Nothingness: Returning to the Source Beyond Thought

In East Asian calligraphy, every stroke carries the artist’s intention and the energy of the moment it was created. In Nothingness, Ilchibuko Todd, a Tao Master Trainer and the CEO of Body & Brain Yoga and Tai Chi, brings this space into form as the single character 無 (pronounced mu).

The spiritual concept of nothingness is not emptiness in a hollow sense. It is the state of pure awareness before thoughts or emotions arise. In this place, before labels, judgments, and stories take shape, we are open, receptive, and at peace. It is a vast, silent expanse… yet it holds “much” in the form of presence and aliveness.

Beyond the Debris of the Mind

Every day, tens of thousands of thoughts pass through us. Memories, self-talk, fleeting observations, worries, plans. Most of them are repetitive. Some are like fragrant blossoms drifting on a stream. Others are like tangled weeds or bits of debris we wish weren’t there.

It’s easy to mistake the stream of debris for the water of life itself, to think that the constant flow of thoughts is who we are.

But when we allow the debris to drift by without grasping for it, we glimpse the clear water that carries it all: our own pure, living consciousness. This water is the same “nothingness” the calligraphy refers to. It’s the untouched space beneath every mental ripple.

A Practice of Returning

We don’t return to nothingness through stopping the mind by force or erasing every passing idea. We return by allowing each thought—and each emotion, and experience of life too—to pass in its natural course, neither following it nor pushing it away.

From here, our actions and words carry a different quality.  We are calm, grounded, and free from rigid labels or dualistic thinking. When we act from this place, the vibration naturally extends into our lives, drawing in people, opportunities, and circumstances that align with our highest good and the good of all. It’s the same way Ilchibuko’s calligraphy emerges from stillness: the physical form is simply the visible expression of an inner state. And when that state is pure, what arises is . . . beautiful.

The Energy Within the Form

Ilchibuko has said that in her practice, the brush moves as an extension of the heart, guided by the quiet current beneath the thinking mind. That current is where “nothingness” lives.

To stand before this piece is to feel that current for yourself. The white space breathes. The black ink anchors. Together they invite you into a quiet aliveness, into the same source that moved the artist’s hand.

In the end, Nothingness isn’t about absence; it’s about fullness. The fullness of the moment before it is named, the richness of life before it’s divided into “good” or “bad,” “wanted” or “unwanted.” It’s the source from which all things flow, and the place to which all things return. In its presence, may you feel the echo of your own inner fullness, ready to ripple out into your life.

Nothingness is available as a framed paper print, unframed paper print, or unframed canvas print. Or, you can shop the full collection of Ilchibuko’s calligraphy here.