Buddhism
Buddhism, founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha, c. 5th century BCE), holds that all conditioned phenomena are marked by three characteristics: impermanence (anicca), suffering (dukkha), and the absence of a permanent self (anatta). The core teachings are preserved in the Pali Canon (Tipitaka), particularly the 'Dhammapada' and the suttas of the 'Sutta Pitaka', which record the Buddha's discourses on dependent origination (paticca samuppada) — the principle that everything arises in dependence on conditions, and nothing possesses independent, self-sustaining existence. Nagarjuna's 'Mulamadhyamakakarika' ('Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way', c. 2nd century CE) radicalized this into the doctrine of sunyata (emptiness): not only selves but all things whatsoever, including the dharmas (basic elements of experience) themselves, are empty of intrinsic nature. Liberation (nirvana) is not an escape to another realm but the cessation of craving and the direct recognition of reality as it already is — interdependent, impermanent, and selfless.
Worldview
The Buddhist experiences reality as a ceaselessly flowing stream of interdependent, impermanent processes in which nothing — not the self, not the world, not even the present moment — possesses a fixed, enduring essence. To hold this ontology is to live with a radical openness: every form is arising and passing, every identity is provisional, and clinging to any of it is the root of suffering. The fundamental orientation is one of compassionate detachment, a willingness to engage fully with the world while recognizing that all phenomena are empty of intrinsic existence. Living inside this worldview feels like standing in a river — the water is real, vivid, and constantly moving, but there is nothing permanent to grasp. Liberation is not an escape from this flow but the clear-eyed recognition that there was never a separate self to be threatened by impermanence in the first place.
Moral Implications
Buddhist ethics is rooted in the recognition that all sentient beings share the condition of suffering (dukkha) and the capacity for liberation. The Eightfold Path provides a comprehensive ethical framework: right speech, right action, and right livelihood are not arbitrary commands but practical expressions of the insight that harmful actions arise from ignorance and craving, while beneficial actions arise from wisdom and compassion. Karma is understood as the natural law of moral causation: every intentional action shapes the conditions of future experience. Because there is no fixed self, compassion extends naturally to all beings — the boundary between self-interest and altruism dissolves. The bodhisattva ideal in Mahayana Buddhism elevates universal compassion to the highest ethical principle, deferring one's own final liberation until all sentient beings are freed from suffering.
Practical Implications
Buddhism encourages a way of life centered on mindfulness, simplicity, and the reduction of craving — principles with direct consequences for consumption, environmental stewardship, and social organization. The doctrine of interdependence (pratityasamutpada) provides a natural philosophical foundation for ecological thinking: harming any part of the web of life is understood as harming the whole. Technology is neither rejected nor embraced uncritically but evaluated by whether it increases or decreases suffering and delusion. In governance and economics, Buddhist principles support equitable distribution, non-violence, and the cultivation of contentment over endless growth. Daily practice — meditation, ethical conduct, and the cultivation of awareness — is understood not as a retreat from the world but as the most direct way to transform it from within.
I. Time
Time is emergent and infinite — it is not a substance but a conceptual designation applied to the arising and ceasing of dependently originated phenomena. Cyclical time (samsara) extends without beginning through endless rounds of birth, death, and rebirth. Time is continuous and uni-directional in ordinary experience, but liberation (nirvana) is the cessation of conditioned temporal becoming.
Attributes
II. Space
Space is emergent and infinite — it is one of the six elements (dhatus) but has no inherent, independent existence. It is merely the absence of obstruction. Space is undefined in curvature because Buddhism does not attribute fixed geometric properties to it. Locality is local: beings are situated in particular spatial contexts, though advanced meditative states may transcend ordinary spatial perception.
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III. Matter
Matter is emergent — it is rupa (form/materiality), one of the five aggregates (skandhas), arising through dependent origination. Matter is impermanent (anicca) and without self-nature (anatta). It is conserved at the conventional level in the sense that material elements reconfigure but do not vanish, yet ultimately, matter, like all conditioned phenomena, is empty (sunyata) of inherent existence.
Attributes
IV. Observer
The observer is an embodied being situated in the present moment — but this "self" is not what it appears to be. What we call the observer is a constantly changing stream of aggregates (skandhas) with no permanent essence, no fixed identity persisting through time. Knowledge is immediate: direct mindful awareness of the present is the path to insight, not abstract theorizing. Yet retention is also immediate — clinging to past knowledge is itself a form of attachment, and the Buddhist practitioner learns to hold knowledge lightly. The observer is active in the sense that disciplined practice (meditation, ethical conduct, right understanding) is required to see through the illusion of a permanent self. Multiple observers share the world of suffering and impermanence, each on their own path toward liberation.
Attributes
V. Energy
Finite and emerging — vital and mental energies are dependently arisen and impermanent. Conservation: Non-conserved — energies arise and pass away; in liberation, the cycle of arising ceases entirely. Usage: Once — each moment of conscious energy is unique and unrepeatable; clinging to it perpetuates suffering.
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VI. Information
Information is dependently originated — no informational unit has inherent existence. All information arises through relations and conditions, and passes away when those conditions change.
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