The Buddha taught that all things in the phenomenal world are conditioned in nature, brought into being and governed by causes and conditions. They are thus in a state on constant flux and are destined to change and pass away. They may therefore be designated as "empty" or "void" because they lack any inherent characteristics by which they can be described, changing as they do from instant to instant. At best they can be delineated by what they are not--not permanent, not possessed of any fixed form or self-nature.
---Burton Watson, In The Introduction To His Translation Of The Vimalakirti Sutra---
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