YOU: Excuse me. I was just behind the door when I heard I had created somebody on my planet! Rather astonishing isn't it? I do not believe a single word of it. Who are you and where do you come from?

FRANK HATEM: I am nothing, I come from nowhere, and I'm going nowhere. What is now, what you read, is not the product of some past, but of your goal. The author of anything in the universe is eternal, and infinitely nil. That is "I am": Nothingness's Necessity.

YOU: Hmm. Tonight, nothingness is strange-looking. I once heard: "To him who sees things as they are, nothing remains unknowable. Knowledge is not a matter of intelligence. It is only a matter of courage. Ignorance is the fear of what is self-evident". If it is self-evident, why don't people recognize it?

F. H.: People generally prefer what is not obvious, in order to complicate their way towards their goal. So as to be sure to remain what they are. The Universe is absolutely simple (if not, it couldn't exist). But understanding it is very difficult because IT IS THE ROLE OF CONSCIOUSNESS NOT TO FACE ITS CAUSE.

The basic certainties are obvious to anyone who has courage enough to face himself. They are not at all obvious for him who fears. If you disagree with them, it means you have not meditated enough. You are not yet able to face yourself completely, in which case you must wait. Knowledge is dangerous for you. Your fear is a protection for your mental safety and well-being.

If Esoteric Traditions have kept all these things secret, the reason is that these things are dangerous... for some people. For others, these are the best things for them to grapple with, the food they need to grow. Are you hungry?

YOU: I brought some cookies. Allegedly, we are now entering the Age of Aquarius. Things should not be kept secret any more. Knowledge will become available to everyone. However, it remains dangerous for some people. But those who come to live on Earth nowadays probably know exactly why.

It is probably time to get used to what, before, we feared. So, I think it's OK for you to talk. Everything is illusory, isn't it? This is probably what people fear. It becomes all the easier not to fear your conclusions, however, since your Nothingness contains everything: "I am" is nil but contains the whole universe! But isn't this a contradiction?

F. H.: Not at all. The Whole is Nothingness, but Nothingness is the GOAL, a necessity, not a starting point. A Necessity which is able to produce the conditions of its accomplishment. Thus, Nothingness is the result of all the sensations of being. This means that illusion is the means of Nothingness. Everything is illusory, of course, but these sensations of universes allow the goal to be, nil and infinite. So illusion is obligatory, eternally. You will never fall into Nothingness, into the absence of consciousness (for even the deepest coma is not a total absence of consciousness).

YOU: You have not answered my question. Many religions have been talking about illusion for millenia. Seemingly, they are right. But the question "why illusion" remained unsolved. Can you answer it? If not, your theory is as nil as your Nothingness.

F. H.: By the end of this chapter, there will no longer be any question about the origin of material illusion.

YOU: You must be dreaming.

F. H.: Life is a dream.

YOU: You presume to explain the universe with one contradiction and five obvious observations, and a conclusion which is the same as that of former prophets? I'd rather go home; my husband is not there.

F. H.: This is not a dream; it is a nightmare! Please let me argue progressively. Nowadays, Physicists' research also confirms this illusion, but they do not know why and how, because researchers ignore the goal of the universe. If you are patient, you will soon understand. You know, for decades, physicists repeated that the question concerning the goal of the universe was nonsense, only a game for stupid metaphysicians.

YOU: ...Yes it is.

F. H.: Where is the publisher? This person can't be the one who was supposed to ask me questions!

Nowadays, physicists are bound to say: "Everything leads to an end". Obviously, evolution and complexification can't occur by chance. There's something which draws the universe towards somewhere.

Now they are right. Right to begin to work with Metaphysics. But it's not their job. The question of the goal of the universe has been solved since 1985. It's not necessary for them to work it out again:

ONLY NOTHINGNESS IS, ONLY NOTHINGNESS CAN BE. This is the conclusion they will reach some day. Then they will start being scientific scientists. This conclusion confirms the final basic certainty :

ONLY NOTHINGNESS IS SELF-JUSTIFIED, i.e., Nothingness does not raise any questions, whereas being does.

YOU: What is Nothingness? Your brain?

F. H. : Nothingness is "infinite nought". We specify "infinite" because "nought" is not necessarily nothingness. Nought must be infinite because if not, it means it is limited by something outside it. It is relative to a part of the whole, not to everything. So it is not Nothingness. It is only "nothing somewhere", not everywhere. If it is not infinite, "nought" is relative.

On the other hand, we can say that Nothingness is "nil infinity".

