Alan Watts discusses the state of Nothingness.
“So, you know the story; when the sixth patriarch was given his office as successor, because he was truly enlightened, there was a poetry contest, and the losing one wrote the idea that the mind (the consciousness) was like a mirror, which had to be polished. And constantly, you know, I have to polish my mirror; I have to purify my mind, see? So that I am detached and calm and clear-headed, you know, Buddha. But the one who won the contest said that there is no mirror, and the nature of the mind is intrinsically void, so where is there anywhere for dust to collect? By seeing that nothingness is the fundamental reality, and you see it’s your reality, then how can anything contaminate you?”
