How can I say this?
The deepest problems of humankind can never be adequately "solved" because they are not problems.
Why is there death? Why is there suffering? Why doesn't justice exist on earth? Why is there war? Why don't we all love each other? How can I get what I want? Why does my life exist? Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life? What is the purpose of humankind?
The "solution" to these questions and problems is to begin to deeply see that they are not problems and never were. They are formulations of the dissatisfied mind.
The dissatisfied mind can be a wonderful thing. Another name for it is the rational mind, because the rational mind always contains an element of dissatisfaction in it. This mind is the mind that is striving to improve the human condition, the mind that is stretching out into the unknown, the mind that is bringing about the advancement of technology. It is admirable and wonderful.
But at the deepest level it cannot solve the questions or problems or challenges that it poses itself.because they do not actually exist as questions or problems or challenges. Thus they cannot be "answered" in any way that is expressible in words. They can only be abandoned, or rather, "played with" as one would play with a ball on the beach.
They are like koans in Zen. Questions like "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" or "What is your face before you were born?" or "Where are spring's cherry blossoms in winter?" are not meant to be answered. They are meant to bring the mind to a halt so that something else can be seen.
As the monk in Zen contemplates an unanswerable question, holding it hour after hour and day after day while trying to penetrate into it, the mind gradually short-circuits and, in some deep internal way, dies to the question.
Another way of putting it is that the question becomes its own answer, because it does not need to be answered. This is basically seen when the mind gives up and takes a rest from its exertion, when it goes on vacation because it has no choice, because it has worn itself out.
The deepest problems and questions and challenges of human existence are like those Zen koans. They cannot be answered through any amount of rationality because they only exist at the rational level. At the level of heart they simply don't exist.
The deepest problems of life always solve themselves, because their purpose is not to be answered but to bring the mind to a halt. Once the mind has died to its own "purpose," or the "purpose" of anything else, life begins.
"What is the purpose of this yellow flower?" In that moment, its "purpose" is simply to be there. It has no purpose except to be there, to exist. Its existence is its purpose. The sun, the bright hue of the flower, the blue sky, the flower's fragrance are all there simply to celebrate existence.
Why is the cloud crossing the sky? To celebrate existence. Why does my thumb hurt? To celebrate existence. Why does death exist? To celebrate existence. What is the "purpose" of my life? To celebrate existence. How should I live? Why, celebrating existence, however you find it.
Everything is happening by itself. Even "randomness" is happening by itself. As said in the Zenrin, "Spring comes, and the grass grows by itself."
Spring comes, and the grass grows by itslef.
Indeed it does. And so does everything else. And yet action arises. Where does it arise from? Who knows? Action arises by itself.
To let "the grass grow by itself," celebrate everything. Rejoice at everything. If your death is coming in two hours, rejoice. If you're getting married, rejoice. If you like your life, rejoice. If you don't like your life, rejoice.
Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice.
As Lao-Tzu said, "Rejoice in the way things are."
Rejoice in the way things are.
The fragrance of the flower, the smell of the garbage heap, the "good" and "bad," the "right" and "wrong," the light and the darkness. The light and the darkness make each other possible, exist together, are both "parts" of a greater light. And that great light is in all things, exists as all things, simply by them being themselves, being the way they are.
The stars in the sky exist tonight so they can celebrate existence with you, so that in appreciating their light you can rejoice in the light of all things, the dancing of existence. These words exist tonight so that "we" can celebrate being together, here in this moment, sweetheart, in the dancing of the light.
—jim sloman, 1.12.07 for 2.5.07
|
