I wrote a post once called Story of Nothing and after reading it again feel the need to clarify an element of that poem I wrote. I am not into poetry, just like I said before, primarily because I want people, including myself, to actually understand what I am writing about.
I felt that the poem was a little confusing for one main reason, the title. The title “Story of Nothing” may produce thoughts of a nonexistence to people but it means the exact opposite. But I gave it a title that would help me remember why I was about to say “I love it…” fifty times.
A full clarification would require a reading of Lao Tzu’s “Tao Te Ching” and while it is only an hour’s read, it surely takes a lifetime to fully grasp the depth of those words. So here is an excerpt from Lao Tzu’s writing, chapter 14.
We look at it, and we do not see it, and we name it ‘the
Equable.’ We listen to it, and we do not hear it, and we name it ‘the
Inaudible.’ We try to grasp it, and do not get hold of it, and we
name it ‘the Subtle.’ With these three qualities, it cannot be made
the subject of description; and hence we blend them together and
obtain The One.
Its upper part is not bright, and its lower part is not obscure.
Ceaseless in its action, it yet cannot be named, and then it again
returns and becomes nothing. This is called the Form of the Formless,
and the Semblance of the Invisible; this is called the Fleeting and
Indeterminable.
“Nothing” is so much more than the emptiness. It is the fullness. It means more to me than anything else in the world.