The moon’s appearance, a river of stars,

snow-clad pines, clouds hovering on mountain peaks.

In darkness, they glow with brightness.

In shadows, they shine with a splendid light.

Like the dreaming of a crane flying in empty space,

like the clear, still water of an autumn pool,

endless eons dissolve into nothingness,

each indistinguishable from the other.

In this illumination all striving is forgotten.

-Hung Chih Cheng Chueh (1091-1157)

 

There is a common misconception of the Buddhist concept of nothingness or emptiness. It is not a reference to the absence of things but rather the essence of the interconnection of all things. This essence is the clear still water that is overshadowed by our worries and strivings for success. We fall into a rigid orientation to ourselves and the world that classifies experiences as good or bad. We need our capacity to solve problems and to make healthy and morally sound choices. They are tools to be acquired and refined with experience. These tools are the river of stars and snow-clad pines and clouds that hover on mountain peaks. When we pause with an open mind and an open heart and reflect on what we do, the opportunity is there to experience the illumination that reveals the brightness in the dark and the splendid light embedded in the shadows. All the different parts of who we are dissolve into the clear cool water of nothingness, and we can experience a moment of enlightenment that transcends the rigid constraints on ourselves and discover the dreaming of a crane flying in empty space.

 Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage

I’ve built a grass hut

Where there’s nothing of value

After eating, I relax and enjoy a nap.

When it was completed, fresh weeds appeared.

Now it’s been lived in

Covered by weeds.

 

The person in the hut

Lives here calmly,

Not stuck to inside, outside,

Or in between.

Places worldly people live,

He doesn’t live.

Realms worldly people love,

He doesn’t love.

 

Silvery moon hangs high in the sky.

I ride a tiny boat in the vast and misty sea.

Moon and sea forgotten;

I forget that I have forgotten.

And before the window

I sit quietly in meditation until midnight.

-Jakushitsu (1290–1368)

The Song of the Grass Roof Hermitage recalls the fleeting moments of reverie when my thoughts are absent, and I am fully experiencing the present moment. The moment passes and I think about the experience. My thoughts emerge from the feeling I recognize, and the reverie passes. Meditation is a practice to still the thoughts that stream through our conscious awareness. Psychoanalysis is a practice to ride in the tiny boat and observe those thoughts and feelings that interrupt our reverie. My client and I work together to cultivate a calm state of mind that is not stuck on difficult feelings or resentments, a state of mind that appreciates the moments at hand and the quiet meditation that can be found in this complex and challenging world.

 The spiritual light shines alone,

Far transcending the senses

And their fields;

The essential substance is exposed,

Real and eternal.

It is not contained in written words.

The nature of mind has no defilement;

It is basically perfect and complete in itself.

Just get rid of delusive attachments,

And merge with realization of thusness.

Pai-chang (720–814)

 

Tathātā (/ˌtætəˈtɑː/; Sanskrit: तथाता; Pali: tathatā) is a Buddhist term variously translated as "thusness" or "suchness", referring to the nature of reality free from conceptual elaborations and the subject-object distinction. (from Wikipedia). In psychotherapy and psychoanalysis, we can encounter this realization of thusness when guilt and shame are being considered with curiosity that is free of defensive reactions to feeling judged or criticized. Failures and disappointments emerge as opportunities for learning and growth. Our essential substance is our true self, the core part of our identity that we brought into the world at birth. Life experiences interact with our true self in dramatic and subtle ways and we develop ways of managing our lives to meet our physical and emotional needs. Relationships are an essential part of living and become very complex parts of who we are. A relationship with a therapist or a psychoanalyst provides us with a unique space to transcend delusive attachments and allow the true self to shine alone. To quote Shunryu Suzuki “Each of you is perfect the way you are ... and you can use a little improvement.”