VAST UNBEKNOWN OF IT ALL

Old Man: Jesus is another name for the vast unbeknown of it all. You actually have separated yourself from it, have you not? You do not say, “I am the whole of life”, and remain still; you want to change this and improve that, you want to reject and to hold. You, the watcher, an immovable, permanent center in this vast movement of life are caught in conflict, in sorrow, and confusion. Now, you who are separate, how do you approach the whole? How do you come to this vastness, to the beauty of the earth and the heavens? Our lives are shallow and bound to routine; and the gods of the trivial mind are as silly and stupid as their maker. Whether we live in a palace or a village, whether we are hired hands or sit in the seats of the mighty, the fact is that our minds are petty, narrow, ambitious, envious; and it is with such minds that we want to find out if there is God, what truth is, what the perfect government is, and seek answers to the innumerable other questions that pop up….such as, What is the purpose of my life? 

First: Yes, sir, that is our life. You nailed it! What can we do?”

Old Man: Die to the past, not little by little, but totally! In this way come suddenly to the point of beginning and learn what death is while still alive. Like I said, life is circular. It’s the petty mind that tries, that struggles, that has its ideals and systems. You must die to all you think you know for the unknown to be your way. 

First: I can see that we should die to the past, but if I die to the past, what is there left then?

Old Man: You are saying – aren’t you? – that you will die to the past only when you are guaranteed a satisfactory substitute for what you have renounced. That’s not renunciation, that’s only another effort at gain. A petty mind wanting to know what there is after dying will find its own petty answer. 

First: I think each one of us has felt deeply the truth of it all. May we come again?

Old Man: Yes. You may, but let us not delay. All the great geniuses with all their great works piled together throughout history have made no real difference at all. Surely it is time we admit that to ourselves, renounce civilization as it is known to be, and take a wild chance on the vast unknown.