A question about the vocab 「空」

Bunpro Summary: ‘One of the “three inseparable fields” in which all things and spaces exist. Emphasises nothing or infinity.’

What? I’ve never heard of this conceptually before and nothing about the other two is elaborated here.

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Here I see: “The vast empty space in which birds fly and clouds drift.”

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you’re looking at the reading “sora” but I think OP is looking at the reading “kara” which means emptiness

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Ohhh I had no idea. I also don’t know what the “three inseparable fields” are. Couldn’t figure out with a quick search.

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LOL Bunpro is the reference:

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So they are refering to the vacuum of outer space (apparently space is one of the three fields)? Seems “poetic”, but a bit of a stretch. Vacuum to me is simply the absence of matter, so it relates more to the meaning of empty. I was wondering if in Japanese 空 could also be used to refer to space but, at least according to the Bunpro examples, this does not seem to be common despite the “three fields” summary.

So yeah, looks like 空 = empty?

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Empty, space, sky probably wouldn’t try to remember any more than that.

As for “Three inseparable fields” I’m no philosophy major, but probably “Land, sea, air” (as in things like 陸軍、海軍、空軍 army, navy, air force, and other similar notions.)

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This is what I found, when I’d looked into it before.

In Mahāyāna Buddhist thought, all reality is understood through three inseparable aspects: things lack inherent, fixed existence yet still function in the everyday world, and the truth is found in holding both at once without contradiction.
The three states are 空(くう) emptiness, 仮(け) conventional or provisional existence, and 中(ちゅう) the middle, non-dual unity of the two.

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@deceir Is correct. This is a Buddhist concept. The ‘three inseparable fields’ so to speak are what make up the whole universe from a philosophical standpoint. Basically the easiest way to think of it is -

Doer - All actions need an instigator.
Object - Every action needs something to interact with.
Space - Every action needs a space within which to interact with the object.

It is impossible for any action to take place without all three, so they are thought to be inseparable.

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