The Virtues of an Empty Mind

I have a lot of leave to finish off before the end of the year and so today I've decided to take the day off. I do not like to take a long break because it is usually very difficult to get back into the rhythm of work after that.  

I don't get to spend much time here in my apartment in Cyberjaya but today is one of those rare occasions that I get to write a blog article from here. Despite the poor maintenance in my condominium complex, it is still a very quiet and relaxing place to be. To sit here in my home office, staring at the foliage of trees around me puts me in the mood for contemplation.

Contemplation usually involves ruminations of both the past and the future.  To take an event, a snippet of a conversation, an expression of the face or a scene that imprints in the memory and play it repeatedly in the mind, in an attempt to distill its hidden meaning. That's what the mind does constantly.  How do we prevent that?

Can the mind really be blank at all? Of what use is an 'empty' mind? 

We are seduced by thoughts that are nothing but the drama of likes and dislikes. We have an opinion on everything. Social media encourages that, amplifying that to a degree hitherto unseen. The outer world is merely an exaggerated world of the inner one. Ideas and opinions shape the world at large. The mightier the thought, the greater the effect it has on the world, for better or worse.

An 'empty' mind is a mind that is a wellspring of harmonious ideas--ideas that are part of the naturally evolving universe. When the mind is empty, we peer into the greater mind of the universe. Our thoughts are but little eddies in the larger ocean of truth. Only allowing these local eddies of ruminations to subside, are we able to tap into these mighty oceanic swells.

A mind devoid of petty thoughts becomes a vehicle of expression for the universe--a fertile soil for the growth and development or artistic works. We all love art because art is nothing but creations that mirrors the impulses of the cosmos.  

We are part of the universe. Our minds are nothing but the universe being conscious of itself. And when it does, it needs to know that it is reflecting on its own image. An empty mind is nothing but the egoic mind standing aside, to let the real mind reveal itself in all its glory.

Hark, the universe itself whispers within. If only you are willing to listen, with an empty mind.