Within Vajrayāna, emptiness (śūnyatā) is upheld as the fundamental nature of all phenomena, fully consonant with the Madhyamaka understanding that nothing possesses inherent, independent existence. All things arise dependently, through causes, conditions, and conceptual imputation, and thus lack any solid, self-sufficient core. Yet this is not taken as a nihilistic void; emptiness is understood as the very openness that allows appearances to arise. Phenomena are empty and yet vividly manifest, and this inseparability of emptiness and appearance is central. The familiar Mahāyāna insight that “form is emptiness, emptiness is form” is thus lived out as a direct contemplative experience rather than a merely philosophical thesis.

Vajrayāna places particular emphasis on the experiential realization of emptiness through tantric methods. In generation-stage practices such as deity yoga, ordinary perception is first dissolved into emptiness, and from that empty expanse, the practitioner arises as a deity within a pure mandala. Throughout, there is a continuous recognition that both self and deity are empty of inherent existence, so that the entire visionary world is understood as pure appearance rather than solid entity. Mantra recitation and related practices function in the same way: as expressions of emptiness that, when engaged with correctly, reveal emptiness more directly.

At a subtler level, Vajrayāna speaks of the empty-yet-luminous nature of mind, sometimes described as emptiness inseparable from clarity and knowing. Emptiness here is not reduced to a bare negation; it is the primordial purity within which all thoughts, emotions, and perceptions arise and dissolve. Advanced contemplative systems such as Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen point directly to this empty, cognizant awareness, encouraging a non-conceptual recognition rather than prolonged analytical reasoning. In this light, pure perception means seeing all appearances as the sacred mandala of awakened reality, rather than as ordinary, reified phenomena.

Because all mental states are empty, Vajrayāna does not simply renounce or suppress passions and afflictive emotions, but seeks to transform them. When their empty nature is recognized, these very energies can be transmuted into wisdom rather than becoming obstacles. The path thus aims at the simultaneous realization of emptiness and compassionate appearance: emptiness as the ground, and the manifold forms of enlightened activity as its spontaneous display. Through this union of emptiness and appearance, the practitioner learns to move through the world without clinging, yet fully engaged, seeing every experience as an opportunity to deepen insight into the empty, luminous nature of reality.