Twenty Types of Emptiness in Mahayana Dharma

In Volume 51 of the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, the Buddha states that Mahayana has twenty kinds of emptiness that Bodhisattvas should cultivate and study. They are: inner emptiness, outer emptiness, inner and outer emptiness, emptiness of emptiness, great emptiness, ultimate emptiness, emptiness of the conditioned, emptiness of the unconditioned, ultimate emptiness, boundless emptiness, dispersed emptiness, unchangeable emptiness, essential nature emptiness, self-characteristic emptiness, common characteristic emptiness, emptiness of all dharmas, unobtainable emptiness, natureless emptiness, self-nature emptiness, and non-nature self-nature emptiness. The emptiness of conventional dharmas refers to non-existence, absence, non-being, and unobtainability. The emptiness of the tathāgatagarbha's self-nature refers to the emptiness that is devoid of all characteristics of conventional dharmas; it differs from conventional dharmas, as its essence truly exists and is real. However, it is not cognized in the same way conventional dharmas are cognized. Attempting to cognize the emptiness of the tathāgatagarbha using the method for cognizing conventional dharmas will lead to incorrect cognition and frequent misinterpretation. The meanings of the twenty kinds of emptiness are briefly explained as follows:

Inner emptiness means the emptiness of the inner dharmas: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind. Outer emptiness means the emptiness of the outer dharmas: form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas (mental objects). Inner and outer emptiness means the emptiness of 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, south, west, north, the four intermediate directions, up, and down.

Ultimate emptiness means the emptiness of nirvāṇa. Why is nirvāṇa empty? Because nirvāṇa is merely a state of quiescence manifested by the essence of the tathāgatagarbha. A state is certainly not a true dharma, especially since it is revealed by the tathāgatagarbha. Do not confuse nirvāṇa with the essence of the tathāgatagarbha; one is illusory, the other is real.

Emptiness of the conditioned means the emptiness of the three realms: the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. The three realms are fabricated; therefore, they are conditioned. Dharmas that arise from non-existence are naturally empty. Emptiness of the unconditioned means the emptiness of phenomena without arising, abiding, changing, or ceasing. That is to say, the phenomena of arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing are empty, and the phenomena without arising, abiding, changing, or ceasing are manifested and are also empty. Existence and non-existence are merely nominal designations, mere verbal expressions, hence empty. Ultimate emptiness means that ultimately, all dharmas are unobtainable; this unobtainability is empty. Both obtainability and unobtainability are without substance, mere conceptual proliferation; therefore, it is empty.

Boundless emptiness means that for all dharmas, there is no obtainable beginning, middle, or end; no obtainable coming or going. The beginning, middle, and end of events occurring, developing, and changing are unobtainable; this unobtainability is empty. The idea that all dharmas have an obtainable beginning, middle, and end is empty; the idea of unobtainability is also empty. The idea that all dharmas have coming and going, development, and change is empty. For example, the past, present, and future lives of sentient beings are empty; the absence of coming and going is also empty. All phenomena, characteristics, and states are empty.

Dispersed emptiness means that the phenomena of dispersion, disintegration, and abandonment of all dharmas are empty; both coming together and dispersing are empty. Unchangeable emptiness means that phenomena of non-change, non-alteration, non-dispersion, non-disintegration, and non-abandonment are empty. Both change and non-change are empty, mere conceptual proliferation. Essential nature emptiness means that the essential nature of all dharmas is empty. Whether it is the nature of the conditioned or the unconditioned, it is not fabricated by Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Śrāvakas, or Pratyekabuddhas, nor is it fabricated by ordinary beings. Since no one fabricates it, it is empty.

Self-characteristic emptiness means that the self-characteristic of all dharmas is empty. For example, the self-characteristic of the form aggregate is resistance, which is empty; the self-characteristic of the feeling aggregate is reception, which is empty; the self-characteristic of the perception aggregate is grasping at appearances, which is empty; the self-characteristic of the formations aggregate is volitional activity, which is empty; the self-characteristic of the consciousness aggregate is discrimination, which is empty. In this way, the self-characteristics of conditioned dharmas or the self-characteristics of unconditioned dharmas are all empty.

Common characteristic emptiness means that the common characteristics of all dharmas are empty. For example, the common characteristic of contaminated dharmas is suffering, which is empty; the common characteristic of conditioned dharmas is impermanence, which is empty; the common characteristic of all dharmas is emptiness and selflessness, which is empty. Thus, the emptiness of the five aggregates and selflessness realized by Arhats is empty; the twelve links of dependent origination realized by Pratyekabuddhas is also empty. All dharmas also have innumerable common characteristics, all of which are empty. All dharmas, whether self-characteristics or common characteristics, are empty.

Emptiness of all dharmas means that the five aggregates, the twelve sense bases, and the eighteen elements, whether with form or without form, whether visible or invisible, whether resistant or non-resistant, whether contaminated or uncontaminated, whether conditioned or unconditioned, are all empty.

Unobtainable emptiness means that all dharmas are unobtainable, and even this unobtainability is empty and unobtainable. All dharmas, including past, present, and future dharmas, are unobtainable. If one bases oneself on the past, there is no present or future to be obtained; if one bases oneself on the future, there is no present or past to be obtained; if one bases oneself on the present, there is no past or future to be obtained. These unobtainabilities are also empty.

Natureless emptiness means that all dharmas have no nature or attributes whatsoever, and this very naturelessness is also empty. For example, water has no water-nature or non-water-nature, no wetness, softness, hardness, fluidity, etc.; it has no nature at all, and this naturelessness is also empty. For example, the five aggregates have no five-aggregate-nature, no non-five-aggregate-nature, no nature at all, and this naturelessness is also empty.

Self-nature emptiness means the emptiness of the self-nature of dharmas, the emptiness of self-mastery, and the emptiness of the nature that produces the self through combination. Non-nature self-nature emptiness means that the lack of self-governance and lack of mastery in dharmas is empty; the quality of dharmas being governed is also empty. That is, the combinative nature of dharmas is empty, and the combined nature is also empty.

All dharmas, whether having nature, lacking nature, self-nature, or other-nature, are all empty. Emptiness of having nature means that the nature of the five aggregates' existence is empty. Emptiness of lacking nature means that the unconditioned nature of dharmas is empty. Self-nature emptiness means that all dharmas lack self-nature; this emptiness is not accomplished by wisdom, not accomplished by view, nor accomplished by any other dharma. Other-nature emptiness means that whether Buddhas appear in the world or not, all dharmas, their abiding, their fixity, their nature, their realm, their equality, their transcendence of arising, their suchness, their non-falseness, their unchangeability, their ultimate reality, are all empty due to other-nature.

In summary, whatever is spoken has no real meaning; whatever is known or seen has no real meaning; whatever is indicated has no real meaning; whatever is conceived has no real meaning; whatever is thought or fabricated has no real meaning; whatever is conceived as a dharma has no real meaning. Everything is empty all the way through, until reaching that which can no longer be emptied; only that is the non-empty emptiness. Apart from this, all is empty.