Contemplating what it is to be empty: to have an empty mind. What is that like? Also, how this relates to expectations and attachment: what is it like to be without expectations and attachments?
sat Naam 😊
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As I see it, attachment is when I want someone to make me happy. As opposed to Love, when I want someone to be happy (and I do everything I can for this, whether that makes me happy or not). From what I see, my relationships are still sometimes a mix of those two, sometimes balancing more to one side or to another (a work in progress!). So attachment is very much related to expectations, to ego centeredness. There's a holding tight believing "my happiness is there", grasping, being filled with fear of loosing, of change,... Attachment in my experience brings only suffering. It wants and when it doesn't get what it wants, unhappiness is not far away. Love lets the other one free. There's no expectation. And if I don't look much into it, it can seem as being frustration, renunciation (because you listen to the other one's needs, not yours)... but it is actually Joy. My happiness is in my own hands. I don't put this on other's shoulders. I take responsibility and it sets me free. I read some of your comments and you somehow linked non-attachment to detachment. To me non-attachment is real love... With detachment, one is closing every door of one's heart. With love, one is opening them so much there's only peace.
Concerning emptiness, I have to make a little mental gymnastic here, because within Buddhism that term has such a specific meaning, I am used to that one too much. So an empty mind... What I experienced in class was: in order to be able to be filled with Grace, with love, with joy,... one needs to empty the space. It's like a bowl filled with water. If you try to pour more water, it will just overflow. Nothing new gets in. There needs to be silence in order to listen.