There it sat, the source of my latest existential crisis (yet again! yet again!)—a web page read no doubt by far more people than this blog and my book, linked to a website which should know better. The “it” was a lengthy rhetorical piece on the Void, At least, the piece said it was about the Void, though it was not, at least not in any sense in which people who actually know the Void use the term.
No, this was a mash-up of badly misunderstood metaphysics, no doubt earnest but superficial spirituality, absent psychodynamics, uninformed references claiming equation of the void (small ‘v’) with hell, purgatory, and the outer darkness. There were claims of objects and entities: animals are there, it said, and “strange creatures,” along with “ignorant souls which many people would consider to be evil.” Oh, and the souls of those who committed suicide, in a foggy section. Anyone’s presence in the Void was attributed to—of course—a stubbornly determined “lack of love” and refusal to accept the light.
The piece will reveal “the purpose of the void and how to escape it,” it said. The void, it said, sits right next to the earthbound realm as a lower level of debasement and evil. For self-absorbed souls who refuse love and light, it said, there are many Beings of Light nearby to help them find their way to the Light and heaven. The moment the choice for light and love is made, it said, the light and tunnel appear and the soul is drawn into the light.
It said all that and more. And more. Glints of recognizable Truth flashed briefly but then fled. I was in a wash of tears of frustration and rage and helpless sadness. People are coming for information, for help, and this is what they get?
No
No. No and no. And more no’s. I don’t know where those arguments all come from, but certainly not from mature interpretations of mystical experience, nor from informed reading beyond a very narrow shelf, and certainly not from any actual encounter with the Void. It was like reading a religious tract found at a bus stop. For all I know, some people may believe that an experience of the Void results from insufficient vitamin D; that is no more fanciful than much of what appears in that article.
I do not for an instant doubt the sincerity of the people who believe those things; I am simply stating that they are seriously and harmfully misunderstanding the Void.
The chaotic jumble described above is not the Void of deep spiritual experience (NDE or otherwise), not the Void of the Christian mystics and Buddhist sages and Islamic Sufis, not the Void experienced however peripherally by El Collie and me and others who read this blog. Not at all.
- The true Void is Emptiness; it is not populated at all, not by animal, human, object, spirit, weirdness, or concept. Empty of everything but potential.
- The Void is terrifying but it is not hell. It is not Purgatory. It is neither the Outer Darkness nor alienation from God. If anything, it is terrifying in its proximity to the Source.
- The Void is at the center of everything; it is not a debased realm.
- The Void holds love and all goodness in the same way it holds depression and hatred and suffering and the individual self: released beyond all recognition into that Emptiness.
What Mystics Say
It is a commonplace in mystical literature that the emptiness of the Void is paradoxically full of everything, and a simple Google search brings up abundant and experienced commentary. In the words of metaphysician Alice Ouzounian[i], in a Tantric Buddhist symbol “Emptiness is represented by the central dot and symbolizes a focal point, the seed of the spirit in which everything is in a potential but static state.” In Christianity, she notes, ‘it is represented by the center of the cross and the swastika, the basic principle at the center of the Wheel of the Universe, from which all flows and to which all returns; the center that is everywhere and nowhere.”
It is important to notice that where everything exists only as potential, nothing is visible; nothing has emerged; there is no-thing for the senses to engage. Emptiness.
British philosopher and mystic Paul Brunton[ii] explains that everything any of us knows and experiences are things in this world of the five senses. But the ultimate journey to what he calls the Overself “is not within their sphere of operation and therefore not to be known and experienced in the same way. This is why the first real entry into it must necessarily be an entry into no-thing-ness. The mystical phenomena and mystical raptures happen merely on the journey to this void.”
Brunton also observes that with the Void:
“All that consciousness holds must be reduced to nothing. When the personal mind is stripped of its memories and anticipations, when all sense-impressions and thoughts entirely drop away from it, then it enters the realm of empty unnameable Nothingness.
“[The mystic] must make a final act of surrender whereby his whole sense of personality–all that makes up what he believed to be “I”–is let go as the last of his thoughts to vanish into a Void. He must make the abrupt leap into self-identification with the wide pure impersonal thought-less Thought. He must give up the last of all thoughts–which is the “I” thought–and accept in return whatever may come to him out of the great Unknown. A fear rises up and overcomes him for a time that with this leap he may so endanger his own existence as to plunge into utter annihilation.”
