The Art of Space

Cultivating the inner sanctuary.

When starting a journey of cultivating powers (vital power not egoic control), men are often advised and given practices that in essence are a cultivation of fullness. Fullness brings concentration, focus and direction as well as an ability to nourish others. This is not always easy, since a man’s energy seeks to be grounded and very often he is uncomfortable every time the energy begins to rise. When the energy rises, it starts “bothering” him — it begins to touch those spots in which he is stagnant, is normally numb and denies to acknowledge. Uncomfortable feelings begin to arise as the energy begins to circulate. This triggers him to quickly ground the energy and release. Allowing this energy to stay and “bother” until it reveals and breaks something, is easier said than done.

For a woman, the power is in cultivating the power of emptiness. This emptiness does not mean nothing; it is the potential of everything and the ground for any kind of being or experience to arise. It is space. Just like it is difficult for men to keep the fullness, it is also difficult for women to maintain this emptiness. This is because the “hunger” it creates will create a compulsion within a woman to fill herself with different things, many of which will not resonate with herself and will actually cloak her potential from her (instead of helping her realise it and actualise it). We often hear women complain how they need “space”, how their schedules and lives are too “full” that there is “no space left to themselves.” When placed into any narrow, tight space that demands concentration and focus, when oriented towards speed, she cannot spread out into vastness and her system begins to rebel.

Temenos is a sacred enclosure — a sealed vessel that is the field of experience, creativity and transformation. When a woman cultivates this interior space, she discovers meany subtle and invisible treasures: The ability to hold contradictions without fragmentation. The capacity to feel deeply without drowning. The wisdom to discern when to fill her vessel and when to pour from it. She neither idealises nor demonises. She is neither naive nor cynical. She has created sufficient inner space to hold complexity without reducing it, to acknowledge contradiction without being destabilised by it. From this spaciousness comes not just protection from harm but the possibility of genuine connection. She can love authentically and boundlessly. Space allows her to witness truly before deciding, to know before choosing, to see beyond both fear and fantasy.

It is important to remember that rushing to judgment clouds perception, but so does refusing to judge at all. The woman who has cultivated inner spaciousness finds the middle path—she assesses without condemnation, discerns without attachment to outcome, sees clearly, including imperfections and flaws, without losing compassion. She can receive into space and also cast someone out without holding onto resentment or contempt.

Volupta often speaks of space and the creation of space, but many of my readers asked me to write an article just dedicated to it and to give techniques and practices that can help a woman cultivate this power. The practices and techniques will be for both yourself and also for your relationships, Remember that cultivation of any power requires time and that as you create space and emptiness, you will also be initiated into a journey of releasing or cleansing of that which clogs up your system.