Living the Mystery
"Until we accept the fact that life itself is founded in mystery, we shall learn nothing."
Henry Miller
"Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved.
Soren Kierkegaard
"Life is a mystery, not a problem, and the difference is vast.. The problem has to be solved, can be solved, must be solved, but the mystery is insoluble; it has to be lived, experienced . . Encountering a mystery, you have to dissolve in it."
Osho
From ancient times Toltecs realized that life was a mystery, and it is the living of this mystery that leads to transformation. As spiritual beings part of our journey here in the earth-life-system is to bring the unknown into the known. Beyond the unknown is the infinite unknowable - a great mystery.
Bringing the unknown into the known is widely misunderstood and is where many stumble on their path. They believe the unknown is a problem to be solved and they go about their lives trying to solve their problems. Solving problems does not lead to growth and transformation. Neither does it lead to freedom.
As Osho and Kerkegaard state, life is a mystery that must be lived It must be experienced.
We cannot approach life as if it is a problem to be solved. This applies to a spiritual path in general. Many approach a spiritual path by trying to understand it. Or they try to accumulate more knowledge believing that if they are able to find the right knowledge or enough knowledge they will "get" it. They buy this book and that book, go to that seminar and then another. As my non-physical teachers would often say, this is a lot of motion but no movement. To make movement we must live the mystery...
There is nothing wrong in and of itself being an armchair philosopher. It is fun.
The problem comes when we approach a spiritual path in the same way we do philosophy. We simply will make no movement. It is similar to learning to drive a car. We will never learn to drive a car being an armchair driver - reading about driving, thinking about driving, discussing about driving, and so on. We must actually sit in the car, step on the gas, brake, shift gears - experience driving. Driving isn't a problem to be solved, it is an experience. As we experience driving our driving improves..
Accepting that there will always be an unknowable, a mystery, helps change our approach from the improper problem solving approach to life, to the experiencing life approach. We don't need to figure everything out. The traditional shaman couldn't read, was uneducated, had no TV or radio. They were given dreaming processes and journeys.
Through the doing, living and experiencing these processes and journeys, transformation occurred.
In many traditional mystery schools and temples, an aspirant was never given answers. Instead they were given a question that could not be solved, and a task. Through the experience of living the task they knew and growth occurred..
Don't let yourself be put to sleep by answers. Instead live the mystery in your life. Transform through experiencing the processes. Answers feel good to the mental body. It loves to know. But having more knowledge without living the knowledge actually stops our spiritual growth. It is a common belief that if we know more we have grown and evolved more
In Toltec terms, all we have done is add to our already burgeoning inventory. It is inventory that limits our
perception. With limited perception we have limited freedom and very little personal power..
Allow for mystery in your life, and live it.
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious ...
Whosoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed."
Albert Einstein
Yantra The flower of light