A sense of space
All cultures and societies are inherently evolved on a sense of space — an expanse in which they breathe in and out and experience their sense of oneness with the power of creation. There is in every human a part that connects with the vastness of the universe — its rivers and oceans, mountains and snow, wind, rain and sunshine.
This is kept alive through culture and mythology, images and icons that baffle the human mind with feats that extend to space beyond imagination.
While within us this expanse exists, outside us it is threatened and is becoming increasingly remote and inaccessible. People living in integrated rural environments, where everything outside their own home belonged to them, are leaving home to eek out an existence in ugly hybrid environments. Modern society with its inherent sense of a nuclear commercial existence moves into congestion for conveniences of livelihood and security, which, in turn, clogs the mind, body and soul and leads to disease and disasters.
The connection between the expanse within and outside is the basis of harmony of the mind, body and soul. The way to reach this balance is through the mind, through silence and inner sensing. Silence leads to clarity and a connect with creation. Negative sound leads you into conflict, confusion and imbalance.
We therefore need to discover new dimensions of space within our immediate environment and enter our own timeless, placeless sense of silence. We need to create that emptiness within.
The space within
Thirty spokes together make a wheel for a cart.
It is the empty space within
which enables it to be used.
Mold a clay into a vessel,
It is the emptiness within
That creates the usefulness of the vessel.
Cut out the doors and windows in the house;
it is the empty space inside that creates the usefulness of the house.
Thus, what we have may be something substantial,
but its usefulness lies in the unoccupied, empty space.
The substance of your body is enlivened
by maintaining the part of you that is unoccupied.
— Lao Tzu
We are all along confined by our limited sense of the self.
Once released from this we are liberated by unlimited powers of nature that makes for timelessness. We experience the mystical, magnificent union of mind and matter — the earth and the sky, ever present in the fusion of the opposites that perpetuates life. The expansive emptiness of celestial space, a stillness, a silence that takes us into an inner journey guided by the awareness of our own breath.
When you sense your breath you sense your limitless being and in that space expand into becoming timeless, complete and creative.
Muzaffar Ali is the executive director and secretary of the Rumi Foundation.
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