First of all, about the funny little box, above and below. That's a text
re-sizer. Just learned how to do this, and it means you can compress or expand
the text of my Intro note and the main article.. Give it a try. We have a couple of visually impaired readers, and
hopefully the larger text provision will help.
By next issue, the web pages for our new book will be active, and pre-orders
will be possible. We'll also be doing a mailing for those of you on our paper
list, and sending out book signing dates and locations. Exciting!
Lastly, there's a new advertiser box a bit below. If you like this idea, let
me know, and if you find it odd, let me know that too.
Warmly, Wayne & Dar
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Open Water preys on our unfathomable fears about things we don't properly
understand. Filmmaker [Chris] Kentis and his producer wife Laura Lau, both experienced
divers who took turns manning the camera, knew exactly what they were doing.
They present the world as we wish it to be, all azure-blue water and sunny
skies, and then slowly reveal the reality we don't wish to accept, the trap
beneath the temptation.
Toronto Star, August 20, 2004
PETER HOWELL
I haven't seen the movie Open Water,
but I've been somewhat transfixed by the trailers. Yesterday, I was on the
Toronto Star website, and I read a glowing review that had the above quote in
it. This idea of "what is beneath the obvious" is a major focus of ours, and a topic
addressed in my new book, This Eternal Moment.
Life is coming at you from just the angle that you
haven't got a clue about. That sensation of feeling like a stunned mullet is not
the huge tragedy that you think it is. It's actually the beginning of your
return to innocence. Enjoy it immensely.
"There are not only two categories in the world, the categories of known and
unknown. There is a third category which is more significant than the other two,
and that is the category of the unknowable, the mysterious, the miraculous. You
can live it, you can be it, you can rejoice it, you can sing it, you can dance
it. But you cannot know it. Knowledge is not possible. To enter into this realm
of the unknowable is wisdom. Wisdom is not knowledge. Wisdom is innocence and a
deep feeling of the miraculous".
Osho, excerpted from The Great Zen Master Ta Hui
Ah, the common concept of "two categories" - of duality. Either / or. Black / white. Good / bad.
The tragedy of life is precisely getting caught in this place. From this dual-ist's
nightmare we ask,
"Why me?" We hate it when the universe yells back, "Why not you? It's not
personal. It just is."
There's this idea that life should be, as the Star article says, "all azure-blue
water and sunny skies." And thus, when confronted with sharks or stunned
mullets, we find ourselves resisting entering in and exploring what's in front
of us. Except, by that point, there's no choice.
Let's be clear about what were saying here. I am not suggesting that
going around looking for trouble is the path to enlightenment. I am saying that the fulfilled life requires simple presence, not judgment. The
problem is not the situation - it's how we evaluate the situation.
In other words, desperately hoping that everything will be good, all the
time, and then despairing when it isn't, simply doesn't work. The world is as it
is. Wisdom is approaching the world with innocence and wisdom.
So, what's the "trap beneath the temptation?" I use the word consequence. As
in, every choice has it's consequence. The problem with temptations is that
our imaginations get in the way. We assume that the result or consequence of
engaging with what we love will be "positive" as opposed to "negative." Because,
see above, we assume that the world has as it's goal making us happy. We can't
believe it when the boat leaves and we're stuck. It's why Rabbi Kushner had to
write the book When Bad Things Happen to Good People.
We resist desperately the point Osho made:
There is a third category which is more significant than the other two, and that
is the category of the unknowable, the mysterious, the miraculous. You can live
it, you can be it, you can rejoice it, you can sing it, you can dance it. But
you cannot know it. Knowledge is not possible. To enter into this realm of the
unknowable is wisdom. Wisdom is not knowledge. Wisdom is innocence and a deep
feeling of the miraculous.
Miraculous? You gotta be kidding. Unknowable? I can figure anything out, because
I've taken courses and am really, really smart! Ouch! That shark just slapped me
in the head with a dead mullet.
This is a hint.
Notice the dancing Buddha. The awakened state is not happiness.
It is simple awareness. It's a card Dar keeps pulling in her daily Tarot spread
- "go with the flow." Innocence is not stupidity. Innocence is simple presence.
And the joke is that if you resist any experience, the next thing you know,
you'll be swimming in it.
This week, notice how you are denying yourself the simple
experience of being. Open yourself to the possibility that all of your
experience is relevant and important, not just the parts you judge to be "good."
There is a dance going on in all of our lives, and the dance pulls us deeper
into the ultimate mysteriousness of life.
Grasp loosely, tread water and enjoy the swim. It's not as if
you have a choice!
The Phoenix Recommends:
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About our recommendations: books, music or whatever we recommend are linked either to The Phoenix Centre Web Store or to Amazon.com. We are affiliates of Amazon.com, and make a small referral fee if you buy a book from them, using a link from this newsletter, or from our web site. If you use the "search" link in the column to the right, you can buy ANY book from Amazon.com and we benefit from your purchase.
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