The "infiniteness" of Nothingness is one of its two essential conditions. The other one is "voidness". Of course, if infinity were not nil, if it were " something ", (I mean God, or Mind, or Matter or something else), it couldn't be Nothingness.

YOU: Nothingness is "infinite illusion", isn't it?

F. H.: Yes, but "illusion" is not "something definite". Every illusion is a means for nothingness, but none of them are a reality with a real cause. Every illusion within the "Zero-point" is nil, has no duration, nor any substance. However, there is no other Nothingness but the one which is generated by the illusions of each moment. Nothingness is self-justified, but only possible if illusion is. We shall soon be convinced of this: the only possibility for Nothingness to be, and it MUST be, is thanks to illusions which ALLOW IT TO BE NIL! This is a paradox, not an inconsistency.

YOU: Nothingness, without anything, with no illusion, would be simpler. For me, the contradiction remains blatant.

F. H.: In fact, Nothingness without 'being' turns out to be impossible, and to understand this, we must study Nothingness further and see. We know that Nothingness is, although there is also illusion, and to study it, we must evacuate illusion.

Nothingness is the present moment, which is nil and infinite. The illusion is that of time and space, which fill up consciousness. We must empty consciousness and then see. This is easy: we know that we must study the present moment, rejecting the feeling of time which makes us avoid the reality of present.

YOU: Easy? In the present, I feel you and the world around me, I do not feel Nothingness!

F. H.: Remember this: Nothingness IS YOUR GOAL, not your consciousness. It is the goal of your consciousness, and your consciousness (in space and time) is the means whereby you attain your goal.

There is no "me" and no "world around"; they are illusions in time, and time does not exist. All this is illusion. Only the present moment is, and it is nil. But you cannot be conscious of it, since your consciousness is the means to achieve it! Consciousness is the contrary of Nothingness, in order that Nothingness is. You will understand this better when you realize that your personal goal (a consequence of the Absolute Goal) is to be present.

Actually, everybody knows that the goal of one's life is to feel more and more in the present, and all religions teach methods to be more and more present, more and more "here and now". At the same time, meditation reveals that when you are completely present, in the core of your being, you are nothing. I am, but I am nothing. Void. To be AND not to be, that is the answer ! 

YOU: He likes to be void! Poor metaphysician! As far as I am concerned, I am full of richness, and everyday is a better day.

F. H.: But you are right! We feel we are evolving towards a great truth because we believe we are something other than absolute truth.

Evolution is to become oneself. If I were already myself, I would not evolve, I would be at peace. But it's because I refuse myself, my nothingness, that I feel myself 'being' and subsequently am bound to become what I am. This is evolution. Every motion, every movement in the universe is a means towards peace, towards equilibrium, absence of motion.

Here are two magnets. You see, they try to touch each other. It is not necessary for me to push them to make them move, they move towards one another without consuming energy! Why? Because when they are not united, they are not themselves. They are in contradiction with themselves. They need to become what they are: UNITY, just as we try to become what we are: Unity. Consciousness is dualistic ("me" and the "universe"), unity is absence of consciousness: Nothingness.

Consciousness is only an opposition, moving toward its unification. Without this evolution, without this movement toward your equilibrium, you could not be sentient. Imagine you stop the restlessness of the universe, and you stop every motion in every atom around you. What would remain?

YOU: A vacation! That's great! A little calm for once.

F. H.: Less than this.

YOU: Particles of matter.

F. H.: No. Nothing would remain because matter is only an impression due to apparent motion. Without motion, there's no universe. Nothing. Motion of what? Motion of nothing, in fact, since mind doesn't really move. It is always here and now. But it believes it moves, projected into the future to reach its goal of absolute peace (Nothingness), and restrained by a memory which it doesn't want to lose (universe). All energetic motions in the universe are only psychological ones.

The Truth is peace, across every apparent motion, and this absolute peace is Nothingness. Nothing more. A point, that is all.

YOU: Peace is when you do not talk.

F. H.: If you doubt Nothingness, it is only a logical fear, a fear which prevents you from totally losing consciousness even when you sleep, even when you meditate, even when you are dead. A fear which makes you live. But a fear which makes you live outside the present moment. So you live in the past, with the memory you create, or in the future, with your hopes and wills. But you really feel you are being yourself WHEN YOU ARE REALLY PRESENT, and then there is neither future nor past. You are in the eternity of the moment. You know, when you make love, or play sports or music and so on, all these activities which save your life from time and illusion.

