The notion of emptiness reveals itself across philosophical and spiritual traditions. For example, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus and the Buddha advised freedom is not achieved by satisfying desire but by removing it.
In The Dark Night of the Soul, John of the Cross wrote,
He who will walk in the way of perfection must not only enter through the narrow gate. They must empty themselves of everything that relates to sense and renounce all they possess. Laying a constraint upon themselves and releasing themselves entirely from all attachment, even spiritual things.
The way of emptiness is often scary (at least for me) and counterintuitive. Emptiness (or letting go) can feel like leaping without a parachute. The poet Rumi called “life a balance of holding on and letting go.”
Reflect for a moment on letting go — is there anything you’re holding tightly?
The Trappist monk Thomas Merton expressed the character of emptiness, at least for the Christian contemplative, as pure love and pure freedom. “Love that is free of everything, not determined by anything, or held down by any special relationship. It is love for love’s sake.”
The classic Chinese text the Tao Te Ching (traditionally attributed to the philosopher Lao Tzu) discusses emptiness in practical terms,
Thirty spokes are joined together in a wheel, but the center hole allows the wheel to function.
We mold clay into a pot, but the emptiness inside makes the vessel useful.
We fashion wood for a house, but the emptiness inside makes it livable.
We work with the substantial, but the emptiness is what we use.
In Buddhism, the idea of emptiness can become more complex. Shunryu Suzuki (author of Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind) suggested actualizing emptiness moves beyond our interpretations of reality. It is to remember another world beyond our limited experience, emptying ourselves of preconceived ideas and accepting things as they are.
Suzuki explained,
To empty water from a cup does not mean to drink it up. “To empty” means to have direct, pure experience without relying on the form or color of being. So our experience is “empty” of our preconceived ideas, our idea of being, our idea of big or small, round or square.
Put another way, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh observed, “When we first hear about emptiness, we feel a little frightened.” But after practicing for a while, we see that things exist only in a different way than we initially thought. Emptiness is the Middle Way between existent and nonexistent. Hanh explains,
The beautiful flower does not become empty when it fades and dies. It is already empty, in its essence. Looking deeply, we see that the flower is made of non-flower elements — light, space, clouds, earth, and consciousness. It is empty of a separate, independent self.
Regardless of the particular meaning of emptiness, we should conclude that emptiness is an idea worth contemplating. How can you start thinking of emptying instead of adding?
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Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
Great perspective. I am still trying to piece together the final wisdom of the emptiness scenario, like the vessel only being valuable because of it’s internal emptiness. How does that relate to a human’s emptiness ?
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