Śūnyatā, translated most often as "emptiness", "vacuity", and sometimes "voidness", or "nothingness" is an Indian philosophical concept. In Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and other philosophical strands, the concept has multiple meanings depending on its doctrinal context. It is either an ontological feature of reality, a meditative state, or a phenomenological analysis of experience.
A simile from the Pali scriptures (SN 22.95) compares form and feelings with foam and bubbles.
Sea froth at sunset
In the Prajñaparamita sutras, the emptiness of phenomena is often illustrated by metaphors like drops of dew.
Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva, two classic Indian philosophers of the Buddhist emptiness doctrine
Indian philosophy consists of philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. A traditional Hindu classification divides āstika and nāstika schools of philosophy, depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the Vedas as a valid source of knowledge; whether the school believes in the premises of Brahman and Atman; and whether the school believes in afterlife and Devas.
Image: Yajnavalkya and Janaka
Image: Jain statues, Gwalior
Image: Rock cut Lord Buddha Statue at Bojjanakonda near Anakapalle of Visakhapatnam dist in AP
Image: Guru Gobind Singh Ji Gurdwara Bhai Than Singh
