Over the course of the last year or so, I have run across numerous blogs and websites that seek to reveal the secret of enlightenment. Some provide a multi-step process. Some feature esoteric forms of meditation. Some tell you the secret is in a book to purchase or a seminar to attend.
As a public service, I decided the time has come for me to reveal to the world the ultimate secret, one that will blow your minds and change your lives right here and now.
The secret is...that there is NO SECRET. If you've spent a good deal of your time, energy and money trying to uncover it, quit looking. It does not exist.
There is no magic elixir. There is no fountain of youth. There is no methodology to meet God, Jesus, Mohammad or Tao face-to-face. There is no trick completely to transcend your humanness nor a way to cheat death. Spending your time looking for these things will only result in failure, frustration and estrangement.
The inherent mystery of life cannot be unlocked. It is a realm with no doors or windows. In fact, it's not a destination at all; it is the journey itself.
The best way any of us can learn about life is through living it.
The best way to understand the mystery is through the realization that we can never understand it.
As a public service, I decided the time has come for me to reveal to the world the ultimate secret, one that will blow your minds and change your lives right here and now.
The secret is...that there is NO SECRET. If you've spent a good deal of your time, energy and money trying to uncover it, quit looking. It does not exist.
There is no magic elixir. There is no fountain of youth. There is no methodology to meet God, Jesus, Mohammad or Tao face-to-face. There is no trick completely to transcend your humanness nor a way to cheat death. Spending your time looking for these things will only result in failure, frustration and estrangement.
The inherent mystery of life cannot be unlocked. It is a realm with no doors or windows. In fact, it's not a destination at all; it is the journey itself.
The best way any of us can learn about life is through living it.
The best way to understand the mystery is through the realization that we can never understand it.
Well said, Rambling Taoist. I've seen some of these myself, promising instant enlightenment or 12-step mastery of Tai Chi, Taoism, and the hereafter. Usually for a hefty fee.
ReplyDeleteIt's not unlike the pardoners who trolled the countryside during the Middle Ages, selling passports into heaven for a chunk of change.
"The secret is...that there is NO SECRET."
Truer words were never said. We have access to all of it, right now.
I agree, but would like to add my own slight twist.
ReplyDeleteThis whole secret thing is largely a power grab, it's politics.
The Tai Chi master Cheng M'an-Ching did not follow this idea and for this reason his biography is called "There are no secrets".
As a student of his style, I also follow this idea and this principle is why I use Free and Open Source Software anywhere I can.
The last two lines of your post sum it up I think.
ReplyDeleteA wise man once said "I don't know" ;)