Emptiness is not nothingness

And to attain that state, you need to empty yourself.

I said, "I'm empty enough. Fame and fortune are nothing to me. Many of the monks in this temple are worldlier than me." 

The abbot shook his head and said,

"No, emptiness is not nothingness. Emptiness is a type of existence. You must use this existential emptiness to fill yourself."

His words were very enlightening to me. Later, after I thought about it a bit, I realized that it wasn't Buddhist philosophy at all, but was more akin to some modern physics theories. The abbot also told me he would not discuss Buddhism with me.