Clearly, many in the United States are feeling a fullness in their bellies right now, after Thanksgiving dinners. A different kind of fullness arises out of Inner Emptiness, once one realizes that there is no self, simply a spontaneous cacophony of perception, action, thought, and emotion without a center. All of this Fullness, arising out of Emptiness.
Having been with family for the day, I’ve noticed speech alternating with silence, involvement in conversation alternating with solitary moments, eating and drinking alternating with hunger and thirst. In the midst of this, there was no continuous self to be found anywhere.
As far as I can tell, it was a lovely day for those who think they are a self and this one who knows he’s not. There seems to be little difference on the surface. Underneath, I don’t know any one else’s experience, just the experience that seems to arise ‘here inside.’ This was the most peaceful Thanksgiving experience I can remember: there was no worrying about a ‘self’ to protect or defend, no ‘persona’ to present, and nothing that ‘anyone’ had to do.
Yet, action did continue to spontaneously arise and this year it wasn’t tiring. Things seemed to be done with no effort, whenever attention moved to something needing doing. That said, attention didn’t wander everywhere to every possible action: some things seemed to need to be done and others didn’t. Some people needed to be listened to, or responded to and others didn’t.
Right now, typing this blogpost, I’m sitting in a room with five people and two dogs. Sometimes a response wants to come to the conversation going on, and sometimes writing is happening. There doesn’t seem to be any conflict in the two, disparate activities.
How did ‘I’ get to experience life like this? I don’t care to elaborate it anymore, just to enjoy it. To those reading, I wish the same. If you need help along the way, let me know.