Perhaps the most elusive space for human beings to enter is the gap between our thoughts. Usually we stay on one thought until another one takes over, leaving very little unused space. The spaces between our thoughts are brief, and seldom does anyone wonder what it would be like to have fewer thoughts, or what we’d find in the void between them. But the paradox is obvious. Thinking about what it would be like to be in the gap between our thoughts… is just another thought. Rather than expanding that space between, we move on to more thoughts. So why should we concern ourselves with entering the elusive gap? Because everything emerges from the void.
We get an inkling of why the gap between our thoughts is such a vital concept to grasp, and yes, to enter regularly, when we consider the following: The place of “no thing” is where all that is “some thing” comes from. We need the void of nothing in order to create something. As an example, consider any sound that you might make. Where does it come from? The void, the silence, the emptiness. Without the void, there would be noise all the time.
“It’s the silence between the notes that makes music” is an ancient Zen observation, which clarifies this idea. Imagine, if you can, music without pauses or silent spaces. Without the pauses for silence, the music would be one infinitely long note of noise. What we call music would be impossible. This is true for all of creation, including the world that you wish to create for yourself. Creativity itself is a function of the gap.
St. Paul said, “…that which is seen, hath not come from that which doth appear.” No, indeed, it comes from the emptiness, the void, the space in between. In the silence between our thoughts, we find the possibilities of creative genius and spiritual awareness that elude us when we remain attentive only to our run-on thoughts.
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