So Much Yet So Little
Here you are, right smack in the middle of something really, really big. If you were a little child, you would get that. To the young and new, nothing is know, nothing is comprehensible.
As we grow, at any point along the line, really, we tend to assume that we've figured it out. That we see what's happening and that we have a grip on whats going on until the really big sweeps over us. Then we remember we are clueless and helpless in the midst of chaos.
Relax.
No matter how big it seems, each of our individual mission are relatively tiny. Over any given lifetime, we will only know so many people, only form a handful of strong relationship, probably only travel to a mattering of places, only learn to do a few things.
No matter how big or small those numbers are for us as individuals, we are each a very big creature in a relatively small world and the central mission of our existence is to fit that inner greatness into the limits of our life without going crazy.
The way we do that, is to just deal with the next thing before us. Do as well as we can, then, move on to the next moment.
Now, that's simple enough yet, even though the work before us is apparently limited, the territory within us remains infinite. It just goes on forever. Iif we engage in any practice that helps us clear out our cognitive clutter, the spaciousness that's left behind is unending and possibly, unnerving.
That's visceral. We feel this enormous inner expansion, no matter how constrained our outer world may be.
Since all practices that unleash our inner life are cumulative in nature, the longer we endure in the practice of openness, the further we explore its wonder. There are no tour guides for this. It's always a solo journey.
It just gets bigger over time and, as far as I can tell, no more definable or explainable. You get there, you know it for what it is, but there's nothing to be said about it, nothing you can tell anyone you know. If you share a similar journey with someone else, you can only nod knowingly and go on.
If we practice, we do succeed. The growth within effects the growth in the world. we get better at whatever we choose to do.
As if we emptied our vase of every clattery thing and allowed infinity to pour in.
When we do that, we have to deal with it. So, don't try to hold on. Just let go.
What calm this requires!
If you don't do this form of practice, this will all sound stupid. But then, if you're not an astronaut, their shop talk is equally absurd. You have to be there to know there. As absurd as it looks in print, one must specialize in the inner life. That's the only way to master it.
If we choose to grow brilliant out in the world, begin by growing brilliant within. It's a fine breeding ground for love and beauty and when we do that, light simply seems to pour out of us. There is so much to be and then, you can keep it all on the head of a pin.