20.500.12556/RUL-178270 The notions of absence, emptiness and nothingness from the Theravāda Buddhist perspective Pojmi odsotnosti, praznine in niča z vidika theravādskega budizma This article discusses three important concepts of ancient Indian discourse, namely absence, nothingness and emptiness, and examines their representations in Theravāda Buddhism. Firstly, it overviews the early Indian records of the concept of absence and then focuses on the role of absence in Theravāda Buddhism. It shows how the ethical foundations of the Buddhist path to liberation from suffering are largely expressed through the absence of unethical behaviour, and how meditation practice involves the cultivation of mental states that are based on the absence of unwholesome mental factors. The article then discusses specific higher states of meditative absorption, as presented in the canonical and postcanonical Pāli sources, which include experiences of infinite space, infinite consciousness, and nothingness, the latter being articulated as the absence of anything at all. According to the Theravāda tradition, the experience of nothingness, which is perceived as complete absence, devoid of any phenomena, is not considered final liberation, because it still involves perception, feeling and other mental components and thus remains in the sphere of impermanence. Only in the state of ultimate emptiness of nibbāna (Sanskrit nirvāṇa) is complete liberation from suffering reached. The realization of nibbāna is presented as the very foundation of a deep transformation of consciousness, reflected in the partial or complete absence of fetters, defined as phenomena that bind living beings to suffering. In summary, the article shows how, in Theravāda Buddhism, absence plays the central role in the cultivation of moral virtue and meditation, including the experience of nothingness, and how the realization of the emptiness of nibbāna, regarded as the final liberation from suffering, is reflected in the concomitant ethical perfection. Članek obravnava tri pomembne koncepte staroindijskega diskurza, in sicer odsotnost, nič in praznino, ter proučuje njihove predstavitve v okviru theravādskega budizma. Na-jprej na kratko predstavi staroindijske zapise o konceptu odsotnosti, nato pa se osredotoči na vlogo odsotnosti v theravādskem budizmu. Pokaže, kako se etični temelji budistične poti do osvoboditve od trpljenja večinoma izražajo skozi odsotnost neetičnega delovanja in kako meditacijska praksa vključuje razvoj mentalnih stanj, ki temeljijo na odsotnosti škodljivih mentalnih faktorjev. Članek nato obravnava višja stanja meditativne absorp-cije, kot so predstavljena v kanoničnih in postkanoničnih virih, ki vključujejo izkušnje neskončnega prostora, neskončne zavesti in niča, pri čemer je slednji izražen kot odsot-nost česar koli. Po theravādskem izročilu izkušnja niča, ki jo dojemamo kot popolno odsotnost, brez kakršnih koli pojavov, ne velja za končno osvoboditev, saj še vedno vkl-jučuje zaznavo, občutke in druge mentalne faktorje ter tako ostaja v območju spremembe in minljivosti, medtem ko je popolna osvoboditev od trpljenja dosežena šele v stanju dokončne praznine, nibbāne (sanskrtsko nirvāṇa). Uresničitev nibbāne je predstavljena kot temelj globoke preobrazbe zavesti, ki se odraža v delni ali popolni odsotnosti vseh mentalnih faktorjev, ki živa bitja vežejo na trpljenje. Če povzamemo, članek pokaže, kako ima v theravādskem budizmu odsotnost osrednjo vlogo pri razvoju moralnih vrlin in meditaciji, vključno z izkušnjo niča, in kako se spoznanje praznine nibbāne, ki velja za končno osvoboditev od trpljenja, odraža v etični popolnosti. Theravāda Buddhism ethics emptiness absence nothingness theravādski budizem etika praznina odsotnost nič true false false Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Članek v reviji 2026-01-22 11:51:40 2026-01-22 11:51:41 2026-01-23 04:38:06 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 Str. 75-96 iss. 2 Vol. 13 (29) 2025 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 0000-00-00 0000-00-00 2025-01-01 114:24-24 2232-5131 10.4312/as.2025.13.2.75-96 249984515 RAZ_Ditrich_Tamara_2025.pdf RAZ_Ditrich_Tamara_2025.pdf 1 FF6D85858E7BD39D01DC13DA4D713182 2579d64d5a11897c32911538199c39a54ef8ed91fcd8f0ecd44d22159468a9f4 b0de5987-f780-11f0-a1ba-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=225954 https://journals.uni-lj.si/as/article/view/20611/18393 1 55ac29ee-f780-11f0-a1ba-0050569b8976 https://repozitorij.uni-lj.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=225953 Filozofska fakulteta Asian studies 0 0 0