Heart of Wisdom
The great Heart of Wisdom Sutra states that everything is emptiness and emptiness is everything. In this case, emptiness is not what we believe it to be. It is not meaninglessness, carelessness, or uselessness. It is simply the reality of all things once detached from our perceptions. Perhaps this emptiness is true beauty and true essence.
You are not your opinions, thoughts and feelings – you are the awareness that sees that your opinions, thoughts and feelings are simply your ego’s reaction to fleeting moments. But, perhaps that awareness isn’t even you. Maybe it is the universe (or God) working through you. In reality, maybe “you” do not exist.
You, and I, and everyone else do not exist as completely separate entities – we all exist as parts of a universal entity. Many may say that if this is true, the universe must want wars and murders, since the people who create and commit these atrocities are part of that universal entity. This is not the case. The universe does not want, need, desire, or crave. These are all creations of the ego.
Realizing this, and realizing that your wants and even your needs are truly superficial will bring you closer to the universe – to the source. The idea of luxury sees cars, televisions, jewelry and so on as wants. People want these things. The idea of death reinforces the food, water, and shelter as needs. Yes, they are needs to sustain life. But they are not needs to sustain the essence that is you. Your essence lives on after death. Whether you believe your essence goes on to heaven, reincarnates or simply disperses through the universe as energy, it lives on. This is not to say that we should stop eating and drinking. It is simply to say that we should change our ways of thinking. Perhaps placing less importance on upkeeping external appearances and, instead, start working on our inner essences.
