無一物中無尽蔵
むいちもつちゅうむじんぞう / Muichimotsu Chū Mujinzō
Muichimotsu Chū Mujinzō (無一物中無尽蔵) Meaning
Meaning
This phrase means "Within nothingness lies an inexhaustible treasure." The "nothing" here is not poverty, but a mind that has let go of grasping and clinging. Because the mind holds on to nothing, it can receive everything—flowers, the moon, the whole world—just as it is.
Origin
The line is widely attributed to Su Dongpo (Su Shi), a poet and scholar of China's Northern Song dynasty, as part of a short poem: "Plain white silk, unpainted—how lofty its spirit. Add color, and it falls into duality. Within nothingness lies an inexhaustible treasure: there are flowers, there is the moon, there are towers." Its exact source and authorship are not entirely certain. In Zen circles it is often linked with the famous phrase "Originally, there is not a single thing," from a verse attributed to Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch of Chan (Zen), and it is a favorite on hanging scrolls in Japanese tea rooms.
How it helps with everyday worries
When you lose someone you love, a job, or something you spent years building, it can feel as though nothing is left. This phrase gently suggests that emptiness is not only an ending—it is also open space where something new can arrive. You don't have to force yourself to forget what you've lost. Simply knowing that the empty place can still let in today's light, or a small kindness from someone, may help you breathe a little easier. It can also help when you feel you don't have enough—money, status, recognition. Trying to fill yourself up with more tends to leave a voice that keeps saying "not yet." If you set aside what you're holding for a moment, you may notice a richness that was there all along: the color of the sky, the warmth of a cup of tea, the quiet of an evening.
A small practice for today
Remove just one unneeded item from your desk or bag, and spend a few seconds simply looking at the empty space it leaves.