17 Dec
More on Emptiness
- Image via Wikipedia
For those who have been studying ancient paths of self discovery since their birth, it may be easy to “empty” oneself and find an inner peace through the ridding of the self of superficial ideas, but for the rest of us who have not had the luxury of a lifetime of practice, it may be a bit of a struggle to even grasp that the idea of emptiness does not really mean becoming devoid of a thing. But there is something quite important we are forgetting here. The concept of emptiness is a theory. It is as much hypothesis as many of the other belief systems out there, and it does not mean the complete non-existence.
While the religious, or philosophical concept of emptiness is sound, there is something which has nagged at me for the past 20 or so years. What replaces the emptiness. If the single most hope for a Buddhist is existence without boundaries, then why not simply destroy the physical body? The answer is very simply that when emptiness is achieved, it is achieved as a mental preparedness for the knowledge that the individual is not the “end-all, be-all” of existence, but that the person exists with, in, and around other energies, all interconnected, all interdependent, and all one.
The single most problem with emptiness, is that we are human and because we have individual thought we do perceive, and exist apart from the rest of existence. We have individual memory, we have individual understanding and perception of given events and teachings, and we even have separate and distinct physical manifestations of being. It is not an easy thing to let go of our individuality and blend our beingness with all of existence.
In Taoism, which was founded roughly at the same time as Buddhism, the concept of emptiness is not so much that one becomes devoid of personhood, but that one becomes balanced by the recognition that other energy entities also exist on the path to enlightenment and that all energies co-mingle and share common bonds of being, even though they are separate and distinct. In Taoism it “refers to a power which envelops, surrounds and flows through all things, living and non-living. The Tao regulates natural processes and nourishes balance in the Universe. It embodies the harmony of opposites (i.e. there would be no love without hate, no light without dark, no male without female.)”
In the last article, we suggested a thing is never truly devoid of anything. When you look a glass containing liquid, do you see the glass as half full, or half empty? I see it as always full regardless of the amount of liquid (or other stuff) which may take up space within it’s walls. Even if there is only half the amount of liquid in the glass, there is still air pushing the liquid down. Need proof? Next time there is a high pressure moving into your area, keep an eye on your toilet. As the air pressure increases, you will notice the water level go down in your toilet bowl. It is a simple enough principle to understand. So too is it with emptiness. In the case of metaphysical emptiness, we become filled with understanding, so the balance continues without our ever realizing.
It is imperative to remember that in Buddhism emptiness is not “nihilism”, or the complete lack of existence. In Buddhism, the same question is asked, “is the cup half empty or half full?” The response is, “Define cup.” Buddhist emptiness is the discovery that all of existence is perception and that there exists as many perceptions as there are entities doing the perceiving. Emptiness then, focuses the purity of essence and not on the perception.
Image by d0.0b via Flickr
There is even a Christian concept of emptiness, though it is a bit different from both the Buddhist and Taoist traditions. In the Christian sense of emptiness, we let go of the superficial idea that we are in control of our existence, and allow God, Christ, and/or the Spirit to work through us and guide us to a fulfilling life. It is an acceptance that a higher being can have influence over our existence. We empty ourselves to allow for the Divine to enter our lives.
Either way you chose to look at it a certain balance must be achieved by recognizing there exist many different ideas of emptiness, fullness, enlightenment, and ascension. The Christ taught us there is no one way to view the world, and that we must remain ever vigilant and ever watchful, and that we too are capable of so much more than what we are.
All we have to do is see past the personal vendettas, our own self importance, and our own need for control over everything around us. Control is an illusion, empty the mind of the need for control, and the mind is filled with the recognition that all life is equal: there can be no exceptions.
The idea is not to become nothing, but to recognize everything. It is a paradox, but one that can be understood by simply letting go of definitions, expectations, and perceptions of what “should” be.
And by the way, one need not be religious to understand and benefit from the concept of Emptiness. It is amazing what can happen when one lets go of the need to control expected outcomes. Often, the happy accidents are the ones which have not only the most influence, but also the most beauty.
Peace to all.
K
