It Will Not Fill Up
As I’ve said before, I’ve recently been listening to a lot of talks by Ajahn Sucitto. After almost every one of them I immediately want to put up a post about how great it was, how deep it was, how enlightening it was….but of course I know how I feel when somebody is always going on and on about some book, or movie, or podcast they’ve just read or watched or listened to… So, OK, I don’t want to do that.
But….
I’ll just share this one little quote from one of those talks, which is a metaphor that I’ve heard him use before and has continued to stay with me. Here it is (slightly edited for clarity):
“We think that sense of craving we feel is because something’s lacking. But it’s not. You can tip anything you like into that hole….it will not fill up. You can tip motorbikes; you can tip yachts; you can tip houses; you can tip a billion dollars into that hole….and it will not fill up. Because it’s not a hole. It’s a lump. So the more things you try to tip into it, the bigger it gets… It’s not an absence. It’s an energy. A very powerful energy that’s like a presence. Not an absence, but a presence. Of something confused… It’s an energy. And it can be released.”
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Just in case you want to listen, it’s from this talk. It’s about an hour long. The quote starts at about the 35 minute mark.