madoka

The character 空 is pronounced kū. It is often translated as “emptiness” in English, which means the state of being empty, or there being nothing. But giving such an interpretation to kū misses what the word is meant to point to. To explain, it is important to recognize that language (i.e., concepts) functions in a way that makes it feel like the content of concepts actually exists. In this case, as if there is such a thing as emptiness. Though “empty,” language makes “emptiness” into something. It is the same with mu (“nothingness”).  A conceptual understanding makes nothingness—which is supposed to be nothing—into something called “nothingness.” ...