Lecture Notes on the Sūtra of the Collection of the Father and Son (51)

The Characteristics of the Realm of Empty Space

Original text: 大王。若色变坏。一切皆空。所以者何。是虚空界。本无尽故。安静不动。犹如涅槃。遍一切处。无有障碍。

Explanation: Great King, when material form (rūpa) decays and is destroyed, it becomes empty nothingness — this is the realm of empty space. Why is it that when material form disappears, everything becomes empty? Because the realm of empty space has no end and no boundaries, everything can become empty. And empty space is by nature tranquil and unmoving, neither arising nor ceasing, neither increasing nor decreasing, like the nature of nirvāṇa. Empty space pervades all places, and there is no dharma that can obstruct it.

When things are destroyed, they become empty space. For example, when a house is demolished, that spot entirely becomes empty space; when the earth is destroyed, the place where the earth was entirely becomes empty space; when the trichiliocosm (three-thousandfold great world system) is destroyed, the entire trichiliocosm becomes empty space, with nothing at all within that empty space.

Empty space is tranquil and unmoving. Why is it unmoving? Because it is a false construct of no-thing-ness. Material objects are also false, yet objects can be moved, whereas no one can move empty space even a little. If a very tall building is erected in empty space, can it displace the empty space? Empty space does not move; no one can move empty space, because empty space has no substance and no boundaries — how could it be moved? There is no material form within empty space; it is nothing at all, sheer emptiness. We constantly need empty space and emptiness in order to move our bodies and place objects, because empty space has no obstructions, and sentient beings need this quality of non-obstruction for moving about and storing things.

Some people say that air is also empty and should, like empty space, be boundless and immovable. But in fact there is a great difference between air and empty space. On the surface, air also appears to be without substance — invisible and untouchable — yet instruments can detect the presence or absence of air. Air does contain matter: it holds the various gases we need, all of which are material forms composed of the four great elements, and therefore air can flow. What sentient beings need from air is, above all, the oxygen within it.