And another example. You can't just rap about your love of mystery without belittling other people who love looking for answers. It's so *predictable*. It's such a *rut*.
It's as if you're so insecure about the value of your own predilections you're afraid to let people form their own opinions about them unless you first instruct them in the inferior value of predilections different from yours. Let your predilections stand on their own for a change. Explain why you find value in them *without* also devaluing others. --- In [email protected], turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: > > Something said in the "Mystery of Chaco Canyon" video > I posted a link to earlier got me thinking about the > mysterious topic of Mystery. In the film Robert > Redford was speaking eloquently about the Anasazi > gazing up into the sky and perceiving its predictable > patterns -- patterns recognized only after 19 gener- > ations of careful observation, but patterns nonetheless > -- as being to some extent the opposite of the chaos > and unpredictability they saw in the world around them. > It would have been natural for people in that time to > look to the heavens and try to extrapolate from its > patterns similar patterns that would work for us > humans down on earth. They longed for Understanding. > > I'm not as big a fan as some people of Understanding. > I don't understand shit about the universe and How > It All Works. But I'm a big fanboy of its Mystery. > > One of the things that I've noticed in my Road Trips > around the spiritual marketplace is that quite a few > of the people who feel -- or say -- that they "under- > stand" things coincidentally seem to me to be the > same ones who have the least feeling for Mystery. It's > as if the folks who were presented with what for them > intellectually constituted a believable "answer we have > already prepared" or who had their own cognitions > based on a powerful subjective experience *stopped > wondering* about the things they felt they "understood," > and to some extent closed themselves off to further > Wonder. The greater the sense of "I understand the > Mystery," the lesser the sense of Wonder, and the > lesser a corresponding openness to Mystery. > > I "get" the desire to feel as if one had figured things > out. But personally I get off more on the Go Figuring. > I was amused when I moved to France that one of my > favorite phrases in English ("Go figure") had its > counterpart in French ("Va savoir"). Even though > literally ("Go forth to know") it's more explicit > in French about seeking some kind of goal, the more > common meaning when it's spoken in conversation is > more like the Brooklynese "Go figure." It's an expres- > sion of the idea that the goal may be unattainable, > and that the "going" is the important thing, not > the "figuring." > > That kinda captures my credo as well. Even though I > am often accused of being a Buddhist, I am probably > more of a Taoist. The quote I used for the frontis- > piece of the book I called Road Trip Mind was from > Lao-tzu: "A good traveler has no fixed plans, and > is not intent upon arriving." > > I hope to never "understand" the universe and How > It All Works. Where's the fun in that? I hope to > keep wandering and wondering till my last day on > this rock, and after that to keep doing the same > thing in future incarnations, if they present > themselves. In my experience those I've met who > seemed most convinced that they "understood" things > also seemed to be the most locked into a kind of > intellectual (and often spiritual) stasis. They > didn't "go" much of anywhere new, and just kept > repeating the things they "knew" over and over. > > Boring. My path has no destination, and hopefully > will never have an end. The saddest thing I can > imagine is the spiritual path having an end. And > yet others not only embrace this idea, they seek > it fervently. It's just another instance of > predilection, I guess. > > For them, the phrase "Go figure" has its emphasis > on the second word. For me, the emphasis is very > much on the first. Although I may ponder many sub- > jects on this forum in a seeming attempt to figure > them out, for me the wonder is to be found in the > continual "going," not in the "figuring." If what > Maharishi said about the natural tendency of the > mind is true, my personal natural tendency is in > the direction of Mystery and Wonder. If there was > a branch of the path that veered off to the right > and had a signpost there at the crossroads saying > "This Way To Understanding," I missed it. And I > don't miss having missed it. >
