What is Emptiness?

‘Health is conserved by egalitarianism among the powers – wet and dry, hot and cold, bitter and sweet, and the rest – and that monarchy among them produces disease; for the monarchy of either member of a pair is destructive. And disease comes about by an excess of heat or cold, from a surfeit or deficiency of nourishment…health is the proportionate bleeding of the qualities.’

- Alcmaeton. Early Greek Philosophy, p. 37   

A good friend said to me not long ago - regarding the great imbalance of wealth in the world today - that the only way to resolve ourselves spiritually is to give back to others. We must give back to cure this common feeling of emptiness. 

Emptiness stems from seeking that, which cannot make us happy. 

A surfeit of living materials cannot make us truly happy or healthy because it is an excess of one thing and therefore, a lack of another. Life, flourishing and general happiness derives from balance within the opposing forces of nature. Indigenous cultures, such as the Desana people of the Amazon, certainly believed in balance and the reciprocal relationships that exist between the elements of nature. 
Our culture is one of greed, of superfluous consumption, so much so that it has created a great imbalance. Today we are seeing the manifestation of this imbalance. Not only is our finite planet at risk of dissolution, but also our mental and spiritual well-being. Emptiness is the consequence of greed. 

The feeling of emptiness is derived from a lack of balance among human attributes. In other words: The people of the Western world are taking too much, and not giving enough back. This has tangible repercussions for our environment, our bodies and minds, and our spiritual health also.