Originally Posted by
AlericB 
I personally believe in God but I think the 'God shaped hole' can also be described as a feeling of emptiness if you feel that life is meaningless. IMO this feeling of emptiness comes down to the question: do the things that really matter to us, our values, purposes, feelings and relationships, really exist or are they really no more than brain synaptic activity. That is, is reality fundamentally mind-like in some way or is it physical.
When it comes to existentialism, metaphysics, phenomenology and all questions regarding the existence of god, the corporeal world, and/or consciousness, I take a very practical approach. Whether "the things that really matter to us" exist or not ultimately doesn't matter. Our experience is our experience, our emotions our emotions, our thoughts our thoughts, our sensations our sensations... If I place my hand on a hot stove I will have to deal with the consequences whether I or the stove are real or not. For now, at least, that's how it seems to work.
Thus, when it comes to "filling the hole," life can be both full and meaningless. Or perhaps more accurately, we are able to create fulfilling meaning out of our experience even if it is ultimately meaningless. Little things matter. A friendly gesture. Kindness. Good food...
I don't have to "know" anything and yet I am still able to have a full heart. Sometimes the not knowing fills the heart even more. Tears well from the heart when it spills over, what Trungpa Rinpoche called The Genuine Heart of Sadness, the simultaneous joy, relief, tragedy, and sorrow of impermanence. Indeed, he would argue the hole is and has always been full; we just have to recognize it.