Form/Void and Void/Form: The Illusion of Birth and Death
By Mark Pifer, author of She Seeks Herself
What were you the day before your conception? And who were you then? The answer to these simple questions points to a profound truth: the concepts of birth and death, as we commonly understand them, are illusions of the human mind. They are constructs of a left hemisphere obsessed with form, boundaries, and beginnings and endings–and blind to the deeper unity that underlies all existence.
The Nature of Form/Void and Void/Form
Form and void are not opposites; they define and depend upon one another. Form arises from void, just as void provides the space for form to emerge. Without void, form could not be perceived. Without form, void would lack context. To speak of one without the other is impossible. They are inseparable, not two distinct entities but a single, unified reality–what we might call Form/Void and Void/Form.
The first term in each pair represents an experiential leaning. When we speak of Form/Void, we acknowledge the tangible and manifested aspects of reality while recognizing their foundation in emptiness. When we speak of Void/Form, we lean into the formless potential that gives rise to all things, without denying the inherent presence of form within it. This interplay reveals that there can never be an instance where only one of these two phenomena exists alone. There is only the appearance of duality, created by the mind.
The Illusion of Birth
If form and void are inseparable, then birth as a beginning is an impossibility. What we call “birth” is the apparent arising of form within the eternal Form/Void. The left hemisphere, the overlord of form-based thinking, insists on seeing birth as the starting point of existence. It claims that before form–before it–the left hemisphere itself–came into being–there was “nothing,” nothing worth discussing or even focusing on, arrogantly dismissing the infinite potentiality of void. This is the hallmark of the left hemisphere’s hubris: to frame its limited understanding as the totality of reality, denying anything that falls outside its grasp.
But consider this: if you claim that before your conception you were “a sperm and an egg,” then what about the processes that brought the sperm and egg into being? If you are willing to see yourself as the culmination of the processes that brought the sperm and egg together–the penultimate step in your emergence–then what about the processes that preceded that step? Were you not those as well? Were you not the food your parents ate, the air they breathed, the lives and choices that preceded their meeting?
And how does this logic not lead all the way back to the Big Bang, and whatever it “banged” into or came from? When we trace this back, the boundary of “you” begins to dissolve. The essence of what you are cannot be contained within any singular point in time or form.
And if you say you were “nothing” before your conception, then what was the nature of that “nothing”? Who is the “you” that supposedly existed as “nothing,” and where did that “nothing” go now that you perceive yourself as “something”? These questions challenge the ego’s story of identity and existence. The ego resists such inquiries because the answers threaten its fragile constructs. Yet, when we look deeply, we see that what we are has never been absent. Form arose, but it did not come from “nothing” in the sense the left hemisphere understands. It emerged from the seamless unity of Form/Void, where “nothing” is not absence but boundless potential.
The Illusion of Death
Just as birth is an illusion, so too is death. The left hemisphere clings to the belief that the dissolution of form means a return to “nothing,” a final end. It equates the loss of form with annihilation, unable to perceive that form and void are eternally interwoven. What we call “death” is simply the transformation of form, not its disappearance. The void that underlies form remains ever-present, as it always has been.
Consider the cycle of a tree: its growth, its fall, its decomposition into the earth, and its eventual re-emergence as a new expression of Form/Void. At no point does the tree’s essence vanish; it simply transforms, becoming another manifestation in the goddess’s endless ecstatic play of existence. To the right hemisphere, which perceives holistically, this is obvious. It sees transformation, not cessation. The left hemisphere, in its fixation on form, fears this transformation and labels it “death.”
The Role of the Human Mind
The illusions of birth and death arise from the mind’s dualistic nature, particularly the dominance of the left hemisphere. This hemisphere is masterful at creating categories and boundaries, but its worldview is incomplete. In fact, for it to function, it must operate in a state of ignore-ance; it must willfully look away from the connection between what it has created and the whole. It is this very act of ignore-ance that gives rise to the illusion of form altogether.
The right hemisphere, by contrast, perceives the whole–the unity of Form/Void. It knows that form never separates from void, just as waves never separate from the ocean. By shifting awareness to the right hemisphere, we can begin to dissolve the illusions of birth and death and rest in the truth of what is.
God Playing with Form
This insight is why I often say, as I did earlier in this essay, that the entirety of existence can be described as merely God playing with form. God, as Void/Form, expresses the play of void as form and form as void. The waves rise and fall, the forms appear and dissolve, yet the ocean–the underlying unity–the Goddess Herself–remains unchanged.
Through this lens, what we call “birth” and “death” are not beginnings or endings but moments within the eternal dance of existence. Every form is the void in disguise, and every void is pregnant with the potential of form. God, as both the formless and the formed, delights in the infinite possibilities of this interplay.
This “play” is not frivolous but deeply meaningful. It is the expression of infinite creativity and boundless potential. When we stop clinging to the illusion of separateness–to the idea that we are isolated beings with definitive beginnings and endings–we begin to see that we, too, are part of this divine play. The boundaries of “you” dissolve, and what remains is the peace of being one with all that is.
This understanding does not require belief; it requires seeing. The universe, in its endless transformations, is the evidence. In every breath, every wave, every birth and death, God is playing with form.
Implications for Human Experience
Seeing through the illusions of birth and death has profound implications. It frees us from existential fear and the attachments that arise from it. When we understand that nothing is ever truly born or lost, we can embrace life’s impermanence with peace. Birth and death become markers of transformation, not endpoints. This shift allows us to live fully in the present moment, unburdened by the need to cling to form or resist change.
Conclusion
Let these words guide you to the peace of knowing that what you are was never truly born and will never truly die. Form and void, birth and death, are but illusions–and reality is far greater than the mind can conceive. And thank Goddess! Who would want to be bound to the limitations of what the human mind can create or comprehend for eternity!?
A Contemplative Call to Action
The next time something feels overwhelmingly important or “special,” challenge yourself to pause. Look beyond the surface appearance of form and void, and see the unity that underlies it all. Reflect on how nothing can be truly separate, and therefore no thing can be inherently more or less significant than another. Practice resting in this understanding, allowing it to dissolve attachments and reveal the peace that lies beyond distinctions.
“All things are born of being. Being is born of non-being.” — Lao Tzu