Thusness

Thusness is a term used to describe the quality of things as they are, beyond conceptual labeling. It is often presented as an English rendering of the Buddhist term tathatā, or “suchness,” and is formed from the root thus plus the suffix -ness to denote the way things inherently are. In this sense, thusness points to a nonconceptual reality that resists straightforward description.

In Buddhist philosophy, tathatā denotes the ultimate, nondual nature of phenomena. It refers to how things appear in experience without being reduced to discrete concepts or independent essences. Thusness is closely connected with the doctrine of emptiness (śūnyatā) in many traditions, which holds that phenomena lack inherent, fixed essence even as they arise and function in dependent relation to causes, conditions, and perception.

In Zen and Chan contexts, thusness is often described as the immediate reality of but a moment or event—the concrete, unthematized way things present themselves. Practitioners may encounter thusness through meditation, direct perception, or spontaneous activities, where language and conceptions fall away and experience is “as it is.”

In English-language philosophy and literature, thusness is used comparatively sparingly and usually within discussions of Buddhist thought or phenomenological readings of experience. It remains a specialized term that signals a non-representational awareness of reality, rather than a defined object or property. See also tathāgatā, suchness, and emptiness.