SSSSPPPPAAAACCCCEEEE
Just asnosoundcanexist without silence,nothingcanexist
without nothing, without the empty space that enables it to
be.Everyphysicalobjectorbodyhascomeoutofnothing,is
surroundedbynothing,andwilleventuallyreturntonothing.
Not only that, but even inside every physical body there is
far more "nothing"than "something."Physicists tell us that
the solidity of matter is an illusion. Even seemingly solid
matter, including your physical body, is nearly 100 percent
emptyspace— sovastarethedistances between the atoms
comparedtotheirsize.Whatismore,eveninsideeveryatom
there is mostly empty space. What is left is more like a
vibrationalfrequencythanparticlesofsolidmatter,morelike
a musical note. Buddhists have known that for over 2 , 500
years. "Form is emptiness, emptiness is form," states the
Heart Sutra, one of the best known ancient Buddhist texts.
Theessenceofallthingsisemptiness.
The Unmanifested is not only present in this world as
silence;italsopervadestheentirephysicaluniverseasspace
— from within and without.This is just as easy to miss as
silence. Everybodypaysattentiontothethingsin space,but
whopaysattentiontospaceitself?
Youseemtobeimplyingthat"emptiness"or"nothing"isnot
justnothing,thatthereissomemysteriousqualitytoit.What
isthisnothing?
Youcannotasksuchaquestion.Yourmindistryingtomake
nothing into something. The moment you make it into
something, you have missed it. Nothing — space — is the
appearance of the Unmanifested as an externalized