Talking about silence is in itself paradoxical, because the sound of words interrupts the silence. Many of us have been taught that silence is the opposite of sound, which breaks silence; but when we understand this in different ways, we find that silence is the same for the ears as space is for the eyes.
When an object is perceived in space, we do not think that space has collapsed. It is the same here - when sound arises in silence, silence is not destroyed. It contains sound just as space contains objects. When you notice this, you see that every sound is surrounded by silence.
Space and silence are wonderful pointers to something more subtle (they also arise in it): to the silent space of Pure Awareness. There is silence in the center of the cyclone and the very core of the tornado. It is like the empty space in the center of the wheel. Seen clearly, emptiness is a powerful nonexistence; tornadoes spin around it, and it turns the wheel around its axis.
Or look at the emptiness inside the flute, providing resonating space for melodies. This is another pointer to the creative emptiness of Pure Awareness through which all manifestation arises.
Thirty spokes are connected in one hub, [forming a wheel],
But the use of the wheel depends on the void between the [spokes].
Vessels are made of clay, but the use of vessels depends on the emptiness in them.
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Breaking down doors and windows to make a home
but the use of the house depends on the emptiness in it.
That is why the usefulness of whatever is available depends on emptiness.
When we try to touch the living emptiness in our very center, we cannot find its boundaries. She is beyond all dualistic qualities. She is our true heart, and at the same time, she is everything around us.
When discussing the heart, we often assume that the role and function of emotions, feelings, and intuition is opposite or complementary to that of intelligence. But here it is important to see that both emotion and intelligence come from the same source. We can call it the heart of all hearts, the deepest and true foundation of being; it is absolute and nothing, eluding any attempt at comprehension with the help of the mind.
See for yourself how impossible it is to conceive of the idea of nothingness and nothing. Any idea about it will be something, and therefore not nothing. When the intellect tries to imagine it, it grinds and slips. This nothing is an unapproachable brick wall for the mind; but for the no-mind it is like a warm bath, a return home to the heart of all hearts.
Leo Hartong, "Awakening to Sleep"