The Tao of Dark Sages - Chapter 6, Part 1

The Tao of Dark Sages
by Scott Bradley

Did it seem colder to you last night? It sure did to me. Tomorrow I will go South. So, today will be our last time meeting together, for this summer, at least. If you have questions, therefore, perhaps we should be careful that they truly touch upon what is most important to our journeys.

Sue-tzu, I know that I have made progress down my path, but I can’t seem to achieve any breakthroughs. You know, quantum leap kinds of experiences. I know I am using all the wrong words — ‘progress’, ‘achieving’ . . . . but I don’t know how else to express it.

Isn’t it very much the case that whenever we say something about what is indescribable — and it’s hard to think of anything that isn’t — we are being spiritually incorrect? Honestly, your words don’t bother me.

Most of you are familiar with the term samsara, I imagine? The Wheel of Birth-Rebirth Myth. Yes, how could it be anything other than myth? But it does point to an altogether more practical reality, namely that the more we strive for something the further it recedes.

We are locked into an endless wheel of bondage. For it is the need not to strive that we truly seek. This is the vicious circle, the merry-go-round, of life. This is the perpetual tail-chasing that is endemic to all our activities when we believe that there is, in reality, something to strive for. And it is the cause of all our suffering. But the early Zen masters realized that if all things are One and ultimate reality is non-dual, then samsara is nirvana and nirvana is samsara. Your life, your struggles, your lack of breakthroughs—these are nirvana.

You have probably been introduced to the concept of Maya — all the world as we know it is an illusion, a dream. Maya, my dear grasshoppers, is also nirvana and nirvana is maya. There is only one non-dual reality.

Your life is nirvana. You need only realize that. Is this something new to strive for? No! Just live and enjoy your life! The journey is the goal. The process is the end. Are you on a journey? Great! You’ve got it! This is it! This is it Now! No matter what state you are in or think you are in — this is it! This is your life. Say ‘Yes’ now!

What, you haven’t attained some unattainable goal? So what? Live who you are now. The beauty of nirvana is that it is totally beyond knowing and ungraspable, and therefore unattainable. And since you do not yourselves exist you couldn’t possibly attain it in any case. Nirvana means annihilation. What does not exist needs no annihilating.

If I could leave you with one tiny bit of understanding, I would that it were this: In surrender to All That Is, all is Affirmation. Say Yes! to all. Say Yes! to all that is your life.

If you're interested in reading more from this series by Scott Bradley, go here.