Emptiness is often associated with Mahayana Buddhism, but the concept is foundational across Buddhist traditions. In the Pali canon, the Buddha uses the term to describe the absence of a fixed, permanent self. The third-century monastic scholar Nagarjuna reframed the concept to apply to all phenomena, not just the self. Dispelling the common misunderstanding that emptiness means nothing exists, his Middle Way philosophy became central in Mahayana Buddhism, as evident in the Heart Sutra passage, “form is emptiness, emptiness is form.”
As foundational as emptiness is, however, Buddhist schools often critique each other’s views on the subject. Much debate and confusion remains about its precise meaning and consequences.
Join us on Tuesday, September 29 at 1 p.m. ET to hear about this core Buddhist concept from three different points of view. What does each tradition emphasize and what are the implications for practice? Where do the various traditions align and where do they diverge? We’ll hear from Zen Buddhist priest and professor Kurt Spellmeyer, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism Michael Sheehy, and Theravada Buddhist monastic Ayya Soma in a discussion moderated by Buddhist scholar Zim Pickens.
Speakers
Michael Sheehy
Michael R. Sheehy, PhD, is Research Associate Professor and the Director of Research at the Contemplative Sciences Center, University of Virginia. He is founding Principal of the CIRCL, Contemplative Innovation + Research Co-Lab, a transdisciplinary experimental lab that investigates contemplative practices through the history of religions, cognitive sciences, and lived experience. Michael specializes in the nondual meditative traditions of Buddhism in Tibet – namely, Dzogchen, Mahāmudrā, and Zhentong. He trained extensively in Buddhist Asia, including three years in a monastery in far eastern Tibet. His publications include over two dozen articles and the book, The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet and a forthcoming book on the Jonang tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.
Ayya Soma
Ayya Soma is an Italian Buddhist monk and co-founder of Empty Cloud in the USA and Italy. A former fashion and lifestyle editor, her first encounter with Buddhist monasticism was at Santacittārāma Monastery in Italy, in the tradition of Ajahn Chah. She started practicing as a renunciant in 2016, received monastic ordination in 2018, and full bhikkhunī ordination in 2020. As the co-founder of Buddhist Insights, a non-profit organization connecting people with monastics, she has learned the dharma through the perspective of monks of all different traditions like Bhante Suddhāso, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Ajahn Pasanno, Ven. Paññavati, Ven. Robina Courtin, Khenmo Drolma and Thich Phap Hai.
Kurt Spellmeyer
Kurt Spellmeyer, a contributing editor to Tricycle, is a Zen priest who directs the Cold Mountain Sangha in New Jersey and a Tricycle contributing editor. He teaches English at Rutgers University and is the author, most recently, of Buddha at the Apocalypse: Awakening from a Culture of Destruction.
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DETAILS
- Date: September 29, 2026
- Time: 1 p.m. – 2 p.m. ET
- Format: Zoom
- Price: Premium subscribers: Free // General admission: $10
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