of the aggregate of perception is grasping images, and this is empty; the self-characteristic of the aggregate of volitional formations is action and creation, and this is empty; the self-characteristic of the aggregate of consciousness is discernment, and this is empty. Self-characteristics such as these, whether of conditioned dharmas or of unconditioned dharmas, are all empty.

Emptiness of common characteristics means that the common characteristics of all dharmas are empty. For example, the common characteristic of defiled dharmas is suffering, and this is empty; the common characteristic of conditioned dharmas is impermanence, and this is empty; the common characteristic of all dharmas is emptiness and selflessness, and this is empty. From this it can be seen that the emptiness of the five aggregates and selflessness realized by arhats is empty, and the twelve links of dependent origination realized by pratyekabuddhas is also empty. All dharmas have countless other common characteristics, and all of them are empty; all dharmas, whether their self-characteristics or their common characteristics, are all empty.

Emptiness of all dharmas means that the dharmas of the five aggregates, the twelve sense bases, and the eighteen elements—whether with form or without form, whether visible or invisible, whether with resistance or without resistance, whether defiled or undefiled, whether conditioned or unconditioned—are all empty.

Emptiness of the unattainable means that all dharmas are unattainable, and even this unattainability is empty and unattainable. All dharmas, including the dharmas of the past, present, and future, are unattainable. If one takes a stand on the past, there is no present or future to be attained; if one takes a stand on the future, there is no present or past to be attained; if one takes a stand on the present, there is no past or future to be attained—and these unattainabilities are also empty. 

Emptiness of non-nature means that all dharmas have no properties or attributes whatsoever, and this non-nature is also empty. For example, water has no water-nature and no non-water-nature, no wetness or softness, no hardness or motility, and so on—no nature at all—and this non-nature is also empty. For example, the five aggregates have no five-aggregate nature and no non-five-aggregate nature, no nature whatsoever, and this non-nature is also empty.

Emptiness of self-nature means that the self-essence nature of all dharmas is empty, the nature of self-mastery and self-determination is empty, and the nature of being able to combine and produce a self-essence is empty. Emptiness of the self-nature of non-nature means that the non-autonomy and non-self-mastery of all dharmas is empty, and the being-determined-by-others of all dharmas is also empty; that is, the combining capacity of dharmas is empty, and the being-combined of dharmas is also empty.

The existence, nonexistence, self-nature, and other-nature of all dharmas are all empty. Emptiness of existence means that the nature of the existence of the five aggregates is empty. Emptiness of nonexistence means that the unconditioned nature of all dharmas is empty. Emptiness of self-nature means that all dharmas have no self-essence nature; this emptiness is not accomplished by wisdom, not accomplished by view, nor accomplished by any other dharma. Emptiness of other-nature means that whether a Buddha appears in the world or does not appear in the world, the abiding of dharmas, the definiteness of dharmas, the dharma-nature, the dharma-realm, the nature of equality, the nature of liberation from birth, suchness (tathatā), non-falsity, non-changeability, and the limit of reality (bhūtakoṭi)—all are empty by reason of other-nature.

In short, wherever there is verbal expression, there is no real meaning; wherever there is knowledge and view, there is no real meaning; wherever there is indication, there is no real meaning; wherever there is a notion, there is no real meaning; wherever there is thinking and fabrication, there is no real meaning; wherever there is a perception of dharmas, there is no real meaning. Empty it all the way to the very end, until reaching that which can no longer be emptied—only that is the emptiness that is not empty; apart from it, everything is empty.