Sunny Greetings! Welcome to Wellnessandspirituality.net where we love to talk about— You guessed it—Wellness and Spirituality, which of course, means the Entire Universe!
Have you ever had an intense longing to be Enlightened according to the Buddhist definition of the word? If you’ve studied Buddhism, you’ve learned the term “Enlightenment,” which is, according to Wikipedia, “a unique experience which partially or wholly transforms an individual from his or her previous state in samsara.[1] Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha, is said to have achieved full enlightenment, known as perfect Buddhahood. In many Buddhist traditions, reaching full enlightenment is equivalent in meaning to reaching Nirvana. Attaining Buddhahood is the ultimate goal of Buddhism.” But Buddhist teachings are rife with an emphasis on not “wanting” anything, to cultivate non-attachment to the nth degree, and if you do, maybe you’ll reach Enlightennment. So here we are stuck in an paradoxical predicament. We want something alot but to get it, we shouldn’t want it! Hahaha!
Spiritual “truth” so often takes on the nature of paradox–which is a statement that contradicts itself. “The meek shall inherit the Earth” may be considered something of a paradox, because it runs counter-intuitive to the general order of human experience that “the strong survive” or “might makes right.” Indeed, spiritual wisdom makes good use of contradition or paradox. It tends to set common sense on its head.
The Tao Te Ching is chock full of paradox and contradiction. One of my favorites: “Those who don’t know, talk. Those who don’t talk, know.” OMG. If this is the case, is the human race doomed to listen to fools?
All this being said, today I’m sharing a poem that describes an experience I had in which I stood smack dab in the middle of a profound paradox, titled In the Middle.
In the Middle
Standing in the Middle of Not Knowing is Knowing.
Standing in the Middle of Not Knowing is Knowing
Standing in the Middle of Not Knowing is Knowing.
How’s that for a ZEN truth? Or a Tao Teaching.
That struck me as I stood naked and
rain drenched
Beneath broiling clouds and lightening streaks
I knew God was all around, all about
But yet I could not say where God was
Except EVERYWHERE.
And it was a Great Mystery, the ineffable,
To stand in the middle of the Not Knowing and Know.
The great nuclear physicist Niehls Bohr said: “How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.” I’ll second that motion!
I am, yours truly, Elizabeth Richie/Du’Tsu