Psychotherapist David Richo[iii] states flatly,
“At the deepest level the Void is a terror, a fear of abandonment by every spiritual support. If prayer works, it is not the Void. If activities work, it is not the Void. If anything works, it is not the Void. The terror in this spiritual panic attack is that nothing works to save us from the vacuum into which we have been thrown. The experience of the Void means no foothold, no handle on things, no end in sight, no light at the end of the tunnel. It is not quite adequately described as aloneness, loneliness, emptiness, forsakenness, abandonment, desperation, isolation, or even despair. It is all of these at once!”
All shall be well
Before taking a nihilistic plunge after reading those comments, please know that this is post #1 of a small series on reconciliation after an experience of the Void. I hope you will want to stay tuned for where this goes. Although the truth (Truth) of the Void has its terrors, they are far less inchoate and meaningless than what I consider the flat-out incoherence mentioned earlier. Hang on! It’ll be a good ride.
[i] Ouzounian, Alice. “About Spiritual Emptiness or the Void,” Hermetic philosophy and the Mystery of Being. http://www.plotinus.com/spiritual%20emptiness_copy.htm. Acessed April 15, 2015.
[ii] Brunton, Paul. “The Void as Contemplative Experience.” http://paulbrunton.org/notebooks/23/8. Accessed April 16, 2015.
[iii] Richo, David. “Standing Alone at the Edge of the Void.” http://www.vitalitylink.com/article-spiritual-growth-and-well-being-1261-standing-edge-void-ego-face-emptiness. Accessed April 15, 2015.
Thank you, Nancy. I look forward to reading the rest of this series.
Some days ago, a lady friend of mine in my youth came into my life again after two decades. She told me she was on the verge of mental alienation after the death of her father a short time ago. The cause of her state, she told me, was not only her father´s death, but the fact that when in her twenties she gave birth to a son, and in the process she went out of her body to a void and was surrounded with black and white figures. Immediatly came to my mind the NDE of NanBush. This friend of mine said that she was and is angry with that void, then and now because she considers that the void, back again with the father´s death, is stealing her life and she is absolutely powerless agaisnt the void. We have scheduled a meeting in the future to talk about and hopefully will help her to make peace with the void seeing the potential spiritual seed, the potential to evolve, she has, to this days all she can see is a ghost of annihilation destroying all she is an was … even her father! , only darkness, no light at all, like a macabre ghost coming back after decades, that possibly never ceased to be at her side like a lifelong stone in her shoes that now is destroying her mind. I look forward the, surely enlightening next posts.
Oh, Guillermo, how agonizing for her! And how sad. I think I understand how one might get stuck there, but the whole point is to go beyond it. There really is a ‘beyond,’ difficult though it is to get it all into words. The “seed” idea seems helpful. She is fortunate to have you to talk with. please let me know how your conversations go. Will do my best for you!
I´ll let You know.Thank You in the broadest sense of the Word.
Great beginning! I have arrived at some of my most cherished insights by wrestling through existential crises evoked by misinformed, dogmatic writers. You’ve spent 50 years wringing meaning out of your original crisis (experiencing the Void). There’s evidently more for you to sort out now. And we readers will be the richer for it. Looking forward to the next installment.
I never existed. ? thanks god. My life was horrible anyway.
Excellent start to the series, Nan!
I’ve experienced your same frustration over the misrepresentation of the Void. Barbara Rommer’s (out of print) book, “Blessings in Disguise” was guilty of this to an extent as I recall– only one of the accounts (Jay) depicted the Void or “TYPE II” experience accurately. But Jay did refer to it as an “Outer Darkness” (after his conversion from all out hedonism to Christianity).
A few authors came to mind while reading “Reconciiation#1”– Franklin Merrell-Wolff, w/ his philosophy of “Consciousness w/o an Object” as well as Bernadette Roberts, the contemplative and former Carmelite nun, reminiscent of some mystics.
Seems that people are naturally adept at perverting and distorting the facts! As Brian Hines has pointed out, if one hasn’t “experienced” the Void, trying to convey it can be seemingly futile!
Very thought-provoking, Nan.
The Void appears to have overlap with the Dark Night of the Soul, the Descent Experience, and maybe the “Belly of the Whale” stage of Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey.
