I want to
enter the first of the three doors of liberation found in Buddhism-
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Emptiness
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emptiness. We all feel empty and alone at times, and this feeling makes us suffer, even
though we are never truly empty. We need to look deeper into ourselves to see
that everything in this world is impermanent and that means everything is also
empty. Since nothing will last forever, its elements that are all separate and
independent will stay that way, which means all objects are empty. “Everyone we
cherish will, someday, get sick and die. If we do not practice the meditation
on emptiness, when it happens, we will be overwhelmed.” (pg. 148) Without
meditating on emptiness, people will suffer a lot when someone they love dies
or when anything tragic happens in their life. But in seeing that happen, we
see that we are not truly empty. Everything is intertwined and affects
one-another. “In Vietnam, we say that if one horse is sick, all the horses in
the stable will refuse to eat. Our happiness and suffering are the happiness
and suffering of others.” (pg. 147) We
all affect each other whether in small or big ways, which is what intertwines
all of us. We can never be truly empty because of this fact. Something or
someone will always be affecting you, so even if you believe you are empty, you
are not. Meditating on this idea can reveal so many things in life unnoticed to
the masses. Nobody is ever alone because something or someone is always affecting
them and that thought is a difficult one to believe without deep meditation and
the desire to open this door of liberation.
This
concept can easily be related to my life because I have always felt alone and
empty. I am a very introverted person with very few friends. In my past
experiences in middle school and high school I would always feel alone and
empty every day when I got home. There was nobody around to talk to or be with,
which brought about suffering. I felt like there was nothing in this world and
I was alone. Only now do I realize that I was
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The feeling of emptiness
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never alone. I had so much around
me. I just needed to open my eyes to the true nature of inter-being. I had my
bed to enjoy laying down in, video games to have fun and enjoy, social
networking sites to talk to people, and many other things that I just took for
granted and never thought of their impact upon me. Another way that the feeling
of emptiness hit me hard was when one of my family members died. I was not
prepared for them to go. Once they were gone though, the feelings hit really
hard and really fast. I would never be able to have any new experiences with
them. I would never be able to talk to them again or laugh with them or
anything. I felt so empty inside knowing I could never be with them again.
After that experience though, I realized how fragile life can be and to try to
enjoy it as much as we can while we live. Don’t let your emptiness consume you
otherwise you will die a sad and lonely person. You need to realize that
everything is impermanent and will go away one day, but enjoy it while it is
here. Live life to the fullest, without too much emptiness in it. Without this
current realization, my life would still feel empty and I would definitely
continue to suffer in those feelings, but meditation into the subject has made
me a much happier person.
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