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The Symbolism of the Number 0 in Eastern and Western Cultures
How Sanskrit shunya and Buddhist emptiness differ from the long Western unease with the void, and why zero's symbolism is cultural and philosophical.
Traditions Around the World
Dharmic Thought, Duality and Zero
Hindu, Buddhist and dualist ideas about numbers, and the story of zero.
The Ancient Significance of the Number 2 in Dualistic Cultures
A history of paired opposites in Taoism, Zoroastrianism and Gnostic thought, and how dualistic worldviews took shape without the number two being magical.
The Eightfold Path and Numbered Teachings in Buddhism
Why Buddhist teaching uses numbered lists, from the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path to the Five Precepts, and what the habit says about oral tradition.
The Number 108 in Dharmic Traditions
Why Hindu, Buddhist and Jain practice so often uses 108, from mala beads to temple lists, and the many explanations traditions and later writers have offered.
The Power of the Number 0 in Eastern and Western Cultures
The history of zero as a numeral: Babylonian empty-place markers, the Maya shell glyph and the Indian development by the 7th century, with Brahmagupta and Bakhshali.
The Significance of the Number 9 in Buddhist and Hindu Traditions
What Hindu tradition teaches about nine: the Navagraha, the nine forms of Durga during Navaratri, and the nine rasas of classical Indian aesthetics.
The Symbolism of the Number 2 in Dualistic Cultures and Religions
How religious dualism, such as Zoroastrian good and evil, differs from non-dual traditions like Advaita Vedanta and Madhyamaka in how each framed the idea of two.
The Symbolism of the Number 9 in Buddhist and Hindu Traditions
Buddhist ninefold lists explained as doctrine: the nine qualities of the Buddha, the nine abodes of beings, the nine divisions of teaching and the nine yanas.
Related topics
More in traditions around the world
Chinese Lucky Numbers Homophones, Feng Shui and auspicious numbers in Chinese culture and business. Ancient Near East and Mediterranean Numbers in Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman and Norse sources. Numbers in Indigenous and Regional Traditions Number ideas of the Americas, West Africa, Persia and Japan.