The Spaces In Between

What I Learned from a Masala Dosa

~ by Randall Krause

The other day, I went to a South Indian place and had masala dosa. The crispy dosa, the fragrant potato filling, the soft idli, and the fiery sambar were so delicious. I was squirming in my seat with ecstasy at the taste. And then I went home, and it was over.

I used to live for experience, and still do, but somewhat less. I’d look forward to vacations, to school being over, to holidays, and to so many more experiences. Over the years, I came to see that, in a way, I was addicted to sensory stimulation. Because those pleasurable experiences lasted only a moment, I did my best to arrange my life to go from one sensory stimulation to the next, to keep life enjoyable.

I would be thinking about when I would go to this or that enjoyable place next time. I would look forward to it for days or weeks. Once again, I would have the experience—maybe it would be good or maybe it would not—and whatever it was, it would pass in an instant. My whole life was filled with anticipating one pleasurable experience after another.

I’ve been meditating for decades. Recently, my meditation gave rise to a thought: What about all of those moments in between? Why not live each moment between now and then fully instead of constantly anticipating?

How can I fill those moments between stimulations? Can those moments be filled with love, joy, peace, and fulfillment? The great meditation sages say they can be.

Many years ago, I took part in a forty-day silent meditation retreat at my teacher’s ashram in India. I didn’t talk, didn’t indulge in entertainment, and spent many hours a day in silent meditation. The idea was not only to quiet my mouth but also quiet the chatter of my mind.

After about ten days, my mind became silent, and I was filled with a happiness I’d never previously known. I passed the rest of the retreat in that state. When all of the inner chatter stopped, when I wasn’t chasing after experiences—even of thoughts—I was fulfilled. I took walks along the road in the Indian countryside, and everything—even the cow dung on the road—looked beautiful to me. I’d turn my awareness inside to the inner silence, and bathe in it.

I was sad when it was time to end my silence retreat and return to the “normal” talking world. Soon, the constant feeling of joy and love that had been with me during the retreat faded as I started chasing experiences again.

Based on my experience at that silence retreat, I know those spaces in between can be filled.

The constant seeking of experience blocks the emergence of what is hiding in plain sight in those spaces in between. Completely settling into them, even into the spaces between thoughts, can allow the hidden treasure of joy, love, and fulfillment to appear.