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Void

World Religion
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A state of emptiness, nothingness, or non-being, often representing the unmanifest ground of reality or the goal of meditation.

Detailed Definition
The Void (Shunyata) in Mahayana Buddhism is the essential emptiness and interdependence of all phenomena, the ultimate nature of reality. In mystical traditions, it is the divine ground beyond all attributes. In poetry, the void represents the state before creation, the dissolution of the ego, or the silent, dark night of the soul. It is not mere absence but a fertile, pregnant nothingness from which all things arise. Poets use it to express the terror and beauty of letting go into the formless, limitless ground of being.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Buddhist poetry, Void (shunyata) is fertile emptiness: “Empty sky—Void where birds fly free”; In Taoist verse, Void is potential: “Bell’s hollow—Void that makes sound possible”; In contemporary poetry, Void is grief: “After funeral—Void where your voice should be”; Poets clarify Void: “Not nothing—Void, space for everything to arise.”
Additional Notes
The Void (śūnyatā in Buddhism) is not nihilistic emptiness but the absence of inherent, independent existence in all phenomena; it is the ground of interdependence and compassion; in mystical poetry, the void may be described as a dark night of the soul, a fertile emptiness, or the silent space where ego dissolves and pure awareness arises.
Other Meanings of “Void”
Also Known As
Śūnyatā Emptiness Abyss Intergalactic Space
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