You ask about the origins of empty-mindedness. One was my experience of long, drawn-out arguments with shouting, crying, begging, with-holding, accusing, sulking, withdrawing, and attacking. Words and acts from the past would be dragged in to make a case. Threats and demands would be made to gain the advantage. Finally, through exhaustion, we would reach a position where each of us would abandon the attack and just express our needs. It felt like a summer squall had blown in and passed over, leaving flooded paths, downed branches and litter all over. At that point we were able to hear the other person and accept their needs as real.
After a long time, I saw that the argument was merely the precursor to this place of communication and potential resolution. I never liked arguments, and these days, I choose to go directly to that post-squall place of self-expression without attack, where I can clearly distinguish between what I want to happen and what other people should do.
A second contribution to empty-mindedness has been a decade or more of sitting. I won’t give instruction here, but through repeated practice, the ability to separate thoughts and actions, still the mind, be present and distinguish between thoughts and direct experience makes access to a center point of stillness easier and easier.
Lastly, I have done a number of Enlightenment Intensives, 3-day events which excel in removing the fog of language and revealing the truth underneath.
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