Nothing?

For all practical purposes, if you don’t have time to read the rest below feel free to swap the word ‘Nothing’ with ‘Happiness’.  If you want to know why, keep reading…  ;)

In the realm of ontology, ‘Nothing’ is an idea that has been examined in Buddhism, Greek philosophy, and more recently in 20th century existentialism. I also have a very tome like book entitled ‘Being and Nothingness’ which I don’t pretend to have read thoroughly, but my understanding (and of course very imperfect practice) of it is something like the following:  being so present and clear minded in who I am being that nothing separates me from the world, the people around me, and what is happening right now.

Personally, I’ve come across a few other important principles that have a very direct influence on the practice of this in my life, and one of the things I hope to use this blog for is to pass on articles I come across and experiences I have that are good examples of the following ideas:

• Always examining my perspective, versus thinking I can know the truth about things.
• Focusing on making a difference in the world around me, not just in my own life.
• Looking for where I can take responsibility as opposed to trying to avoid (or place) blame.
• Being in integrity: being true to my word, my principles, and to myself. For me, being in integrity is very distinct from being moral.
• Being committed to my own authentic self expression instead of worrying about how I look,  either through full communication, creativity, or just living life like there’s no tomorrow. :)

Another important principle of Nothing is that, in my personal experience, when people are truly present, clear minded, and being authentic, Everything is possible inside of that.

Nothing and Everything and Between the Two My Life Flows
(excerpt from a book written by Sharon Salzberg)

A great Indian teacher named Nisargadatta Maharaj once said, “Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. Between the two my life flows.”

‘I am nothing’ does not mean that there is a bleak wasteland within. It does mean that with awareness we open to a clear, unimpeded space, without center or periphery–nothing separate. If we are nothing, there is nothing at all to serve as a barrier to our boundless expression of love. Being nothing in this way, we are also, inevitably, everything. ‘Everything’ does not mean self-aggrandizement, but a decisive recognition of interconnection; we are not separate. Both the clear, open space of ‘nothing’ and the interconnectedness of ‘everything’ awaken us to our true nature. This is the truth we contact when we meditate, a sense of unity beyond suffering.

It is always present; we merely need to be able to access it.

Christmas, 2007

The principle of Nothing took on a more concrete meaning for me over my 2007 Christmas vacation. I had just gone through one of the most difficult years in my life, and I realized that I had been doing a lot of waiting over the last few months. Waiting for the right job, waiting to figure out if I wanted to stay in Portland, waiting for my knee to heal, waiting to see if my relationships would heal, waiting for something to happen… for me, or maybe to me.

And once I took a big step back, got some perspective from being with my family, and took responsibility for where I was at in life, it gave me some clarity and enough peace of mind to get out of being in my head, and into getting off my ass and putting my life back in integrity.

So, I guess something had to happen to me after all, and that’s an example of what I call Nothing.  :)