Empty
Suñña Sutta (SN 35:85)
Then Ven. Ānanda went to the Blessed One and on arrival, having bowed down to him, sat to one side. As he was sitting there he said to the Blessed One, “It is said that ‘the world is empty, the world is empty,’ lord. In what respect is it said that ‘the world is empty?’”
“Insofar as it is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self: Thus it is said, Ānanda, that ‘the world is empty.’1 And what is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self? The eye is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self. Forms… Eye-consciousness… Eye-contact is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self. And whatever there is that arises in dependence on eye-contact—experienced as pleasure, pain or neither-pleasure-nor-pain—that too is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self.
“The ear is empty.…
“The nose is empty.…
“The tongue is empty.…
“The body is empty.…
“The intellect is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self. Ideas… Intellect-consciousness… Intellect-contact is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self. And whatever there is that arises in dependence on intellect-contact—experienced as pleasure, pain or neither-pleasure-nor-pain—that too is empty of a self or of anything pertaining to a self.
“Thus it is said that ‘the world is empty.’”
Note
1. This passage is sometimes interpreted as an implicit statement that there is no self. However, it has to be understood in the context of three other passages: In SN 35:82, the Buddha defines “world” as the six senses, their objects, the contact between them, and whatever arises based on that contact. In AN 4:173, Ven. Sāriputta states that, with the fading and cessation of the six media of contact, one should not ask whether there is or isn’t anything left, as such questions apply the categories of objectification to what is non-objectified. In SN 35:117, the Buddha insists that the dimension where the six sense media cease and fade should nevertheless be experienced. Thus “world” here covers only the part of experience that can be described. Beyond that range, perceptions of “self” and “not-self” do not and cannot apply.
See also: MN 2; MN 121; SN 5:10; SN 12:15; SN 44:10; Ud 1:10; Sn 5:15
