Cultivating Surprise, Part Two
The wisdom teachings are clear on this point: all of existence arises from and returns to the Current. All form arises from and returns to this formless Current. Everything visible arises from and returns to this invisible Current. Everything known arises from and returns to this unknowable Current.
The Current cannot be described in its entirety—but there are aspects of it that can be described. It is the on-going Act Of Creation that continues to flow, back up, fill up, spill over, fall, eddy, stall, dry up, submerge, surface, and flow ever on, from seed to fruit and back again to seed.
The Current cannot be described in its entirety—but its entirety can be expressed. In fact, we cannot avoid expressing it every moment. All we see and experience is its on-going expression. It is the living moment, whose continuous outpouring carries all of existence from one end of eternity to the other and back again. It is the aware dwelling place, whose emptiness houses the natural unfolding of the universe as it expands to infinity and contracts back to infinity again.
It is for this reason that it is said, Move along with the Current and you will know no end.
It is not merely that nothing will be able to stop you—it is that nothing will want to stop you.
Indeed, the action of the Current is its own unfolding. This is the action of self-revelation, by which the Current reveals itself to itself by means of its own unfolding. To move with the Current is to align ourselves with its action, allowing its intention to be our own. In this way, our own unfolding leads to our own self-revelation: we come to discover our true potential by intending to move along with the Current’s unfolding rather than trying to direct it. Moving against the Current is the source of all frustration: trying to direct my life by the force of my own will power is like a leaf trying to make its own way against a rushing stream.
We are trained from birth to exert our will on others and the world in general. We are taught, by word and by example, that the only way to succeed is to use our will power to overcome others in the competition for resources. Yet this logic is patently false: we often succeed, for example, because our competitor fails due to a crisis completely outside our awareness. Or, just as likely, it is we who fail because of a crisis completely outside the knowledge of our competitor. Will power cannot make a great sumo wrestler into a successful jockey nor a great jockey into a successful sumo wrestler.
Exerting my will power on circumstances does not bring me good fortune. This is principally because I cannot be aware of the direction of the Current’s unfolding. Because the Whole is greater than the sum of its parts, the behavior of the Whole cannot be perceived by its parts. This means that blindly trying to direct my life by the force of my own will power inevitably leads me to move against the Current. In this sense, exerting my own will power is the precise opposite of my expressing inner power.
Clearly, the difference between will power and inner power is one of intent.
When we speak of the chain of spiritual cause-and-effect, we are addressing the way in which intent changes the behavior of people and events: spiritual cause, in this sense, refers to an intent, whereas spiritual effect refers to a change of behavior. Intent is able to cause a change of behavior on the spiritual plane because the essence of one person is identical to the essence of another. Just as salt permeates each drop of water in the sea, intent leaps from essence to essence. This essence-to-essence communication lies at the root of all beneficial influence: beneficial intent triggers a change of inner behavior—a change of motivation—on the inner, spiritual, level, which eventually results in a concrete change of behavior on the outer, physical, level.
In this context, will power is the energy directed by the lower self to achieve its aim: its intent is to promote its own self-interest, even at the expense of others. Inner power, on the other hand, is the energy directed by the higher self to benefit all: its intent is to promote the well-being of the Whole, even at the expense of its own.
Both of these intents produce a change in behavior. As far as the lower self is concerned, its intent to promote its own self-interest causes a backlash against it among the people and events it seeks to influence—no one likes to be exploited and sooner or later the exploited turn on their exploiters. As for the higher self, its intent to benefit all causes a resonance in the people and events it seeks to influence—everyone wants peace and prospering and they will do everything they can to support those who are willing to sacrifice their personal interests for those of the Whole.
The backlash change-of-behavior brought about by will power stands in stark contrast to the resonance change-of-behavior brought about by inner power. While both are certainly responses to my own intent that then become spiritual causes of their own, their difference lies in how they influence my progress on the Current: backlashes hinder my advance, whereas resonances further it.
The backlashes caused by my lower self’s intent accumulate over time, raising inner and outer dams between me and good fortune. They stand like intangible obstacles between me and the connections I need to make in order to advance. They thwart my progress, leaving me with the sense of being penned-in and stuck in place—I seem to be unable to step off this treadmill that I no longer remember ever having decided to step onto. The backlashes caused by my lower self’s intent accumulate over time, spinning a web of entanglements that hold me back, disrupt my sense of timing, and pull me out of the rhythm of the Current. They accumulate over time, intensifying my own fears, frustrations, and resentments—which only intensifies my lower self’s intent. By promoting my own interests, I set myself in motion against the Current and away from good fortune.
The resonances caused by my higher self’s intent to benefit all likewise accumulate over time, helping weave the strands of all beneficial intents everywhere into the single tapestry of beneficial coincidences. These resonances stand like invisible crossroads that unexpectedly bring me together with people and events that open up opportunities and further the completion of my endeavors. They increase my momentum, restore my sense of timing, and pull me into the rhythm of the Current. They accumulate over time, intensifying my gratitude, happiness, and creativity—which only intensifies my higher self’s intent. By promoting the benefit of all, I move along with the Current and toward good fortune.
This is attained by eliminating the lower self’s intent while cultivating the higher self’s intent. It is not as complicated as it might sound. It simply involves watching how our lower self single-mindedly intends to promote its own interests by trying to turn everything it encounters to its own advantage. Once we observe how single-minded intent works, we simply exchange the higher self’s intent for the lower self’s. It is not necessary, in other words, to intend a specific aim in order to generate a spiritual cause—it is simply a matter of consistently intending that everything benefits all. If we practice this uninterruptedly for even a short while, we soon find ourselves collaborating with everything we encounter.
