Empty or full universe?

Void, vacuum, emptiness, nothingness - words like these are employed to describe what dominates the universe. Between galaxies, between planets and beyond, the universe is most likely filled with - nothing. But what we think is nothing is not something inert; the void in the universe is said to be alive, for scientists say that nothing contains all things; it is, in fact, pregnant with energy that helps the universe evolve. It is said that nature abhors a vacuum and this vacuum space perhaps contains infinite energy.

Research by physicists has confirmed that matter contributes very little to the energy budget of the universe; that the maximum energy is contained in the vacuum, dominating the future evolution of the universe. This points to the possibility that what we assume as nothing, in fact, contains all things, is infinite, and is packed with potential.

Some ask, what existed before space and time? Was an empty universe interrupted by a burst of creation? But was what existed before creation really empty or was it full with nothingness that was brimming with potential?


One could daresay that the universe is in deep meditation, if it is indeed largely empty, because in Indic philosophy, nothingness is shunyata, a deeply meditative state. It comes from anatta, the non-self, that refers to negation of ego as prerequisite to experience nothingness.