THE VOID

A primordial emptiness of cosmic proportions

by

Alex PATERSON

http://www.vision.net.au/~apaterson/spiritual/void.htm

Updated 5 March 2010

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THE VOID

'A primordial emptiness of cosmic proportions and relevance' - Stanislav Grof

When I was about 7 or 8 years old, I had a number of encounters with what the American psychologist, Stanislav Grof, aptly describes as the VOID. These encounters were in the form of a series of lucid dreams over a period of some months. By lucid I mean I that was fully awake during them and as such the dreams were as 'real' (if not more so) as being physically awake in this reality, as opposed to the vagueness normally associated with dreams.

The experience was terrifying to me as a child because the VOID had no actual form and as such was empty, yet paradoxically 1 was so big as to be seemingly infinite (even though I couldn't conceptualise infinite at the time), hence my childhood perception that it was HUGE. But perhaps more disturbing to me as a child was that IT could not be defined in any terms of this reality in that it had no tangible presence even though I was intimately aware of its presence (a paradox). Thus, there was no sound, no sight, no taste, no smell, no feel and no emotion about it, and yet somehow I was fully aware of its presence. Because the VOID seemed to be everywhere yet paradoxically nowhere, there was nowhere for me as a child to hide from it, which was why I was so terrified of it. I might add IT never did anything to harm me. It seemed to be an observer dispassionately observing me.

I had a recurrence of this experience many years later as a young adult.

This experience provided me with an insight into the esoteric concept that GOD just IS, and as such IS everything comprising the universe (including humans), as well as the un-manifested infinite. (which I now know as the VOID) Being the un-manifested infinite, the VOID is simply beyond the limitations of time and space associated with the physical universe, which is why it cannot be adequately described in terms of this reality.

Having experienced the VOID, I am now able to grasp the scientific concept of infinite and the notion postulated by quantum physicist, Dr David Bohm, of an "implicate enfolded order which exists in an un-manifested state and which is the foundation upon which all manifest reality rests." 2

To quote Stanislav Grof on page 30 of his book, 'The Cosmic Game':

"When we encounter the Void, we feel that it is primordial emptiness of cosmic proportions and relevance. We become pure consciousness aware of this absolute nothingness; however at the same time we have a paradoxical sense of its essential fullness. This cosmic vacuum is also a plenum (full assembly) since nothing seems to be missing in it. While it does not contain anything in a concrete manifest form, it seems to comprise all of existence in a potential form. In this paradoxical way we can transcend the usual dichotomy (division into two) between emptiness and form, or existence and non-existence. However, the possibility of such a resolution cannot be adequately conveyed in words; it has to be experienced to be understood." 3

Grof's description expresses my sentiments exactly; there are simply no words to describe the experience because it transcends this reality.

I now have a sense that The Void is pure awareness totally devoid of experience or expression, but pregnant with potential.

FOOTNOTES:

1. See: PARADOXES by Alex Paterson

2. Source: 'The Implicate Order' by Dr David Bohm.

3. Source: 'The Cosmic Game' by Stanislav Grof p30

Copyright Alex Paterson 1999

 

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ABOUT Alex PATERSON

Alex PATERSON is an Australian citizen by birth. He writes articles and advises on issues pertaining to aviation, politics, sociology, the environment, sustainable farming and forestry, history, computers, natural health therapies, esoteric teachings and spirituality.

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