YOU: Please, Lord, save my life from this illusion !

F. H.: Space and time are the illusion which allows the present to be. You wouldn't be real in the present, and Nothingness wouldn't be actual without this illusion. It is important to understand this because it will help you to live with your new knowledge: The illusion of life is the truth to live by.

YOU: Why does he want to help me? I can play music without his truth!

F. H.: Talking of music, music is the activity in which people generally feel most present. The greatest source of emotion. When you are completely submerged in music, you feel completely present. Yet, if you try to capture music in the moment, you capture nothing: music in the very present doesn't exist. It is not even a note, not a single note, no sound, because all this requires some duration. The present has no duration. So, there is no music at all at the very time when you feel so full of present emotion. This emotion relies upon memory, memory of notes before, and expectation of further notes. So your ability to be real, present, relies upon the illusion of time.

The same applies to the universe. The whole universe is comprised of memory, but thanks to this you can have emotions and reactions, which engender your present, and then engender Nothingness.

Nothingness, the present, both require your presence, so they require your emotions about an illusory universe.

So, you continue to believe in this universe, because your deep, unconscious mind knows that it is necessary to enable Absolute Nothingness to be.

I hope the contradiction you pointed out is solved. It will be increasingly solved later on.

YOU: Funny. If you demonstrate that "eternal, present Nothingness", is allowed by consciousness's illusions, you will have explained the origin of the universe. But I'm afraid you cannot.

F. H.: Up till now, I haven't said anything about the origin of mind, but you know enough about it to understand the origin of space. And it is almost the same. In major Traditions, they would say it is the origin of LIGHT. So, let there be Light.

Space is definitely not a physical field. Nothing is physical. There is no physical space, only a spiritual distance between you and your infinity. Consciousness consists of putting its own infinity "outside" itself. You know "I am" is infinite, for it is the Whole. Consciousness is the refusal of this infinity, for reasons that we shall explain later. Thus, as "I" push out the "whole", it feels itself to be in the center of it. The whole is now perceived outside, and this consciousness comes from the opposition between the center and infinity. As long as there's no opposition, there's no "I".

YOU: I know: Let's phone my husband, he is a master at creating opposition.

F. H.: There's no need. This separation is necessary, to ensure the reality of Nothingness.

YOU: This is nonsense. Maybe I'd better phone a doctor.

F. H.: You will agree with me very soon: do you agree when I say Nothingness is necessary?.Do you?

YOU: I already said that I hate Nothingness. I want you to talk about Love and Life. Or cooking if you like... but not about what does not exist.

F. H. : I am talking about what really exists, and justifying Love's and Life's eternity! Please, follow me further. Anyone who reads this book will feel that Nothingness is more "logical", more "normal" than being. Because if he thought that being were normal and necessary, he would never ask any questions about the universe and being. Man is a philosopher because he wonders "why something, since nothing would be so simple?". Just as you do.

Actually, Nothingness is the simplest thing; that's why any serious cosmology must start from nothing. Otherwise, it is only a game to reassure oneself about existence.

For the reasons we explained above, only Nothingness can be. Now, what conditions therefore become necessary for Nothingness to be (or to not-be)?

YOU: Conditions? If it's necessary, it is!

F. H.: Yes, it is, in the present moment, but only thanks to two conditions. I've already talked about them! Are you sure you are present?

YOU: I'm trying. I'm trying. In my next life, as you said, I won't ask any questions at all.

F. H.: Nothingness must be NIL and INFINITE. If not nil, it is something instead of nothing. If not infinite, there is something else outside to limit it. So it would be neither infinite nor Nothingness. OK?

YOU: That's too abstract for me.

F. H.: It's not abstract, it is exactly what your present sensation of being contains, and what you need to know to answer the question "who am I". Please don't give up now.

Our question has greatly evolved since we began: First of all it was "why something instead of nothing", then, "why Nothingness seems to be mind's dualism". Now, since we know that Nothingness is the unity of infiniteness and voidness, and that mind is the opposition between voidness and infiniteness, the question becomes: WHY DO TWO PRINCIPLES (Zero and Infinite), SEEM SEPARATED EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE ONE. This is the final question, and to solve it, we must study those principles, and see what difference prevents them from being united.

Nothingness requires two "things": voidness to be nil, and infiniteness to be the Whole. Two principles which must be real, and united, for Nothingness to be.

We can define Infiniteness as "the absence of any limit"; and Voidness as "the presence of every limit". Zero is infinitely limited. Infinity is not limited at all.

