Advaita—“not two”—is pointing to, on the deepest level, ajata: a means “no”, jata means “creation”. No creation. 

In the last two lines of his poem, Hui Neng says: “Where there is nothing from the start/ how can dust alight?” In other words, where the true condition is nothingness, where can any problems arise?

In teaching advaita, the relative (duality) and the Absolute (nonduality) are spoken of. But in a subtle way, this description can be thought of as dualistic.

The true condition is described as infinite, eternal, without a beginning or ending: in other words formlessness. As Buddhists call it, emptiness.

What does emptiness mean, and what does it tell us? Is there “dust” in emptiness? Where there is nothing, where can problems arise?

When the enlightened speak of “no mind” or an “empty mind”, what is the relationship to nothingness? Is there an “Absolute” in nothing?

“Nothing from the start.” There never has been anything. Not anything is real. “Life” is no more real than a dream—which is what Buddha called it. Seeming to exist, though actually non-existent.