Constellations of energy.

You probably recognize this:

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       *       *         *           *
*                             *

That pattern was imprinted in our minds when we were still children gazing up with wonder at the night sky. With some repeated searching, it became easier and easier to recognize this constellation of stars, and now when we see the pattern we don't even think about it- it's the big dipper.

Constellations reveal a lot about the way our minds work. We try to organize information in such a way that it is easier and more efficient for us to work with it in the future. There is no big dipper. From the vantage point of Polaris the constellation of the big dipper would look completely different. The only reason we recognize this constellation is because we have been trained to identify it and it resembles objects with which we are familiar.

This same training and shaping of our perceptions and the concepts that we apply to them shapes our understanding of the world and our identity. Reality is itself a continually unfolding process. The amount of information that we can process and manage is quite limited, so we train from birth in recognizing certain patterns and events. These patterns and events form constellations of concepts in our minds, so that we can develop and better orient ourselves with the world around us.

Understanding the constellations of reality is a useful tool, but it is not without its side effects.

What happens when we confuse the constellation of events? What happens when we get caught up in negative mental states or are anxious about some perceived event in the future? None of those constellations is fixed or lasting, and yet we get caught up in reifying the constellation that we can't see how much space is left in there.

This is fundamentally what the Buddha was talking about when he introduced selflessness or the concept of emptiness. There is an appearing aspect to the world around us, but it is our minds that create the conception of an identity.

There are no lines in the night sky. Our minds draw the lines.

There is no truly existing self. Our minds merely connect the constellation of phenomena we call a 'self' into something we can try to hold onto and call our own.

Same goes with all phenomena. This cup, computer, table, house. They are all constellations of dependent origination in the form of energy.