We are surrounded by moments, and past and future are an illusion of the always present moment. We have thoughts that invoke emotion, whether positive or negative emotion. All suffering comes from thoughts, and even pain, when considered, is worse than experiencing pain from a detached and empty now.

I attempted not to think anymore, and find myself still lost in thought, forgetting the pure emptiness we all can be found in in any moment. Emptiness is greater than God, but from emptiness comes God and God is Love. The closest neighbor to emptiness is Love, and so I find a solution that seems to remain given how often I stray from the emptiness that is all, and yet nothing.

In our minds and soul in every moment, there is a constant stream of thoughts and emotions and feelings. If we realize we are in an endless universe, so vast that we cannot comprehend it, we can find ourselves with only one single point of reference that never changes: the emptiness that is in the center of our souls that our bodies and everything past the boundaries of our body surrounds. All arises from the emptiness that is undefinable in our center and everything that is not that point, is part of the experience of life and love and all that is.

I realized the confusion of remembering that emptiness, for its not something that can be defined, and hard to comprehend, even though that void inside us is the witness to all that is.

I went to the vast and expansive Rocky Mountains with the love of my life, the love of my eternity. As we went up the mountains, the experience became challenging with fear and anxiety taking over at certain points. I looked around and saw millions of miles of vast open space in every direction. I became lost emotionally and spiritually in the enormous amount of vast space surrounding both of us, and hate and anger became present. I took my suffering out on my lover and hated the mistake, hated what I have done, and hated everything the moment became.

The next day we went up thousands of feet into the miles of mountains again. I looked around, miles and miles in every direction, and even more miles into the Earth and sky. I realized this is our true condition. We are travelers in a vast amount of space and time traveling through eternity. It was always this condition and it was always this vast. I realized how easy it is to get lost spiritually and emotionally. I realized I had no anchor to guide me in the midst of all this space and time and vastness that surrounds all of us at every moment. Without an anchor, it was just chaos which always led to suffering.

There is some instruction from Carlos Castenda that I knew about but never took as seriously as I do today. Here it is:

“Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary.

This question is one that only a very old man asks. Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long long paths, but I am not anywhere. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn’t, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn’t. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.

Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.

I have told you that to choose a path you must be free from fear and ambition. The desire to learn is not ambition. It is our lot as men to want to know.

The path without a heart will turn against men and destroy them. It does not take much to die, and to seek death is to seek nothing.

For me there is only the traveling on the paths that have a heart, on any path that may have a heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge for me is to traverse its full length. And there I travel–looking, looking, breathlessly.”

We look around us and there are millions of paths: up, down, left, right, over, under, through, around and so on. It is unlimited space and time around us in every direction. Everything around us contrasts the emptiness that is described in the Tao Te Ching and can be found in our center, in each and every one of us.

When this universe was created, Love became the foundation of everything after that. The closest thing to emptiness is the fullness of Love. First was the emptiness and second was Love. This emptiness I talk of is the emptiness of Zen, and is also the emptiness of being in the Zone. It isn’t empty, but emptiness is the best I can use to describe something that isn’t there like everything else in this universe.

First was nothing, first was emptiness, and from emptiness the big bang happened and all things came. Love was first and closest to this emptiness, I repeat over and over again to myself.

And that is truly my momentary meditation. So many moments make up an entire life, and the best way to keep on track is silently say to yourself “love” over and over again, reminding yourself the truth that you are love. Say it with the power of the words “I AM LOVE” over and over again. Surround every thought, emotion, feeling, and realization with love. Start it with love, and end it with love. You all are God and you all are Love. This is true. But even deeper, you all are what is undefinable, what comes before God, what comes before Love. So remember Love as the first thing that comes after this emptiness and you will find your guide and path and way in this world in all ways. Let Love be your constant reminder at all moments with the soft whisper of its pure four letters and let it mold your thoughts and emotions and correct anything that isn’t at all moments. Say it more under moments of stress and anxiety, and say it even more when you are angry, and upset. Let love be your response and surround every moment with it, using love as the transition from moment to next moment.

Jesus is Love, and Love was his greatest teaching. He said he was the foundation of the church, he said he was the corner stone of the church, which would be all people, a great church that would never end. Be Jesus and be love. Follow his example and be the God within yourself. Remind yourself constantly of love with 4 letters over and over again until you die. Let love be the rhythm of every action that emanates from you.

Emptiness gave birth to Love, and Love gave birth to all. Be that emptiness and exude in Love at all moments, now and forever more.