Ripples #857: Unknowing.
Oct 26, 2015
PEBBLE
The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you.
-Neil deGrasse Tyson, shared by Laurie in Oshkosh, WI
BOULDER
Enlightenment is not about knowing as much as it is about unknowing; it is not so much learning as unlearning. It is about surrendering and letting go rather than achieving and possessing. It’s more about entering the mystery than arriving at a mental certitude.
-Richard Rohr, shared by Leslie in Madison, WI
PONDER
When life is hard we often wish for it to be easy, forgetting that our difficulties help strengthen us. When life is confusing we long for certainty, forgetting that living the questions can sometimes be more valuable than force-fitting someone else’s solutions into our situations.
We each experience times in our lives when it feels like we’re drowning and desperately hoping someone will throw us a lifeline. It isn’t always the case, but at least SOME of those times a slight shift of energy and effort can transform our thrashing and flailing into treading and floating. It doesn’t mean we should never ask for help because we ALL need help sometimes! It’s just that sometimes we mistake our occasional struggling for inescapable sinking; if we’re not careful, this can lead to a panicked abandonment of our own abilities and an over reliance on quick and easy Answers.
If other strategies haven’t worked lately, it might be useful to experiment with a gentle embrace of unknowing: give yourself permission to float in the uncertainty and have patience that much of our wisdom is acquired after we surrender, just as our lost keys sometimes are found after we give up franticly searching and relax into a few deep breaths.
Peace,
Paul
The Ripples Guy
