Emptiness is one of the most misunderstood concepts in all the Buddha’s teachings. As Dhivan Thomas Jones said, this doesn’t mean empty like an empty bucket, but rather empty like an uninhabited forest.

We are empty of a separate self. Empty of a self that is an island, adrift and disconnected. When we think of all the ways in which we are connected to everything and everyone, we can begin to see that we actually are not separate. We all contain the essence of our parents, and all the generations before us. We contain earth, water, fire and air because of our existence on the planet and the foods we eat. We are connected by our minds and hearts. We are connect in the vibration of all the tiny particles that make up this physical plane.