Silence and emptiness

Feeling a bit more circumspect today - good days, bad days. One of the great things about Buddhism is that it tackles the idea of emptiness head on and comes up with some joyful results. We are all aware of emptiness to some degree - the sense of pointlessness, that feeling when something terrible has happened and yet life goes on, unacknowledged pain, that kind of thing. It's right there in front of our noses and yet we turn away from it and crack open another chocolate lollipop hoping it will go away.

So then, if we look into the heart of emptiness we find silence and contentment. Emptiness is not nothingness, more like continuous emptying - an empty bowl is still a bowl waiting to do its bowling. We can admire the bowl, use the bowl, keep the bowl clear so it is ready for the next thing.