The Secret Magic of The Void
All Alone in Here
Sitting on a restaurant, I was observing people. All types of people ... adults, kids, elderly ... and what I noticed was that
each one of us, no matter what we are doing or with whom we are doing it with, or where we are ... is essentially in our own little world. Not necessarily lonely, but alone, our thoughts, longings, our selves on some core level, seemingly separate from everyone and everything around us. A sort of detachment.
Every human being experiences this essential aloneness. Sometimes we’re not aware of it at all, and sometimes the awareness, can be very profound. But whatever the case, it’s always there.
What Conceals Reveals
Kabbalah explains that in Truth there is nothing but God/Source. Everything that exists, whether physical or spiritual, is simply a highly limited expression of its Creator, somewhat like each of your thoughts and actions is a little expression of you. Everything emanates from Source ... and is Source. Nothing is separate or divided.
The infinite light of God/Source, as its name implies, is overwhelming, filling every space. Left unmuted, this all-encompassing light would make it impossible for anything else to exist, just like a ray of light cannot exist as a separate entity within the body of the sun.
So, in order to allow for Creation in all of its limitless details and forms, the All That Is ... had to conceal the source of infinite light. This concealment, known as tzimtzum, is what enables us to be. And more, it allows us to experience ourselves as real, solid, and the center of our universe. It is our Divine Spark within.
This ‘Big Lie” – this core illusion of aloneness and solidity is what allows us to exist as seemingly separate and unique human beings. In its raw, unrectified state, it cuts us off from the Truth. But ultimately we are destined to see through the walls, transcend the illusion, and fulfill our potential as uniquely magnificent expressions of the Divine.
The Sound of the Void
The illusion is powerful, but not total. If we were completely cut off from an awareness of what lies beyond, chances are we would be perfectly content. There would be no reason to question ourselves or our existence, no drive to continuously experience more.
But we are not cut off completely. A glimmer of the Infinite light from before Creation surrounds and permeates each person who walks this earth.
This light is what gives us the profound sense that there is something else there. Only the something doesn’t always feel like an actual something. It often feels like something that's actually, well ... missing - a void.
This void, this missing, hovers at the edge of our consciousness, threatening our comfortable sense of solidity and bringing with it an essential longing for .... something. Something more.
This sensation of something "missing" is actually the glimmer of something that is there, but too vast and amazing to be perceived by our ordinary senses.
But as physical beings in a physical world, we are not naturally inclined to relate to it in this esoteric way. In fact, the non-physical all too often makes us feel vulnerable and uncomfortable.
So, instead of slowly allowing our eyes to adjust to this more subtle light, we avoid the experience altogether, or seek to fill the void with physical things. We buy more stuff, bigger houses, etc. looking to fill this void.
The subtle awareness of the void pulls us relentlessly toward the next high, the next success, the more exciting relationship, the bigger, flashier toy. The feelings it triggers - like sadness, depression, anxiety or dissatisfaction – drive us to eat too much, drink too much, work too much, spend too much, need too much; in short, whatever it takes to avoid facing the threatening insubstantiality of it all.
But, as uncomfortable and threatening as it can feel, if you are willing to face the discomfort, to stop running and listen, you can begin to explore the secret of the void, to expand your ability to see and hear things that lie outside your normal range.
Like a beautiful dream whose impression lingers, like a song that stirs memories and feelings from long ago, like the scent of perfume that lingers faintly in the air ... the music of the void can stir forgotten memories and open your heart. It can speak to you of where you came from, where you are destined to go and who you are destined to be.
A Deeper Level of Life
In Hebrew, each letter of the alphabet has a gematria, a numerical equivalent. Whenever the letters of one word are numerically equivalent to the letters of a different word, it points to a secret esoteric relationship between the two.
It is fascinating to know that the Hebrew word for void,
'challal," is exactly numerically equivalent to the word "chaim," which means life. Many years ago I had a German Shepherd who I named "Chaia." I was working with Larry King at the time and his daughter's name was Chaia ... therefore I knew the meaning.
The message is simple. In being willing to embrace the vulnerability, to stop running away and instead stay present and expand your ability to see, you can begin to reconnect with what has been concealed from you, the part of you that is most truly and infinitely alive.
In closing, on 12/28/2012 I had an NDE and after being rushed to surgery in the morning, I was stabilized and waiting my turn as I lay on a cold stainless steel gurney in the 55 degree pre-op room. As I lay there, with all the other patients awaiting surgery, I listened to them being read their legal rights. My Surgeon was late, so I heard a lot of them.
It gave me a chance to just lay there and reflect on life. I didn't know if I would make it through surgery. I had no idea what would be waiting for me if I did. I knew there were still so many things that I wanted to do in this life. My daughter was going to get married in September and I would really like to be there.
And in the dead calm, in the stillness, in the quiet of the pre-op waiting area, I realized I was truly alone. Just me. There was no supernatural being standing beside me stroking my head and telling me everything was going to be alright. I was literally just me. Me and the void within. That thing ... that God/Source I had been seeking was there in the nothingness. The void is where all potentiality and unlimited, boundless potentiality is born. There, I found what God/Source truly was. I was ALONE ... ALL ONE with everything and everyone.
Just a thought ...
~Justin Taylor, ORDM., OCP., DM.
My thanks to Shifra.