I recently learned of Gerald May’s “The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth.” There’s a nice list of some of his main ideas in Andrew Schonbek’s “most helpful positive review” on Amazon.
It seems like some of us have a go-to-the-light experience, and some of us have a go-to-the-dark experience (although it’s worth remembering that most people who encounter the light get there via the darkness of a nearly lethal illness or accident). But it sounds like both light and dark are about infinite potential.
One big difference between them is that people who encounter the light report a feeling of understanding everything or at least getting a lot of answers (although again it’s worth remembering that they are sometimes “not allowed” to remember some of the answers), whereas those of us who have a dark-ish experience report an inability to know what the heck is going on or what to do about it — at least for a time. I’m a “why?” person, I enjoy solving puzzles and figuring things out, but boy has my descent experience been about accepting that I am **not** going to figure this out or force it to do anything!
Nan, I particularly liked this — “The Void is terrifying but it is not hell. It is not Purgatory. It is neither the Outer Darkness nor alienation from God. If anything, it is terrifying in its proximity to the Source.” And I think you once said something about how Westerners are more afraid of the Void because we are raised in a more materialistic and materialist culture than, say, Tibetan Buddhists. We distrust a space without stuff in it.
Gerald May —
* The darkness of the night implies nothing sinister, only that the liberation takes place in hidden ways, beneath our knowledge and understanding.
* Although not knowing may itself seem like a bad thing, I am convinced it is one of the great gifts of the dark night of the soul.
* Sometimes the only way we can enter the deeper dimensions of the journey is by being unable to see where we are going.
* The darkness, the holy unknowing that characterizes this freedom, is the opposite of confusion and ignorance. Confusion happens when mystery is an enemy and we feel we must solve it to master our destinies. And ignorance is not knowing that we do not know. In the liberation of the night we are freed from having to figure things out, and we find delight in knowing that we do not know.
Sheila, I do believe you never say anything trivial! Thank you for all this great material. You’ll no doubt see some of it recycled. xxoo
I look forward to the conversation. I do admit before I go farther however, to a couple of prejudices. I respect Buddhist meditation and some of the philosophy. However, i absolutely detest the bleak nothing world view of Tibetan Buddhism. I love the Christian idea of God loving man so much that he/she/being would take on flesh to participate. But, I absolutely can’t hang (been there, done that. Have the t-shirt) with the dogma of the angry old prude in the sky that can’t bear to look at me for my sin. I also absolutely find atheism in it’s pure form of something coming from and going back to nothing not only hopeless but kind of insane. I do lean toward reincarnation but I am skeptical. Anyway, I hope to read more soon. Thanks for this site and the conversation.
I just read this article tonight and what is odd is that my elderly mother and I just had a conversation this afternoon about this very topic.
She mentioned that a man my dad knew suffered a heart attack and found himself in black nothingness. I told her it could be the Void.
My son also knew someone who was a born again Christian, attended youth group regularly and had a life threatening event which left her in the void. She became an athiest.
From my reading seems like there was another type of “darkness” space which was like being held in comfort, much like that of a mothers womb…there appeared that this Void is different from this other space (the mother’s womb darkness)?
Does the Void eventually resolve to a different space is the biggest question I have…can one apply some of the OUT of Body Techniques presented by William Buhlman (of the Monroe Institute) to move past this point, or perhaps I am way of track here…don’t know.
Anyways, thank you for this article series.
Kind regards,
Laurie
Laurie, I seriously need to do some investigation into the “other” Void–though I suspect it is the same thing, only vastly different responses. Or maybe not. (Which is why it needs investigating.) Thank you for pointing this out.
Laurie, regarding your question about the Void resolving to a different space,(this is a great question), I’ve studied this subject for years, having had my own NDE, and I’ve read more than once of a “good” NDE morphing into a terrifying one, or vs., and also people who experienced more than one NDE in their life where one was positive and the other negative. But, regarding the Void, I’ve read it described as a “loving, comforting place”, and of several other positive responses to it, but these are very rare. I’ve only read one account where one found their way out(not a morphing exactly). This was told by a doctor who found himself in darkness and thought that since he could think, he must still exist–then he thought he’d try thinking of light to get out of it, which he did, and it worked. The obvious question is: were these ones experiencing “THE VOID”? Darkness, per se, might not define the Void. I’ve come to the conclusion recently, that the Void can’t be defined objectively — or not in a meaningful way at least. There are some objective terms to describe it though, such as “absolute and exclusive”, which I think all would agree with? Keep asking great questions!
