ABSTRACT
The Buddhist concept of shunyata translates both as emptiness and as interbeing. It evokes a sense of freedom from the constraints of rigid identifications, and all the while a radical vital sense of belonging. Less constrained by the stranglehold of “I,” “me,” “mine” versus “other,” “not-me,” one can all the more surrender to the flow of existence through time. One experiences oneself with all sentient beings as belonging to a life force, a shared “existence tissue.” Clinging to one separate self limits more directly knowing oneself evolving with others. Autobiographical examples demonstrate the experience of “emptiness.” Clinical examples demonstrate the psychoanalytic relevance of this understanding.
