In the Diamond Sutra, emptiness (śūnyatā) is presented as the insight that all phenomena, including the person who practices and the beings who are helped, lack any fixed, independent, or permanent essence. The text repeatedly emphasizes that what is conventionally called a “self” or “being” is in fact a dependently arisen process, not an immutable entity. Thus, the bodhisattva is said to liberate countless beings while simultaneously understanding that “no being is actually saved,” because both savior and saved are empty of inherent existence. This is not a denial of appearance or function, but a clarification that what appears does not possess its own self-nature.

The sutra extends this insight beyond persons to all dharmas, including the very teachings of Buddhism. It employs the distinctive formula, “X is not X; therefore it is called X,” to show that conventional designations—“bodhisattva,” “Buddha-land,” “Buddha,” “nirvāṇa,” and so forth—do not point to ultimately existing substances, but to empty phenomena that still operate on the conventional level. Even profound notions such as merit, enlightenment, and the perfection of wisdom are described as names or designations, to be used skillfully but never grasped as ultimately real. In this way, the sutra undermines attachment not only to worldly things but also to spiritual concepts.

To evoke the character of this emptiness, the text turns to vivid images: stars, illusions, lamps, magic tricks, dew, bubbles, dreams, flashes of lightning, and clouds. All conditioned things are to be viewed in this manner—fleeting, insubstantial, and without a permanent core, yet still arising through causes and conditions. Emptiness here does not amount to nihilism; rather, it functions as a middle way that avoids both reifying existence and falling into the view that nothing matters. Phenomena arise and cease, interact and bear fruit, but none of them stands on its own.

The practical expression of this understanding is the “non-dwelling” or “non-abiding” mind. The practitioner is instructed to give rise to a mind that does not abide in forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, or even in dharmas, thereby cutting through all clinging and fixed views. Such a mind engages fully in the world yet does not “land” on any object or idea as ultimately existent. From this perspective, the bodhisattva can practice generosity and all the perfections without attachment to self, others, or the act of giving, allowing compassionate activity to unfold without the burden of possessiveness, pride, or fear.