Amerika

The Mystery

Before the beginning, there was the Void.
From the Void was born Darkness, and from Darkness was born Light.
From the two, there was born Potential.
The Potential organized itself, from The Darkness, from The Light.
From Potential was born The Way. Alongside it was born The Chaos.
From The Way was born The Chaos, and there was balance, between The Two.
From The Chaos was born The Way, and there was balance, between The Two.
From the same Mother, came the two: The Chaos and The Way.
At their balance, was born Life, and between them, they were Three.

Life was born as energy, organized by The Potential.
The Chaos and The Way, balanced, in equal measure.
As The Way grew outward, The Chaos drew it inward.
As The Chaos grew outward, The Way drew it inward.
There was no outside, there was no inside.
There was Balance.

There was nothing else that existed. These things bore no names.
With nothing to name them, they existed then, now, and always.
Eternal Mystery.

In the beginning, there was The Way. There was also The Chaos.
Balanced, in harmony, they were The Mystery.
The Mystery lay in eternal balance.

Later, there came creatures, and later, there came birds.
Things that crept, swam, leaped and burrowed. Things that appeared, grew, and withered, in their time.
Between these things lay Balance. Among these things lay Balance.
And Balance ruled, within The Mystery, that contained all of these things.

Later still, there came Man. And Man was as the creatures, and the birds, and the plants, and the fish.
Man gazed at the heavens, and stood in awe of The Mystery. He made his way, among the many things, and prospered.
With Man, there came Wonder, at the endless things laid out before him.
With Man there came Worship, and the giving of thanks.

The Way, and The Chaos, in balance, contained The Mystery.
Within The Mystery, lay balanced, the many things.
Without, lay the cosmos, that too, lay within.
And Balance was The Mystery, and it, the Balance.

The Chaos played its part, as did The Way. For neither could exist, without the other.
As waves, against a familiar shore. Ebbing and flowing. Breathing in; breathing out.
Decline giving rise to rebirth. Rebirth to decline.

Always, there was The Chaos. Always, The Way.
In, and out. Forward, and back. Living, and dying. Each in its time.
Beyond knowing. Beyond naming. Beyond dreams. The Mystery.

Understanding

To understand a thing, one must stand under a thing.
Standing under, can be called humility, and with humility comes understanding.

The ocean stands lower than the world of men. Thus it is humble.
Men sail upon it, seeking themselves, and are humbled by its power.

Humility has become an almost extinct attribute. Who do you know, who exhibits it?
If it is exhibited at all, is it real, or merely the appearance of it?
Uncool, outdated, weak and wishy-washy; what use is it, anyway?

Humility has a purpose. It is an attitude that allows a view of things, unfiltered by opinions, likes, dislikes, or predjudices.
It leaves things alone and lets them be whatever they are, while consideration of these things takes place.
Consider:
1: I see a mosquito. I don’t like mosquitoes. I try to kill it.
2: I see a mosquito. I notice it is alive. Both it, and I, share this state. We both have lives.

Big, small, wild, tame, beautiful, ugly, threatening or benign, life is worth something, to everything that lives.
To understand this, humility is necessary. The appearance of humility will not suffice.
From mosquitoes, we can move on to all kinds of people and things we may, or may not like, and see them in a different way.

Understanding is a thing we go after, as if it is essential. But is it?
Certainly, understanding can be useful, and often important. But as a default?
There are things which can be understood, and things which can not.
For example: the nature of The Divine.
Religions have always excelled at defining such things so that such things can be understood.
But is it in the nature of these things, to ever be understood?
And what happens to these things, when they are deemed to be understood?
Imagining that such things are understood, may actually destroy them, or at best, remove their effect upon us.

By understanding the mysterious, mystery is banished.
By understanding that mystery exists, mystery remains.

Understanding is as mysterious as any other mysterious thing. It is better to employ it wisely.
Apply it to everything, without respect, and it may simply destroy everything it touches.
Understanding a thing, may honor it, for what it is.
Or categorize it, diminish it, put it in a box, and forget it.

Manipulation. Control. Reduction to a known quantity. Understanding.
Or standing under, gaining new insight, and infinite viewpoints.