Thank you Nancy and Steve for responding to my entry on this post.
Steve, I thought that your comment about the man who resolved the issue of the Void was an insightful piece. For reasons of personal tragedy in my own life, I am intensely researching. I think the doctor you mentioned perhaps stumbled on the key — that he realized he could focus his will to gain mobility in this non-formless space (Void). If one does not have a physical, dense body anymore, there would have to be a mode of gaining mobility in the non-physical dimensions. To exert the choice of one’s consciousness to direct oneself, to me, would seem to be the key.
These ideas I have worked out for myself are some of the results of the journey for understanding I have been forced to sadly embark on.
Sending gentle thoughts to all today.
Thanks, Laurie. And gentle thoughts back to you.
Ditto on the thanks and peace vibes, Laurie. It tore me up to read your response, as I realize that to give hope for overcoming the Void isn’t an easy thing to do(a gross understatement), and I think that this reason is key to defining the Void (Nan’s & El’s distinctive Void)– this key terrifying element is the total loss of control–total helplessness and pure despair at the absolute conviction that this infinite emptiness is all that exists. Because once “there” there is no hope (of escape, or anything), it seems that to make peace w/ the Void in advance is the only hope–this is the best I can do anyhow! Kind thoughts to you.
Donna has emailed this comment:
“What if our thoughts are our own light, and what if this breath is special because on it ride our thoughts and consciousness and what if our breath has a subtle form of memory of itself as a breath?
“Remember this breath and it will remember you.”
She adds, “That is very close to the message of someone on this planet who touched my heart years and years ago; Prem Rawat; I really have to give him credit, although those are all my own words.”
Certainly not a topic to be aVOIDed.
lol
RIGHT! man! Can the Void be avoided, that’s my question. A few years ago my prostate was bothering me and it was very hard to void. Saw Palmetto cured that.
HEY!!….that’s the answer! as your spirit floats into the Void, keep slinging saw palmetto powder in front of you. The thing may sneeze and blow you right out of the void!
Ah, Dave, if only. 🙂
Very interesting article Nan. I am looking forward to reading more so I hope it is not a long wait!
LOL–I’m hopeful that it will be within a week. Shoving things around to see that it gets done!
Our Western habit of cherry-picking through the tenet’s of Eastern mystical thought and experiences is an understandable reaction to our long history of rigid and frightening Angry God theology, and our modern day incessant exposure to materialist/reductionist interpretations of life.
I can see how easy it is to find comfort in evidence of the continuation of consciousness by looking at verifiable cases of reincarnation. Never mind the fact that reincarnation isn’t necessary viewed as a good thing by most of the major religions espousing it.
Joyful testimonies from transcendent near-death experiencer’s literally beats the hell out of terrifying fundamentalist religious doctrines. Unconditional love is much more appealing than original sin, but isn’t there something to be said for responsible accountability? Or at least, the very real need for grace and forgiveness?
Is a simplistic view of Karma, or believing that people chose the life they are living before they were born a preferable explanation for the injustice in this world than the usual ‘It’s God’s will’ shrug-off?
At the end of the day, does anybody know what they’re talking about?
Ultimately, I think all of us are just stumbling through the dark trying to find The Light in our own way. The success of our personal path is paved and hindered by our degree of brokenness, level of courage, and resources available to us at any given point.
Perhaps if, or when we encounter the Real Darkness – the Void – we will be forced to stop seeking The Light, and let The Light find us.
I know that sounds simplistic, but it works for me at this moment.
Love you, Dawg!
I’ll take off my clown suit for a second, and say this. I don’t have labels for religious things, and concepts. I haven’t read all of the religious testaments outlining a path to “God”, including the Bible. I’ve searched in my own way avoiding organized religion of any kind….and I’m sure glad I did.
To me God is an all pervading shifting changing Consciousness of life, creating and empowering everything. The Consciousness of life I feel within me is is connected to and part of this universal creative source along with everything else.
At one point in my life I hunted for sport. I’m going have to feel the agony and pain of all those creatures as they died. It’s all there waiting to confront me when I too re enter the universal consciousness. I will feel the pain they felt as they died. They too were, and are part of it.
