The Emptiness of Reality

Have you ever felt like you are going nowhere? A feeling that somewhat or somehow, you have to get to terms with a new reality. A reality that, you realise, is at odds with what you believed to be true. Yet, this feeling of emptiness has been growing over the course of the last few months. 

Admittedly, you may conclude that this emptiness is a negative thing. There is always the temptation to escape from such an emptiness or to avoid dealing with it altogether. But that would only be postponing the inevitable and setting oneself to a great fall. At least, this is what I think would happen if I ignored it. I’m not implying that the experience of finally awakening to reality isn’t unpleasant and, it can even be painful. A pain that emerges from the knowledge that you’re alone and nobody else will understand.

The truth of the matter is that even if anyone bothered to listen, they will never fully understand the extent of another human person’s experience. Our lives, yes, may be similar in many ways, but the way we interpret reality remains largely subjective and relative to our particular human contexts. This is not denying that there is no truth or that all actions are good and ethical. Far from it,What I am saying is that there is too much inconsistency between what we believe and what we practice. 

In this sense, we are living our own illusions. We belief we hold the only truth and while proclaiming our respect of other views, we persist in mocking any view that challenges our reality. Any view or person, for that matter, who goes against our convictions. We immerse ourselves into a pride that is ignorant of its own existence . A pride that projects itself as loving kindness but is, if you examine it, nothing but vain self-indulgence.

I am guilty of the same faults that I accuse others of having. I am not completely free from jealousy, envy or selfish desire. However, as I grow more aware of these afflictions, the more I recognise that emptiness which is this reality I live. For, no matter what I will gain from possessing the world, I will end. Again, this ‘end’ that I speak of doesn’t imply that life has no value or no meaning. 

Indeed, being aware of our emptiness compels us to rejoice in every moment of life. Yes, even when life is filled with pain or disappointment. Even when we feel misunderstood or isolated, there is an emptiness that reminds us to keep into perspective our reality. An emptiness that keeps our sense of self within its limits. For, whether we are have or have nots, whether we are rich or poor, and whether we are believers or non-believers, the fact is that we will one day die. 

I still find myself clinging to an identity. A need to be valued as an individual that is separate than the rest. This is not bad in itself. Yet, there is the danger that our desire to be valued and appreciated comes at the expense of the happiness of others. It’s then that what is indeed empty starts appearing to be real. That is at the root of the illusion of a reality based on the belief we are immortal.

The Mathematics of Life: 1 + 1 ≥ 2 - ∞

There’s no need to worry! This entry is not going to be a maths lesson but a meditation on the value of life and how we tend to talk about human beings in terms of numbers and quantities. We are getting this kind of news every time we follow the latest bulletin. Whether it’s about the many people are still being killed in Afghanistan, Libya or Syria; whether it’s the projected numbers of refugees seeking shelter in Europe; or the numbers of people who are not keeping up with the austerity measures following the economic crisis - people are represented as if they were quantities and, increasingly as an economic burden and liability.

Undeniably numbers are a useful tool to help us understand the situation. But, numbers are only just that - a way of quantifying reality. The danger is when we think of human beings more as if they numbers and ignore the reality that these “numbers” can tell usabout the whole story. Indeed, when we talk about people as if they were numbers we run the real risk of dehumanizing them. Forgetting that behind each number there is a human story, a person with hopes and dreams, an individual with his/her own fears and nightmares. A person, who like us, seeks to be happy and free from suffering. 

I don’t want to sound too idealistic here. Yet, I cannot help to shiver when I hear people being referred to as “problems” or, most recently, as  “economic burdens”. We claim that the value of human life is more important than money and commodities. Yet, oftentimes the way politicians, journalists and how the public talks about these “problem people” suggests that when our lifestyles are threatened, we unleash all the hate and prejudice that is in our mind and heart.

Economic interests usually play an important role in this process by which people are dehumanized. Perhaps the best example of this is the rise of the Third Reich in Germany of the late 1930s. A large number of the German population, facing a failing economy and a defeat in the WWI were persuaded in believing that this problem was caused by the contamination of the German race. In a matter of months, Hitler’s Germany would annihilate millions of Jews, gypsies, Communists, gay people, disabled people and all those they deemed to be inferior. Those who survived deportation to the death camps would be assigned a number, not a name. Sadly, this is happening again in the heart of Europe with far right extremism increasing in popularity.

I asked myself what makes people become so numb to the suffering of others? Why do people treat other people as if they were objects or trash? The answer is not simple. But I can forward some ideas. It may be that we seek to be safe, perceiving the “other” as a threat. We may fear that we lose our personal, cultural and social identity. We may even think that we will change. But, as we declare our respect for others of our own kind, we become limited in what we deem our “kind”. We may also have a legitimate fear that our quality of life will be compromised if we accept those we perceive as foreigners or as outsiders. In the process, with all the valid justification, we betray our human values and deceive ourselves into believing that we are better and far superior to these "others". Thus, we undermine our claim to humanity by accepting to violate the  dignity and unique worth of others who may appear to be different than we think we are.]

In maths, one plus one always equal two. But one human being and another human being can give rise to two or more human beings up to virtually an infinite number of people. The most obvious example is how  a man and a woman can help to give life to one and many other children. But, on top of that, we can also contribute to the spread of ideas and concepts that can either build a better world or else to destroy it. Numbers of people only tell us about the quantity, they do not express the unique qualities that all of us possess. Numbers, like money and language, are only a representation of reality but they are not reality itself.