Nullity- The concept of Śūnyatā

Hello readers

I hope this post finds you well.

A certain number of people seek power over other people in a desperate attempt to find themselves. They fail, for self-discovery is spiritual in nature, not social or political. Authoritatively telling other people what to do is their distraction from an inner emptiness they can never fill.

- Vernon Howard 

For long-time readers of my blog, I will assure this blog won’t come as a surprise, as I have always been a person with an analytical mindset.

When I say an analytical mindset, there are different meanings for this word, sometimes systematic means being mathematical, but in my case, this is not what am trying to refer, is I am not too much math savvy!

 For me, analytical is a logical investigation of the world around me.

There is this concept of Sunya (Zero) which I wanted to discuss today, so let’s begin!

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 Before writing about this topic, I did some research which was quite exciting and very informative and gave me a lot of insights about the brilliant cultures, which is the result the computing era exists today!

Long ago more than 3600 years ago there lived a famous mathematician and scientist in India his name was Aryabhata, and he was known for his brilliant knowledge in the fields of algebra, trigonometry, and astronomy he is in fact known in some of the scientific communities as the father of “Zero” or which was called place holder during his time as explained by a French mathematician who has given him full credit for this phenomenal concept of the number zero and the place value system in mathematics.

Courtesy: Google images 

“The place-value system, first seen in the 3rd-century Bakhshali Manuscript was clearly in place in his work. While he did not use a symbol for zero, the French mathematician Georges Ifrah argues that knowledge of zero was implicit in Aryabhata’s place-value system as a place holder for the powers of ten with null coefficients.

However, Aryabhata did not use the Brahmi numerals. Continuing the Sanskritic tradition from Vedic times, he used letters of the alphabet to denote numbers, expressing quantities, such as the table of sines in a mnemonic form.

Courtesy: Wikipedia”

Can we imagine the binary system would seize to exist without a zero, and if there were no zero, the whole computer system would never have existed!

Well, thinking about the zero and its importance, I also came across this concept called sunya or void, or it is called emptiness.

Just a heads up I am switching gears from Aryabhata to the concept of Sunyata.

The concept is prevalent in many cultures like the Advaita Vedanta of Hinduism, Buddhism and Shaivism explains as the emptiness or total of everything leads to emptiness or void, so this life is a  Maya or the illusion (the needs, wants and desires) which we all run to achieve in the prime age of our life.

Quoting from the book (Jaideva Singh, Vijnanabhairava or Divine Consciousness: A Treasury of 112 Types of Yoga, page 55)

“The Absolute void is Bhairava ( Lord Shiva)  who is beyond the senses and the mind, beyond all the categories of these instruments. From human minds, He is most void. from Reality, He is full, for He is the source of all manifestation.”

“The yogi should concentrate intensely on the idea (and also feel) that this universe is void. In that void, his mind would become absorbed. Then he becomes highly qualified for absorption, i.e. his mind is incorporated in the absolute void (sunyatisunya).

I read another book written by Sri Aurobindo Gosh, where he says the five forces created us and we go back to the five sources! And that moment there is that emptiness which makes all your achievements all your egoistic practices, your highs and lows, your good deeds and the bad ones just dissolve within these five sources, and yet what stay behind is the memories of you in the minds of others whom you wished well! and the karma which you carryon to your next januma (rebirth).

I agree the concept is too heavy for a beautiful Sunday morning, but I feel someone should blow the whistle!

These truths are needed to be told more than ever now and repeated to this generation Y who are brilliant and budding with talent but are boarding wrong trains and buses in their lives and getting lost in jargons or a herd of greedy non-thinking fools.

If we think and try to lead our lives in with the concept of Sunyata in mind, we would behave more matured in situations and show this society that there is something beyond these two curtains of materialism and emotions.

Sunyata (Emptiness) Courtesy: Google images 

Feelings and emotions are just like foam and bubbles, they form and just vaporise.

 -Thoughts from Buddhism

 Let know your thoughts on this blog.

 Thanks a lot for your time.

 Have a great day.

Helios.