In Between

In order to know - we must look. 
But in order to understand - we must look beyond.

When we sit down to watch a movie or any other video on a screen, it feels like all the action we see takes place in a continuous movement.

But in fact, a video is made by stitching together a long series of individual stills, which jump from one moment to another at a speed which then gives the illusion of movement.

Thus, when we take a video and slow it down enough - we can see pauses in the action. And if we slow it further still . . . we may even start to see a series of blinks and flickers; proving that between every moment of movement, there is also a moment of empty space.

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So of course, this does not mean that the action in our video is any less “Real” or any less affecting while it is being played.

The footage is of real people = the images do “move” - and they really do tell us a story worth paying attention to (Assuming, of course, the video is interesting!).

But, at the same time, this “reality” is illusory too. Because when seen in normal time, we are not actually noticing the true structure of the video.

And it is only when we slow things down that we see how the video’s “ultimate” nature is not only built by the images on the screen, but also by those “gaps” in between.

The flickers. The stillness. The moments of silence

This is also the case when we look at ourselves as individuals.

Though our own personal “Reality” is, in some sense, a kind of unbroken chain of thoughts, or actions, or beliefs and so on (all of which form our persona) . . . still, these things are not the full story.

And when we pay close enough attention to our own mind (or, in essence, slow it down just as we would with that video from before) - we start to notice the spaces “in between” all of these things too.

The flickers. The stillness. The moments of silence. The part of our existence that is ever present - far more than just fleeting thoughts or temporary actions.

This is where the practice of meditation can be so beneficial.

It is not about seeking enlightenment, or attaining any kind of spiritual “goal”. In fact, it is nothing more complex than just observing our own thoughts, and letting those moments of empty space last for longer.

But in doing so, we start to see far more of what is actually real here; much like someone with a book, who starts by reading the words of a great poem, but slowly learns how much more can be gained by “reading between the lines” too.

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