Oracle of Consciousness
#114 - The Void
The word void means completely empty, devoid of anything, or no longer valid.
In our human existence, we often experience this void.
It may appear after a painful experience and a very uncomfortable one at that.
When we lose a loved one, perhaps a pet dies, we move away from a location and distance ourselves from our friends, we lose a job, a relationship dissolves, all of these can create the apparency of a void, there is something missing, there's an emptiness present.
"I am no longer complete and whole, as a result of this emptiness".
This is an illusion.
However, we can become very adept at filling this void with things that will give us a modicum of comfort that supposedly will counter our discomfort.
And that or they can become highly addictive!
It may be using work as a form of avoidance.
It can be illicit drugs.
Excessive alcohol consumption.
Dysfunctional sex.
'America's Got Talent' reruns after reruns.
Overuse of Twitter.
Obsessively hunting for Facebook likes.
Scrolling through Instagram.
Surfing the Internet.
Binge watching movies on Netflix.
You name it, and chocolate, don't forget chocolate!
We can find ourselves diving into these comfort foods and the temporary 'relief' they provide.
The paradox is, the addictive behaviours we adopt to counter our discomfort, pain and traumas, now becomes our central in-life problem!
However, the irony is that within this void, this emptiness, the nothingness, is the key to accessing more consciousness.
You see, consciousness is not a thing.
It's a no-thing.
Therefore, it is void of anything.
There is no thing, it is empty.
It's conscious, but you can't touch it.
You can’t see consciousness, or taste it, smell it, hear it, but you can witness the manifestations of consciousness, you're actually embodied in one right now, this physical body of yours.
So, when we experience the void, if we were to dive deeper and deeper into this nothingness, this emptiness, it will lead us into a more conscious, aware, state where we realise that I'm not the problem that I thought I was.
I identified with something and said,
"I am that, I am this body."
"I am a husband, a wife, a father, a mother".
We identify with these labels.
When the tangible has gone or missing, it leaves a 'void', because the problem is not the situation or the person that's now missing, it's the identification with it or them.
Now we feel that we've been robbed, part of our identity has been taken away because this situation, this person, this place, activity, is no longer available to us.
We need to come back to our central core, where nothing is missing, where we are whole and complete.
When we fully recognise that we are infinite beings animating these bodies, then how could we possibly be incomplete?
How could we possibly need anything to make us more whole?
Yes, we have a foot in both camps. The real and the unreal, the solid and the essence of consciousness.
It's about bringing a balance and the realisation that we are not just the tangible, that we are something much grander. As long as you put some attention on that, this void will never disturb you.
Here's an invitation:
Stop trying to avoid the void and dive into it!
"The painful emotions which come up when we discover an uncomfortable truth aren’t problems which need to be dealt with, they’re feelings which need to be felt.
Let the grief, anguish, rage, shame, fear, or whatever it might be say everything it needs to say to you, in the same way you’d let a beloved child tell you about their feelings and concerns.
You wouldn’t push the child away or treat them like a problem, you’d hear them out and give them a cuddle and let them know you care about them and that you’ll keep them safe.
Once you’ve consciously felt a feeling all the way through and heard out everything it needs to say to you, its energy will dissipate.
Uncomfortable truths and uncomfortable feelings need to be met in the same way: head-on, with an open mind and an open heart.
Moving into a truth-based relationship with life means wanting to see everything: uncomfortable truths about the world, uncomfortable truths about ourselves, and uncomfortable feelings we haven’t been allowing full expression to.
It can be painful at times, even downright terrifying, but it’s also the only path to health for both our species as a collective and ourselves as individuals."
Built with Shorthand