Timothy C. Cahill wrote:

> It is very unlikely that the Buddhist concept "su~n~na" forms the basis
> for the concept of zero.

Dear Tim,
I suspect that it could be the other way around, especially in later
contexts -- apparently there was un upsurge of interest in mathematics in
India around the time of Nagarjuna and his chums.

Anyway, if anybody wants a symbol for shuunyataa, then a dot or zero would
be quite acceptable. In Buddhist tantric literature, the anusvara dot on
top of seed syllables is always interpreted as a symbol for emptiness,
though I have read that the origin of the 0 symbol for zero itself actually
lies in the written form of deprivative prefix "vi" without the "i" vowel
affix.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge