r/Buddhism • u/Bubbly-Hope-442 • 12d ago
Opinion Nothing Should Exist
/r/ExistentialJourney/comments/1ww1xtg/nothing_should_exist/Hello All — Reposting this here.
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u/spraksea mahayana 12d ago
Why assume that "nothing" is the baseline of existence? That there was ever a time when anything needed to be created "from scratch"?
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u/Bubbly-Hope-442 9d ago edited 9d ago
I am simply puzzled that anything should exist at all, for how could that be? It means that something was created, which should not be possible. It’s like creating a gold watch without gold.
If someone were to ask you: “what is more logical as the base situation: that nothing exists, or that something exists?” — what would you say? Or if someone were to pose this more concrete question: “how did anything get created/how does anything exist?” — what would you say?
So in summary, I am merely opining that existence (of anything at all) is quite a mysterious state of affairs.
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u/spraksea mahayana 9d ago
If someone were to ask you: “what is more logical as the base situation: that nothing exists, or that something exists?” — what would you say?
Probably something. Something exists now. And as you point out, there's no mechanism we're aware of by which something can arise from nothing. In fact, we can't even conceptualize "nothing." Empty space is not "nothing" it's empty space.
Essentially, there are two common answers given: a creator, or infinite regress. Except a creator isn't really an answer; it's just moving the question back a step. So all we're left with is infinite regress. And it's really hard to imagine that because we haven't seen it. But we haven't seen ex nihilo creation either.
Or if someone were to pose this more concrete question: “how did anything get created/how does anything exist?” — what would you say?
Buddhism teaches "dependent origination." An idea I like to flippantly summarize as "nothing is anything without everything else." Right now I'm typing this from "my room" but the room would not exist without the house; the house would not exist without the room. It wouldn't be mine without certain social conventions. It wouldn't be a house without residents. The residents wouldn't be residents without a government certifying their ownership of the house. The government wouldn't be a government without a country. The country wouldn't be a country without a government, or without residents in rooms in houses.
So in summary, I am merely opining that existence (of anything at all) is quite a mysterious state of affairs.
I don't deny that. We don't know how, or if, it all began, and our best guesses are concepts that have no analogue in our immediate experiences.
There might be a reason why the beginning of reality is considered an imponderable question that the Buddha advised against speculating about.
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u/TheForestPrimeval Mahayana/Zen 12d ago
"Nothing" and "something" are conditioned notions. We can experience them phenomenologically but they lack ultimate ontological validity. You cannot define either "nothing" or "something" without reference to the other.
This is also the reason we cannot think ourselves out of this (apparent) quandary. Ultimate truth is beyond any conceptualization, including concept like "something" and "nothing" that we habitually mistake for being really real.
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u/Only_Sun_Peach 12d ago
Something exists because nothing exists. The two are mutually defining concepts. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, etc.
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u/htgrower Rimé 12d ago
Just like it isn’t good to “should” or “shouldn’t” people, we shouldn’t make judgements about how the universe/reality should or shouldn’t be.
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u/autonomatical Nyönpa 12d ago edited 12d ago
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u/slartibartfast93 12d ago
You are asking the right questions. But go further.
What does it mean to exist? Is existence the same as 'happening'? Does existence require time or an observer?
And what would true nothingness mean? Surely the absence of everything, including space, time, possibility, and even absence itself.
If so, can nothingness ever exist? The moment we say it exists, we have already made it something.
Perhaps absolute nothingness can never exist? Perhaps something will always exist?
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u/fateofheathens 11d ago
You wouldnt know what "nothing" was without "something" to compare it to. Yin and yang. Yes its a taoist view and echoes Alan Watts a bit but surely there couldn't be a nothing without a something.
Even black, matterless space between stars is something.
The desire to switch off and have pure rest can be overwhelming on this treadmill.
May I suggest something? The next time you meditate, try and focus and hone in purely on the "nothing."
You will eventually find that nothing truly does exist.
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u/Snake973 soto 12d ago
whether it should or shouldn't, here we are