Aligning ourselves this way with the higher self allows us to move along with the Current, increasingly finding ourselves in the right place at the right time, enjoying the sense of belonging that comes with being part of a steady stream of beneficial coincidences. No selfish intent in the world can carry us into this stream of unselfish coincidences—only when we act as part of the Whole do we sense the movement, rhythm, and harmony of the Whole. Unforeseeable things happen by chance and we are an integral part of them, employed by them to advance the well-being of all. Unexpected things happen by accident and we seem to arrive just in time to help shape them into wellsprings of benefit overflowing into the lives of all. Each moment is a crossroads of resonances, where we arrive together with the momentum of all the beneficial intents everywhere carrying us toward the destination of our shared longing.
This is called using inner power to foster beneficial coincidences.
And it defines the difference between shock and inner Surprise.
Shocks are created to capture attention in order to advance the interests of a particular group or individual. Inner Surprises are serendipitous coincidences that we have made room for in our lives: they arrive unforeseen, their very unpredictability opening new windows of opportunity for all.
Shocks are like rocks tossed into a pool, each creating ripples that intersect with the others, generating an on-going series of more and more complicated backlashes. Inner Surprise is like moonlight falling into a pool—by its very nature it cannot make ripples. In this sense, moonlight is the essence reflected in every pool of awareness facing the immeasurable night of sleep.
Shocks are intentional and destructive.
Inner Surprises are unintentional and constructive.
We are able to avoid using shock to influence people and events by incorporating the previous stages of Calm, Resiliency, Autonomy, Gratitude, Nonresistance, Curiosity, and Insight into the least expected acts of inner Surprise. By intending that everything benefit from our every thought, word, and deed, we find ourselves as surprised as those around us by the good fortune we share.
Stabilizing this single-minded intent by returning to it immediately every time it is interrupted, we unexpectedly find that we have crossed the threshold of wisdom and are traveling, irrevocably and irresistively, the path of good fortune.
You cannot create or construct such coincidences—trying to direct or control the Current like that merely reveals the quality of your motives, causing an untold number of backlashes that work against your advance.
Such coincidences occur—and involve you—because you coincide with other beneficial intents.
Certainly, the lower self will argue, everyone knows that such concepts sound fine in principle but have no place in the real world of dog-eat-dog and big-fish-eat-little-fish competition of everyday life.
Yet, the higher self will assert, two ants from the same colony will struggle over the same piece of dung even though both of them intend to carry it back to the same destination—after we have tried the path of competition and found it unfulfilling, how much further down the road must we go before taking a new one?
Interesting, the lower self will argue, but I practiced these principles all day yesterday and nothing whatsoever changed for the better.
Yet, the higher self will assert, you do not think it strange that the light from a distant star takes years to reach your eyes—the more your intent harbors hopes of personal advantage, the longer the time lag between the spiritual cause and its material effect.
Lightning and thunder, the symbols of shock, are natural characteristics of powerful storms. They may be accompanied by rain, bringing much-needed water to the land. But they may also be accompanied by the wind, bringing destruction and hardship to people. Before the storm, it is calm. After the storm, life wants to return to calm. Things cannot thrive and prosper in a climate of constant storms. Our own endeavors should not contribute to sustaining a climate of constant shock. Our own endeavors ought to use the element of inner Surprise to help return things to their state of calm. Shock may shake people out of their routines of thought and feeling, but so can inner Surprise. There are enough natural and historical shocks that it is not necessary to fabricate any—especially when they are merely attempts to gain some advantage for our own interests.
Real freedom is able to exercise self-control for the benefit of the Whole.
Real wisdom serves the needs of people and the natural world upon which we all depend.
Real good fortune is being a well of benefit overflowing into the lives of others.
Real joy is being carried on the Current through this life into the Beyond.
Exercise One—Sit quietly with your eyes closed, breathing slowly and deeply. Visualize yourself as having achieved complete peace of mind, sitting calmly in the center of a circle. Around you, turning clockwise, are the four seasons, each of which is fixed to one of the cardinal directions: Spring to East, Summer to South, Autumn to West, and Winter to North. As the seasons and directions turn around their center, visualize yourself as a great tree whose roots extend vertically deep below you and whose trunk and branches extend vertically high above you. Now align yourself with this vertical axis running through you, running through the center of the turning seasons and directions. As you open yourself to sensing the power and peace of the unchanging center of all change, silently repeat the catch-phrase, Tranquility is the center from which all my actions and reactions come.
Exercise Two—Lie down and close your eyes, breathing slowly and deeply. Visualize yourself on your deathbed, surrounded by your loved ones. Visualize who is present and how they are acting and how you are feeling about them. Allow yourself to feel that these are your last moments alive, that these are your last breaths. As life slips away and you look upon your whole life from the end, ask yourself, What was most important? Linger in these feelings, absorb them deeply, allow yourself to be affected by them. Complete the exercise by writing your future self a letter setting forth your priorities. Now govern the rest of your life accordingly.
If we respond to this age of overexcitement, agitation, and frenzy with encouragement, tranquility, and good will, then we can capture attention without shocking, we can influence people and events without creating backlashes, and we can succeed without causing suffering for the Whole. Before following the example of others who are competing with us, we ought to study the consequences of using shock to attract attention to our endeavor—we ought to look deeply into the backlashes it produces and how it disrupts the natural unfolding of people’s lives. We ought to keep in mind that just because we can do something doesn’t mean we must. We ought to try to begin right away, uninterruptedly intending for all to benefit from our endeavors, accumulating resonances in the field of spiritual cause-and-effect that will draw together the diverse forces needed to create the most beneficial surprise possible.
This is called the art of making the whole world the path of good fortune.
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The above is an excerpt from The Spiritual Basis of Good Fortune by William Douglas Horden.
If you’d like to learn more, visit the website: http://spiritualbasisofgoodfortune.com/
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