I thought to myself is that emptiness which I am feeling exist or not? If it exist it must be a thing, something. Death is like that. It is ending. It is nothingness which does not exist. If it exist it must be something otherwise I would not feel it. What do you think? You can’t feel that which does not exist.
Does what you think is “you” actually exist, or is it just thought?
For me Me exists. I react. But what is emptiness? Jiddu said happy is the one who is nothing. But nothingness doesn’t exist, it is empty. You can’t feel nothingness. But I feel void inside of me. I want to understand it. How can I feel that which does not exist? Void is something definitely. What do you think about death?
Me exists only as thought. Without thought constantly reminding itself who it believes it is, there is no Me.
But what is emptiness?
One can never know emptiness until thought has stopped reminding itself constantly of its beliefs; the brain having emptied itself of the contents of consciousness.
Emptiness is death. It is nothingness. That which doesn’t exist.
If you knew the answer why did you ask the question?
I didn’t know the answer. I am inquiring and want to know am I right or not. I want meditation together.
Why?
Do you believe you can only find out what is true or false by “meditating” with others?
You don’t feel love to philosophy. Yes I want true love and friendship. I want to meditate together. It is great fun to find truth together.
We know it’s great fun for millions of people to tell lies to each other that they all believe are truth, so wouldn’t finding truth, being a light to oneself, depend on no one?
Helen, You may want to check out Kinfonet’s online Dialogue groups and KFA’s Events that have online meetings.
I think you are correct in this, Inquiry, we can find truth on our own. But humans thrive together. Being with others in dialogue is good for our health and well-being.
Isn’t the ‘truth’ we’re talking about only ‘found’ in this moment? Isn’t the ‘light’ the awareness of this moment? ‘Life’ then isn’t to be found in the past or in the future but only ever now, isn’t it?
Absolutely, there is only now.
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But up to now the conditioning has been that the ‘truth’ is in knowledge but knowledge is the past. Accumulating knowledge has been the goal. That is the way we’ve lived and ‘learned’ but K has suggested a different way of learning which has nothing to do with accumulation…nothing to do with the past.
A kind of ‘emptying’ from moment to moment?
And maybe it’s attention without thoughts’ filter.
Yes without the ‘observer’ which is the past.
The “way of learning” K spoke of is self-knowledge, awareness of and attention to what thought is doing, one’s conditioned responses, habitual behavior, and reactions.
Self-knowledge is not the accumulation of useful, necessary knowledge that is practical thought, but awareness of what thought is doing from moment to moment, what feelings arise, how mechanical and reactive one is.
K said," So to understand all this you have to study yourself, not from books, not from other people, you have to look at your own life, give time, energy, patience, probing." 1982. Second Question and Answer Meeting, Brockwood
It can also be an escape from self-knowledge that has more of a demoralizing effect than anything healthy.
Something comes to an end, a close friend dies, your lover leaves you.
What you remember is the relationship you had. It is a memory of oneself in a relationship, it is about oneself - the memory of oneself does not end. In the memory you try to go on living in this relationship, you want to preserve it, you don’t want it to end, this causes a feeling of emptiness - a conflict between fact and desire.