ABSTRACT
Mindful invention means facing the moment for the purposes of writing. Initially, the moment is nonverbal before intrapersonal content rushes in: the moment starts off as non-discursive and turns discursive. This chapter explores the Buddhist concept of the mutuality of form and formlessness in sūnyatā, an emptiness in which it is said that all entities, not just the human ego, lack independent existence. Sūnyatā is the repudiation of a particular kind of existence (independent and permanent), replaced in a mindfulness perspective with an interconnected and continuously changing one. The Buddhist Heart Sutra, renowned for its instruction on the nondualistic interplay of form and formlessness, shows new approaches to prewriting that engage verbal emptiness.
