EMPTY SPACE:

[Pravin Kumar]

Empty Space:

Thousands of hours of time and money are spent on trying to fill a space that doesn't need filling. The nature of the space is emptiness and it will always be there. It's not your enemy; in realizing its emptiness one is filled.

Thousands of dollars are spent to go on vacation and at the time it seems to be a great idea, and in a way it is because when you’re there everything seems perfect, but the first thing to understand is wherever you go there you are which could be scary. The second thing is because of the Conditioned Mind, not only is the fantasy better than the reality, but before you know you are back home. This is not to say don't go on vacation, but the stark reality is you can always be on vacation if your mind finds your place of peace. I'm talking from experience here because for forty nine years my life was exactly how I wanted it and yet I had to always reach for something to fill a space I didn't understand. This space equates to always needing to be on vacation (reaching for something), but I didn't understand the part of wherever I went there I was.

My own mind seemed to be an enemy not an ally and I had no idea this was occurring. Basically to my Conditioned Mind, I always needed to be planning a vacation because life was never good enough in the moment I was in; regardless of how it was there was always a void. Here's the real irony in this, I was trying to fill a space of emptiness that is still there today, but what I have come to understand is it doesn't need filling; in its emptiness is my fulfillment. The issue with most people is they're trying to fill this space that doesn't need filling because the nature of it is emptiness. That's what a space is, empty so regardless of what's used to fill it, it never gets filled, it can't because it doesn't need filling. Today I understand this space is not my enemy nor does it need filling and although there are times when I do go on vacation, it's not because I'm trying to escape. Everyday I’m alive is perfect as it is and it's the space of emptiness that provides this.

MICHAEL CUPO