Cultiver la vacuité : de l'analyse conceptuelle à la mise en pratique

Details

Supervisors

Machek, David

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en philosophie, à finalité approfondie

Abstract

enThis thesis argues that emptiness (śūnyatā), a central concept in Buddhist philosophy, fulfills two inseparable functions. On the one hand, it expresses the true nature of phenomena: they are devoid of independent existence, substance, and essence. On the other hand, it has practical and transformative significance, for cultivating it brings about a cognitive transformation that, by dispelling ignorance of emptiness, gradually breaks the conditioning of desire and attachment to the root of suffering. These two functions are inseparable: it is precisely because emptiness reveals reality that it can transform the practitioner’s perception in such a way that they may free themselves from suffering. The work is organized into three chapters reflecting the progression of a practice: conditioned co-production, as the principle explaining the manifestation of phenomena; emptiness itself, whose analysis draws primarily on Nāgārjuna’s Madhyamaka; and finally, the cultivation of emptiness based on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. The approach adopted allows for freedom of movement between Buddhist traditions, all in service of a single question: what transformation can the cultivation of emptiness bring about in a contemporary lay practitioner? The answer lies in a gradual deconditioning of the tendency toward reification, through which emptiness moves from a conceptual understanding to direct perception.