Now we know the two conditions for Nothingness. Each of these principles must be real, effective. Maybe other conditions are required in order for them to be. Let's see.

What about the infinity principle? What conditions does it require in order to be?

YOU: Maybe... my faith in its existence (I would never have imagined such a question).

F. H.: Not even that. Infiniteness doesn't require any conditions. It is unconditional, i.e., it is an absolute principle. Infiniteness is unavoidable.Do you know what I mean? Infiniteness is the principle according to which there can be a Whole. There is ineluctably a "Whole": if there is God, God is the Whole. If there is matter, matter or the universe is the Whole. If it is your faith, your faith, your feeling, your mind is the whole.

YOU: And if there is nothing?

F. H.: If there is nothing, Nothingness is the Whole. The Whole is an absolute principle; no condition is required for it to be real.

But what about "voidness"?

YOU: You mean: What conditions for voidness to be real?

F. H.: Yes. Does it require conditions?

YOU: How much time do I have to answer?

F. H.: Yes, you are right: There is a condition. The condition is for Zero not to contain anything. Voidness (zero) is real if, in fact, it is empty of everything.

YOU: But it cannot contain anything, since we are in Nothingness! There is nothing in Nothingness that zero could contain! So it is actually voidness.

F. H.: Yes, there is something. There is "infiniteness". Nothingness's infinity. The fact that Nothingness is the Whole, is a reality that even Zero must externalize from itself, so that it can contain nothing.

The Vedanta says "God expresses His infinity". This is the same reality, but the difference is that we know that "God" is the Necessity for Nothingness, which pushes out Infinity to be expressed in order to realize a really nil Voidness. The Whole empties itself of the Whole. This is the unavoidable creation of Dualism.

Try to imagine a point. Nil. And now try to imagine that this point is all. Infinite. This is only possible if, even though zero is infinite, its voidness remains distinct from its infiniteness. Distinct in order to be real. Voidness cannot be if it contains something. Since its infiniteness is, it is bound to empty itself in order to be.

And the only way to reject infinity is to become the center of it. CONSCIOUSNESS of SPACE is the fact of being the center of our infiniteness. Everywhere.

If this primary cause of consciousness does not convince you, you will appreciate that, to be united, Zero and Infinity must be equivalent. Are they

Partially, they are.

The main reason why they cannot be only one reality, is the fact that "infiniteness applied to something, is nonsense". We demonstrated that something cannot be infinite. Only nought can.

On the other hand, Nought, applied to something, is not nonsense. It can be applied to infinity, but also to anything "finite". It is not nonsense. So the two principles are fundamentally different. This difference prevents them from being completely united. Nothingness is impossible without consciousness which allows voidness to be real.

The infinite present is only possible thanks to illusory space-time

Infinity is nil, but Zero cannot be infinite without containing infinity. To be nil, it maintains it externally. Consciousness is the result of this, at each moment, since these necessities are eternal.

YOU: I prefer my version of God with his long, snowy beard.

F. H.: Moses says at the beginning of the Bible: "In the beginning, there is a separation between Earth and Heavens". " In the beginning "' is a mis-translation of the Hebrew "Bereshit", which means "within principles" or "all that follows concerns principles; abstract principles". And the separation is that of YOU (mind, "Heavens"), and the universe (matter, outer infinity, "earth"). And that is what I am talking about. For the only way for voidness to be, is to oppose itself to the other principle. Zero's necessity is responsible for dualism. For zero to be, separation is necessary. So, from zero's "viewpoint", infiniteness is inadmissible. Definitely refused. But from Infiniteness's standpoint, there is no separation. Infinity contains the Zero principle. But Zero does not and cannot contain infinity. If it did, it wouldn't be nil, so Nothingness, which needs "voidness" (the fact of being nil) couldn't be nil.

YOU: Is "Zero" intelligent enough to decide this?

F. H.: It doesn't decide anything and is conscious of nothing. It is only the principles that are not totally compatible, and even then, only from zero's viewpoint. For from infinity's viewpoint, they are absolutely compatible. For the two principles to be real, the two viewpoints must be real. One of them is consciousness.

YOU.: Well, and what about me?

F. H.: You should be glad, for you've just been born ! Your mind is born. Your consciousness is born. The universal consciousness which makes you say "I", and also makes me now say "I", is born. Thanks to this opposition.

YOU: Did you bring some diapers for the baby?

