Emptiness: A Sacred Opportunity?

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A discussion of emptiness through the Japanese concept of Ma and Buddhist, Daoist, Christian, and Jewish ideas.

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Date: Thursday, November 5 @ 7:00pm Location: Strange Craft Beer Co. Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83219357817 Curriculum: Coming Soon! In Japanese thought and aesthetics, "Ma" describes the meaningful space or interval between things—the silence between notes, the pause between words, or the empty space that gives a room its character. Rather than seeing emptiness as something missing, Ma invites us to consider what becomes possible because space exists. This idea opens up a fascinating conversation across spiritual traditions: from the Buddhist concept of *śūnyatā* (that things lack independent, self-existing essence) and the Daoist wisdom of the useful empty space, to the Christian practice of contemplative unknowing and the Jewish mystical idea of tzimtzum (describes God's self-contraction or withdrawal, creating a conceptual space in which creation can exist). We'll explore how different traditions understand emptiness not simply as an absence, but as something that can make room for connection, possibility, and transformation. What might change if we stopped treating every void as a problem to solve? We'll consider the spaces between people, the uncertainty between belief and understanding, and the pauses that make room for something new to emerge. What do we miss when we rush to fill every silence, resolve every tension, or answer every question?