BUDDHISM IN OUR DAILY LIFE
China Academic Lectures
Sponsored by
China Institute in America. N.Y. USA
by Dr. C. T. Shen
LECTURE 3:
THE TRUTH OF SELF (EMPTINESS)
Someone asked me why in the title of this talk I used the word
"emptiness" in parenthesis after the word "self." According to
Buddhism the answer is that "self is emptiness and emptiness is self."
This answer, however, is too simple to comprehend. So before I explain
the subject matter of this title, let me make two remarks:
1) Emptiness or void, as used in Buddhism, does not mean nothingness,
as in "the room was empty after all the people left." It means,
actually, that the Original Nature of everything is emptiness, or
even if the room is packed with people, it should still be
envisioned as empty. Because human language is not adequate to
convey such precise expression, the word "emptiness," which
appeared to be closest in meaning, was chosen by the English-
speaking scholars who first came into contact with Buddhism.  The
word does create confusion, but there is no other suitable term in
the English vocabulary.

To read more follow this link:  http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tib/drshen3.htm