The truth of Reality: From Particles to Emptiness

What we perceive as the world — mountains and rivers, plants and trees, birds and beasts, objects like chairs and tables, and people of all kinds — appears to be made of "solid," tangible things. But if we ask, "What are these tangible things truly made of?" — both modern science and ancient wisdom point to a more fundamental truth: the essence of the physical world is the manifestation of intangible energy. What we see as "real" is, in fact, a condensed form of "emptiness."

I. From "Elementary Particles" to "Wave-Particle Duality": The Scientific Revelation Behind the Illusion of Matter

We are taught from a young age that matter is made of "tiny particles": Tables and chairs are made of molecules → molecules consist of atoms → atoms break down into protons and electrons → and further into quarks. For a time, it was believed that quarks were the "indivisible" building blocks of the physical world.

• When the light is observed with a measuring device, it behaves like particles — creating two distinct bright lines on the screen, as though tiny bullets passed through the slits.
• When no observation is made, the light behaves like a wave — creating an interference pattern of light and dark bands, similar to overlapping ripples in water.

This experiment led to a groundbreaking conclusion: elementary particles (including light) exhibit wave-particle duality. That is, they exist as both particles and waves, and their behavior changes depending on whether they are being observed. More importantly, this implies that even quarks are not truly fundamental — they consist of "colored waves," which are made of "colorless waves," which in turn are composed of even subtler energy vibrations.

II. Emptiness and Form: Two Sides of the Same Reality

A helpful way to visualize this relationship is to imagine a cross (X):

Another metaphor is that of the ocean and waves:

In short:
Emptiness is the source; form is the expression.
Emptiness is the energy; form is its manifestation.
All form arises from emptiness and returns to emptiness.

III. Echoes of Ancient Wisdom: The Tao Te Ching's "Tao Gives Rise to All Things"

This understanding — that form emerges from emptiness — was reflected more than two thousand years ago in the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu:
"The Tao gives birth to One; One gives birth to Two; Two gives birth to Three; Three gives birth to all things."

Although the ancients had no microscopes or double-slit experiments, through deep observation and introspection, they arrived at the same truth as modern science: the world is not ultimately made of "matter," but of the flow and manifestation of energy. The tangible and the intangible were never separate — they are two aspects of the same reality, sharing the same origin.

IV. The True Nature of Reality: "Solidity" Is a Temporary State of Energy

In the end, the nature of reality is simple:

• The "table" we touch is not a "permanent object" — it is a temporary gathering of energy vibrations, just as a wave is not permanent but a passing expression of the ocean.
• We ourselves are also aggregates of energy — our bodies, thoughts, and emotions are all manifestations of energy. Like waves, we eventually return to the source — emptiness.
• What we call "change" is simply the gathering and dispersing of energy — flowers bloom and wither, people are born and die... all are part of the continuous cycle of energy moving from emptiness to form and back again.