Emptiness Cafe

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Hand-drawn art by Rupali Bhuva
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Café der Leere
-von Susan Kahn

Das Leben bewegt sich
Wie Schatten und Licht,
Unmittelbar erscheinend,
Auch wenn ich die Zeit selbst nicht finden kann.

Städte gespiegelt in Gedanken,
Nichts ist für sich allein.
Es gibt keinen Seher ohne das Gesehene,
Keinen Gedanken ohne Gegenstand.

Subjekt und Objekt gehen ineinander über.
Gefühle, Wahrnehmungen, nichts ist von selbst entstanden.
Nicht einmal das Herz
entzündet seine eigene Flamme.

Das getrennte Selbst verschwindet.
Es gibt Sinneseindrücke, Gespräche,..,
aromatische Betrachtungen,
aber kein Ich, das
diesen Café der Leere beansprucht.

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Kernfragen zum Nachdenken: Was bedeutet es für dich, im Cafe der Leere zu verweilen? Kannst du eine persönliche Erfahrung teilen, bei der die Zeit verschwand und das Leben erschien? Was hilft dir, die Nicht-Dualität in der Dualität zu sehen?
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Susan Kahn lehrt Philosophie und Praxis der Lehren von der Leere, auch bekannt als Buddhismus des Mittleren Weges oder Madhyamaka. Sie ist auch praktizierende Psychotherapeutin.
Seed Questions for Reflection

What does hanging out in the emptiness cafe mean to you? Can you share a personal experience where time disappeared and life appeared? What helps you see non-duality in duality?

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5 Past Reflections
RA
Ram
Jul 30, 2023
But no I to claim
This emptiness cafe.
Who is saying this?
EN
Eero närhi
Oct 29, 2021
Everything and nothing
When i am everything i am you - Love.
When i am nothing i am no-body - wisdom.
But in reality i don't know anything.
DD
Feb 6, 2021
Hanging out in the emptiness cafe means to me hanging out in awareness that no thing exists, only formless waves of energy that constantly move, change, interplay, come together, move apart. Time disappeared and life appeared for brief periods when I've been immersed in the present which is Presence whichis Life. In such brief moments there is no time, past or future, there is only present, and it's alive. What helps me see nonduality in duality is awareness that all creation is one whole, one giant ocean, metaphorically speaking, out of which waves arise briefly giving hte appearance of separateness and duality but really all is one. More interesting to me is what helps me see duality in nonduality. I think major factors are our ability to be self-conscious, our very tiny sliver of the total bandwidth of perception, and the constant conditioning and indoctrination we suffer.
JD
Feb 5, 2021
Susan Kahn uses the metaphor of Emptiness Cafe to convey the idea of emptiness is fullness. The Spanish mystic John of the Cross calls 'unknowing" an ecstasy. Our mind is mostly dwelling on the same known thoughts. Thought is nothing but a thing. When my mind is still and freeI am hanging out in Emptiness Cafe. In this clear and empty space I feel the fullness of the present moment. It is like hearing the soundless sound. When I am in deep meditation and when my mind is free fromdistracting thoughts time disappears. I am in Emptiness Cafe where life unfolds with no boundaries of space and time.It is an experience of enlightenment and fulfillment, and abiding love andjoy. Like RabindranathTagore sings, "Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the center of my life, the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love." Dualityiscausedin the mind when I relate to myself as not a integral part of the universe. Then thewalls created by the conditioned mind between me and ... View full comment
SP
Sumitee Puetz Feb 17, 2021
Namaste!

So beautifully reflected and expressed. Thanks Susan and Jagdish for your profound sharing.
For me feeling full and totally empty at the same time, where I feel nothing more could add to it and nothing can be drawn away from this moment, that is the 'Shunya' and 'Purna' coexisting like a paradox, is an experience of Emptiness Cafe. The bliss known then is so profound that words can only attempt to describe, yet can never fully express it... The metaphor of being in the awareness of ocean and a drop at the same time could come close to describing it; where the limitless unfolds, in the vessel of this limited being!

Sumitee A Puetz