Emptiness

Emptiness, Sunya comes from the root svi, meaning swollen, plus -ta -ness, therefore Conze glosses sunya as hollow ( - ness). A common alternative term is "voidness".

In Buddhism emptiness is a characteristic of phenomena arising from the fact (as observed and taught by the Buddha) that nothing possesses essential, enduring identity (see anattā) because of such things as the impermanent nature of form. In the Buddha's spiritual teaching, insight into the emptiness of phenomena (Pāli:suññatānupassanā) is an aspect of the cultivation of insight (vipassanā-bhāvanā) that leads to wisdom and inner peace. The importance of this insight is especially emphasised in Mahāyāna Buddhism, and receives its most "positive" explication in the tathāgatagarbha sutras.