SUNYATA AND TATHATA EMPTINESS AND SUCHNESS

Abstract

Šünyatã and tathatã meaning, respectively, emptiness and suchness, are two key terms in Buddhism with special reference to its understanding of reality. What one immediately notices about them is that neither of them says what reality is positively. The term šünyatã is obviously negative in its meaning, while the term tathatã is not particularly negative but is not positive either. Therefore, these two terms, which are almost the central ones in the Buddhist understanding of reality, are hardly helpful towards a positive definition of reality. Does it then mean that Buddhism is overly negative in its understanding of reality? The answer to this question is generally in the affirmative. But I feel that such an answer oversimplifies the point at issue. One may be led to such oversimplification if one understands šünyatã and tathatã as synonymously applied to reality. Of course, there is at least one text which gives the term tathatã as one of the synonyms (paryãyas) of šünyatã,^l and in a certain sense it is so as well. However, a better understanding of the Buddhist concept of reality may be possible if šünyatã is understood as referring to a negative process of understanding reality, and tathatã as referring to reality as such. Sünyata is generally understood as referring to reality short of all attributes, to reality as such, and therefore as synonymous with tathatã. I do not deny the rationality of this argument. But I would rather say that §ünyatã (emptiness) should be understood with reference to one's own mind, and tathatã (suchness) with reference to the object. That is, the mind should be emptied of imaginary concepts about reality so that the latter may be understood as it is. Hence I would say that §ünyatã is an epistemological term while tathatã is an ontological one. In other words, §ünyatã refers to the emptying of one's own mind of all prejudices about reality so as to enable the mind to have a vision of reality in its suchness. One's mind in its ordinary state of operation is full of biases, prejudices and pre-conceptions about reality. In order that one may be enabled to see the latter in its suchness one's mind should first of all be emptied of all such pre-conceptions