Don't solve your problems

Of course, there are times when we must solve our problems, because they can be solved and good things are urgently needed on the other side of those problems. So this is not a rule without exception. But it is still a nifty and useful rule.

Don't solve your problems. Outgrow them.

By this I specifically mean to increase in wisdom, to get an ever higher perspective. This is nifty because the people who compulsively read blogs tend to be most strongly developed cognitively, that is to say, in their thinking. There are other ways to grow, for instance through heartfelt use of ritual, or enlightened ascesis. But for people like me and probably you (since you are here), wisdom is the key. Not pure theory, it must constantly be grounded back to practical life, otherwise it may run off and become unhinged. There is a lot of that on the web, in case you had not noticed.

By reading the words of the wise, wherever we can find them, we can feel the joy of truth, and are lifted up to a higher perspective. Here we can see clearly what seemed such a maze from below.

It is easy to see that humans have a higher perspective than animals, which are easily trapped and snared. It is easy to see that our perspective widens as we grow older: A toddler cannot see the connection between his stomach pain and recently stuffing himself with sweets, but an adult is aware of such things normally. A teenager may not see the connection between dropping out of school and living a life of poverty, but the connection is there, and poverty is not very romantic and heroic for most people. In the same way, many adults suffer from a low perspective, and this causes problems. Oh no! What shall I do? On one hand I want this, on the other hand I want that. Even at an arm's length, a small coin seems larger than a distant palace.

Simply living and observing calmly will give wisdom eventually. But it can't hurt to get a helping hand from the accumulated wisdom of the past. If it becomes too distant and abstract, double back till you find something that connects to life, your own or that of others. That is what we need it for.

A lot of problems don't need solving: They become trivial, forgettable, once we look at things from a higher point of view.

I still have some problems, so I still need to grow. But other things have fallen by the wayside, and I expect that to continue... if I continue.

Love and power

Another mental postcard from a strange land. This "came to me" as my teachers would say, while I was out walking some days ago.

Some people may desire to be like God out of envy, and some out of love. The first desire God's power, but not His nature. The others desire God's nature, but do not consider themselves worthy of His power. But in reality, the two are not separate, God's love and God's power.

We are obviously not talking about any random Iron Age deity here, but the Absolute and Infinite, the Prime Mover, the Tao if you want. Or the O of the Bionic Raccoons.

Because the Supreme God is self-sufficient and not in need of anyone or anything, the "overflowing of God" that creates the universe is pure selfless love. At the same time, this is the primary power from which all power is derived. It is one and the same thing. Thus, you cannot actually have one without the other.

This is certainly not to say that if you love selflessly, you will have magical superpowers to do miracles. (Although historically there certainly are treasure troves of such stories.) For one thing, even the great saint or bodhisattva has only a partial glimpse of the Original Love. But also because the creative power of the One is exceedingly subtle. Apart perhaps from the first Fiat Lux! (and I am not so sure about even that), it has all flowed so natural that it almost seemed logical, almost unavoidable, that it would have to run all the way to us.

This reminds me of what Lao-Tzu says: "When the sage has led a great work to completion, the people say: We did it ourselves!"

And with that we should certainly be satisfied, if even the Ultimate is.

Not that I know what I'm talking about or anything. I just heard it on the road, but it makes sense to me.