Openness to Wonder & Suffering
Zen talks about being on top of a 200 ft high pole, and then taking the next step. This is not about suicide, but about the fact that in each moment of life, we step into unknown possibilities, uncertainty, liminality, wonder. All our lives are unpredictable, flying at the speed of light into mystery.
Certainty about, and control over our environment, even over our own body, is delusional. No wonder anxiety is so prevelant. Zen teacher Ezra Bayda talks about "the anxious quiver of being".
We can learn to dwell gracefully in the 'eternal now' through consistent mindfulness practice. Then we inhabit a wondrous world and can behave as appropriately as possible through constant change, apparent paradox, wondrous surprises, and yes, suffering - most, but not all of which is avoidable.
“The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of suffering.” Ram Dass
“It's only when caterpillarness is done that one becomes a butterfly. That again is part of this paradox. You cannot rip away caterpillarness. The whole trip occurs in an unfolding process of which we have no control.” Ram Dass
