The feeling of a “void”- the feeling that something’s missing- like there’s supposed to be “more” to life, is universal.
Many of us interpret the feeling differently, but we all feel it – we feel like we’re missing a piece, like we’re one half of a whole (thinking we need “the one” to complete us), like we need to acquire something to be happy, like we’re a part of something greater and need to come in contact with that, like we’re a shadow of our potential and need to work hard to become the “greatest version” of ourselves or something else altogether.
Ultimately, this is all one and the same thing: it’s the feeling that we’re less than “whole”.This is unfortunate but arises naturally without any doing of our own, so there’s no use kicking yourself over it. We can, though, do something about it. The reality is we’re not missing anything at all, and so the funny thing is any effort that attempts to “fill” this void is bound for failure right from the start.
In order to “fix” this (nothing needs fixing, we just need to realize why it doesn’tneed fixing), we need to discover the source of the feeling. Buddhist wisdom teaches us that everything is as it’s supposed to be, it’s just difficult to grasp because the world isn’t at first what it seems to be.
As opposed to static, solid, and separate as it seems to us, upon deep meditation and observation we realize that everything is much more like a giant organism- impermanent (constantly dying, being born, or interchanged), ever-flowing, ungraspable, and without any real “separate” pieces because everything is interconnected and interdependent on itself like a huge woven tapestry all at the same time.
This obviously makes us feel nuts unless we realize deeply that everything is as it’s supposed to be in every moment because this means the world is altogether out of our control, not solid, constantly changing, and through that much fear, confusion, paranoia, and discontent arises.
But if we can work to realize this, the feeling that something is missing- or that “something” needs to be there for us to hold on to in the first place- disappears. And through that, we realize what I call our “natural wholeness”. Because we were “perfect” (just as we were supposed to be) all along.
Peace and Love, Jim
