REMOVING YOUR BEAN FROM YOUR SIT-UPON

Think back about 12,000 years. 

Had Ben and Jerry’s been around, you can bet they’d have created a flavor the likes of “Glacier Granite Swirl.”  After all, the chief topic of discussion in those days was the block of ice two miles high that covered all of North America from the Arctic Circle to Pennsylvania.  (The tallest mountain in Vermont today is just shy of 4400 feet, so this glacier was over twice that high.)  Nothing stands still and a glacier is no exception.  On its underside, the friction created by its weight and movement reshaped a whole bunch of rock. 

You ask: What does this have to do with with the meaning of life? 

Stones can be mighty reminders of the astonishing array of forces that go into creating the beauty and mystery that is us.  How silly we are anytime we start puffing ourselves up about our so-called achievements.  How oblivious to the larger context of life we must be to say something as looney as, “I accomplished this.” 

And yet we all do it, ignoring the infinite web of connections that contribute to every choice we make.  From pooping in a toilet to enlightenment, I doubt even one of us has cultivated a single skill on our own?

We may be responsible for our thoughts, feelings and how we express them, but our ability to assume that responsibility has been honed with the help of countless others––way more than every person we’ve ever met...even putting aside reincarnation. 

Any of us, peering down our genealogic pipeline a mere 10 generations (roughly 250 years), is related by blood to some 1,024 distinct families.  It’s exponential: we’ve got two parents; they’ve each got two parents; on and on.  In 20 generations, or some 500 years, the number of lineages we’re part of soars to 1,048,575.  And in case you hadn’t noticed, 500 years in the course of human evolution is barely time for coffee and a Pop Tart.  Who aren’t we related to, for goodness sake?  When sages say we’re one big family on this planet, it ain’t just poetry.  Am I missing something here?

Why do we resist embracing our true heritage (besides the cumbersome logistics of reunions)? 

Maybe one reason is having to acknowledge that flowing from those many genetic threads are the vibrations of all manner of saints, pirates, heroes, lunatics, swindlers, martyrs, talk-show hosts and sweet little old ladies from Pasadena.  Every sin, every sacrifice, every kindness, every hustle known to humankind...is part of us.  We carry within a smidgen of both Scrooge and Tiny Tim, Jesus and Judas, Barbie and Wonder Woman.

On my better days, when I start thinking I’m the reason I’m so wonderful, I remember the many times I’ve been advised in the crassest possible terms to engage the world’s oldest and most fundamental spiritual practice.  You know the one: where you bend over and, as someone more genteel than I might put it, remove your bean from your sit-upon. 

Comments

[JJ]

Wonderful, wonderful!

[get zapped]

I like your blog, it's essence and the warmth I gather from it. Thank you!