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FORMLESS, EMPTINESS, MYSTERY
World Scripture
FORMLESS, EMPTINESS, MYSTERY
This section treats Ultimate Reality as a mystery, not a thing that can be
defined by form or a concept of being. In the monotheistic religions, God is
beyond any human concept, hidden, and inscrutable: 'My thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.' The prohibition of images is a
statement about the utter transcendence of God, for to make an idol to
represent God is to reduce the infinite to finitude. Buddhism, Hinduism,
Jainism, and Taoism affirm the ineffability of Ultimate Reality in their
assertions that no words or intellection can properly convey its nature. It is
beyond all duality, e.g., all attempts to think of it as a "thing" separate
from other things. Its nature is emptiness.
Emptiness in the eastern religions should never be misunderstood as a cognitive
statement about Reality--such a statement or its referent is a "thing" and
cannot itself be empty. Rather, as the Buddhist scholar Edward Conze writes,
Emptiness is not a theory, but a ladder that reaches out into the
infinite. A ladder is not there to be discussed, but to be
climbed.... It is a practical concept, and it embodies an
aspiration, not a view. Its only use is to help us to get rid of
this world and of the ignorance which binds us to it. It has not
only one meaning, but several, which can unfold themselves on the
successive stages of the actual process of transcending the world
through wisdom. Not everyone, of course, is meant to understand
what emptiness means. In that case it is better to pass on to
something else.1
Truly Thou art a God who hidest Thyself.
1. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah
45.15
Invent not similitudes for God; for God knows, and you know not.
2. Islam. Qur'an 16.74
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
3. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 55.8-9
No vision can grasp Him,
But His grasp is over all vision;
He is above all comprehension,
Yet is acquainted with all things.
4. . Islam. Qur'an 6.103
Can you find out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?
It is higher than heaven--what can you do?
Deeper than Sheol--what can you know?
Its measure is longer than the earth,
and broader than the sea.
5. . Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Job
11.7-9
We raise to degrees of wisdom whom We please; but over all endued with
knowledge is One, the All-knowing.
6. Islam. Qur'an 12.76
At this time the World-honored One serenely arose from meditation and addressed
Shariputra, "The wisdom of all the Buddhas is infinitely profound and
immeasurable. The portal to this wisdom is difficult to understand and
difficult to enter. Neither men of learning nor men of realization are able to
comprehend it."
7. . Buddhism. Lotus Sutra 2
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1 Conze, Selected Sayings from the Perfection of Wisdom (Boulder: Prajna Press,
1978) 24. Isaiah 55.8-9: Cf. 1 Corinthians 1.20-25, p. 798. Lotus Sutra 2:
'men of learning' are shravakas who rightly understand the Four Noble Truths
and who attain arhatship. 'men of realization' are pratyekabuddhas who rightly
understand the twelve links of causation and who attain pratyekabuddhahood
through solitary effort and meditation. This sutra was composed in a period of
rivalry among the various schools of Buddhism. The Buddha goes on to say that
the only way to enter the door is by faith.
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If you think that you know well the truth of Brahman, know that you know
little. What you think to be Brahman in your self, or what you think to be
Brahman in the gods--that is not Brahman. What is indeed the truth of Brahman
you must therefore learn.
I cannot say that I know Brahman fully. Nor can I say that I know Him not. He
among us knows Him best who understands the spirit of the words, "Nor do I know
that I know Him not."
He truly knows Brahman who knows Him as beyond knowledge; he who thinks that he
knows, knows not. The ignorant think that Brahman is known, but the wise know
Him to be beyond knowledge.
8. Hinduism. Kena Upanishad 2.1-3
All praise and glory is due the Lord, whose worth cannot be described even by
the greatest rhetoricians of all times... None can fully understand or explain
His Being however hard he may try. Reason and sagacity cannot visualize Him.
Intelligence, understanding, and attainment cannot attain the depths of
knowledge to study and scrutinize the Godhead. Human faculties of conception,
perception and learning, and attributes of volition, intuition and apprehension
cannot catch sight of His Person or fathom the extent of His might and glory.
His attributes cannot be fixed, limited or defined. There do not exist words
in any language to specify or define His qualities, peculiarities,
characteristics or singularities.
