The empty mind

A man came to me a few days ago and asked – why have you withdrawn from village life to live like a hermit?

I merely told him, I have discovered something far more interesting besides the politics of village life.

He stepped forward and asked in a heightened voice, so finally you have meet a girl?….a nice one I imagine.

I half smiled as I continued hauling rocks on the wheel barrow as I was working on a section of road and replied, no…no girl.

Then what is it? I want to know. The man took another step forward.

I did not reply him and smiled and continued working.

————————————————————–

‘The empty mind is not empty. Not at all. The only reason why most people assume it’s empty, is because they regard emptiness and nothingness as one of the same reality.

In reality emptiness is form – it is like a well manicured lawn, it only looks empty, but if you happen to have some rudimentary knowledge on agriculture then you might probably realize someone has carefully pulled out the weeds, trimmed the grass and even made sure the edges are all squared and tidy – but to the untrained eye it can only look empty.

In the same way when the mind is emptied – then it too has been meticulously weeded, tended and cared for in such a way where it is completely free from all nonsense that is so often churned out by the world.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not a recluse or even hermit – I just believe very strong there must be a clear line between individual and world.

As if world fills the mind so completely. Then it can only squeeze out the individual – having too much of the world in one’s life is not the same as living full of life – it just means you’ve been invaded – you can no longer distinguish where you stand in relation to the world. Not clearly at least and it this blurring that is the reason why so many remained trapped in a self destructive vicious cycle. Where instead of growing meaningfully, they regress.

It just means you have left the back door to your mind so wide open that ten Amos Yee’s can around 24/7 in your head, spouting loads of happy nonsense that subtracts rather than adds value to your life.

If one is not mindful of how all pervasive the reach of the world can be – then the mind can only be so filled with the clutter of so many voices that it can only lead us astray and take us further away from who we are all meant to be.

This is what happens when the mind is the opposite of empty – it’s becomes like City Hall interchange one hour after five in the afternoon. All sorts of people are walking in and out of our minds – they are interrupting our natural rhythm of thoughts and even coloring the way we feel about others and ourselves to such a point where the mind is so thinned out that we all reduced to the sum of the parts of this ceaseless cacophony.

There is no centre….no anchor….no line where we can say this is where it all begins or ends….only chaos.

But in the empty mind – it is like a secret garden where one is perfectly comfortable with the company of the self. There is no need to prove anything to anyone here. That’s childish. No urgency even to win or to show off that you are better than the next person. No need even to sign up for competitive mind games that only consume your bandwidth which could otherwise be diverted to more productive endeavors. These things are very childish in this sacred place – all that is pure nonsense in the domain of the empty mind….as there is really only you and the marvelous wholeness of uncluttered emptiness.

Here in the empty mind all manner of things and thoughts can only acquire super clarity and sharpness and above all the truth….as a consequence one can only be in a state of profound peace.

Emptiness is not nothing…it is a form.’