This meditation, which is part of a series of three meditations on the theme of the sense of existing, centres on emptiness and plenitude.
The central question is this : are ‘emptiness’ and ‘sense of existing’ contradictory terms ? As we will see later on, the notion of ‘sense of existing’ refers to a particular and singular way of being. Whereas, in common parlance, emptiness refers to a notion of being empty, to an absence, a lack of consistance, of interest or of pleasure.
Whereas, in common parlance, emptiness refers to a notion of being empty, to an absence, a lack of consistance, of interest or of pleasure.
It is the second time that I hear you talk about emptiness. Having studied Buddhist meditation, can you clarify what you mean by this term ? You have also said later on in the meditation: “We are not looking for emptiness, but for plenitude”. This resonated as in fact I have always understood emptiness to be, for me, plenitude”.
Elodie C.
Introduction
I did not wish to talk on emptiness and sense of existing, so I suggested that we immerse ourselves directly in the meditation by creating the conditions for emptiness.
Immersion
I guided the meditation in three steps, each being an invitation to explore emptiness from different angles:
- 1st step: I offered the meditators a first level of understanding of emptiness through the experience of silence, motionlessness and the visual atmosphere.
Feeling nothing, seeing nothing and only hearing the absence of noise leads to a state of emptiness. But as soon as silence is infused by your presence, inner motion revealed by your motionlessness and your visual atmosphere coloured and animated by a movement, it is a state of plenitude. There cannot be a state of emptiness when there is resonance between the observer and the observed. Danis Bois But as soon as silence is infused by your presence, inner motion revealed by your motionlessness and your visual atmosphere coloured and animated by a movement, it is a state of plenitude. There cannot be a state of emptiness when there is resonance between the observer and the observed. Danis Bois
Danis Bois
- 2nd step: I then invited the meditators to experience emptiness from the perspective of Buddhism.
To illustrate this, I used the words of a wise teacher to his pupil when teaching meditation: “Your cup is too full, you must empty it before you learn to meditate”.
I invited the meditators to experience the various expressions of emptiness, particularly with regards to the ego as seen from the Buddhist perspective whereby emptiness is the ‘absence of inherent existence”, by :
– Emptying our minds
– Emptying ourselves of our emotions – Emptying ourselves of our expectations and needs – Emptying ourselves of our beliefs and representations – Emptying ourselves of everything we believe we are
– Emptying ourselves of our expectations and needs – Emptying ourselves of our beliefs and representations – Emptying ourselves of everything we believe we are
– Emptying ourselves of our beliefs and representations
– Emptying ourselves of everything we believe we are
Emptying ourselves in order to fill ourselves with newness, new points of views and new ways of being. In short, it’s about changing our attitudes to become more open. Danis Bois it’s about changing our attitudes to become more open. Danis Bois
Danis Bois
- • 3rd step: a third level of understanding of emptiness: How do we recognize that we are experiencing emptiness in Full-Presence Meditation?
I invited the meditators to recognize within themselves the internal signs of emptiness, namely:
– When our thought becomes so discreet that we have the feeling that we are not thinking,
– When our breath becomes so discreet that we have the feeling that we are not breathing,
– When we have the sense of being as much outside as inside (spatial emptiness),
– When we have the sense that we are living a moment of eternity (temporal emptiness),
– When we feel stable, calm, solid, tranquil, regardless of the external world,
– When we are without expectations, without needs and without judgement
We have to empty ourselves during meditation in order to connect with the sense of plenitude offered by the inner movement.
Danis Bois
There was no time for exchange and sharing, as the meditation lasted the whole duration of the session.
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