The Order of Nothingness was formed to acknowledge a sense we have inside ourselves, which some people call a sense of emptiness, is actually something. Since it seems dark like a black hole, we are often repelled by it. But men and women through the ages have discovered many things about it.
Read More“Where is the Monastery of Nothingness?” asked the woman.
The old master glanced up and said, “Where do you think?”
Read MoreIn my dream I saw a vast darkness. The only thing I could see were hundreds or thousands of stars, dots of light. And it was utterly and terrifyingly clear to me that they were alive. Even more terrifying was that each one of them was looking straight at me.
Read MoreThis is how it is when the spirit goes as the body dies — if you cling to life and abhor death, crying to avoid change, then your spirit’s consciousness will become confused and no longer operate correctly. Because of this, when you are energized at rebirth, you do not sense clear, fine energy but mostly find polluted, debased energy. All folly, greed and baseness actually derive from this.
Read MoreThe so-called Nothingness can be compared to quantum’s so-called Field. This comparison can begin by broaching the topic of consciousness.
What is consciousness? This is not an easy thing to define.
David Chalmers is an Australian philosopher and cognitive scientist. He is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Consciousness at the Australian National University and Professor of Philosophy at New York University. He is also a Fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. [Source: Wikipedia]
Chalmers succinctly stated, “There is nothing that we know more intimately than conscious experience, but there is nothing that is harder to explain.”
Read MoreThis is how it is when the spirit goes as the body dies — if you cling to life and abhor death, crying to avoid change, then your spirit’s consciousness will become confused and no longer operate correctly. Because of this, when you are energized at rebirth, you do not sense clear, fine energy but mostly find polluted, debased energy.
Read More“At the center of our being is a point of nothingness which is untouched by sin and by illusion, a point of pure truth, a point or spark which belongs entirely to God, which is never at our disposal, from which God disposes of our lives, which is inaccessible to the fantasies of our mind or the brutalities of our own will.”
Read MoreWe all have experiences with the state of ‘mushin’, or ‘empty mind’. Perhaps it’s just after we wake up in the morning, laying very still in bed. Or, maybe we drift into it as we watch the waves crash on a visit to the seashore.
But are these experiences simply isolated, only an occasional thing to somewhat haphazardly encounter as we thread our way through life? Or, can we find ways to extend these moments, eventually creating a continuous flow of inner calmness?
Read MoreIn the monastic Order of Nothingness we often state that “Nothingness is our goal.” Over many centuries, the term ‘nothingness’ has been repeatedly referred to by sages and teachers. For example, Taoism and Zen both refer to the specific term ‘nothingness’ as a mindset or as something for the student to discover and connect with. The term or its equivalents exist in many cultures and in many spiritual teachings.
Nothingness has come to be known by many names: mushin or empty mind, the Tao, Zen, the void, no mind, abiding, being in-the-moment, in the groove, bathing in the essence, channeling the everything, the Inward Teacher, the still small voice, conducting the universal flow, or what some people call a deeper inner connection to the Higher Self.
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