Emptiness, Part One: Emptiness in other Dharmic religions

Emptiness, also called voidness; Sanskrit, Śūnyatā. Most who know a little about Buddhism know that it is a very important teaching. Some may know it exists in Taoism. Yet, did you know it exists in Sikhism?

How can two religions - one seen as “nontheistic”, one as theistic, hold a same core belief? It may be helpful to know how, exactly, emptiness is viewed in Sikhism before I discuss how I view emptiness in Buddhism. This post is dedicated to Sikhism’s view of emptiness so that I may write about my interpretation of emptiness within Buddhism.

Within Sikhism, emptiness [Gurmukhi ਸੁੰਨ, “sunn”] is found within the Śrī Gurū Granth Sāhib, the holy book of the Sikhs. It appears about 82 times within the text, the majority of which are used to describe the Lord, known in Sikhism as Wahegurū; literally, “Wonderous Teacher”.

An example of the would be as the following:

ਅੰਤਰਿ ਸੁੰਨੰ ਬਾਹਰਿ ਸੁੰਨੰ ਤ੍ਰਿਭਵਣ ਸੁੰਨ ਮਸੁੰਨੰ ॥

The absolute Lord is deep within; the absolute Lord is outside us as well. The absolute Lord totally fills the three worlds.

ਚਉਥੇ ਸੁੰਨੈ ਜੋ ਨਰੁ ਜਾਣੈ ਤਾ ਕਉ ਪਾਪੁ ਨ ਪੁੰਨੰ ॥

One who knows the Lord in the fourth state, is not subject to virtue or vice.

ਘਟਿ ਘਟਿ ਸੁੰਨ ਕਾ ਜਾਣੈ ਭੇਉ ॥

One who knows the mystery of God the Absolute, who pervades each and every heart,

ਆਦਿ ਪੁਰਖੁ ਨਿਰੰਜਨ ਦੇਉ ॥

knows the Primal Being, the Immaculate Divine Lord. 

- Śrī Gurū Granth Sāhib, page 857. Dr. Sant Singh Khalsā English translation. Emphasis added for illustrative purposes only. Source: http://www.srigranth.org

So, as we can see, it is entirely possible that within a religion “sunn” or “śūnyatā” does not necessarily mean “emptiness” in the Western sense of lacking, but also “the Absolute”; it is a term used in describing Wahegurū, the Sikh God.

Sikhism holds that when one is awoken by the teachings, one attains unity with the Void - and this is even possible while alive:

ਜੀਵਤ ਸੁੰਨਿ ਸਮਾਨਿਆ ਗੁਰ ਸਾਖੀ ਜਾਗੀ ॥੧॥ ਰਹਾਉ ॥

In my very life, I am absorbed in the Profound Lord, the Guru's instruction has awakened me. Pause. 

- Śrī Gurū Granth Sāhib, page 943. Bhāī Manmohan Singh English translation. Emphasis added for illustrative purposes only. Source: http://www.srigranth.org

So within this we see a striking similarity to Buddhist nirvāṇa [“blowing out” the candle] and parinirvāṇa [“final blowing out” of the candle] already. This may be seen as such because Sikhism and Buddhism are seen as theistic and “nontheistic” religions respectively. Sikhism holds that one cannot know the nature of the Unknowable-Natured One.

Then why is this deity called as “Void”? The reason is simply that this Void is void of any dualities or imperfections: it is Pure, beyond the mundane world that we are bound to on the course of reincarnation. Whoever attains union with that Void--that is--God in the Sikh sense, they go beyond all forms of duality. When one has attained union with God and their body expires, they will never be born into the finite and fleeting realms again.

How does all this fit in with how I see emptiness within Buddhism? Well, that’s for the next post.