The War Against Emptiness

Emptiness. Vacuity. Absence. Lack. Nothing. Being bored. Lonely. A vague sense that something vital is missing. Emptiness in the barrio. Emptiness in the ghetto. Emptiness in the suburbs. Emptiness in the first-world. Emptiness in the third-world. Emptiness in the boardroom. Emptiness on the assembly line. Emptiness for the migrant, farm worker. Emptiness for the clientele of the up-scale restaurant where the produce that was hand-picked by that migrant farm worker ends up. Emptiness.

It is odd, really. Think about it. Just a moment. That's all it takes. Think about how the front-line battel against emptiness is indicative of a War that is never won, a War that is never over, a War that never ceases. It is like emptiness says to each one of us... to us all... 'What have you done about me lately?'

As soon as those words are spoken in the vague pangs of physical, emotional, psychological, or spiritual hunger we are off on the pursuit of something or someone that will serve to keep the ever-encroaching emptiness at bay. We turn to the world for stimulation and distraction. We turn to the world for nourishment and sustenance. We turn to the world for meaning and signficance. We turn to the world for direction and guidance. We turn to the world for information. We turn to the world for relief... period.

If we believe the Buddhists of the world--we turn to inherently empty people, places, and things in the attempt to have ourselves a personal victory over the Army of Lack. In other words, we go for the empty to address the emptiness. We turn to the inherently insubstantial in order to have our own personal sense of absence and lack dealt with. Which is perhaps why most conventional measures to address and deal with emptiness offer only fleeting, short-lived success. Then the War is on again. Then the battle rages.

Just look at all the people scurrying about in the effort to 'fill themselves up.' Look at all of the people... look at us... look how needy we are. Look how we are never satisfied. Even the ravenous appetite of Global Capitalism is not leaving humanity on top in this War against Emptiness.