Appendix 1 : "Form Is Emptiness"—A Dialogue Between Buddhism and Physics

🔹 1. Is "Form (色)" Equivalent to Shape, and "Emptiness (空)" Equivalent to Nothingness?

In Buddhism, "form (色, śūnya)" refers to material, shape, or physical substance.

"Emptiness (空, śūnyatā)" refers not to literal nothingness, but to the absence of fixed, independent essence—impermanence and interdependence.

In terms of physics:

Form = Particle

Emptiness = Wave nature or quantum vacuum

Or alternately:

Form = State of energy

Emptiness = State of information or possibility

🔹 2. "Form Is Emptiness": Particles Are Emptiness

From the viewpoint of quantum mechanics:

Electrons behave as particles but also exhibit wave-like properties (→ wave-particle duality).

Before observation, quantum entities exist in a probabilistic superposition—not a definite state.

→ This resonates with the idea that "what appears to be solid form is, in essence, emptiness."

Moreover, in modern physics, the quantum vacuum is not an empty void but a field full of quantum fluctuations.

Particles emerge and vanish from this vacuum field.

→ Thus, all form arises from emptiness, and emptiness gives rise to form.

🔹 3. "Emptiness Is Form": Emptiness Gives Rise to Matter

This idea is even more profound.

Modern theories suggest that even "empty space" possesses vacuum energy, and:

Particle-antiparticle pairs can spontaneously appear and annihilate (→ virtual particles).

So:

"Even a void can generate something."

→ Which literally illustrates the principle that "emptiness is form."

🔹 4. Connection with Information Theory

Contemporary physics increasingly adopts the perspective that:

"Everything is information."

What appears as form is not solid substance, but rather structured information.

→ Form is not intrinsic substance, but an expression of emptiness through information.

This parallels Buddhist thought:

"Form has no inherent nature; it is merely a manifestation of emptiness."

🔹 5. The Black Hole Information Paradox & Horowitz's Insight

In black hole studies, some physicists suggest:

"Information that appears to disappear is actually preserved somewhere."

This supports the philosophical notion that:

"Emptiness is never truly void—rather, it contains the potential for all forms."