CREATING SPACE FOR MIRACLES
“Today I make space for miracles. I recognize that it’s not how big a miracle is that’s important but
how much room I create for it.”
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The Story of the Zen Master and a Scholar – Empty Your Cup
Once upon a time, there was a wise Zen master. People traveled from far away to seek his help. In return, he would teach them and show them the way to enlightenment. On this particular day, a scholar came to visit the master for advice. “I have come to ask you to teach me about Zen,” the scholar said.
Soon, it became obvious that the scholar was full of his own opinions and knowledge. He interrupted the master repeatedly with his own stories and failed to listen to what the master had to say. The master calmly suggested that they should have tea.
So the master gently poured his guest a cup. The cup was filled, yet he kept pouring until the cup overflowed onto the table, onto the floor, and finally onto the scholar’s robes. The
scholar cried, “Stop! The cup is full already. Can’t you see?” “Exactly,” the Zen master replied with a smile. “You are like this cup — so full of ideas that nothing more will ßt in. Come back to me with an empty cup.”
It is ironic how much could be written about nothing. That’s what space is: nothing. When we study the Universe and quantum physics, we realize that everything comes from nothing. Therefore, the great spiritual masters call this The Great Nothingness. For there to be creation, there must first be space. The same is true for our own minds. If you want something new to be created, such as new thoughts, then you must first create space so that you can receive new ideas that can change your life. Just like the teacup, if your mind is completely full of old thinking, it is impossible to have any new thoughts come into your mind to create the change you seek.
The way we can create this space is through non-thinking. As soon as we stop our strenuous e9orts to think, we immediately create space where new thoughts and ideas can enter our minds. Questions that challenge our current way of thinking are also a great way to create space in our minds.
All the magic happens in this space of nothingness. For instance, great athletes go through intense periods of training, but the best athletes know that they need an equally intense period of rest afterwards to stay in peak performance. It is during this rest period that they recover, build muscle, and become stronger. This space they create for themselves through rest is where everything they wanted from the workout manifests.
When Thomas Edison was confronted with a particularly challenging problem, he would sleep in his chair while holding a steel ball in each of his hands. Eventually he would slip into a
deep enough stage of sleep where the ball would drop, wake him up and a solution to his problem would pop into his mind. Everything comes from nothing, and Edison understood this concept of creating space for new thoughts to enter his mind instead of attempting to e9ort his way into solving problems with his old way of thinking. He knew that old thinking was not going to give him the solution to his challenges.
“We can’t solve problems by using the same level of consciousness we were at when we created
them.”
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Einstein had di9erent quirky, enigmatic behaviors just like Edison, but a similar understanding of creating space. When Einstein was stuck on a difficult problem, he would stop working on it and play the violin. As he was playing, the answer would come to him out of seemingly nowhere and then he’d have the solution to his problem. Einstein had created space within his mind through non-thinking to be able to receive divine downloads from the Universe.
We don’t have to try to figure everything out. Even the people we deem as geniuses didn’t strain and e9ort their way into making the greatest discoveries in the world, so what makes us think that we have to? We are no di9erent than them and are all connected to the same Source. With the correct understanding, we can also receive insights to any challenge we’re facing. We’re only ever one thought, one insight, and one idea away from living a completely di9erent experience of life.
Here’s the process for receiving divine downloads when you’re confronted with a challenge:
- Become aware that your thinking is the root cause of all negative emotions.
- Create space by surrendering any manual thinking from the personal mind and have complete faith that your inner wisdom (God/Universe/Infinite Intelligence) will give you the answer. Also surrender the how and when the answer will come to you.
- Become aware of any feelings that arise as you surrender and magnify those feelings of love, peace, and joy. Meet what you’re facing with love and the answer will come to you.
If it seems almost too simple, that’s a good thing. The truth is always simple. Although it may be simple, it’s not always easy and even the greatest spiritual masters struggle at times. What’s important is not when we get caught in our thinking (because it’s inevitable), but what we do when we catch ourselves thinking again. As long as you continually remember that we can only ever feel what we’re thinking and that thinking is the root cause of all of our su9ering, then you’re free.
