CLike the But, the empty space between things, becomes the home of the spirit. There is an invisible place that inhabits every house. It is not a piece of furniture, it is not a scenic corner, it is not a room. It is what remains when everything else is silent: the But, the empty space between things.
But beyond the simplicity of order, there is a more subtle, more archaic dimension, which belongs to Japanese spirituality and the aesthetic vision that I described in my book “Wabi Sabi, the beauty of imperfect life”. Here, the But is not just absence: it is pure presence, a gap, an interval that allows the spirit to manifest itself.
The Ma as the threshold of the sacred
In Japanese culture, emptiness is not a lack but a necessary condition for something authentic to happen. Let’s think of a Zen garden: what is striking is not the presence of the stones, but the space between one stone and another. That’s where the mystery breathes. The But is this: a very dense void, a pause between two gestures, the interval between two breaths, the silence that precedes a true word. In our homes, places often filled to excess, Ma then becomes a lost art: leaving space for the spirit to inhabit.
When emptiness heals us
Selene Calloni Williams talks to us about But, the empty space between things
We live in a world that fears emptiness. Filling has become a reflex: we fill time, rooms, agendas, thoughts. But there is no healing possible without the courage to create a space where you can finally feel. Ma is an ancient medicine. When we create a void around us, something happens inside us. The body regulates itself. The mind slows down. The soul finds a threshold to rest on. But protects us, roots us, reflects us, lets us be.
Making the void sacred: a daily practice
There is no need to revolutionize the house. Just start from one point. It can be: a corner of the room deliberately left free, a shelf that is not full but essential, a table that hosts only what speaks to the heart, a slow movement that creates space instead of taking up space. Every time we create Ma, we are saying to the spirit, “You can come. There is room here.”
The Ma as an internal force The Ma is not only outside: it is inside. It is: the pause before reacting, the silence before judging, the deep breath before speaking, the void in which we can truly listen to each other.
The But, the empty space between things
But reminds us that we don’t always have to fill: we can also wait, let be, allow things to reveal themselves. In the video attached to this article you will find: a guided meditation to perceive the But in the body and in the home and an imaginal ritual to interact with the void, transforming it into an ally of internal empowerment. Ma will thus become a living presence, a companion, a source of subtle energy that supports you in every gesture.
Because emptiness is not an absence: it is an invitation. It is the home of the spirit, and is just waiting to be recognized.
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