Precisely. Emptiness as practiced by a lone determined fool. See niece/nephew of your comment. I did it through disciplined meditation on emptiness and compassion in turns, and a sort of retreat from the world, as I had a little money put away and few expenses. It was wonderful for a while. I felt very happy. I literally felt that I'd dismantled everything that I thought I was. I no longer knew what I liked or disliked. It was very difficult to have an opinion about anything. I certainly wasn't hacking. I moved through the world in a sort of wide eyed daze (probably due to over-oxygenation :) It felt like I got maybe a quarter of the way to wherever it was I was going, although I have no way of knowing.
But life demands, and I stopped my practice and dove back into it with little thought, and that's when things got bad. I had no drive, no motivations, and didn't have a clue who I was anymore. But I also wasn't meditating, which can serve as preventative medicine against the effects of these things in the "real world". I felt kind of clueless and naked, like an amnesiac dumped in the middle of a big city.
Well, anyway, long story short, you'd be surprised how powerful these ancient techniques can be, and you'd be wise to seek guidance from someone experienced before you go dismantling yourself all willy-nilly :). I'm doing wonderfully now, though. And I'm not currently practicing.
One advice to anybody who hasn't spent much time thinking about these things deeply before. Don't do this alone. Have somebody with whom you can discuss (not on computer). Your mind can become like a shifting sand and you won't have any sort of hold to understand the world. Which can be extremely disconcerting.
You have a world view that you have acquired/formed based on certain assumptions that you may have never questioned. Once you start questioning them, you won't stop at any assumption, and you go into a sort of mental abyss, especially, if you have never believed in God.
One consolation is that however hopeless it may feel when you go there, you'll probably come out and get back to your usual self.
