In our pursuit of happiness we try anything that promises what we don’t have. Some of us turn to religion, others to humanism and to all kinds of “isms.” Today, it seems fashionable to declare what we want and watch it materialize if we believe in this “secret.” This New Age approach does have support from ancient wisdom in sacred and secular writings. For example, Christ stated that all we have to do is “ask and ye shall receive.”
Fair enough. Yet, I have come to think of this approach as the “Yang” or masculine approach to life. We do well to make plans about our lives and how we provide for the basic necessities of life for ourselves and our loved ones. I remember reciting “Invictus” (“I am the Captain of my soul”) in college as I planned my life.
But, after a few trips around the block and some hard knocks, I now believe there is “another secret,” the Yin approach or the feminine approach:
“Why do you seek to add a cubit to your stature? Consider the lilies of the field; they toil not, neither do they spin. Yet, Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
The West is more likely to embrace the Yang approach, whereas the East emphasizes the Yin way of life, which I explored after leaving orthodox Christianity. I came across many wonderful stories about JUST BEING and letting go:
“Once there was a ferocious river by a village. Anyone who fell in it was as good as dead. But, this one day, the villagers were stunned to see one of their own fall in and float downstream instead of drowning. They ran along the banks keeping up with the bobbing head. After a few minutes, they saw him step onto dry land at an eddy. Catching up they asked: “How is it that you have survived where all others struggled and still drowned? What did you do that the others failed to do?” Dripping wet he responded: “I did nothing; I just let the current take me.”
So, which approach is right for you?
For me, the Yang approach works for planning mundane, practical living, like careers, employment, shelter, food, clothing, etc. But, when it comes to transcendental living, like whom to marry, what to feed our souls, what is our mission in life and how to live in harmony together, I vote for the Yin approach, for GRACE, or CONSCIOUSNESS to guide me. After all, “thy will be done” is how The Master prayed.
Ironically, some of us find that modern Science in general and Quantum Physics in particular help us understand these rather ethereal concepts.[1]
As imperfectly as I apply this “other secret” day to day, I have the deep conviction, the intuition that, no matter what comes my way, it is GRACE guiding me through both calm and turbulent (suffering) waters. The more I trust in the river’s flow, the more I accept that which I may not logically understand. The more I live in the moment and give up the past and future the more I accept what is. The more I “put off the natural man,” or “surrender,” and “seek first the Kingdom of Heaven,” the happier I am. And where is the Kingdom of Heaven?
Both East and West answer the same way; since you are more familiar with Western thinking, consider how Jesus answers His disciples:
“The Kingdom of Heaven is within you; you will find it when you become as a child, seeing no difference between right or left, male or female, up or down, us or them.”[2]
And so it is that withholding judgment and accepting ourselves, others and the world as it is that we see ALL as a manifestation of GRACE; then, both “secrets” may balance our lives in the pursuit of our personal windmills.
[1] Book “How Quantum Activism Can Save Civilization” by Amit Goswami; Hamptom Roads, 2011
[2] Gospel of Thomas