F. H.: I brought you a wonderful rattle: mind; the illusion of life; and you are not content? It's great: you are your mind, you are "I am" in yourself, not your temporary body of course, which is one of your mental sensations. This means you are eternal, free, and all-powerful! You should be glad!

YOU: I am alone, nil, and "I am" is the fact, for Nothingness's nullity (voidness), to reject Nothingness's infiniteness. That's all.

F. H.: You are the Whole!. Every sensation, every reality in the universe, comes from within this opposition, and is a result of this opposition, and is a part of your mind. Everything comes from your zero's viewpoint, toward the infinite that you express. You are the creator of the universe, YOUR universe, the only real one for you.

YOU: This is too much for me. Oh! Really, is it possible that consciousness originates in the opposition between the two principles necessary for Nothingness?

F. H.: Look around you. You are conscious because you consider the world around you to be outside of yourself. Because you consider it as non-you. Anti-you. Without this feeling, you couldn't say "I". So the world-object is a part of your consciousness. But you always feel yourself to be in the center of it, in the center of yourself.

The fact that you are this opposition means that you are not only the center of this opposition: not only zero. You are also the creative relation between zero and infinity, which is a part of yourself.

You are the relationship, not one pole of it.

YOU: It is difficult to think that I am everything, since I feel myself to be something, me, my body and soul, my personality. If what you say were true, why wouldn't I feel I am God?

F. H.: Your question is very important. You cannot feel infinite. If you could, you could not remain self-conscious. Consciousness is necessary for voidness to be. So you must feel you are not God, infinite consciousness. You must feel you are separated from the main part of yourself, the world, which is your unconscious mind.

To remain separated, you are obliged not to feel yourself to be nil. If you did, you would feel infinite, because, in fact, only Infinity is nil. There would be no difference between the two principles, thus they would not be real in their respective right.

In order to remain separated, you are bound to feel yourself to be something, a part of infinity, with which you can identify yourself. This is what we call EGO: your personality.

Ego is your conscious mind, "God" is your unconscious mind. Ego is conscious because it is the frontier, the opposition-line between what you imagine yourself to be, and what you consider as "non-you", outside you. Only the frontier is conscious, because consciousness is only the act of opposition, the act of rejecting something as non-self. That is why you feel yourself to be a body and a soul: they are your limit, the frontier you defend to prevent infinity getting inside you and threatening you with infiniteness, with unconsciousness, with nothingness, with loneliness.

And everything which reminds you that you are infinite will be rejected, everything which liberates you or makes you change will be feared, for fear is our means of resisting evolution towards our infinite reality.

This is our dialogue with the world: we know we need it, and that it is our future, but we brake as much as we can so as not to become what we are. That is the cause of slow evolution, of man's anxiety and despair, and the cause of TIME.

YOU: Knowledge is the means to stop depriving ourselves of our evolution?

F. H.: One of the means. If you are a yogi, if you dive deeply into yourself, you will see that you can get rid of your body, and still say "I am"; you can get rid of your ego, your feelings and emotions, and still say "I am"; even your thoughts. You can consider them as part of the outer and material universe, see them as an object, and continue saying "I am". When you have thrown everything away, you confront your real self. You feel your emptiness. But you still remain self-conscious, since emptiness is, in opposition to infiniteness, an infiniteness that you refuse less than before: you let it in, and that is "nirvana". But not completely, because there are no limits to the infinite you encounter, and you can always reach more infiniteness. You are never God. God is the goal. The unreachable goal: Present, Absolute Nothingness.

So you think you are an ego? Yes, you cannot feel being without a frontier to defend. But this boarder is a habit. You can change it, and make outer what was inner. Now you can stop fearing the changes in your life. They are the evolution of your ego, and you know that there is nothing to fear: you cannot lose consciousness, you cannot feel infinite, but what is sure is that you can feel yourself to be more and more what you are: the whole. This means living with more and more LOVE; more and more unity, infinitely.

Your mind is the only mind that exists. Everybody is inside it. Why not love them as yourself?

There is only one mind because there is only one necessity for Nothingness, and only one "zero" principle. But their necessities are permanent. It means that at every moment, mind is being born. Thus, mind is continuous, and everyone of us always feels himself to be THE only consciousness, each one living with a personal universe.

So, you continue saying "I am".

YOU: But you say "I am" too.

F. H.: The same mind says "I am" with another body.

YOU: Why another body?

F. H.: This is another very important question: How can unity produce multiplicity? This is the problem of evil and matter, but first of all let's consider the problems of space-time and of energy.