sunyata means emptiness, the absence of an intrinsic essence or nature which is stable and separable from other things. It carries an Arena rating of 1760, earned across 17 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sunyata ranks #31 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #788 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,804 of 17,138 for Most Incisive Words, #4,351 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
Why “sunyata” is a great word
The fundamental absence of intrinsic, independent essence in all phenomena. From Sanskrit शून्यता (śūnyatā), from शून्य (śūnya, "zero, void, empty") + ता (-tā, a suffix forming abstract nouns). Unlike 'nothingness,' which implies a nihilistic vacuum, or 'substance,' which denotes a permanent and defining core, sunyata is the luminous reality of conditioned interdependence. It is the bell that exists only in its ringing, the hollow of a bamboo flute that gives music its shape, and the way a flame passes from candle to candle without ever being the same flame twice—a profound emptiness that is paradoxically the source of all form, the invisible architecture that holds all things in mutable, momentary relation.
Etymology
From Sanskrit शून्यता (śūnyatā), from शून्य (śūnya, “zero, nothing”) + ता (-tā, “generalizing suffix”). Cognate with Pali suññatā.
noun
- Emptiness, the absence of an intrinsic essence or nature which is stable and separable from other things.
- Emptiness, in terms of a meditative state; an Eastern concept of a high meditative state of calm and freedom from distraction.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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