realityHinduism, nirvāÏa in Theraväda Buddhism, emptiness in Mahäyäna
Buddhism, Buddha-nature in Zen Buddhism, or the Dao in Daoism.
Reality is often defined as that which is permanent, although there are
exceptions in Eastern forms of thought.
In the major monotheistic traditions, Christian thinkers agree, with the
exception of process theologians, that God is permanent because of God’s
immortal status as compared to the finite and transitory nature of human
life. Likewise, in Islam, Allah is defined as the real, the one with ninety-
nine beautiful names in the Qur’an (7.179; 17.11). Muslim interpreters
insist that the ninety-nine beautiful names of God are not mere attributes,
but they are rather realities. Moreover, Allah is completely transcendent
so that “sight reaches him not” (6.101). If God is wholly other than
humans, He is considered over humans who are under His rule and they
are expected to be obedient.
In the Indian religious tradition, a Hindu thinker such as Šankara
defines Brahman, a non-dual, ultimate reality, as not this, not that (neti,
neti), suggesting that there is nothing in the world that defines or resem-
bles it. For Theravāda Buddhist, nirvāÏa is defined negatively as the
extinction of craving, uncompounded, unconditioned, absence of desire,
cessation, end of becoming, causeless, whereas more positive modes of
expression include absolute freedom, deathless calm, the unborn, unde-
caying, unaging, undying, and the truth that is beyond duality. In
Mahāyāna Buddhist thought, emptiness (śūnyatā) is defined by the phi-
losopher Nāgārjuna as empty. When an aspirant sees all things as empty
that person’s prior erroneous viewpoint is overcome and he/she can see
things and events as they truly are, which implies seeing them as devoid
of any essence or permanence.
As defined by the Zen master Dōgen, Buddha-nature is impermanent
because it is being-time, which suggests that a person experiences tem-
poral existence. In other words, when a person experiences a phenome-
non just as it is such a person overcomes the perception of a thing in
terms of a sequence of past-present-future. Since every moment contains
all of reality and is complete in itself for Dōgen, a person experiences
things in the right-now (nikon) of being-time.
Likewise, the mysterious Dao of Daoism is always in motion with
being and non-being representing its phases or its movement. Being,
which is equivalent to the named, refers to the function of the Dao,
whereas non-being, which is equated with the nameless, represents its
essence. Non-being of the Dao represents the beginning and end of all
things, which means that it is the co-principle and repository of being, the
identity of all opposites, and the ultimate aspect of the Dao within its pure
motion. This motion moves from the Dao to non-being, evolves to being,