There is a famous saying in the Heart Sutra: "Color is emptiness, and emptiness is color", which is widely circulated. Many people who don't study Buddhism know it and are often quoted, but few people really understand it. "Color" is easily misunderstood, especially for people who don't study Buddhism. They often regard this "color" as "beauty" and "beauty", and even regard this sentence as an excuse for lusting after women's colors, which is a great misunderstanding of Buddhist scriptures. In fact, "color" here refers to matter and phenomena. What we can see, hear and feel are all called colors in Buddhist scriptures.

"Emptiness" means nothingness and emptiness. This word is easy to say and understand, but it is very difficult to really understand emptiness. In fact, science is developed now, and many have proved the authenticity of Buddhist scriptures. Of course, physics and chemistry are not good in the end, but scientists have found that the basic particles that make up matter are atoms, neutrinos, quarks and so on. These elementary particles are ultimately a kind of energy, rather than substances and phenomena that we can see with the naked eye. This also confirms the truth in Buddhism that "all laws are empty". But this is still abstract. Let's illustrate it with examples from life.

Usually, we all dream. In dreams, everything, people and environment are real. Even in a dream, if someone reminds you that it is false, you won't believe it. Only after waking up, that is, after waking up, will you know that it was just a dream. The scenes, characters and events in your dreams are all realized by your own mind and have nothing to do with the outside world.

But if the Buddha told you that you were still dreaming when you were awake, would you believe it? Still won't believe it! Why? Because we haven't realized emptiness, and we haven't reached the realm of Buddha's enlightenment. Who is the Buddha? The awakened one is the awakened one, and we are the ones who are still asleep and not awakened. It's like a sober person telling a dreamer that his dream is false, and he certainly won't believe it. Then why do people believe it? Because these people are half asleep. Therefore, although the literal meaning of "empty" is easy to understand, it is really difficult to understand thoroughly.