Empty Heads Ain't Dead

 

It's the middle of the day. You are tired. All things have come to a head. It is all ok. You're boredom sets in. At least that's how you first see it. Then there is a calmness. An unexpected serenity. One you haven't felt in awhile. The hamster has taken a break from the mind wheel inside your noggin. It's like those times where it is quiet in the house at night when the air conditioning goes off for a little while. That serene nature of being ok in that particular moment at that particular time. Then, the hamster hops right back on. 

We are caught in cognitive webs the time we wake up. Compartmentalizing our tasks from one box to another. Some of us go on autopilot. We go through the motions like the good conditioned automatons we have become. Go to sleep. Go to work. Eat. Indulge in the things we like. Repeat. Of course there are multitude of variations on this, but as we are doing all these lovely mundanities we are mostly caught in the cyclical nature of thought. Always thinking ahead or thinking about the lovely dinner we had with wine last night or the festivities of the weekend before or ahead. It could be anything really. Imaginary. Thoughts of the past or even the anxiety ridden nuggets of what we think might happen in the future. 

Alas, we have been trained to tie self worth with a sense of productivity or to always have the mind occupied. We retreat from what we call boredom like it is a wild cat. We know that left to our own devices that the annoying little goblin thoughts will come up and play with our state of mind. So what better way to not let them in, by having a head full of ideas, things to do, things to eat and things we have always wanted to do, but never made the time to do it. It's exhausting to think about it yet most of us live in that all day cycle of getting caught in thought traps. We rarely allow for space to have an empty head. Not an air head mind you, but a head not burdened by thoughts that take us from the conceptualization of the now or whatever you want to call it. 

You don't need to have a meditation practice or anything to get into an empty headed state. Once you start compartmentalizing a meditative practice it can be a good thing or just another task to fill out the day. It can sometimes give the illusion of mindfulness. It can give you the feeling that you accomplished something that helped you relieve stress and escape the drudgeries of modernity that we have built around us. Imagine rushing home so you can meditate for 10 minutes when you could have just been present and aware of everything that was happening within you as you sat in traffic for the last 20 minutes. It doesn't require a practice to align yourself with the moment throughout the day. It merely only takes a sense of attention and awareness. Awareness of how you are feeling and how you are breathing. You can look at what you're thinking about not involve yourself with it. You can see them pass by like ships in the sea. 

It's the space between thoughts. Yes, that's the space. It's not a destination, but the recognition of that space and how it makes us feel. Do we rush to fill that empty space with more thoughts? Or do we catch ourselves and just pay attention to everything around us? Without trying to change or do anything in the process. Sometimes we call it "spacing out" like it's a bad thing. Like we need to constantly have thoughts in a cycle in our head at all times. You can't always breathe in. At some point you are going to have to breathe out. 

Are we taking ourselves too seriously? Is our idea of relaxation just distracting us from simply just "being"? 

So think about that idea of the emptiness. The space in between those thoughts that pop up in your consciousness. What does that idea look like to you? Is it frightening? Is it relaxing? Is it intriguing? If it's uncomfortable then pay attention to it. Why would a serene space of no thoughts make you so uncomfortable? We have been very conditioned. That conditioning is a teacher. That conditioning is an access way to a new understanding of the possibilities of emptiness. Maybe it really leads to "nowhere" and that's ok. The emptiness in your head doesn't require a means to an end. It doesn't require an admittance fee or a daily practice of yoga postures and breathing exercises. Those can help sure, but they don't get to the core of the emptiness within you. The space where you are being and not trying to necessarily get anywhere or engage with those pesky thoughts. 

The emptiness is an idea, but it's more of a symbol for the awareness and attention we give to our inner workings. You cannot achieve emptiness. That would be counter intuitive. That would be you using thought to get you to a destination. Then what? When you see a squirrel fetching a nut and chasing another squirrel, do you get up and chase after them or are you just enthralled by what is folding in front of you? When you see a beautiful sunset do you try break down why it is happening or do you simply experience it with out the need of thought or the self? This is how you can look at the cyclical nature of thought and the spaces in between those thoughts. When you don't try to grapple or change the way the thoughts coming they tend to fizzle out and you're left with a clearer sense of attention. Dare I say a blissful emptiness. A sense of being right there and not trying to dictate, analyze, wrangle or wrestle with the world within you. The inner reflects the outer and visa versa. 

Empty Heads ain't dead,

They are Alive, They are Attentive.

They are presence and not a pest.

They are neither dumb or smart. It doesn't matter.

The space is open. The canvas is ready. The feeling is imminent. The vision is real. 

It is the melding of the observer and the observed. The break down of the false duality. 

Thoughts will come and they will go. Like clouds in the sky. The emptiness is eternal. It is bright, dark and many colors. It is everything all at once and nothing at the same time. It is everything you experience right now. It's the presence of being and the electricity of life. The flowing of energy. The absence of strife.

DG