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Say, we love our TV set. We look upon it, view audio-visual features endlessly, eat with it, talk with it. Hence our body and mind by virtue of interfacing with it learn to rely on what feels good, and secure. Now consider this. What is more of a possibility? There being my TV set or its absence? The wiring could spoil, the screen could crack, I could go blind or immobile, there might be an earthquake, I might have to shift where there is no TV set, any of these possibilities are far more possible than me sitting and watching TV while I eat! We at Contemplative like to call this the “Nothing Possibility”. The nothing possibility is far more likely, and pervasive than any apparent certainty we can work towards. Thus, the nothing possibility is complementary to apparent certainty, and these combined are actually complete uncertainty!

Now, if we were to entrench our body and mind, not to mention our biases and predispositions with only apparent certainty, would we ever be free? A few moments of reflection will reveal that freedom with our usual ways is simply impossible. Would you rather be swayed by what appears certain and stay circumscribed endlessly or would you rather be free?

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A little bit of reflection reveals that evanescence is more ground than substance and even though flesh and bone houses, it is quality that perpetuates. If we are not careful, we risk caging our fixedness with as much ferocity as the gulf between the causeless and the caused is wide.

Grasping is never recourse. The primary element in what we hold on to is irrevocability, in definition and in supposed cause. That we seek to be ‘happy’ and prosperous is our making and in relegating what we think we are to such a cause, we mire our self permanently in a state that is false ground.

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In an ambience that accentuates fear and deprivation, if we can learn that peace comes with freeing oneself from the web that we are enmeshed in, we act for lasting benefit. We do not have to become inordinately selfless or softhearted, but we have to clearly see that our predispositions invariably lead to further entrapment. If we find our self bestowed with the ability to move towards emancipation, we ought not to doubt the ways and means available. The only thing that matters is learning to be free.

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Our systems are built upon the premise of certainty. There is a likelihood that this way stems from a conviction about our self. So, our structures are based on certainty where there is really only uncertainty. When I think about the cup, I entrench not only the color and the shape and the contrasts, I embed this false certainty. And imagine, if we were to be wanton and unkind, how far that would take us from truth!

No matter what we see or believe, there are consequences to falsity. Erasing the consequences of our thoughts and actions on just our own self, not to mention others, is vital to get to the truth about the ‘self’. If we do not do this, we risk perpetuating error upon error.

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The vision to make sense of things likely comes with identifying that there is pain. If we keep doing this, we might chance upon the ability not to usurp pain but to be at peace with it. With this peace, there is the possibility of seeing that any design that is in place achieves fruition with cessation. There is joy in that.

When we take it upon ourselves to complete our journey, there is the bestowing to be able to pray for guidance and help. We ought not to take this endowment lightly for in a movement that is beset with challenges, we discover succour. Such solace is as vital as the movement is difficult to weather.

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Uncertainty is never incongruence. It is fuel for learning, even though we have to see it that way. If we are able to dissociate uncertainty from exclusive focus, we succeed in not looking past pain, which is truth. When we don’t look past pain, we instill the capacity to prepare for it. With exclusive focus however, we start to look at our self. With such a move, everything we believe, know and view is either challenged or assuaged. With challenge there arises distress and without it, false promise. That is incongruence.

Taking care of ourselves is always wise though. Without it, we are unable to continue on the path to freedom even though the need to take care of ourselves and an exclusive focus come hand in hand.

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It is likely that we have no choice but to inhabit the design that is unfolding. The possibility that this unfolding is ceaseless is very real. The range of being has to be seen through, irrespective of what we think we have or can establish.

We can take heart that it is not pleasure but the absence of pain that is arrived at every once in a while. At such times, we ought to consider garnering strength and a little bit of comfort so that we can carry on. That is recovery and preparation.

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We might err in assuming it is us, that we are meant to be happy and have pleasure. There is no happiness, let alone states like bliss and so forth, but there is the work of journeying. Pain drives home the realization that our time is limited, our resources few and our abilities minimal. It creates the ability to focus on what is indelibly important. And when we focus, we begin to see that despite our smallness, we are offered the chance to glimpse the immeasurable. It is this that establishes the point of journeying.

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Why might such a train of thought be relevant? Because, managing something as destructive as ill-will or say avarice has to begin with similar reasoning. It is easy to censor or condemn greed or hate but doing something like that completely cuts short the dawning of the realization that even the desire for lunch is only slightly removed from more severe forms of exclusive focus.

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