Lao Tze, ancient Chinese philosopher and writer and reputed author of the Tao Te Ching observed that:
“Spokes may be joined together to form a wheel,
but it is the hole at the center
that allows the wheel to function.
We may mold clay into a pot,
but it is the empty space inside
that makes the vessel of use to us.
We may fashion materials such as wood or bricks,
creating doors and windows, to make a house,
but it is the emptiness inside
that makes it something we can live in.
Therefore, we may gain advantage from material things,
that which ‘is’,
but it is the emptiness, that which ‘is not’,
that is most useful….”
In this respect we have our physical body that provides the vessel, pot or house but it is that which we fill the void within that is of most importance… Although the ‘body’ may be ‘what is’ or our ‘being’, it is our mind, our consciousness, and our thoughts …which are things that ‘are not’… our ‘non-being’ that are most useful to us on our journey through life…
Hence Lao Tze also states:
“Health is the greatest possession.
Contentment is the greatest treasure.
Confidence is the greatest friend.
Non-being is the greatest joy”
It is our ‘mind’ that hosts our ‘consciousness’, which allows us to observe and learn from our environment through our senses, and this causes us to have emotions or feelings… which lead to the formation of ‘thoughts’ deriving from such sensory perceptions and leading to the development of beliefs which in turn leads to the evolution of our attitudes and from these we develop our ‘behaviours’…
These ‘behaviours’ may be our external actions (the way we act/react to external events), But, equally if not most importantly, they are the internal ‘behaviours’ of the biological/physio-chemical system…i.e. the way our body acts/reacts to certain stimuli. These ‘internal reactions’ may typically include ‘stress’, ‘anger’, ‘pain’… all of which are indicators that the system is ‘ill-at-ease’, out of balance, inharmonious, or even (eventually or potentially) suffering dis-ease.
This is why it is of key importance to acknowledge the energetic flow within the vessel, to understand how the aspects of ‘non-being’ Mind/Consciousness/Thoughts are connected is essential to experiencing the potential ‘Joy’ suggested by Lao Tze, and we can only have true health, contentment and confidence, when we are the ‘Master’ or ‘Mistress’ of our own ‘non-being’… Becoming aware that the Trinity of our Non-being is actually the manifestation of the Divine Spark within us and is therefore a key to opening the door to greater personal enlightenment… which can lead us to live a healthier, happier, more fulfilling life.
Taking ‘control’ of that with which we fill our own empty vessel of our physical being — the energy and essence of our ‘non-being’ that is the invisible reflection of the Divine Spark, or the echo of the Word first spoken by the Source (the Word that caused all material things ‘to be’ and for us to become hosts for that which ‘is not’) — in other words by becoming ‘Mind-ful, ‘fully conscious’ and consistently ‘thought-ful’… we can begin to live in harmony internally and externally, and commence the real achievement of the purpose of our short tenure on this mortal plane.
