today i had a momentary glimpse into the empty nature of the universe.

i woke up and did not meditate today. however, i have been present all day. today is probably the most present i’ve been for quite some time. also, my application of Right Effort today was effective and performed many times as required. however, not having meditated in the morning causes a sort of drainage of mindfulness-energy. and it becomes harder, now, towards the end of the day, to maintain mindfulness.

also, today, through the writings of Druze mystic Kamal Joumblatt, i have learned about the immense similarities between the faith of Druzism and the faith of Buddhism. actually, i am becoming more convinced that all religions contain a similar core of truth which becomes smeared and misinterpreted as the religion becomes institutionalized. in this sense, only esoteric truths represent the absolute truths and these are only accessible through the initiation into a spiritual path and through the cultivation of essential spiritual skills such as mindfulness and compassion. these “gnostic” forms of world religions exist everywhere and their teachers are the wise sages and philosopher-masters of antiquity. this has renewed my faith in the absolute and rejuvenated my commitment to this spiritual path i have chosen to engage. i have learned that it truly matters not the name or dogma surrounding the practice. call me Buddhist, Druze, Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Rastafarian, Jainist, Sikh, Jewish, Gnostic, Hermetic, etc…it matters not. the Truth which is within and immune to mere words and mythologies is all what matters.

while going for a ride in the car, i found myself more and more in a zone of no-thought or no-mind. everything stilled and simple Being ensued. here, in this realm, analytical intuition takes over and deep insight arrives. i saw the objective world and desisted from bathing all these observations in interpreted knowledge. no thing being distinct, i saw that all things are TRUE and completely impersonal. this dissociation from the perceived world is truly a liberating experience. i was also chanting in my mind the following two phrases which helped sustain the no-mind zone: “don’t worry” and “let it be”. thus freeing myself from my thoughts, i saw that all the events and objects in this world were subject to the law of causality. nothing is attributable to a solid inherently existing person or object. it is all inter-connected and in a state of constant flux from one form to the next. it is the play of forms. this momentary insight was very memorable and filled me with a deep and humble bliss, emanating from the living unchanging Truth within us all.

this dot i have photographed is actually a hole in a wall. it serves two purposes. 1) to show the universe in its entirety as one unit, one whole. none of us is outside of or separate from this ONE. 2) it is a hole and i felt that this embodied the emptiness of which i earlier spoke. although objects and people are not “literally” empty, materially empty, they are empty of an inherent existence which is independent and separate from the ONE universe.

“All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.”
– Buddha