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ost of the time we give more priority to being occupied, engagement, finding meaning and attaining fulfillment in everyday existence. There is common and popular belief that an idle mind is the devil's home and that's why we are much concerned about engaging ourselves in doing something. But the statistics seems to point in opposite direction.
We tend to believe that keeping ourselves busy and achieving success would magically remove all the problems in our lives but the some of the things doesn't work the way we think. A study published under the University of Cincinnati Law Review disclosed that CEOs are at twice at the risk of developing depression than general people. The University also showed that the people living in developed and wealthy country have greater risk of suffering from mood disorders than people living in developing nations. Just take a real example of common firefighter, Ronald O' Donnell, who rescued a little girl from an inaccessible underground shaft. This brave rescue operation became one of the top rated events in the history of the world television. Several interviews, a valedictory parade, invitations for reality shows, a letter from president and meeting with vice - president were made plus a movie to acknowledge the brave efforts of the firefighter. What happened is what usually happens. Robert got addicted to fame and popularity and when the cameras and medias moved away from him, after a few months, his world collapsed. His fame was ephemeral. After getting addicted to fame, found it hard getting back to his normal life and eventually he suffered many mental disorders like depression and anxiety and finally ended up his life by committing suicide.
I think its time to review the existing paradigm of becoming more and more productive and fame is making us lonely, fearful and miserable. We all need to make a fundamental change the way we perceive what life is.
There are many ancient writings teaching about the value of emptiness. Let's take a look on what one of them. The ancient Chinese text: Tao Te Ching says that whenever we look at a pot, we usually pay more attention to its color, size and shape. We hardly notice its tiny details. The pot has got something that our eyes can't see; its emptiness. It is this emptiness that makes the pot valuable and gives it a deeper meaning or otherwise it's more than just a mass of clay. Well, this seems a spiritual thing but let's see how our modern science perceive the value of emptiness. Science has revealed that our observable universe does not contain just galaxies, stars and planets but also its vast empty space that contains everything inside. This vast emptiness is way bigger than everything else put together. It binds everything together in space. We are unsure that whether this space possess any mysterious energy which continues our universe to expanding at an uniform accelerated pace.
Are we really paying attention to the emptiness in the cosmos and within us? Buddhism speaks about shunyata - a meditative state characterized by emptiness wherein the person is emancipated realizing that there is no independently existing form sensation, impulse, emotion or consciousness. There is neither pleasure nor pain. Therefore the path to wholeness can be easily found in emptiness.
But how do we achieve it? If you wish to be happy and discover yourself, nurture this emptiness and let it guide you. One way to do this is by practicing mindfulness meditation. The moment you meditate your thoughts slow down and there is another moment in which one thought passes but other does not appear and finally you experience 'no-mind' state. Going further a bit and you drop all your thoughts and attain a state of pure consciousness and fullness. That's how you will discover the beauty of emptiness.
Conclusion: People nowadays are moving towards minimalism. A life with less stuff but more room for the things that adds value to their life. Even Newton discovered the laws of motion with 'no-mind' state. And emptiness is all that bad for our lives.
Tagged : Better Habits • Everyday Learning