Chugenji Temple Messages(Reprinted with permission from the former chief priest)
[The Discovery of “Zero”]
This may sound a little difficult at first, but if possible, I would like you to think together with me about the following choice of words.
When people feel stuck in life or want to break through a sense of stagnation, they often say, “I’ll start over from one.” However, it seems that the more accurate expression should be, “I’ll start over from zero.”
I came to think this after reading the following words on Buddhism by Ryotaro Shiba, quoted in a newspaper article. He passed away on February 12, 1996.
“Buddhism is fundamentally based on ku (emptiness). The easiest way to understand ku may be to think of it as the mathematical concept of zero. Mathematical zero contains both plus one hundred million and minus one hundred million at the same time. Because it contains infinity, it is also the source from which infinity is born. In that sense, the Buddhist idea of emptiness may have greatly developed alongside the mathematical discovery of zero. Ku is the source of all things and gives rise to everything. Zero is truly wonderful—it is filled with light.”
(Selections from Dialogues of Ryotaro Shiba, Vol. 4)
The word ku (“emptiness”) may sound difficult, but it simply means that nothing possesses a fixed, independent self or ego as its true substance. Therefore, it is a state free from attachment.
To begin again from “one” means that we are still dragging along the past, or labeling ourselves according to old identities. In other words, fixed ideas are already there.
There is a phrase, kyoshin tankai—to have an open, unclouded, and impartial mind. Ku = zero means a heart free from resentment, prejudice, or inner knots. When we face life with such a mind, a fresh world of light opens before us, endlessly creative and full of new possibilities.
Once again, I was deeply impressed by how brilliantly Ryotaro Shiba explained the Buddhist concept of ku through the mathematical idea of zero. He truly was a man of profound understanding of Buddhism.
It was in India that the Buddha attained enlightenment, and it is also said that the discovery of mathematical zero came from the people of India as well.Shukuenn
English version prepared with AI assistance
(Originally written in Japanese)
Japanese version::