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Everything is Emerging

The gap between thoughts — like the gap between breaths or moods — allows us to glimpse the naked mind, the mind that is not obscured by preconceptions and patterns of memory. It’s that fresh glimmer that startles us into wakefulness, and reminds us that clouds are temporary surface concerns and that the sun shines whether we see it or not. Noticing the gap introduces us to the mind that does not reach out to grasp a story of loss or love, or a label of fame or disgrace, or a house or a person or a pet. It’s the mind liberated from those misperceptions that keep us stuck in repetitive cycles.

Gap is another word for “bardo.” Making a distinction between the bardo of this life and the bardo of dying offers an approach to studying stages of being; but actually, these stages have no sharp edges or boundaries, no ends and no beginnings. Everything is in flux. Everything is continually emerging, changing, transforming, coming forth, and fading out. If our mind doesn’t get stuck in a particular realm, or attached to a limited set of identities, and can initiate and respond to movement, and appreciate transience, then we create an internal atmosphere that is conducive to recognizing the gaps.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
from In Love with the World; What a Can Teach You About Living from Nearly Dying