Nihilism and antithesis in Buddhism
When the celebrated Sanskrit translator, Max Mller, in 1869 said to his audience that nirvana is the absolute nothing, who, by the way, also believed that Buddhism was not free from the charge of nihilism, he was not entirely wrong. We need to keep in mind that one of the common definitions of nihilism for that time was The belief or theory that the world has no real existence; the rejection of all notions of reality (O.E.D.).
It is not difficult to gather from this definition of nihilism that seeing this world as a fiction or an illusion can easily fall into the camp of nihilism. That the world is illusion, my, etc., is not foreign to Buddhism. On the other hand, looking at the world from a Mahayana perspective, the world is an illusory configuration of the absolute substance or tathata/ekacitta. This is not strictly speaking nihilism.
This illusory configuration for Mahayana, that is, the world of ordinary beings has great value. In fact, the only way for a singular substance or the One Mind (ekacitta) to recognize itself, since it is too identical with itself, is for it to repulse itself or the same, antithesize itself. This then makes the illusory worlds arising serve a heuristic function for the spiritual adept; less so for those who cling to the illusory world, who must endlessly wander (samsara), entangled in illusion.
Incidentally, I should spend more time emphasizing the important role of antithesis, which the great German philosopher Hegel brought to the worlds attention. For me the place of antithesis came as a shock and surprise insofar as I realized that the One Mind perfectly antithesizes itself and by doing so is eventually able to return-to-itselfby penetrating through its very own antithesis! I discovered this is truly the mystics path/method (one can see where the later idea of Tantra came from in Buddhism).
Looking back at Mllers belief that nirvana is the absolute nothing I! think B uddhism is free of his charge that Buddhism cannot be freed from the charge of Nihilism. Mllers educated opinion is somewhat premature. Nihilism fits better with the ways of the modern world (loka) which has no end (artha) and no enduring values making it dystopian. Beings thus go from one dream to the next without ever waking up.
For the mystic all is quite differentalmost radically different. Paradoxically, the world can be a great teaching/teacher if we deeply accept its role as the antithesis of absolute spirit which then makes the world, in this respect, heuristic (i.e, an ally in finding the One Mind). On a personal note, this is what I went through in the late 1960s. In my heart of hearts I accepted the world as a teacher who would help me find the One Mind. By doing this everyone and everything had immense value for me.