I believe we judge ourselves, as we feel the impact of the consequences of our actions. forget about some glowering idiot sitting on a thrown. I’ll stand for what I did
Words could never express how sorry I am. The same is true for those I hurt emotionally. The chance is gone to apologize from the heart to them. I wasn’t then who I am now. I have to live feeling the sorrow, understanding what I’ve done.
I believe in Jesus as someone so connected to the universal consciousness that others could feel it through him. I also feel that Jesus is rolling over in his grave, if he’s got one, by the atrocities, injustices, and misconceptions that have been perpetrated in his name by those he tried to help. Forgive them Father. they no not what they do. They only think they do.
What I’ve done that’s good I’ve enjoyed as I did it. Tolerance, Non judgement, Empathy and wisdom, I’ve evolved into as I’ve Gone along. I will say this, if I end up in the Void, I’ll know who and what I am, even if I stay there.
I will also say this about life, there’s no right time or place to come in, and no right time to leave. And in between, the only constant factor is change. It’s also good to realize that those you came through were confronted by the same thing.
“I can see how easy it is to find comfort in evidence of the continuation of consciousness by looking at verifiable cases of reincarnation. Never mind the fact that reincarnation isn’t necessary viewed as a good thing by most of the major religions espousing it”.
As a Hindu (not a very faithful one though), I cannot agree with you more. I have never heard of reincarnation being thought of as a good thing. It sounds like a necessary evil. I’ve always thought the idea to be depressing, that you go through life repeatedly (not necessarily always in human form) till you eventually attain “perfection” so to speak and join the divine.
I was at a funeral a few years ago and the priest was praising the lady who had died and said that she was already reborn into a good family as he was sure her karma was good in this life. It made me uncomfortable as the implication was that people born into bad situations are somehow themselves responsible for it.
Another thing I dislike about reincarnation and Karma relationship is how it becomes a psychological crutch. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard people say I’m suffering now because of the sins I’ve committed in my previous life. It’s a very cruel way for the universe to function and I don’t want any part of it. I suppose the Christian version is to explain away misery by saying all things happen for a reason or God works in mysterious ways.
The idea of reincarnation is actually terrifying. I can’t imagine going through this life again. It was hard enough the first time around. What is the guarantee that you will be even in a halfway decent situation? I could come back as a woman in the Congo, or a girl in Afghanistan, a baby in war torn Syria, or the inner city of Detroit.
RK, I could not agree more with what you wrote. If reincarnation does exist, I certainly would not want another go-around with this physical world. Perhaps one of the reasons that these NDEs are being released into the world today is to give a better understand of the non-physical universe(s)/realitie(s) that await. To awaken us that there is more than a physical world and that there are other options available to us once we leave our physical bodies. I am not a fan of regressions either as so many of them seem to follow a rather “canned” view…and after reading many NDEs there seems to be a lot more going on. Just my thoughts.
For any hard[headed?]-core Christians out there:
I must post that Rabbitdawg’s comment is another example of what I mean when I tell folks that “its not a linear” thing”.
Any more question by what my quotes mean, reply to me.
**Arms folding**
Well said Rabbitdawg. I personally do lean toward reincarnation due to some childhood memory and also some later dream. Still, I don’t absolutely “know.” I do doubt it will be the extreme bleak view (imo) of Tibetian Buddhism or the soap opera just so stories of Edgar Caycee. I also tend to think that if reincarnation is real then it’s kind of like evolution or even gravity. It’s a movement and a journey and may or may not ever end.
comment on previous purpose of life post.
the “purpose” to life is being aware of the void and the life you have right now, simultaneously.
Interesting article. My own spiritual quest has led me to constantly hear the message of unity and inter-connectedness in many different forms in many different religious teachings. This leads me wonder if the void is the point of inter-connection or some other representation of it? Or is the void something else altogether?
I hope to be headed toward your questions. Thanks for the nudge.
i tried to read the paul brunton article, (for I’ve read and loved his widow of the oversoul book), but it was in the void:(
Try the url: http://paulbrunton.org/notebooks/23/8
It came up fine for me just now. Glad you’ve enjoyed his work.
thankyou, yes it worked when i clicked on it from your email. an article I’ve seen recently. just saw this. love this;
When he attains the state of void, all thoughts cease for then pure Thought thinks itself alone.