9. Islam (Shiite). Nahjul Balagha, Khutba 1
I asked the Messenger of God, "Did you see thy Lord?" He said, "He is a Light;
how could I see Him?"
10. Islam. Hadith of Muslim
Verily, there exist seventy thousand veils of light and darkness before God. If
He were to lift them, the light of the Majesty of His countenance would consume
all of creation within sight.
11. Islam. Hadith
God is formless. If you think He is big, He is infinite, and if you think He
is small, He is infinitesimal.
12. Unification Church. Sun Myung Moon,
10-13-70
The eye cannot see it; the mind cannot grasp it.
The deathless Self has neither caste nor race,
Neither eyes nor ears nor hands nor feet.
Sages say this Self is infinite in the great
And in the small, everlasting and changeless,
The source of life.
13. Hinduism. Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.6
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Kena Upanishad 2.1-3: Cf. 1 Corinthians 8.1-3, p. 796; Diamond Sutra 21, p.
800; Sirach 24.26-27, p. 806. Nahjul Balagha: Cf. 1 Corinthians 1.20-25, p.
798. Hadith: On the notion that God is the transcendent and veiled center, see
also Katha Upanishad 2.3.7-8, p. 93; 3.13, p. 840; Ezekiel 1.3-28, pp. 100f.;
Zohar, p. 324.
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In the beginning was God,
Today is God
Tomorrow will be God.
Who can make an image of God?
He has no body.
He is as a word which comes out of your mouth.
That word! It is no more,
It is past, and still it lives!
So is God.
14. African Traditional Religions. Pygmy Hymn
(Zaire)
Moses said, "I pray thee, show me thy glory." And [the Lord] said, "I will
make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you my name 'The
Lord'; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy
on whom I will show mercy." "But," he said, "you cannot see my face; for man
shall not see me and live." And the Lord said, "Behold, there is a place by me
where you shall stand upon the rock; and while my glory passes by I will put
you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have
passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my
face shall not be seen."
15. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Exodus
33.18-23
Moses said to God, "Show me now thy ways" (Exodus 33.13). And He showed them
to him, as it is said, "He made known His ways unto Moses" (Psalm 103.7). Then
Moses said, "Show me now thy glory" (Exodus 33.18), that is, "the attributes
wherewith thou governest the world." Then God said, "Thou canst not comprehend
my attributes."
16. Judaism. Midrash, Psalm 25.4
The Formless is Attributed and Unattributed,
And gone into absorption in the cosmic Void.
Himself has He made creation; Himself on it meditates.
In the cosmic Void is he absorbed,
Where plays the unstruck mystic music--
Beyond expression is this miraculous wonder.
17. Sikhism. Adi Granth, Gauri Sukhmani 21;
23.1, M.5, pp. 290, 293
The way that can be spoken of
Is not the eternal Way;
The name that can be named
Is not the eternal name.
The nameless was the beginning of heaven and earth;
The named was the mother of the myriad creatures.
Hence always rid yourself of desire in order to observe its secrets;
But always allow yourself to have desires in order to observe its
manifestations.
These two are the same
But diverge in name as they issue forth.
Being the same they are called mysteries,
Mystery upon mystery--
The gateway of the manifold secrets.
18. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 1
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Midrash on Psalms: The true nature of God is beyond any of his attributes as
humanly conceived; cf. The Kaddish, pp. 53f. Gauri Sukhmani: On the music of
the spheres, see Qur'an 71.15, p. 325.
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You look at it, but it is not to be seen;
Its name is Formless.
You listen to it, but it is not to be heard;
Its name is Soundless.
You grasp it, but it is not to be held;
Its name is Bodiless.
These three elude all scrutiny,
And hence they blend and become one.
Its upper side is not bright;
Its under side is not dimmed.
Continuous, unceasing, and unnameable,
It reverts to nothingness.
It is called formless form, thingless image;
It is called the elusive, the evasive.
Confronting it, you do not see its face;
Following it, you do not see its back.
Yet by holding fast to this Way of old,
You can harness the events of the present,
You can know the beginnings of the past--
Here is the essence of the Way.
19. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 14
All voices get reflected there in the Supreme Soul (Paramatman). There is no
reason; the intellect fails to grasp him. He is one and alone, bodiless and
the Knower. He is neither long nor short, nor a circle nor a triangle, nor a
quadrilateral nor a sphere. He is neither black nor blue nor red nor yellow
nor white. He is neither a pleasant smell nor an unpleasant smell. He is
neither pungent nor bitter nor astringent nor sour nor sweet. He is neither
hard nor soft, neither heavy nor light, neither cold nor hot, neither rough nor
smooth. He is bodiless. He is not subject to birth. He is free from
attachment. He is neither female nor male nor neuter. He is immaculate
knowledge and intuition. There exists no simile to comprehend him. He is
formless existence. He is what baffles all terminology. There is no word to
comprehend him. He is neither sound nor form nor odor nor taste nor touch.
Only so much I say.
20. Jainism. Acarangasutra 5.123-40
The capacity of the mind is as great as that of space. It is infinite, neither
round nor square, neither great nor small, neither green nor yellow, neither
red nor white, neither above nor below, neither long nor short, neither angry
nor happy, neither right nor wrong, neither good nor evil, neither first nor
last. All universes are as void as space. Intrinsically our transcendental
nature is void and not a single thing can be attained. It is the same with the
Essence of Mind, which is a state of Absolute Void.
21. Buddhism. Sutra of Hui Neng 2
Reversion is the action of Tao.
Weakness is the function of Tao.
All things in the world came from being;
And being comes from non-being.
22. Taoism. Tao Te Ching 40
Here, O Shariputra, form is emptiness, and the very emptiness is form;
emptiness does not differ from form, form does not differ from emptiness;
whatever is form, that is emptiness, whatever is emptiness, that is form. The
same is true of feelings, perceptions, impulses, consciousness.
23. Buddhism. Heart Sutra
Vimalakirti, "Manjusri, all worlds are empty."
Manjusri, "What makes them empty?"
"They are empty because [their ultimate reality is] emptiness."
"What is 'empty' about emptiness?"
"Constructions are empty, because of emptiness."
"Can emptiness be conceptually constructed?"
"Even that concept is itself empty, and emptiness cannot construct emptiness."
24. Buddhism. Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti 5
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Tao Te Ching 1: The 'way,' that is, the Tao. Acarangasutra 5.123-40: This is
the fundamental statement of Mahavira's enlightenment. In Jainism, the Supreme
Soul is not God, but rather the condition of the liberated human soul, which in
liberation becomes eternal, infinite, blissful, omniscient, and supreme in all
the cosmos. Cf. Niyamasara 176-77, p. 226; Pancastikaya 170, p. 197. Sutra of
Hui Neng 2: Cf. Mumonkan 33, p. 899. Tao Te Ching 40: Cf. Chuang Tzu 12, pp.
589. Heart Sutra: This famous and enigmatic statement declares that all
material phenomena are relative existences. Even emptiness itself is, if
considered as a separate thing, a relative existence. At the same time, all
material phenomena in their relativity participate in emptiness. The complete
sutra is given on pp. 598f. Cf. Katha Upanishad 2.1.10-11, p. 588. Holy
Teaching of Vimalakirti 5: This is a conversation between Vimalakirti, who is a
wealthy lay Buddhist well versed in Mahayana teachings, and Manjusri, one of
the great Bodhisattvas. The doctrine of emptiness (sunyata) is too profound for
words; to describe it leads only to an infinite regress. This sutra is a
favorite of lay Buddhists as Vimalakirti, the layman, excels all the monks and
bodhisattvas in wisdom. Cf. Diamond Sutra 21, p. 800; Lankavatara Sutra 61, pp.
634f.; Mumonkan 33, p. 899.
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As long as there is duality, one sees "the other," one hears "the other," one
smells "the other," one speaks to "the other," one thinks of "the other," one
knows "the other"; but when for the illumined soul the all is dissolved in the
Self, who is there to be seen by whom, who is there to be smelled by whom, who
is there to be heard by whom, who is there to be spoken to by whom, who is
there to be thought of by whom, who is there to be known by whom? Ah,
Maitreyi, my beloved, the Intelligence which reveals all--by what shall it be
revealed? By whom shall the Knower be known? The Self is described as "not
this, not that" (neti, neti). It is incomprehensible, for it cannot be
comprehended; undecaying, for it never decays; unattached, for it never
attaches itself; unbound, for it is never bound. By whom, O my beloved, shall
the Knower be known?
