Scared or Sacred?

by Roger Mock

Looking at the photo above, which of these words would you say best applies to this image: sacred or scared? You would undoubtedly choose sacred, right? There is an incredible sense of both tranquility and majesty in this palatial landscape, and a feeling from the figure in the foreground of great spiritual purpose; perhaps the start of some noble quest. But what if this person has suddenly found himself lost and alone in this wilderness? What if he has nothing but the clothes on his back? What if he is entirely unprepared for such a situation; has no survival skills under his belt whatsoever? What if his experience in this moment is not one of unparalleled serenity and beauty but of unbridled peril and menace?

Isn’t this the conundrum we each find ourselves facing in this life? Think about it. How did we end up here anyway? I mean beyond the obvious sperm and egg answer. We just showed up, and in the most vulnerable of ways, as a tiny, naked, helpless infant. And, honestly now – have we really progressed much beyond that state? When faced with the big questions of meaning and purpose and the harsh realities—always lingering just around the bend—of loss, illness, poverty and ultimately of the dissolution and death of the only thing we really seem to have – the body? I don’t mean to be bumming you out on a holiday weekend, but no, I don’t think we have progressed much beyond that naked infantile state, no matter our income, resources or credit limit.

And yet – here we are! Alive and thinking and feeling and breathing! Here with family and friends on this astounding, miraculous planet earth. If we can stop for a moment and consider the extraordinary gift of this life; if we can release the stress and fear for just an instant, we can make a big shift, a true metamorphosis. We can move from being scared to having an experience of the sacred. From being naked and alone to knowing we are one with the entire cosmos, a part of all that is. We become like that man in the Buddhist story, the one who is chased across a field by a hungry tiger. You probably know it but it’s always worth revisiting like any Biblical parable…

Nearly outrun and gasping for breath, the man comes to a cliff and scrambles over the edge, grasping a vine and holding on for dear life. The tiger is salivating and pawing the ground just above him and yet another tiger (no way!) waits at the bottom of the cliff below while (you’ve got to be freaking kidding me) two mice begin relentlessly gnawing at the vine. Just then the sun glints off something small and red and luscious. He reaches out to pluck it from the tangle of roots and is heard to exclaim, “Oh this lovely strawberry, how sweet it tastes!”

Maybe that’s what this is all about. Maybe there was a dare one day while we were lazing around in the spirit world. “Hey, you’re feeling really great now, pal, but I bet you can’t go down there and get in won of those little suits and still remember what this is like.” “Betcha I can!” Maybe we’re in training like Luke Skywalker with Yoda in the Dagobah system:

Here’s what I think (and try to believe). We can and do have the experience of loss, sometimes incalculable loss, but Nothing is Ever Lost. We can and do experience extreme vulnerability, but Who We Are in Truth is Invulnerable. We are spirit having a go at being in one of these “little suits.” Why? Not for a lark and not so much to experience incalculable loss as to experience incalculable growth. Some of us have dealt ourselves a very challenging hand, but maybe it’s to reap all that much greater a reward. Maybe we are among the very bravest of souls – jedis in training – to have landed ourselves here in this “Dagobah”, this not-knowing place, this all-too-scary yet so very sacred wilderness. But here we are nonetheless, and while we’re here… take the strawberry!

The Force be with you,
Roger