25. Hinduism. Bhrihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5.15
What is never cast off, seized, interrupted, constant, extinguished, and
produced--this is called Nirvana.
Indeed, Nirvana is not strictly in the nature of ordinary existence for, if it
were, there would wrongly follow the characteristics of old age and death.
For, such an existence cannot be without those characteristics.
If Nirvana is strictly in the nature of ordinary existence, it would be of the
created realm. For, no ordinary existence of the uncreated realm ever exists
anywhere at all.
If Nirvana is strictly in the nature of ordinary existence, why is it
non-appropriating? For, no ordinary existence that is non-appropriating ever
exists.
If Nirvana is not strictly in the nature of ordinary existence, how could what
is in the nature of non-existence be Nirvana? Where there is no existence,
equally so, there can be no non-existence.
If Nirvana is in the nature of non-existence, why is it non-appropriating? For,
indeed, a non-appropriating non-existence does not prevail.
The status of the birth-death cycle is due to existential grasping [of the
skandhas] and relational condition [of the being]. That which is non-grasping
and non-relational is taught as Nirvana.
The Teacher has taught the abandonment of the concepts of being and non-being.
Therefore, Nirvana is properly neither [in the realm of] existence nor
non-existence.
If Nirvana is [in the realm of] both existence and non-existence, then
liberation will also be both. But that is not proper.
If Nirvana is [in the realm of] both existence and non-existence, it will not
be non-appropriating. For, both realms are always in the process of
appropriating.
How could Nirvana be [in the realm of] both existence and non-existence?
Nirvana is of the uncreated realm while existence and non-existence are of the
created realm.
How could Nirvana be [in the realm of] both existence and non-existence? Both
cannot be together in one place just as the situation is with light and
darkness.
The proposition that Nirvana is neither existence nor non-existence could only
be valid if and when the realms of existence and non-existence are established.
If indeed Nirvana is asserted to be neither existence nor non-existence, then
by what means are the assertions to be known?
It cannot be said that the Blessed One exists after nirodha (release from
worldly desires). Nor can it be said that He does not exist after nirodha, or
both, or neither.
It cannot be said that the Blessed One even exists in the present living
process. Nor can it be said that He does not exist in the present living
process, or both, or neither.
Samsara (the empirical life-death cycle) is nothing essentially different from
Nirvana. Nirvana is nothing essentially different from Samsara.
The limits of Nirvana are the limits of Samsara. Between the two, also, there
is not the slightest difference whatsoever.
The various views concerning the status of life after nirodha, the limits of
the world, the concept of permanence, etc., are all based on [such concepts as]
Nirvana, posterior and anterior states of existence.
Since all factors of existence are in the nature of Emptiness (sunya), why
assert the finite, the infinite, both finite and Infinite, and neither finite
nor infinite?
Why assert the identity, difference, permanence, impermanence, both permanence
and impermanence, or neither permanence nor impermanence?
All acquisitions [i.e., grasping] as well as play of concepts [i.e., symbolic
representation] are basically in the nature of cessation and quiescence. Any
factor of experience with regards to anyone at any place was never taught by
the Buddha.
26. Buddhism. Nagarjuna, Mulamadhyamaka Karika
25
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Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.5.15: This is the classic statement of the via
negativa, as the seeker gradually strips away all relative phenomena,
descending ever deeper into darkness. Through such an emptying of the soul,
perhaps the Absolute may be found. Cf. Chuang Tzu 2, p. 181. Mulamadhyamaka
Karika 25: In this well-known passage, Nagarjuna sets forth a logical argument
for the identity of Nirvana (unconditioned existence) and Samsara (the world of
changing, relative and interdependent phenomena). Cf. Heart Sutra, p. 589f.;
Lankavatara Sutra 78, p 182; Milarepa, p. 587.
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